The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1868-05-20
.,4aossiN a.otg
BANKRUPTCY AFFAIRS IN THE SOUTH.

from a correspondent in Alabama They, 4.
will find its statements interesting:
The members of the Marion, Ala, Bar
NV have raised the minimum fee in Bankrupt
~ cases to one hundred dollars, heretofore
the minimum fee in the surrounding coun- i
iii' ties '' 20
.r This is cheap enough for the manual la
Dor alone to say nothingof the study and 7
mental toll necessary to acquire the requisite D
skill in this entirely new branch of profess
-,n- sional practice. q q vsU todr,I I.,l
We would warn our friends that the time
.., has nearly expired when voluntary bank
~, ruptcy will be practically at an end, -bh
The bankrupt Act is the only legislation
of the present Congress that tends to the re-
4'' lief of the and impoverished people :,
% Of the South, and such of them as can
s'"" conscientiously !" take it" should act at
once .igu
10 '''a There is foolish and ignorant prejudice
.hln'' against Bankrupt laws which is justified
neither by reason nor experience. Since the
tan days of the RomHn Code of the Twelve Ia
,na 70 bles, Bankrupt legislation has increased in.
sig7 popular favor and popular efficacy until it
y; 81. has now become permanently engratted on
every code of civilized jurisprudence ~
.i Our former laws in this line were failures,
| and hence in part, the ,unpopularity Of this
non Act. The Act Of 1900 was all for the credir
.'7"' tor. The act of 1871 was all for the debt
D'''7q d, it was practically voluntary system,
and did nottapply at all to corporations! o.
1850 These faults, and its partisan character led
'ieif- to its early repeal 'nho ad' bfs a7f'o igf
2lialf Those who have not studied the new
Bill imagine it re-enactment of the old
one, they think they still see and smell the 20
lad Golf Raccoon's tail and possums jaw
Henry Clay and the Bankrupt Law" igrf
enormties of the Act Of 1871. Not bit of
slh5"!i it. The present Act includes corporations,
provides for involuntary bankruptcies, and
composition settlements :, and while it dis
charges the debtor on the honest surrender
M" Of his property, it protects the creditor from
his fraud and reckless improvidence. Its
.isiup theory and practical effect is: Giyeup your
smoa property, wipe out your debts, and take a
fresh start. .s ~ vol sl bapo,ryr sylss iff =
Apart from this old ghost Of political pre-
Il n judicc that fhoyers over the subject, many
: @, good old grannies honestly think that the
law is vicious and will corrupt the pure NOR
ais of Our. righteous population. Let us see.
Under our State legislation man may avoid
thepayment Of he debts anyhow; his 60
ing into bankruptcy, not only does not pre-
S6vent him from paying the debts he deems
o. of moral obligation, but enables him to do
so by choking off those Shylocks, WHO are
80 FWaftihS duu WatShiuS " Siop IuO Afot II utS
of his labor, by opening to him again the
ena'of honest industry so that he may
az safely accumulate property, and when pros
perity returns and that property assumes its
norma, price, he may sell it and pay what
debts he pleases. -
Youowe ten thousand dollars, an old Sc
curity debt, or debt for negroes, or to Nor
them merchants, or to southern spectators.
You also owe five hundred dollars for bread
and meat for your family, owe it to your
friends and neighbors, may be to the widows
and sorpnpss :, You can't pay all. You
want to pay the last debt You go to
work like hero, you labor day and night,
your crop is made, gathered prepared for
q, market; in a few days you can, pay these
debts Of honor-you can wipe the tear from
.sJs,o the widows cheek you olothe and feed the
orphan, you can save from ruin the friend
who helped you.
iAa"nf Just then, little attachment for the old
debit aysits iron paw upon your property
and all is over. The widows bread is gone,
e. the orphan creditor must suffer on, your
- family may starve in the future, because you
- have beggard the friends who trusted you.
u But you have the consolation of having
avoided the "Raccoon's tail and the pos
sums jaw; you have been ltooa' honorable
quotha, to go into bankruptcy, but not too
'@t7 honorable to ruin your friends and impover-
ish your family. A fig for such maudlin
.ss folly about honor .. a.. .,..,.., bre
~, That is the debtors side of the picture---.
-. - Now, Mr. Creditor, let's look at yours, aud
4 see if this law hurts you :,-,.,..J i51 '''''
. ..... A debtor, whose property is safely hid
q away, and who can't pay all his debts,
: won't pay any of them. That's the rule
4 So there is no hope there Of collecting your
9 debt. aHa
q $500. Let him relieve himself from the load of
8 debt, begin life fresh and free. and he may
y possibly pay all these old debts; will pay
4 some of them. So, for the creditor, there is
49, a chance for something against a certainty
T . for nothing. . .F.I.itIg.T nod,
go. The war found the South in debt, but
!, with a vastly overbalancing amount of
( property. 1t swept away the property but
g 80 left the debts incurred on the faith of con-
. tinned ownership Of that property. ~ 4
I, The debts made since the war have been
!. - mostly personal trusts, imposing higher OBJ
legations than the debts based on property,
which has been DESTROYED by no fault of
yours. tits not your duty to place your
self in such condition that you can first
". hquidate these debts based ON faith in Your
a honor trust in your personal integrity -
f. That's the question. Aie.sj ~ 10 go
<saist@s Asfar as morals are concerned, we submit
nj 10 ITO these good old grannies that is better and
goo 10 far nober for man to go into bankruptcy
.s4 openly and boldly and begin life anew, than
,ti.,"Ii to submit to the system Of legal shifting
moo land skulking, and subterfugng now prac-
aib9metced by our people. Many of our best bus
mess men are compelled to do business un7
der cloak 10 keep from starvation. Look
Nj ri Around you and see how many ST your neigh
(besides yourself, may be,) are opera
ting under cover--agents for wives, or sons,
. ,'si OF parents, or somebody else who lives in
y H. the moon. Go to the records Of your Pro.
81 % bbate Court and see who holds the property.
You will find a dense cloud of erinohne
a, banging over the titles to nearly all the real
and personal property in Perry county. The
ie olfDlaw of cooerture srepersed.T
sitid,co Blackstone says" that the wfes legal ex-
istence is Incorporated and consolidated into
that of the husband under whose wing,
protection and cover she performs every.
thing, Our observation says, the hus-
=; asa. bands legal existance is Incorporated and
Ie,9 a consolidated into that of the wife; under
alb bE,whose wing, protection and petticoat lie
ai 1870 performs everything" 1t is not now as it
used to be, my hat or even our hat it is
T;i2;i2 all HER hatr All this is morally wrong
s4adsm donly partially justified by the plea Of
preservation and man, from good mo-