Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-03-31
Impr,sonment for Debt In Paris.

The Paris correspondents rs0f athe New
Orleans Delta writes as follows in a late
\ letter:
IL the damn walls of Clichy could speak,
many tale of suffering, inflicted by man
upon his unhappy fellowman, might they re-
! count, 70 the wonder Of shuddering listeners
! A charity balllwh recently given in Paris,
| for the purpose of aiding the poor wretches
confined in Clichy, and, at meeting Of the
committee appointed to distribute the pro-
ceeds some particulars were brought TO light,
which, for the first time, perhaps, enable the
| public to obtain glimpse Of the terrible
truth. do not know for how small q debt
men may be consigned to prison, in France,
but do know that many miserable men and
,comen are, at this moment, shut up in Clichy,
! for sums not originally exceeding one
hundred francs, or less than twenty dollars.
| There is no better way of affording your
readers an opportunity to judge ofthe matter
for themselves, than by mentioning few of
| the perfectly authentic cases brought before
the attention of the gentlemen charged with
the application of about thousand dollars,
derived from this charity ball, whose object
was, as above stated, the relief of unfortunate
debtors. .
D. is a stone-cutter incarcerated in Deem
Der last, for q debt of $50 francs. He is
known as an honest workman, and a good
husband and father. He has four children
the eldest only eleven years old, all now de-
pendent upon the precarious labor of their
mother. The committee allowed this man
one hundred francs,
b. is a laborious and well-conducted jour
neyman matchmaker, imprisoned for the
last three months, for a debt of 2l5 francs,
the price of q watch for which he became
responsible. He has a child, whose mother
is without work.
", a journeyman tailor, has been in prison
since january IL, for a debt of 200 francs.
He has five children, the eldest aged fifteen
years, the youngest two months. These poor
divide with their father his meager allowance
of food.
Twas the owner of small steam saw-mill.
The explosion of boher wounded him and
prevented him from pursuing his calling
during several months. He is imprisoned for
500 francs worth of coal. This unfortunate
man has father and mother, both sexage-
narians, a sick wife and two children, all of
whom depended on him for support and are
now reduced to extreme misery.
l select these examples at random among n
large number. In each instance the debt
mentioned is the original sum, but now
doubled, tripled or .quadrupled; by legal
processes and legal harpies. Nearly every
one of the applications made to the committee
by these wretched men, was prayer, not
for themselves, but for their starving fam
lilies, though the prison of Clichy is not by
any means an inviting establishment, and no
one there probably cares to remain, if he
could get away. The abnegation of those
who silently suffer from cold and hunger,
beseeching the charitable to succor their
wives and little ones, proves that they
doubly deserve commiseration. Why should
this system of imprisoning men, guilty of no
crime, but made to atone oftentimes for the
crimes of others beyond the reach of punish
ment be tolerated in Christian land2
Nearly all our own States have abolished
this remnant of barbarism, bequeathed to
them and fastened upon their early statue
book by Great Britain. The work of true
equity must soon be accomplished in
America, and the stain of the debtors prison
be obliterated forever from the soil Of the
Great Republic. Why do France and En-
gland, the boasted conservators of human
rights, the Vaunted leaders of civilization
why do they cling TO the reprehensible and
shortsighted system of tying stone to the
drowning mans neck?