New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-08-30

money or sell UleTchhDdlsc 10 prrtohs applying iVf
,uch accommoc alton, We viii furnish yog with the
means 60. mefel, Of spoliug their sccdsto the eI-
.r,mty. bat al,o Of torturiDg then bodies, snd
outing them to SLOW and di.graceful death, If
they don's pay you AID i. va, thought that this
VS. eo-,d Tor trsGe-to make II easy for ssnguine
Defrb, Il cottisct cess. ~ putting these terrible
p0wers in the hands Of the creditors. And The a.
ten ots to ni, gate this system. On both sides oil
TIE Atlantic hs's been resisted on the ground that
ire change ucud smount TO q Withdrawal OF tue
help the Stat. was bound to give it's subjects for
tie enforce nent of contracts, and weakening
Of tie sal, guards Of property. 1t may be well
doubted whether, setting ASIDE the humane a.
pect. Of the que,iion, these laws for the torment
ing If debtors INTO psymeat, have lot occasoned
much more loss than they have hindered.
The Lord Chief Barons suggestion only looked
% the leaving Of transactions below certain mod
erate smouot TO the prudence Of tue creditor and
the honesty Of the debtor But if the principle be
GOOD for small sum- there seems to DO 10 logical
reason why it is not equally good for large ones
TIE lender or the seller ia much oftener to blame
for his bsd debts than the borrower or the buyer
10 the hea. OF the competitions Of trade in prosper
Gus timer a cuttoner is almost run down ard CON-
PEELED to take goods on bis O9n terms. His case
was almost as bad, three years ago, as that OF tie
unfortunate man ia the last days whom seven wo.
men shall seize Oh at once and insist upon marrying
out Of hand. And it is the idea that there IS
lee al process provided, by which payment can be
compeled that helps 70 bliRd the eyes of the seller
TO the risk be is running. He hopes thst he Will
be able 10 be in advance Of his feloysufereEs and
get bis CLAIM satisfied whatever may become OF
theirs, and 50 runs for luck, thinking any
thing better than to have his goods lett
on bis shelves and his accounts of ssis
lees than his neighbors'. Had he known origin
ally that ne mad nothing 10 depend upon but the
efficiency AID the honesty Of the Ouyer, he
would have bad much lees faith in either, without
tie sisht of some evidence Of one or the other
TIE effect Of such suggestion as taat oil Sir
Frederick Pollock's, if organized into law, would
be 10 make cash transactions the rule, insteld OF
being the exception, as they are now. Credits
would then really deserve the name for they would
be tie re.ult of well grounded faith, ARISING from
accurate information of the CT cumstances OF the
per.on Who asks for moneys worth without money.
They would not be the mere counters Of de'pe-
rate asmbng game in which the greatest adventu-
rers must finally rise with great, if not ru'nOus
los,es.
Such legal rev iution would not tend to destroy
credit. but to establish it on its true foundation.
Tod TAFT ms
and trust in mutual honesty. This derives no help
from the offered arm Of the law. What debts arc
the surest to be paid' Gambling debts, Of course.
And why Because they are debts OF honor,
for the recovery of which no action lies. Quack
doctors derive a great advantage from being put
out Of the pale OF the law, which authorizes them
TO denapd cash as the boss of their transactions
In England, neither barristers nor physicians have
apy remedy for theit fees. These are regarded az
ouidda,n honora,iun not to be regulated by law,
and the consequence is they are paid In gold 1T the
time thu service is rendered Honor among
thieves, is proverbiaI characteristic, and
this furacious equity rests on the same
element of human nature which bids man
Dot TO dsappoint a reasonable expectation he
has excited, especially when there is no power
sufficient 10 compel BIN. Sir Frederick POllOcks
theory if applied to a, debts, excepting those SO
cured by pledge of property or the Enforcement of
responsible PAL ties, would make all debt debts of
honor and call in this same principle to protect
them that gamblers and thieves now enjoy. There
could be no injury done to true credit, it would only
deal blow al that spurious credit which has
caused such vast losses from the competition Of rival
traders. 1t would strengthen the genuine article
by ruling out Of the market the base counterfeit,
which cheats men Of their goods and gives them
less than nothing in return.
We have been told that when the Yankees frat
went TO Manila and opened the trade with that
region Of the world, the native merchants knew OF
no ouch thing as paper obligations. All transactions
were on honor, aud they were invariably honor
ably performed. Datiyc merchant would pur
chase cargo Of goods, worth many hundreds Of
thousands Of dollars, promising to pay the price
agreed upon at such time. There were no wit
nesses, no papers, all perfectly friendly AMI gem
tlemanlike transaction. And at the time appointed
the money was as sure to be forthcoming as
the sun to rise. And the foreign merchant
would pay over to the native hundreds Of
Thousands of pillar dollars in the same wsy,
to be replaced, at given time, by their equivalent
in goods, which was always done. But the Y,n-
KEGS did not like this way Of doing business. They
wanted bills receivable TO enter in their books, and
they Insisted on introducing the system of Pspsr
obligations into the trade of Manila. And the con.
sequence was that thess worthy heathens, whose
word used to be better than their bond, became As
tricky and sharp in their dealings {" .heir teachers.
They conceived the idea that they nad parted with