Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1847-08-25
From the Evening Mirror

IC ooU''tut " commerce is lHe OnIV
paper IN this city that represents solely the
interests of the mercantile community, and
its opinions on all subjects connected with
commerce may be regarded as in some de-
gree as the opponents of the feelings of the
trading part of the community. 1t gives us
great pleasure, therefore to find an ably
written and well considered article in that
influential paper, in favor, of abolishing the
nclarious laws, miscaled for the collection
of debts, which only serve to feed pettfog-
ging lawyers, and put TO- or $4,000 dollars
per annum into the pockets of the sheriff;
our debtor and creditor laws delude the
creditor with the promise Of protection,an
lead him to the expenditure of money in
the hope OF collecting debt, while they OPP
press the debtor, prevent him from rctricv-
ing his losses and almost compel him to
acts of fraud, by depriving him of the means
OF existence. These laws are destructive
OF all honorable feelings on the part of the
creditor. 1t is but a few days since, that a
merchant of this city was driven to suicide
by the effect of these laws. Such cases
are OF very frequent occurrence, and will
continue to be while the law gives the cred
ltor power to Cypress, disgrace, and ruin
his unfortunate debtor. They partially aud
necessarily destroy the law of honor and
personal responsibility. Old merchants
very rarely resort to the law to aid them in
collecting debt. They know how expcn-
slve such a process is, and that the law
protects the rogue in his villainy, while il
destroys the energy of the honest but un-
fortunate debtor. The law for the direct
Imprisonment for debt has been abolished
to a certain extent i'll this state, but still it
allows a man to be imprisoned forever for
an attorneys bill of cost. The whole sys.
TEN Of law for the adjustment of private pc
cuniary obligations requires thorough re-
vision, or rather an entire adjustment. 1t
is amazing that in a mercantile community
like this, such an oppressive and demoral-
zing code of laws should be allowed to ex-
ist fol a single day. The spread of sound
feeling on this subject is much wider and
more promising than many people suppose.
We discover every day favorable symp-
tom among different classes of citizens and
in different sections of the country, which
give us hope that the people are taking a
just view Of this important subject. So far
as our own experience extends among the
mercantile classes, there is a very general
feeling among the intelligent part of our mer-
chants, that credit would be better, losses
smaller, and the principle of honor more cl-
evated, if all laws for the collection of debts
were abolished, and all pecuniary obliga-
tons were made debts of honor But it is
time that we gave the forcible remarks of
the Journal of Commerce.
Zone of the most common shapes which
the repeal of lawslor the collection of debts
takes, is the exemption Of certain amounts
or kinds of property from liability for debts.
A mechanics tools are exempted; GER
tain quantity of furniture; or, as lately in
Connecticut,a house and land, within GER
tain value.
In regard to persons whose whole proper
~ consists in articles exempted, there is
therefore no lar for the collection of debts.
Though the repeats alluded TO have been
brought about under mistaken notions, we
think they have improved the state of soci-
ETY.. The credit which a man could once
obtain upon the pledge of his body after ey-
erything else was gone, was generally used
in the purchase of intoxicating drinks or
other useless articles, and certainly the pow
er of man to mortgage the bodies of his
wife and children could only exist where
personal rights were unknown tits better, !
generally, when a mechanic has nothing