The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1822-08-06
IMPRISONMENT FoR DEBT.

The power which thecrsditur Is allowed
10 hold over the person Of the debtor, ~ an
incongruiiy IN oar political SYSTEM, II Is
time that II should cease to exist and il
must cease to exist wheneYcriti Is subjected
10 the test ofreoson. We know not how
II is that, when we rejected lhe law Of pri-
mogenlture, the game laws, &c. on dissoly-
Ing our connection with the metropolitan
country we retained the most bafbapous
feature of the British code, and yet conti-
nue. to ineaFeefate the debtor nj ;he plea
sure of the creditor, upon ihe yindictiye
principle of allowing punishment for the
performance at physical inp1ssibli-
Tics. 10 the Inanswerabe argument 10
gainst Imprisonment for debt, which is con
tanned IN the following extract from The
idscr, il would be worse than idle in Us 10 add
a word Nat Int
"The prosperity Of a people is proper
flonatf to the number of hands and minds
uaefilly employed 10 the community,
scdition is fever, corruption lie gaDgrcne,
and idleness an atrophy. Whatever body,
aud whatever society, wastes more than it
acquires, must gradually decay and every
being thatcontinues to be fed, Il ceases 10 la
bour, takes away something from the pub
lie stock.
The confinement, therefore, of any man
IN tie Bloth and darkness OF prison, is
loss 10 the nation, and no gain TO the crcdi-
tor. For Of the multiiudes who are pin
ing IN these cells Of misery, very small
part is suspected Of any fraudulent act by
which they retain what belongs TO others
The rest are Imprisoned by the wantonness
Of pride, the malgnity Of revenge, or the
acrimony of disappointed expectation.
If those who vigorously exercise the
power which the law has put into their
hands, be asked why they continue to i'm
prison those whom they know 10 be unable
to pay them one win answer. that his
debtor once lived better than ilmaelf; ano-
ther that his wife looked above her neigh
bours, and his children went in silk clothes
TO tho dancing school and another that he
pretended to be a Joker and q wit. Some
viii reply, that il they were in debt, they
should meet with The same treatment I;
some, that they owe no more than they can
pay, and need therefore give no account of
their actions. Some will confess their re-
solution, that their debtors shall rot in Jail ;
and some will discover, that they hope,
by cruelty, to wiring the payment from their
friends.
The end of all civil regulations is to Sc
cure private happiness from private malig-
nifty; ~ keep individuals from the power
of enc another; but this end is apparently
neglected, when man, irritated with
loss, is allowed to be the Judge of his own
cause. and to assign the punishment of his
own pain when the distinction between
guilt and happiness, between casualty and
design, is entrusted to eyes blind with in7
terest, to understandings depraYfd by se-
sentiment.
Since poverty Is punished among us as a
crime, il ought at least to be treated with
the same lenity as other crimes the often
der ought not to langiiish at the will OF him
whom he has offended, but to be allowed
some appeal to the justice Of his country.
There can be no reason why any debtor
should be imprisoned but that he may be
compelled to payment; and term should,
therefore, be fixed, in which the creditor
should exhibit his accusations Of concealed
property. II such property can be Disco
yered, let il be given 10 the creditor; ifthe
charg9 is not offered, or cannot BIZ proved
| let the prisoner he Dismissed.
Those who made laws, apparently, sup.
posed that every deficiency ofpayment is
the criipe of the debtor. But the truth is
that thcereaitor always shares the act, ane