Boon's Lick times. [volume] (Fayette, Mo.) 1840-1848, 1840-06-06
From the TENNESSEE "Spirit Of re-"
SELLING WHITE MEN FOR DEBT.

SELLlNlT w HllE MEN FUR L.
Among the many charges put in circulation
against General Harrison by the INSCRIPTIONS por-
ton of the Van Buren, organs and leaders, is that
of having voted in the Legislature Of Ohio to sell
poor white men for debt. Well, if this charge be
true, we for one, perfectly willing for him to re-
celve the rGprobation which such vote would just
ly merit. But before we proceed to ju3gmeSt let
US examine the eridence. The accusation is based
upon the following;
Extract from the Journa! Of the Senate, Of Ohio,
Tuesday, January 80, 1921.
The Senate met, pursuant to adjournment.
The Senate then, according to the order of the
day. resolved itself into a committee of the whole,
upon the bill from the House, entitled an act for
the punishment of certain Offences therein named,
and after some time spent therein, the Speaker,
Allen Trmble, resumed the chair.
Mr. Fithian then moved to strike out the 18th
section of said bill, as follows:
Be it further enacted, That when any person
shall be imprisoned, either upon execution or other
wise, for the non-payment ola fine costs or both.
it shall be lawful for the sheriff of the county to
SELL OUT SUCH PERSONS AS A SERVANT,
to any person within this State who will pay the
whole amount due, for the shortest period of SER
vice, of which sale public notice shall be given at
leas, ten days, and upon such sale being effected,
the sheriff shall give the purchaser certificate
thereof and deliver over the prisoner to him, from
which time the relation of such purchaser and prs-
oner shall be that of MASTER AND SERVANT,
until the time Of service EXPIRES and for injuries
done bv either, remedy shall be had in the same
manner, as is or may be provided by law in the
case of master and apprentice. But nothing herein
contained shall be construed to prevent persons
from being discharged from imprisonment according
to the provision of the 9th section of the act to
which this is supplementary, if it shall be consider
ed expedent to grant such discharge. Provided
that the court in pronouncng upon any person.
convicted under this act, or the act to which this is
supplementary, may direct such persons to be de-
tanned in prison until the fine be paid or the person
or persons otherwise disposed Of agreeably to the
provisions of this act.
And the yeas and nays being required, those who
voted in the affirmative were Messrs Beasley,
Brown, Fithian, Gass, Heaton, Jennings, Lucas,
Mathews, Mclaughlin, MMilton, Newcom, Robb,
Russell Scofeld, Shelby, Spencer, Stone, Swearing
ton, Thompson and Womedorf--2O.
And those who voted in the negative were, Messrs.
Baldwin, Cole, Foot, Foster, WIN. H. HARRl-
SON, M'Lean, OSwell, Pollock, Rugges, Roberts,
Wheeler and the Speaker-l2.
Now mark how triumphantly this caumny is put
down by Gen. Harrison himself, in plain and frank
statement, of his course. In reply to the charge
first made against him and his eleven compeers of
the Senate of Ohio, in 1921, he addressed the fol-
lowing letter to the editor of the Cincinnati Adver-
tiser:
Sir: In your paper of the 10Th instant, l observed
n most violent attack upon eleven other members Of
the late Senate and self, for supposed rote given
at the last session, for passage Of law to "SeH
debtors IN certain cases. If such had been our con-
duct, | acknowledge that we should not only de-
serve the censure which the writer has bestowed up
on US, but the eXecration of every honest man in
society. An act of that kind is not only opposed
to the principles Of justice and humanity, but would
be palpable violation of the Constitution OF the
State which every legislator is sworn to support;
and sanctioned by a House of Representatives and
twelve Senator's it would indicate state Of depray-
ity which would fill every patriotic bosom with the
most alarming anticpatons. But the fact is, that
no such proposition was ever made in the Legisu-
ture, or even thought of, The act to which the
writer alludes, has no more relation TO the collection
of 'debts" than it has to the discovery Of longi-
tude. 1t was an act for the punishment OF Often
ces" against the State and that part Of 1t which has
so deeply wounded the feelings Of your correspond
ent was passed by the House of Representatives
and voted for by the Twelve Senators, under the i'm
preston that it was the most mild and humane mode
Of dealing with the offenders for whose cases it was
intended. 1t was adopted by the House Of Repre-
sentatives a part of the general system OF the
criminal law, which was then undergoing com
pete revision and amendment; the necessity OF this
is evinced oy the following facts: For several years
past it has become apparent that the Penitentiary
system was becoming more and more burdensom at
every session. large appropriation was called for
to meet the of expenditure above the receipts
Of the establishment. In the commencement of the
session of 1920 the deficit amounted to near 20 ,OOI
dollars.
This growing evil required the immediate inter
position of some vigorous Legislative measure. Two
we're recommended as being likely to produce the
effect; first, placing the institution under better
management; and secondly, lessening the number
of convicts who were sentenced for short periods
and whose labor was found of course to be mos
productive. In pursuance Of the latter principle
thefts to the amount of fifty dollars or upwards
were subject TO punishment in the Penitentiary, in
stead of ten dolars.wiIich was the former minimum
sum this was easily done. But the grcn' difficulty
remained TO determine what should be the punish