Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1857-1858, 1858-01-18
A Case Of Hardship.

Our local column of Yesterday evening re-
ported the arrest of Mr.. A. s. Perkins, OF TINS
city, on the charge of having embezzled SooOo,
the proceeds of ninety bales of cotton. Brought
before Recorder Stith, of the First District ne
was sent to prison to await an examlnat,on
on the goth inst. As related to us by lnteiii-
gent merchants, who appear to be ia,nli'ar
with the facts, the transactions which leo 70
| this prosecution present case IN wnicn IL
| would seem scarcely possible that so narsh
proceeding could be taken. If such facts as
we are about to state justify crnlpai
prosecution, and imply the guilt OF emoez
! element, the information, we suspect, WIN
| produce no little establishment, apo perhaps
| CONSERVATION, in our cominerclal clrc'es.
Mr.. Perkins is partner in the cotton house
| in this CITY of Perkins, Bowen IL Co., and Is
also partner in a house in Memphis, entitled
Bowen, Delopg 81 Co. These houses haVe
| bean doing an extensive cotton business to-
gether. The house in Memphis bought ana
shipped cotton to the house In New orleans,
paving for it by drawing bills upon the iatter
| bouse The bills covering the $4,000 IL
ouestion were sold, we have been informed
| on the streets of Memphis, and passed into
| the hands of Mr. kirkland, who sent them
to. Henry Conner, Jr., of this city, for coliec-
| ton. Before presentation, however,sFerElns,
Brown &Co., having exhausted their available
funds in taking up others and prior liabilities,
were in a state of temporary suspension: Con-
sequently the bills were protested. 1t was
then that Mr.. Perkins, partner IN the mouse,
was proceeded against criminally, as above
set forth.
If these facts be true, it is impossible to con-
ceive how the holders of the bills we have
mentioned can stand in any other relation to
Mr.. Perkins, or the firm of which he Is
member, than an ordinary creditor. Could
the specific cotton against which the bills
were drawn be identified, and had the bills
been drawn by planter or other person COW
ering an actual balance in the hands of
factor arising from the sale of cotton con-
signed, case for prosecution under a special
salute of this State might be exhibited. But
in the case under consideration an ordinary
debtor seems TO be pursued as a criminal by
an ordinary creditor, and dragged before an
investigating magistrate, is sent to prison for
fifteen days 20 await an examination. by
slight mischaDce or miscalculation there are
few merchants doing similar business, but
might be thrown into the same category with
Mr.. Perkins. What are they to expect, if
our courts or laws recognize the Slylock doc
trine, that the forfeit of every unpaid bill is
to be "pound of flesh" or what amounts to
the same thing, the inflction of corporal
pain and Inconvenience We have no undue
sympathy for pecuniary delinquents, but we
do cordially loathe and detest the policy that
would exalt a harsh and heartless creditor
into q cruel tyrant or revengful harpy.
We understand that second affidavit was
made by the prosecutor yesterday, and that
afterwards the First District Court admitted
Mr.. Perkins to bail in the sum of $685.
We are thus far ignorant of the contents of
the affidavit. If the facts stated In it, and
subsequently developed in the examination or
trial, materially vary from those which we
have sketched, of course our structures should
be modified accordingly.-NeD Orleans Delta,
january 9Th.