The Sun.
London, England, 1829-06-04 00:00:00

IMPRISONMENT FOR SMALL DEBTS.

Although a great deal has been said in the
course of the session, in the Committees of PO;
liament, upon the subject of the imprisonment of
poor persons for debts determinable in the several
courts of requests, it has been ascertained by
thoee who were most actively engaged. iu Pr°.
jecting a remedy, that nothing will be done ill
the I louse of 6onnoris until next sessioir-wel
check the cruel and demoralizing practice of illy'
prison:mg unfortunate labourers who may, be pro-
cessed by fraudulent creditors, that is, by creditors
who entice them into debts which they are tio;
able to discharge, and which are double, ant',
often treble, the amount of the articles purchasq•
Alderman Wood's evidence before the Politetee
Committee went to attribute a great deal of vivit
crime which deluges the metropolis to the sto'''
debt arrests ; and he and Mr. Hume, for thie
purpose of learning With accuracy the nature aou,,
extent of the mischief, visited the several courts
of requests of the metropolis, and the prisons ''
which the prisoners under the orders of those
courts are confined. They found, and the i": 1
formation was stated in the committees allude
to, that the practice of the tally creditors, or.
those who receive payment for goods by.t,he
week, was that against which humane legisc
tion ought to be most particularly directed.
is ae follows shopkeeper sends out a sr''
want to inquire into the circumstances -of the
industrious poor of the neighbourhood. As,
soon as it has been found that a hard-workine
man is regularly employed, the tally
himself in the way of the poor fellow's wife, 311 r
displiying a beautiful shawl, or other articles 01
finery, tells her that the price shall- conic quite:
easy, as he will take it at 2s. or is. 6d. 11.
week. _She is led by this proposal into stn"
greater expences, and at length the tally-10°
arrests the husband in the midst of his labo.urr
and makes him the inmate of Whita-croic
street prison, or of the Borough compter•
habits contracted in those places of confine:Or:
are Suell'as disqualify the unfortunate debtor lib
any industrious employment, and his wife 11;`,rc
children inevitably become a burden to
who,
parish. The husband finding that those
withOst.
were before dependent upon him can live
his assistance, becomes confirmed in Wien%
and debauchery, and the respectable p3Yerf
of rates and taxes are pushed for the means °
racea
supporting the miserable creatures thus ret.--i
to a horrible state of poverty. The Coati's,'
man aryl
sioners of the City Court of Requests have l'eff
decidedly set their faces against the tally sys,te°l,
They closely examine into. the circumstance:
under which the debts are contracted, and 3't
accordingly. In many cases they reinse to en,
warrants In execution, and thus the talleir
loses his expected profit or revenge. Whene'd
they find that a workman has been humhuggto
in the way described into a debt, they refuse, is
recognize it, on the ground that the dernaouee
fraudulent. The other courts are also mu:he
improved in this respect. Notwithstanding
t.'ts,
.
loud outcry against imprisoning for snrall de. via
cases of the kind are every hour occurring, 'd,i;
the poor debtors, who are fastened in the el°,s
of the tally-man, are shut out from the privilegee
which others have. The Society for ate Will(
of Small Debtors are compelled to refuse 3b,
compromise with such creditors' for a very °f,
vious reason. The costs" in these courts are co°o
mous. Sometimes where the debt
than 25., the costs amount to Bs. l', to
the misery of persons confined under LoTO,
processes is aggravated by the grea.t.
which often takes place in obtaining al!'
charges. In the case of every person tin 1'
sowed' under a Court of Requests ' process he
London, the two Sheriffs' Court-offices and t"he
Secondary's office must be searched before tte,
discharge an be given, and at each office :31
of 2s. 6d. is demanded. At Certain periociser
the year two or three holydays come togeth
and those holydays are strictly kept at thyli
offices, so that the debtor has no alternativev
~
he be possessed of 1,0001. more than his d%t
immediately after he is confined. And Yi;
notwithstanding all this; a poor fellow tn°Y.d,
arrested every day in the year, Sundays eacePtli,
It is necessary to state, that there are no b°%'a
days observed at the Sheriff of Middletd
office. The miseries which are to be wit°.
every hour in the prisons alluded to, am°. gee'
the small debtors and their families, are iftbe,
scribable. Every day application is -made t't
keepers for certificates of the imprisontnentbd
husbands, to sanction the application of tin it
wives and children to their parishes, and still
is the opinion of one of the persons best
to judge of the effect of theeeprison system' far
19 out of 20 persons confined never paY oed
thing. We understand that Mr. Bt°, earl
Alderman Wood intend to bring in a ,bib
next session, to disallow imprisonment for
debts.