The Sun.
London, England, 1818-11-13 00:00:00

can result when the removal of ane Agent AONIS
WI opening for a sirecessor, who may tread the same
path, find must be removed in the same way. The
Sp,tni,l, proverb says well, " lie who throws a stone
ftt every dog he meets, will soon have a weary arm."
Even a fraudulent Debtor, front ►he circum-
stances detailed by it/doe/us, may arrest a Credi-
tor under the advice of an Agent, who, r+s I have
before obser,fed, is respottsible to no legal Tiibunal,
nor under the sacred obligation of an oath ; for it
generally. happens that Debtors under the (?resent
Act are averse to paying their Creditors, as expe-
rience too amply confirms.
Amongst many ingenious devices which are
resorted to, by the insolvent Agents and unprin-
cipled adventurers, one of the most prominent is
the practice of obtaining hired or Jew bail foy "the
Dobtor. It is tints accomplished.
Two falling insolve'it persons are applied to by the
Agent,and on receipt `of a stipulated sum, theywssent
and go thrpnght he legal formalities ofj ustifyingbm i ,
and with unblushing hardihood swear tiirrnselves
to be possessed of property to a considerable amount.

. .
The truth of the statement will obtain confir-
mation on 'reference to the respective Officers of the
different COURTS. The bail are received, the
Debtor is liberated from custody, and the plain-
tiff proceeds in his action. If he obtains judgment,
and the Debtor cannot befotind ,he can have recourse
only to the bail, awl they will either abscond or
prove insolvent. Thus the fair trader becomes a prey
to the most direful calamities, whilst the profligate
and designing is exempt from responsibility.
The Creditor, thus wantonly and wickedly treat-
ed,, has no appeal in this stage of the proceedins,
and can obtain no relief from the effects of hired bail.

The profligate Bail and Agent, it is true, may be
liable to an indictment for perjury; or conspiracy, but
their obscurity and fraudulent practice places them
out of the reach of process, and in the secret recesses
of infamy, they triumph in the ruin they have
created. Two indigent persons, long practised in
giving bail, and in the habits of petjury, and the
subtleties of legal proceedings, may combine with
the unprincipled Agents to destroy the property
of the Creditor.

Many of the daring impostors who speculate on
the success of artifice and fraud, and hear the
name of Agents, have been imprisoned -Debtors ;
and being versed in the various modes of obtain-
in;,; their liberation, the prospect of a temporary
imprisonment alone excites no dread, and sines no
check to their pursuits.
Time expences which attend the risk of enforcing
a claim against the Debtor, frequently compels a
Creditor to relinquish it. If, however, he has
resolution to persevere against his experienced and
unprincipled foe, he does it at the risk of increas-
ing his original loss by accumulating expellee.

The fraudulent Debtor,,with the collusion of an
Agent, may contest the Creditor's right with the
weapons which himself has furnished ; and if the
Creditor should fix the bail of the Debtor, the
Creditor is still without remedy, for the Bail are
discovered to be persons in the most indigent cir-
cumstances, or probably are living in prison in
luxury and idleness, on a part at that properly
which the Debtor has so improperly and unjustly
o'bfoined, and the Creditor has fruitlessly endea-
voqxed to recover.

Thus it is evident that the numerous impostors
and adve.ni,nrets who practice frauds on the Com-
mercial and Trading Ji-orld, are encouraged to pur-
sue their ca7ecr of villainy by a consciousness that
thcy can avail theJuselves of multifarious legal de.-
tiers to postpone the day of payment, to involve
the Creditor with expellee, and to ridicule his efforts.
Snould the injured Creditor succeed in obtain-
ing a tinaljndgment against his designing Debtor.,
and reach the . last stage of proceedings the law
has limited for givi,tg him satisfaction, even then
if the debt exceeds 300/. he cannot compel a resto-
ration c f theproperty which has 'peen plundered front
hint ; for by the vigilance and dexterity of Agent:,
against the continued attacks of tire Law, front
the commencement of the suit to the utmost verge
of process, the vanquished foe still retains the
prize, and even in the last extremity defies the
vengeance of the Law, and retires into prison
to consume the substance of oilier nzert in base and
luxurious indolence.
" The object of Imprisontnent for Debt, appears to have
been originally intended, not for the punishment of a Debtor,
but to compel him to discharge the debt out of property,
such as Mono' in the Funds, or Debts due to him, which earl--
not be reached by any legal process. But execution by Impri-
sonment is considered as so far a satisf'actioit the Dtht, that
if the Creditor retraces the Debtor from confinement, hecannot
afterwards have recourse to any (intim REMEDY !"—Vide 13th
.Edition of 131.1clistone's Commentaries, Bonk 3, Chap. 26.
Thus the man who has contracted Debts to a
large amount may preserve tire fortune he has
fraudulently obtained, and be privileged within
the walls of a prison THREU MONTHS. Here he
becomes domiciled, and after expending a great
part of those means which in justice are the rights
of his Creditors, they are without relief either in
law or equity ; and therefore, as long as the un-
principled Debtor shall be permitted to riot on
the property which he has unjustly obtained, Cre-
ditors in general will have cause to complain of the
inadequacy of the present Act, which does not
suffielently enforce the means of restitution.
A respect for the Trading World, and-a regard
for the general.suceess of Commerce, impel me to
submit these observations to the Public.
If the facts which hare been disclosed, ard the
observations applicable to them, should induce a
public approval, and legislative adoption of regula-
tions to correct the evils and remedy the imperfec-
tions so conspicuously prominent, I shall exidt in
having been instrumental towards suggesting any
part of the outline upon which may be established
a dispensation of justice conformable to reason, wis-
dom, and humanity, consistent with the welfare of the
State, and the true interests of a Commercid Nation.

Every day's experience gives demonstrative
proof, that ^ersuns continue to practise the gross-
est frauds, even after commitment for deht ; a pri-
son having no influence over their vicious habits,
but, with the assistance of AGENTS, to confirm
them. In the language of a great moral writer,—

.•
" From such an association springs every corruption which
wickedness Call generate; with all the shameless and profli-
gate enormities that can be produced by the impudence of ig-
nominy, the rage of want, and the malignity of despair.
" In a prison 'the awe of the public eye is lost; there are
few fears, there are no blushes ; the lewd inflame the lewd ;
the audacious harden the audacious. Every one fortifies
himself as he en n against his own insensibility; endeavours to
practice on others the arts which are practisrii ox himself, and
guin.s• thE kinancss or his Associates ho similitude of inauners.
" Thus .5(,fl sink amidst their misery, and others .ureive
•nito propagate JOHNsoN.

SCRUTATOR.