The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-04-15
CHA r L ESSsTsON5.
MONDAY MORNING. APRIL is, 1867.
ORDER no. 1o-RELrEsF1 70 DEn;TroRs


ORDER NO. 1O-RELIEF TO DEBTORS.
| We publish today, an order, upon the i'm
portancc Of which comment is unnecessary.
| Using the authority with which the re-construc-
ton act invests him, Gen. Sickles has taken
action which will meet with very general
approval.
We attach no blamcto the Legislature for
what was really their inability to act They
were bound by the provisions Of Constitution,
the obligations of which could neither be rejected
! or evadcd, and the Supreme Court of the State,
! when compelled to review their action, was
boun. in its decision by the same positive
.aw. Il 4-e.
L Gen. Sicklcs occupies very different posi-
| iioH. iie has been entrusted with q power
I w;lich'the Constitution Of the State does not
';I.it, and WHICH it is his duty to use iii the iu-
;c7csts Of the people oTcr whom his authority
extends, guided by the principles of justice aud
! equity: The condition in which he finds that
people, is without parallel in their history.
Not only is the amount o. indebtedness be-
yond what has ever occurred but it is utterly
fbeyond their present power Of payment. And
1t is being generally pressed to immediate set
tlement. In many districts, the number of
suits is larger than the voting population, and
q disproportionate share of this number con-
! sst of summary processes indicating that the
| majority Of the debtors are unable to pay debts
I under one hundred dollars, and thus compcll-
| ing the sale of personal effects us well as Of
real property. And this question of debt is
further complicated by the huctuating and un-
certain character Of the currency existing at
tie date, of the contracts upon which these
'Fsuits arc founded, thus making it almost in,
possible to determine their real value and their
| equitable obligation: Nor should it be forgot
ten that this inability to pay IS not the result
Of the want Of good faith, OF. industry, nor Of
The financial embarrassment consequent upon
I lnjudicious trading, but is the direct conse-
! lrcnce Of q great political convulsion.
I Following upon the close Of the war and the
rc-opcnins Of the Courts for the purposes of
suit, there has been a loss Of the provision
crop Or the State which il universally Of dis
4 tress has never been cqualled. It is no cxag-
sesotion y say thac-ln many scct,ons OF the
Slate ,hcrcis imminent danger: Of starvation.
IN ihc whole State there is nothing liko an a,e-
aaate supply Of com for seed and provision,
and It will require ell the energy ana endur-
ancc Of which the planting aud farming com
mun:ty is capable to work through the difficult
| lies Ct the summer to the harvest of another
crop.
Nc arc not stating an imaginary case when
we say, that the working stock Of the farmer
las been seized Under legal process when en-
gagged inEthe very act Of preparing the soil to
| yield food for another year. Nor is it much to
] be wondered at. Universal suing has confused
the valne OF liens. A creditor inclined to be
generous does not know what advantage har-
der creditor may take Of his generosity. Every
thing is uncertain Nobody knows what the
coming Convention will be or what it viii do
| Worse even thsn this, the debtor who resents
the harshness Of the first suing creditor, strives
IN spirit that is certainly unjust, but not IN
natural, TO defeat his claim by q prior confes-
sion, or to protect his property by dubious
conveyance. Men are learning in that spirit Of
false and sophistical subterfuge which misery
always teaches to attempt to discriminate be-
tween the legal and the moral obligation Of a
debt. AS an eminent member of the Bar said
not very long ago in open court, .sMay it please
your Honor, if it be fraudulent in al to settle
this property on his wife as against his credit
ors, then I, and my brethren Of the Bar, have
been very badly employed, for during the last
months much of our practice has consisted in
| making just such settlements" si
And in the midst of such distress, Che State
is called!to go through the most critical Of tri-
als-a complete and radical political revolution.
~
Is population distcmpered and irritated by
such suffering IN that frame of mind which is
fit to legislate? It may, in the opinion Of some
be decorous and dignifed not to recognise dis
agreeable truths, but no one who knows the
|condition Of this State will deny that in many
sections, the distress consequent upon the col
sccticn Of debts is working most dangerously.
When respectable paper can deliberately de-
clare that if property is 10 be sacrificed, 1t
would prefer confscation by the government to
execution in behalf Of the creditors, good men
may condemn, but wise men will reflect
| Under these circumstances, the military com
mander soys, what we consider es1incnt,y wise
while you are in this transition state. while
your laws are uncertain, because they are sub
ject to modification or abrogation; while your
civil authorities are temporary, because they are
subject TO removal, while political questions Of
italinterestto your existence and which squire
all your wisdom and temper and concert for cir
solution, are pressing for decision; while YOU
are harrassed and distressed BY your struggle
for the necessities Of dnily life, it is best that
all other subjects Of disturbance should be
avoided. When your Convention meets, as it
will do in y few months, and you enter upon
the work Of reorganization, then you can set
tie these questions calmly and carefully. In
the mean time, regard it my duty in the in
tercsts Of order and society to suppress, rs fur
as possible, these causes which make your work
more difficult and more dangerous.
edonot deem: it necessary to make nny
comment upon the details Of this order. lis
provisions are SO clear and precise that they
win be readily understood, and commanding
them to the attention Of all classes OF the COM
n1unit;;, we will only express our participati On
in s:the earnest desire and the confident belief
of Tie c Commanding General s.that the $ob-
5servance Of the regulations and the co opera
lion Of the people in employing fairly and
Justly the advantages afforded; will tlcvelopeS
the gsncics BY which the great misery nov
experienced may bc nitigated, and that means