, 1861-12-20
CIR Gtibtt1te.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 90, 1851.

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 90, 1851.
TEE PROPOSED RANKRUPTL Law.
The practice Of most civilized nations is
their testimony in favor Of the necessity
and Justice Of General Bankrupt Law.
That our country has not enjoyed the ben
eft of such statute. save for brief peri
cd which followed the commercial disasters
Of 1887, is due not 20 much perhaps to the
opinion Of our people adverse to such en-
actme1ts, as 10 the partial and incomplete
relief which insolvents hare found under
State laws, and to the rapidity with which
that class Of unfortunatcs have usually re-
trieEed their commercial mishaps. Butitis
mquestionab1y truathat Of a1 the people in
Christendom, Wea1e those who have most t
frequent occasion to invoke that debtrex- |
punging process which all bankrupt 1awsare
invented to 1egalize, In this country where |
thegains Of commerce are unusually large,
where material wealth is so universally
distributed, and where no monopolies op-
press the many for the benefit Of the few,
bankruptcies are fearfully frequent and the
uncertainty Of all commercial operations is
notorious and proserbial The reason is
not in the prodigality Of our people, nor in
their want Of commercial experience and
knowledge; but in that III -contriVed and ru-
inous banking system which is not ridiculous
and fareical only because it has such unlim-
tied potency for mischief Probably nine
tenths Of the bankruptcies in the United
States are directly tracesble to it, Indeed,
when we'see what that system is-how it
makes money plenty and initiates prices to-
day by the floods of paper which it pours
out from sixteen hundred rag-mills, each
competing with the others, and all without
any regulation OF control-how it
stimulates speculation and over-1ading just
at the time when the break" should be put
on, and how, at the moment that the
debtors, deluded By the fictitious values
which it has created, need relief, its whole
strength is necessarily put forth to save
itself from ruin-when we see these things
repeated again and again, each time with
new aggTavations and more serious losses,
We need only wonder that any business
man escapes Few do. OF the mer-
chants doing business in our cities, very
large majority have. at one time or another,
been compelled to suspend-to get exten-
sion upon extension-to compromise:
other words, to fail The ordeal is almost
universal; and the iniquitous paper money
system is The pregnant cause.
We have long been Of the opinion that
any nation which permits its sovereign
coming money and issuing
bills of credit to circulate as money-tt
he invaded as that prerogadve Is iuTa
ded in our country-which giSes uI
the entire business Of the people to thu
hazards and losses which any tanlpering
with the coin OF the nation, or that which
supplies the place Of coin in the transac
tons Of commerce-is mainly responsible
for the consequences, and that it Is boune
by every obligation Of honor and honest,
to- giye them relief, by its Legislation, from
the eYils which it's own carelcssness AMI
imprudence bring upon them. Henc
we regard General Bankrupt Law
not only as present and perpetual necez
sity, but an act Of simple justice to th
debtor, which the sovereignty canno'
ough. not, to postpone.
We have seen only the abstract Of th
law lately reported to Congress, by Ii
committee to which it was intrusted, an
cannot Judge Of the wisdom or safety Of il
provisions; but we gather enoug
Of its general plan and scor
to see tlat it was dyised by me
who believe that the sponging proce:
should be thorough and complete-th;
not only the simply unfortunate, but tt
prodiga1 and the reckless, the sharper an
the adyenture1-may be put through th
g e As hoBf5 oFYHa agd de s9no1 1t @1 The aT HFre
it stands, seems to have been devised #
those whom debt has overwhelmed, viii
cut regard TO the manner in which del
was contracted. The rascal who, Wit
the opportunity to lay the groun
work Of competency, frittered away h
chances in riotous living; the swindlt
who, by Misrepresentation Which amour
TO stealing, has fooled away other men
money, and in the security Of conscios
rascality, now bids lis creditors defiance
these arc all embraced in the plan
relief which should be extended onl
to those whom the hazards
trade conducted with honesty and com1nc
prudence have Frustrated The Ensliz
law ought here to have been the model f
Imitation. That divides debtors into th1'
classes, by the result Of Judicial inqui1.
and as they are classified, their moral stat
as business men is indubitably fixed, al
the opportunities Of the fagrantly disho
est for future mischief, are narrowed dou
to point which they rarely can overlea1
Again, The manner Of the appointing
. Of the Ass1gnees in Bankruptcy leaves t
door open to unlimited fraud and abu
The Assignee should be public officer u
der the laH, and. if possible, q man Of su
integrity and skill that his action will neE
te questioned; he should be under hea
bonds for the proper performance Of
duty, and the penalties for maIfeasar
should be fully proportioned to the gr'
magnitude Of his trusts.
Once more: The matter Of costs
been overlooked In England, the fees
bankruptcy Invariably cat up small esta
in the Commissioners Courts, leaving |
creditor no dividend whatever. In
draft for a Law before us, these fees
gauged by the ordinary cost Of proccedi
in the United States District Courts. :
need not say that fees so taxed will be
necessarily Oppressive; nor that Il
should be so materially reduced as to N
the expectations Of small creditors and
requirements Of the multitude Of 81
properties upon which the Courts win
judicate under the provisions Of the act
The law is evidently temporary and
intended. We have said that it should
perpetual, framed not as make-shif'
to-day, but IS statute which subsequ
legislatures will be indisposed to rep
rs long as NC hare sixteen hundred bal
to disturb the normal operations of CT
merce, and rob patient industry of
: fruits, so long viii Bankrupt Law
necessity. That act OF 1912 fai
only hore1,ea II ,rae 1,oc+;],- ,ooooo+aa .