The spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1840-1844, 1842-09-02
From the Fremont Statesman.
"TIIE POOR MANS RELIEF LAW.''

/
Mossrs. EDIToRs-It is a matter of astonish-
ment to every friend of humanity that the Legisa-
ture OF Vermont, after having abolished mprsOn-
ment for debt, should, at this day, when the whole
system OF imprisoning the body of the unfortunate
debtor has been condemned and abolished by al
most every State in the Union, make lay rcviy-
ing the practice in form still more odous than the
one which had been repealed Ard after such
law has been passed, il is equally surprising that
class of men should be found TO sanction aud up
hold it.
| The whole democratic press of this State have
taken strong and decided stand against this Off
spring of corrupt and intriguing politicians, for
which they are entitled TO much praise, while eve
ry wing paper in Vermont, without solitary ey-
ceplion, have been as silent as the grave on the
subject Why is this Is it because they are in
favor of law so Justly stigmalzed as relic of
babnrsm, or is ii because they dare not speak out
lest they might bring disgrace upon the party with
which the measure originated? If the law was
designed to put fees in the pockets of those lawyers
who Ike vultures aliglh to prey upon dead caycas-
cs, or to crafty the malignant passions of set of
hearlcss and rapacious credors,-bOh are alike
accomplished. That no benefit, except to those
who are called upon TO execute the law, arises
from its operation, is sufficiently evident from the
fact thai of some fifty or sixty who have, during
the present season been committed to jail IN this
place, for the crime of poverty, not single cred
it0r, am informed has been able 10 collect his
debt. And, from knowledge of the facts in con-
nccti0n with large number of cases which have
come under my observation, | am fully satisfied
that majority of the commitments have been
made without any idea ofob,aining any thing but
the qualification Of Il iendish disposition
Young men, in the visor of life, who were srug-
Cling TO free themselves from peCuniaIy embarnss-
monls, and TO maintain those dependent on them
for subsistence, have been unfccngly torn from
their families, and their business, robbed of their
liberty, and deprived of every means of being use
fu to themselves their families or their credilOrs;
and, as if this was not sufficiently humatng they
are not unlicqucnly insuted in the streets by the
very men who have imprisoned them. Here too
are old men whose whitencd locks afford induba-
bic evidence that the grave will soon snatch them
from their relentless and rcmorsclcss creditors,
II is n very common remark that "poycrty is
not crime" bn It is not so considered by the i'm
macualc arisocracy of Vermont and they have
taken scrupulOus care that those who will not en-
rich themselves by unlawful gains--by robbng the
widow and the orphan their last morsc orbrcad
by wrenching the last shilling from those whose
scanty earnings are insufficient TO afford their nee
dy families the ordinary comforts of life, and will
not resort to exortion deception and fraud for the
sake of amassing wealth, shall be duly punished
for such hcinous offences.
To the man who has the misfortune TO be poor,
and is compelled to see his children growing up in
ignorance around him, while he tolls from sunrise
to sunset, day after day, to provide sufficient to
supply them with the most u'gent wants Of nature,
il would seem that there was enough Of care, any
icty and wrctchcdness, TO satisfy the most Casdi-
Gus connOScur in such matters, without adding i'm
prsonmcnt as punishment for his poverty There
il something so revolving in the idea of being mar
ched under the escort Of n sheriff TO the debtors
jail, that, unless man is lost TO all the common
feelings of his nature, ii must awaken in his breast
sensations and emotions which are understandable,
a man may bear with iorlitude the loss Of proper
ty, or endure without a mnrmur the pains Of phys
ca suffering: he may see his friends, his wife, his
Children attacked by disease and one by one laid
in the silent grave, with calm and manly rcsigna-
ton. But no man can contemplate th9 gloomy
walls Of prison house with certainty Of soon
becoming It's inmate, unless some friend can be
found to give him the " liberty (yhat pcrversion
Of the wortD of the jail yard" wi,hou, cypcricn-
cling sensations which no man can know till he has
been placed in similar circumstances, There is a
feeling as il heavy weight was laid across the
chest, which It seems impossible to removed and a
peculiar sense OF sinking comes over the whole
frame, as if the blood was arrested in ITS circua-
ton througl, lis accustomed channels, and thrown
back upon the heart in such quantities rs TO almost
suspend lis action. Besides all this, after the pris
oncr has q" served out" the time contemplated by
the law, and so FAR satisfied Its humane acquisitions
MS to be entitled TO the "bcnct" of the poor debt
or's oath, there is so much effort made TO render
resort to ii odous in the opinion Of the community,
that no man of ordinary scnsiby will consent 10
avail himself of II unless compelled by the most
pressing necessity.
The operation Of this law is not only cruelty OPP
prcssivc upon individuals, but it indirectly operates
very iniuriously upon the community generally
1t has has already driven hundreds into bankrupt
cy who would otherwise have paid their dcb,s;and
the practice is continued its effect will be to drive
many from the State TO seek residence where the
principle is recognized that misfortune Is not crime
and where the opprcssor has moi the power 10 cx-
act Of his victim " his pound Of flesh"
VINCTuS.
Rutland, Aug. Is, 1912.