The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-01-10

and then get ca sacd, and take the benefit
of the insolvcnt debtors act, and "hy one
fell swoop"-with an oath-avoid the
payment Of perhaps, half million Of
dollars. You punish men now for com
mission of small and mesue offences, but if
man takes your entire crop, you permit
him TO compromise and go free. In few
years he sets up again, as Il rich factor, gets
thousands of dollars worth of the produce
of the planters in his hand, and fails again,
compromises, or assigns, again-sets up
again i'll business, richer than ever.
There is ono peculiar feature in this bill,
and that is. these factors, who commit these
frauds upon the planters, when convicted,
are forever dcbarred from taking the bene-
fit Of the insolvcnt debtors act I, wish the
debt to rest upon them as long as they
live, or until they come forward and account
for the planters money. If you say to
them, you shall never be discharged from
that debt, the temptation of making as
signments, or compromises, is taken away
from them. We find that it has been
fashionable for many factors and me, cl,auts
to fail, of late years; and the reason is,
that it is an easy way for them 10 pay off
their debts by an assignment, or compro-
misses, or, if pushed to the wall, they can
take the benefit Of the insolvent debtors
act, and by one oath be discharged from
all their judgment creditors. There arc
many planters, in my district and the adj
joining districts, who have lost thousands
of dollars from factors and commission
merchants failing to account; and have
no doubt, that in the city of Charleston,
the factors who have failed within the last
three years, have taken more than s5O,-
600 of the money OF our planters, and ap-
propriated it to paying the debts of other
persons, and have never accounted for it.
There are many cases where they have sold
cotton, six and eight months in advance
of an order from the owner to sell, and
when called upon by the owner to sell his
cotton, as it is now bringing a good price,
the reply is, I sold your cotton six months
ago, deposited the money to your credit,
and sent an account of the sales TO you
by mail. The planter replies, have re-
ceived no account of the sale; and tile fac
tor then curses the mails. The planter
thinking that hy holding on to his cotton,
he will get good price, when, to his as
tonishmcnt, his cotton was sold when the
cotton was at the lowest point. No doubt
| this planters cotton was sold to meet the
debt due another planter, for cotton sold
without orders.
Again, under our present laws, it is a
very expensive matter to file a bill i'll equity
against an insolvent man. 1t is very
difficult thing, now. to convict one of fraud,
and the planter who has had his twenty
bales of cotton swallowed up in the fraud,
will not feel authorized to 60 to the trouble
and expense Of a suit in equity for that
amount; and yet tho whole amount in
volved may amount to half million Of
dollars. affecting men in every section Of
the State. But if we have Il law passed
for the purpose Of furnishing factors and
commission merchants, for selling produce
without the consent of the owner, or
frauduently converting it to his own use,
as is now proposed by this I'LL. You will se!-
dom see such failures as we have had for
the last five years. In consequence of
there being no law for furnishing factors
and commission merchants, on the criminal
side Of the court, we find the factorage busi-
ness crowded all over tho State; Charles
ton has now fifteen where she had one be.
fore, They are sending their cards aud
drummors throughout all tho;up country,
soliciting misunderstanding the ignorant
and unsuspecting farmer by the hand, and
inducing him to send his cotton to them
We unsuspoetingly send our cotton to them,
and while we are waiting for a rise in the
market, our cotton is sold to meet the pres
sing demand of some planter, whose cotton !
was sold long before he ordered it and
when We press, they fail, and make an as
signment to preferred creditors, and We
lose our cotton. Factors and merchants, by
borrowing from ono planter to pay another,
may struggle along for some time, but the
crash will come, and the planter has to bear
the brnnt,he is neverthought of as prefer
red creditor. If We lad Stringent law
upon the subject, amend would be- put to
these mushroom factors and commission
merchants, and confidence would be restor.
ed:$ It is absolutely necessary that law
Of this kind should be- passed, and ] am
that when senators come to ,ex.
anime. carefully, eSbiil, they viii spass
it. :, 90 'sSst
: Ihaye thrown ;ont:these few suggestions,
h6niucr to cali the attention ~ die Sanoio.