Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1847-01-20

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But under the present stare fd thfnrs III
are trusted, and much n M n cred
doubtless. is given, When aihe prospect 8
pay is small and uncerta:n; to ayUidl loo se.
\ upon which, high prices are putupon good
in order 10 make him whe buys goods ant
pays for them, also pay the losses the me.
chant suffers on account Of bad debts imprt
DENLY contracted. fundamental lawlike
the ons now under consideration, would
not entirely. as the gentleman ina gines AN,
initiate credit but II would no doub, an.
Inihiiaie that spurious, indiscrimina,ing spe.
cies oil credit that is readily granted 10 the
spendthrlit and the loafer who. never de.
size any property or means TO be sheltered
by The exemption, Us 10 the industrious in
dividUal; yet TO the same extent that it en-
abled the fn,mer to obtain credit and ac.
con1modalion, it would exhaust the mean.
and the substance of the honest, promp!
tpaying debtor by making him pay lin The
shape OF high pricesl the losses occasoned
by accommodating the prodigal. Again,
we shall cease to see men who have small
comiortable homes, opening accounts al
our shops, offices and our stores for the pur
poses of contracting useless deb.s unneces-
sarily; and while in that situation, with cur
deb:s hanging over them, they dare no, leave
our shops, &C., when they are already
greatly in arrears; and when they dare nei
Their object to the quality of the goods of
Tered to them nor 10 The price charged 10
Them. II has been truly said that che that
once owes more than he can pay is often
obliged to bride his creditor to patience by
increasing his debt, worse and worse com
modites Of higher and higher prices, a,e
forced upen him: he is Impoverished BY
compulsive traffic, and at last overwhelmed
in the common spcc,acles of misery, by
debts which without his own consen, were
accumulated upon his own hand
Remove mans dependence and you re
move in great measure The inducements
10 dishonesty; but reduce him to penury
and want,and still continue TO Cypress him,
and you, invite him TO commit fraud, kna-
very,and every Other species Of robbery or
dishonesty TO sustain himself. Make your
laws search the poor mars gtanafy, his
closet and his bed room, TO s,,isfy is exc
cution, and you teach him TO hide their con
tents: and sir the people know this full
well. 20 sd tQ # @" o51
We are told that the section exempiing
real estate from forced sale does NOT GO ial
enough, that the exemption soul be CON-
pleie from all liabilities r,and that
the owner should not be permitted to morl
gage in any case. Sir,m this differ with
gentlemen: the right to mortgage, 10 my
opinion is bu, Just. Many cases may arise
where it would be bat just and proper for
the owner to use his small home as his car
i.al, to assist him in business, and in such
cases ! am willing to let him he his own
Judge; If you do not give him The right 10
mortgage. you compel HIM in case Of ne
cessi,yI TO make temporary sale Of the
homestead. You by this make the loss Of
his his place more probable than in case OF
a mortgage. i@~# sha
In relation to exemp,ing from oil Iiabili-
ties whatever, criminal as well as civil, you
take away one oil the great restraints of
crime, in fact it nigh, with much propricty
be said you offer an inducement to commit
crime Again,we should consider the rel
alive position and situation of parties. -Ex-
anime our criminal dock ct from one side
Of Wisconsin in to the other and you will
find that much the largest number Of con-
vict;ons have been Of persons who never
had nor never will have any properly TO OK
empt. That but few, yes very few indeed,
that are owners Of one thousand dollars
worth Of property are found gilty Of often
ces against the law. While on the other
hand if our object is charity and The inter-
est OF the poor man, we must also look we'll
10 the other side Of The picture and see
what class is mos: usually the victims Of
crime. Is il the rich or the poor that suffer
most from the commission Of crime? Iun
der,ake to say that nine cases in ten the
poor man is selected by the criminal as his
victim. Will this convention say that the
villain may with impunily burn his poor in
d'gent neighbours house or barn, that he
may seal hsshorse, o. kill his last COW, land
when the judgment Of the law SAYS he shall
make good the poor mans loss he shall
then be permitted to shetk behind an ex-
emplion TO avoid the liability, and thus re
duce bis victim to pauperism! | should
hope not. Liabilities for crime, are very un
like civil liabilities; civil liability is the
result, the discretion, conclusion and as.
of crime the unfortunate victim is not con-
suited; he has no notice or warning of his
danger, consequently his remedy should be
complete and 10 the full extent ofthe means
Of the criminal. Blu, in the case of civil
deb. the creditor has ample notice Of The.
ability of his debtor when he trusts him,
aud cannot claim 10 credit him on account
of his property that is not liable TO execu-'
ton, and should always be satisfied with the
same rights o collect under that which ex-
listed when the debt was contracted. In
drawing the, section designed 10 make il
a complete exemption in all cases OF civil
liability, but sir, did not design 10 give,
The criminal the advantage Of such provis
ion. 60 for restraining crime and not 10
wiling IT, as4iz Cd l@ ss
Now Mr.. President, where are the great
evils that are 10 grow out OF the provisions
contained In this celebrated articIea They
arc no, 10 be found, they are imaginary,
they are ghosts, such as scare childlen in
the dark.
Sir. it is said that this is new, novel,
and dangerous doctrine that we are about 10
engrafr into the Constitution; that il is anti |
democratic Is that true? Is it true that
doctrine that pulls down aris,ocracy and
rease up equal rights, doctrine that re-
moves entirely the dependence of the poor
t,t,on the rirh IL af4ii-demacratics Not ac-