The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-01-19

n y "A o r n.
ENGLAND.
Abss,,Ion Of Imprisenpent for Debt.

Ab0iftion Of imprisonment for Debt.
kLoEDoN, Jan. 3.--On the let of January the
wv Bankrupt law, which abolishes imprison-
tnt for debt in England, except In cases of
Iunty court judgments for small sums, came
10 operation, and there was In consequence n
[neral iail delivery from all the debtors
5sons' and "sponging houses" OF the metropo-
!. II has long been conceded that the prac-
1e of locking up man who owes money
Ilich he cannot pay, and keeping him for years
prison like felon, Is as brutal as 1t
senseless, and yet the stubborn opposition
Englishmen to innovation has kept alive
Iii now one of the most cruel and absurd
|s that ever disgraced the statute book of any
bntry. Within the last twenty years, it Is
e. many notifications of the imprisonment
/ Debt law have been made, and there has
Nm less power than there was prior to that
Ne 10 throw q debtor into Jail and let him rot
tre; but still the abuses have been numerous,
y the opening of the prison doors has turned
be upon the world score or two of miserable
tttches who for no crime but poverty have
3own old and rusty in a jail, and rendered unfit
u again to earn their living by labor.
|3he new law took effect on the LIST of January
hence at twelve o'clock at night on the last
of the old year the prisoners were virtually
although judges order for their release
tht have been required before they were
lally set at liberty. The governor of White
ss Street Prison, the largest place of deten-
in London, determined to waive this
nality, and notified the prisoners that all who
lsed were at liberty to leave the jail at mid
bit of the 31st of December, and, out of ninety
inmates, thirty-one availed themselves
the privilege. These poor creatures
ked 80 ardently for liberty that they packed
few goods together as early as 4 or 5 o'clock
he afternoon, and counted the seconds until
hour of their release arrived, while in many
bs their families, women and children, waited
them outside the gates, and watched as anx-
tlxyf al Aiuht nf a a ao0
Shtary upon the old law that sixty-three of the
Nboners begged to be allowed to remain in the
q until the next day, on the plea mostly that
" had no homes to go to.
ks the new law does not cover judgments OBJ
bed in county courts, over forty prisoners
4 remain in Whitecross street, but their SEN
ces are only for stipulated periods. It is
ch complained of that the new law does
| reach this poorer class of debtors, and there
ms to be great inequality of justice in set
the large debtor absolutely free and still
ding these short terms of imprisonment over
small debtor. This Is especially the case
CO, under the County Court act, the judges
re very arbitrary power, and 1t is actually
sibie that a man who owes few shillings
y be Imprisoned on and off, for years, unless
Is able to pay his creditor. Say that poor
Fkman owes grocery bill of thirty shillings
finds himself unable to settle 1t, he is
d before the county court, judgment is OBJ
he'd, and an order Is made by the judge that
debtor pay five or seven shillings week.
g the debtor is unable to do, when he is ar
ted and committed to jail for forty days.
incarceration does not discharge the la
ty-it is for contempt of the judges order
the week after his liberation the debtor can
hgain arrested, and so on dd inTnitttan. OF
|rse the forty days Imprisonment throws
brer or mechanic out of work, and he has
chance of paying the debt after he comes
of Jail than he had before. In the meantime
family beg or starve, or become charge
bn the parish, and the end is reeklessness,
pair, and ruin for thousands who might have
6ained steady workmen and supported their
ailies in comparative comfort but for the
king of this abominable law. 1t is to be
bed that the reform now commenced will
edily reach that most unfortunate class the
inty court judgment debtors.