New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-04-19
ITomcstcnd~ and Debts.


If that second section If the Homestead TX
cmption Act which requires q special regis
try AT the County Clerk, Office # any and
every Homestead which l. intended to be
held subject to the Exemption. It says:
The Tribune should consider tina; ihere may be-
hare ships Oh both sides OF this xempton question
S1pp s. a simple and Impr0vidcnt day abIrcr-
sn l,isiman or a German. It the reader p.cases-
iust arrived 1 his couu,ry-t.s tie garden or aids
20 bad the house of n man with snug thousand
dollar homestead. who takes into his head the
amusing and not altogether unprecedented wblm
that he will cheat the POOR 7rkman out OF his Wa
ees Does humanity require that al the e-al adj
vantage should De on the side OF the comparatively
rich debtor while the simple AMI homeless cred
itor goes without bread We opire not
The Exemption Of tie Homestead j, night -
Nevertheless, a law which protects property from
the claims OF creditors should be- well guarded
against fraud. The presumption OF law and com
lnOu seHsc is that mans property IS liable Tor his
4st debts and IL is no hardship when he desires t.
avail himself Of q law which rebuts this presump-
ton that he should take the trouble to Tile not %
in the County Clerks Office To do 50 vii be
beneficial to himself and convenience to his
neghbors
1nsco-Eycry humane law i, liable to
abuse The General Bankrupt Law clearly
wa, So, Yet the principle Of that law was
sound and humane Tens Of thousands are
now active and useful citizen, who would
have been held forever in useless despair if
NJ such law bad been passed The honest
and energetic will pay their debts in spite OF
the discharge in bankruptcy, because thes
can hut for this. they never could have done
it. The lazy and dishonest will not pay, and
would not have paid any how. And Yet many
act, Of injustice and villany were committed
under the shelter Of that law.
The American comedies in words that
Homestead Exemption is right, yet the
whole drift of it, argument tends the other
way The poor day-laborer will be most
unlikely TO 20 to the County Clerks Office
and ascertain whether the Homestead Of the
man who offers to hire him is entered for
Exemption or not Repeal this second sec
ton. and every man will know what to ex-
pect, hut so long as this exists there will Ice
temptation 10 falsehocl and fraud. Men
will obtain credit on the strength Of their
homes giving an assurance that they are
not exempted when they are; or will run in
debt while they can give the assurance tru-
", and then dodge of and get their houses
and lands entered on the Exemption Book.
1.-The presumption Of law. and common
sense is not that " mans propertyis liable
for his Just debt>"-on the contrary, the
law prescribcs and everybody knows that
certain descriptions Of property are MT so
liable. The question is simply one Of less
or more. When we exempted $3.50 worth
of household stuff. we did not require 1t to
be specially described and enumerated on
the County Clerks books and We should
not have done so now And as TO day-la-
borers, We trust the time is at hand when
more of them will work for themselves and
fewer as the hirelings of Others. We trust
this act will promote that conservation
But this second section of the Homestead
Act must be drawn, ike a bad tooth.