The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-02-01
Practical Legislation = The Bankruptcy
RIlI.

BIlIs
From he Times.
certain amount of optimism is as essential in
politics as in the common ethics OF everyday life.
The evils and annoyances of the present hour
are incidental and transitory; the good we hope
for, though unseen and underlined is sure, and
will be enduring. -
Prolonged debates about reconstruction, and
he seemingly interminable manufacture of con.
stitutional amendments, may therefore be sub
mitted to patiently, if not with indifference.
After theorizng will come practice. Beyond
fathomlees ocean of words lies a solid land of
work. The era of discussion ended we may
confidently expect reign of action, and the
adjustment of matters into which partissnship
does not properly enter,
The revision of the revenue system cannot be
long delayed, now that the report of the special
commission has been presented to Congress
The careful consideration and Encouragement o
our fiscal burdens is task to which the states.
manship of either House will not be more tina
equal. 1t is labor to be performed concur
rently with the adoption OF judicous fnancia
measures, which will be hindered or helped by
the m amer of its performance
When this legislation shall have been accom-
Dlished, another question closely affecting the
interests of trade and the well-being of the
country will challenge attention. Scattered
through the commercial world are snags and
wrecks which should be cleared away, If we
would give to our people fair Olay in the arduous
career that is before them. Acknowledging the
necessity of so arranging internal taxes that
labor and capital shall have the freest possible
scope, let IL not be forgotten that both continue
to suffer from the consequence IS of former inan-
Cial disasters. There are tens of thousands OF
honest men whose energies are crippled aud
whose usefulness is impaired by legal inability
to escape from the results of bygone misfortune.
Whether these embarrassments have proceeded
from business inaputude or want of fair b1si-
ness strength, or from the crash which shook
the land In 1857, and again in 1860, is really OF
minor Importance. The great fact is indisputa.
BILE. And the only method of averting the en-
barrassment it produces, and destroying the evil
of which it is the cause is the enactment of a
judiCious bankruptcy law. .,,,.
The business community of this country are
not generally chargeable with short-sighted sell
fshness. They discern their true interest with
more readiness than most people, and their
keenness is usually tinged with an honorable
liberalty. The majority OF them are rarely un-
willing to make due allowance for misfortune,
andEarrange with their debtors on a basis of
mutual sacrifice. To this general feature may
in some degree be attributed the elasticity which
is associated with the prevalent idea of the Ame-
rican business character Down to-day, the
American is resolved to be up to morrow. Alum
BILE does not impress him as otherwise than tenn
porary. He sees in misfortune an incentive to
renewed eXertion; in difficulty motive to
bolder effort and more ambitious aim. Hence,
commercial panics and crises are less terrible to
us than to any other people under the sun. We
emerge from them with a spirit unimpaired,
with hore undlmmed, and with faculty for
adapting ourselves to circumstances, which is
one of the secrets OF our marvellous progress
and prosperity. ..........
But the breed of Shylock has multiplied in the
land, and now thwarts the liberal purposes of
the business majority. An unfortunate trader
who proposes honestly to settle with his credit
ors by giving up all he has, and asks in return
f1rIhar liability nffan
finds his plan frustrated by the greed and obSt-
macy OF come individual, who resists compromise
under an expectation Of thereby securing his
full claim. There are merchants to whom this
course is q settled rule of trade. They never
release debtor except on his payment of every
dollar in full. The willingness of other creditors
to accept part in full settlement of the whole
has no influence upon them. They stand upon
the bond and demand the pound of flesh. What
the effect may be upon the condition and future
of the debtor is of no concern to them. Whether
their obduTacy operate as perpetual impedi-
merit to his resumption of business, in their
judgment matters not They will keep the
screw upon him continually, although the effect
be to ruin him utterly, and render his business
salvation virtually impossible.
How this state of things operates, every man
knows. There is hardly one among us who
cannot place his finger upon cases which illus
trate the mischief and cruelty occasoned by the
inability OF bankrupt traders to escape from a
long-borne load of misfortune. On all sides
business persons may be seen whose integrity is
untarnished, whose qualifications are excellent,
and whose willingness to work none can gain
say, but who are nevertheless debarred from the
use of their opportunities by the constant pres
sure of an old Indebtedness. What follows? In
too many cases an evasion of legal liability most
detrimental to commercial morals. ShyloCk is
Circumvented, and trickery becomes part OF
trace. Business is carried on under false but
speclous preteXts. They who cannot buy and
sell under their own names, do both under the
names of others. Property which rlghttullY
belongs to creditors is transferred to relatives.
Thus the moral force OF business obligations IS
weakened, the standard OF business integrity Is
impaired, and blow is inflicted upon the con.
idence which should subsist between man and
man. And for much of this mischief Shylock is
unquestonably responsible.
The insuthclency of State legislation is not
less obvious. To the extent that ii is operative,
ii is of course useful; but being limited in Its
application, and lacking in uniformity, it is not
suited to the wants OF the time. Only the
action of Congress can dispose of an evil which
is of national magnitude, and provide means oil
relief which shall be national in their operation
The constitutional right OF Congress to legis
late on the subject may be taken for granted
The sturdiest stickler for 'strict constitution
will find 1t difficult to persuade the country thai
power which has already at different time:
been exercised, and which the Supreme Cour
has pronounced constitutional, should now b,
regulated by any other consideration than eXpe
diency. Ands the eXpedlency OF a bankruptcl
law appears TO us as evident as that OF a law re
gulatilg the national currencyiSor determlnin
"the obligation of contracts" upon citizens O
the several States. Instead OF treating it a
exceptional, and limited in its duration to a spt
cial set OF circumstances, we would have 1t pei
manent and universal as commerce itself.
can hardly be more necessary at all times
provide for the enforcement OF contracts than
provide for the adjustment OF the relations {
debtor and creditor, irrespective OF the pecula
causes of disaster which al this moment rende
1t of urgent Importance.