The Arkansas banner., 1844-03-27
From the Ne1p OrIenns pA.-
IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT

by revising the laws for the colle~ debts, and abolishing every vestirs
 maining stain of the barbarous en,, treating misfortune as a crime. that ,I gers upon the statute book. The N upon which imprisonment for debts1 ed, is repugnant to the spirit of Cb1a]I to say nothing of liberty and the uns1 civilization. In free country the6s citizen should never be put under r.l except for crimes. The relations ol ! and creditor do not imply any rightsl party to exercise control over the RI of the other, and the jails of the Sns erected for the safe keeping of public aI CTS, and not as a means of divorcns, who has been overwhelmed by nisI from his inheritance of liberty.
 The law also should deal out b | measure of right to the citizens of otbsl who visit us, as to our own. It aeu rights of hospitality, the comfy of Fl and the dictates of an enlightened Ebl to make any distinction between the \ of Louisiana and those of her sisten American confederacy. The law tktj stranger to be arrested in our streep legal process for the recovery of da| permits him to be in jail unless he fa| cient bail in a city where he is comm unknown, is inhuman and against a.| of the constitution of the United Staes declares that the citizens of each Sid| eyoy aU the privileges and imnui the citizens iR the Sereral States.
 A year or two back, the Legishs pealed some of the seventies of the law, and thereby gained the applaus men; but not yet has the work of e| hating the barbarism of feudal tin4 finished. Under no circumstancs the fact of indebtedness be considere| self, crime. Nor should any man be held in bondage by any process court for recovery of debt. It would ter for the law to make indebtednea facie an evidence of crime, than to p| creditor to use the remedy of justa ! punishment of misfortune. It wouldt consonant with equal rights for thea, power to deal upon the imprisoneddl an offender against the penal code, permit one man to use the process court against the liberty of another; you'd be more candid and magnaninI gislation to declare debt at once d violation of law, than to permitittod| as such in the means of recovery. K consolation to the unfortunate pia know that the laws of his country brand him as felon2 You but nd woe when you say to him that he been guilty of any offence that shol sign him to a dungeon. Why is \ then , If he has done nothing to bnl] upon him the arm of offended just] is he locked up in prisoni Why N bed of his liberty? Why Is he detaln| his business3 Why is his hearth-st0] late, his spirit broken, his wife bere society and his children deprived of \ tenance of his labor' Can the law itself from this monstrous iniquity hl creditor? Can the Legislature jusal in permitting a man to invoke the book to strike down the innocent a man allowed to be incarcerated which no civilized or Christian peopa as criminal ,
 Tine law now does not permit oH of this State to put another in jail but 1t allows strangers and the cI1 other States to be locked up uponli process alone. Is this just' IS t a IS it generous 3s Is it not wrong and with all the impulses of a magnanll| liberal mind2 And what is gained1 Citizens of other States whose da1 have been transferred to the inhab1 this, are prevented from coming hep act business. This is about the efa| law. Is this an object of suf1ielenl tance to keep the disgraceful and s'| upon the statute book i? Is it of s9 consequence to deter the unfortunil| coming amonst us to repair the run | past, that Louisiana should hug toha the monstrous offspring of benlghieG'l accomplish it' We feel persuaded gI lions have been lost to the State oY hospitable and cruel system.
 Itis utterly obnoxious to every Inasl timent as well as to every prlnclpe'u,| and equity that any individual shoula in jail upon a remedial process " final judgment does not amount 10
 ton even of misdemeanor. Nohose should be held in duress, althousn
 sand executions were returned'
 property found'' on the back ol 'ntr should any man be esteemed
 debtor until he is proved such A
 murderer has the advantage oi Me
 ton of innocence until proved gun.
 man may be put in jail upon sn5
 debt before judgment is rendered
 admitted on all sides that ii he IS
 be in debt, he is not therefore
 nor dangerous one, nor mlsons
 The Legislature could cover ,ls
 honor, and reap the blessings ol %
 nate and the praises of all good l,''. Fl
 ing out every vestige of the olu
 It would be the last, best act uno',
 ent constitution, and an epoch III
 of civilization.
 \ lad on delivering milk a ,e@
 ago, in Philadelphia, was askeu .dri S
 so warm:SI don'tknow," he repli.p ..a
 simplicity, sunless they put III "
 instead of cold. }