The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1831-10-18


for him and were accessible to corrup-
ton. They were hired by the people to
do duty fer them and possibly might be
hired to neglect it. The responsibility of
our rulers was the main spring of their
causes of action and that RESPONSE
billty, those rulers should feel. Igno-
rance in them was as fatal as Indifference :;
and confidence like capital in mercan-
tile affairs should be well looked to. Con
tidence should be given by Republics in
limited sense--implicit confidence
never.
The question before the meeting was,
whether they would endeavor to weed
out the remnants OF despotic and bar
barous age, to purge from the laws reg
ulatIng man and man a thing which
should have been purged from them u
ges ago2 1t was no question to awaken
the fever ofpary spirit, but ii was ques-
ton ofJustlce, liberty and mercy; one
upon which every one could exercise his
own independent will.
For himself, being no lawyer, he could
only reason upon the subject as mat
|
light he was prepared TO state that he
believed Imprisonment for debt to be un-
constitutional. an the FIRST place il was
an er post tdcto law; to prove this he re-
lerred To the constitution: and then sta
ted the following case. Amechanic buys
goods and perhaps makes "A good bar
gain. There is no law forbidding him
to do this. The. constitution does not
make the act of purchase n crime. On
account of some misfortune he is unable
to pay for them when the money becomes
due. All is lawiul---yet suit is COM
menccd and the purchaser imprisoned &
punished. An act is made punishable
as crime after it has been performed,
which before was no crime. This is er
post facto, for the crime and punishment
originated at the purchase, or else the
punishment was after the io,cfui contract.
BY the Bill of Rights all men are born
free and equa'; but one class of citizens
make bargains and bear reverses--anoth-
er make none. Both are equally enti-
tied to be free and equal, If both are e.
qually free from crime. But one class,
in consequence of having made unfor-
tunate contracts; are punished by impris-
onment, and are Of course not equal,
free with tho other, though they .neyel
committed crime. Again. no citizen i
90 be imprisoned without trial by jury
But as the law is, citizen may be de-
prived of his liberty bv arrest on mesnc
process without trial by jury. The cred
itor assumes an imperium az imperio, and
exercises a really despo,ic power under
the laws and form of a Republic. A sim
gle individual can immurc another with
in the walls of a dungeon, without oath
or trial by jury, contrary 10 the express
| injunction of the words OF our Bill of
Rights and Constitution. Not one, but
all arc interested in this matter. Ifa
man be honest, Imprisonment for debt is
entirel ly needless, for he will pay if in his
power; If he be dishonest, imprisonment
will not compel payment. If man be
careless, there was no better way to
stimulate his industry than to oblige him
to labor. To cut off all his means Of re-
dcmption was at best a poor way of en-
forcing payment. A man was called up
on to labor for the repayment of debt,
at the same time the very sources from
which the debt must be paid were dried
up. The debtor was required to stop
and not work at all, 50 that more gener-
ally the creditors lost, rather than collec-
ted their several debts.
As means Of coercion, the law was a
palpable failure, il was to all intents and
purposes, entirely Inefficient, n greater
number of debts were lost than gained
by it. In the operation Of this law il was
sell-eyideni, that large sums had not
been and could not be collected under
it; if large sums could not be collected
under it, was there probability that
smaller ones might! They had not been
and there was no probability they could
be. Under our present facilities ofcred-
it, and under the existing laws of inpris-
onment for debt, "a man was tempted to
enter deeply into debt, He could when
he chose abstain from labor, with GER
tainty that for time he could live upon
that credit without labor. This IMPROVE
dence on the part ofthe debtor, operated
rs a tax upon him, for the risk of him who
trusted was calculated in tho price Of the
article trusted, and when at the last re.
sort, the debtor was incarcerated he was
imprisoned for the article, the advance
and costs, all of which were at the high
est prices. The law was equally injuri-
Gus to the creditor: he relied upon tie
body Of the debtor as security---he plac-
ed the body Of that individual in jail on
a security which is valueless, perfect
moonshine. He deprives an individual
Of his labor which ID public property, and
in reality casts his own bread upon the
waters, with witness. The reliance
or xyLich ho fruutc IL daceifful The