The Nevada Democrat., 1858-12-22
Tn. present Attachment Law.

law, and fondly believed It could not be chang
ed for the worse; in that we were mistaken. A
law which, however Objectionable, secures hon.
est and just liabilities, is better than no law at
all. Wh>n the bulk Of our credit business shall
fall within the legal operation OF the last win
ter's enactment. its real character will be more
sensibly appreciated.
The Legislature doubtless repealed the old
aud aud formed the present enactment under
the mistaken belief that statute to hinder and
delay creditors would benefit the poor, and
there are in this as in all other countries, wise
acres who gravely urge that any measure which
will diminish credit benefits the country. Such
economists must be blind to the pecularities OF
this State; to the fact that our seasons make
one half of the year debtor to the other half /;
that the distance between our markets compels
credit upon the part Of either the producer
or the consumer. They can but see that credit
s the very life of the enterprising but poor
emigration that each successive year brings to
our shores. Men whose energy, honesty, and
lives our capitalists must insure by their cred
it, or they would starve before they could pro-
duce q dollar. Those who would impair this
confidence between labor and capital are the
real enemies Of the poor man. Credit 10 the
day of grace which labor claims from wealth ;
it is the use of the rich mans money while the
miner delves for his own at the end Of the tun-
mel or the bottom of the shaft; 1t is his capital
while he waits the winter rains, or watches the
fall of the rivers. Wealth requires no such
grace; it needs to insure no lives, trust no hon.
esty, credit no chances But the man whose
fortune is in his own exertions and the future
requires them all, and their use is credit. The
system which places the resources of wealth
most fully and beneHcially at the command OF
industry, is security; that security which ena-
bles the creditor, readily and surely, to recall
his capital. The more difficult the collection of
money, the more wary and cautious becomes
its owner; the greater the risk the more oner-
Gus the condition, until the prudent capitalist
withdraws, and leaves unaided labor at the
mercy of sharpers who condition their bond for
the pound OF flesh. This must always bs the
effect of those laws which shield the debtor at
the creditors expense; the obligations of honor
weigh nothing against even temporary embar-
rassment, and the party fully able to pay is fire.
quently induced to make fraudulent assignment
when the door to fraud is thus temptngly Of
fered by statute. One lesson of this kind from
q knave, closes the door against a dozen hon.
est men. and credit as q system must soon en-
tircly cease.
Upon the other hand, what docs the debtor
gain by this change in the law; what compen-
safes him for his lost credit. In almost every
instance Judgment can be obtained in less than
three months from the commencement of an
action; execution issues, and the property is
sold at the same time it would have been had it
been attached at the FIRST. The only difference
s, that the debtor uuder the present law has
the control OF the property during these three
months and the opportunity Of cheating bis
creditors by fraudulent transfer. The former
law may have been severe upon an embarrassed
debtor, but the present enactment is merely
Legislative premium upon fraud
That law can be framed in which the OBJ
noxious features of both these enactments may
be obviated, we make no doubt one in which
the creditor can be secured without running
q solvent debtor Let for instance, the 6rst at
tachment hold all the property levied upon for
the benefit of all bona ide creditors at the time
of such attachment let the suit proceed to
judgment, and if within three months from the
attachment the debtor does not satisfy the same
let all holding accounts against him, present
aud prove the same as in the settlement of an
insolvent estate, and then let pro rata dlstri-
button be made OF the assets between the cred
itors whose claims are established. The three
months thus given will enable the debtor to
satisfy the first judgment il be can ever do so,
aud allowing creditors to thus present and
prove their claims with the Court acquiring
fret jurisdic tion as commissioner or assignee
to determine the debts and distribute the assets
would preserve to the creditors the heavy per-
oentage OF the estates now consumed In fees and
Court charges. Under law of this character,
the creditor would be more disposed to assist
his struggling debtor than now nor would he
pounce on him like vulture, upon the first
symptoms of weakness nor as now, would the
most greedy and voracious creditor, with the
Sherlfs and CLERKS, consume tne wnole OF the
debtor's estate--while later comers, with per-
haps more equitable claims, find the property
upon which they relied as security. swallowed
upip exorbitant charges aud ruinous legal pro.
ceedings. That such medium course can be
found, in which creditors may be secured with
out running debtors. we make no doubt. We
regard the old law as unjust aud oppressive,
but consider the substitution of the present in
judiciOus and uncalled for, and calculated to
affect injuriously, every industrial interest
throughout the State, and particularly the la
boring classes. We trust the coming Legisla-
ture will give this important question a careful
consideration, aud remedy in some way, the
present evils.