Daily Los Angeles herald., 1878-09-15

1l10Us IN mol&1tles tof uoiuB Jop "ofks
low prices. good work and expedition
~ ~ relied upon at this ofiice.
oalAsarnsa Assaehmens LAWS.
The day for the assembling Of the
9 Constleutional Convention rapidly
approaches. In the multitude OF
sueKssticns which have been Of
forea to shat body on great public
questions, one of great Importance
10 the peonle has not yet been
dwslt upon. 1t Is true that 1t is
moro . legislative than Constitu-
tlonal question, but certain general
principles would not be on. Of
place In the organic law itself. In
most Of the constitutions Of the
several States there is . pro vision
that no man can be deprived OF his
property without due process Of
law. There are other and innu'
msrable provisions in most OF
them which are aimed to protect
the citizen in the usual and natu.
ri rights OF mankind. The system
upon which an unfortunate debtor
isnpoliated In California to-day Is
: relic Of barbarism. 1t this be
thought too harsh An expression, it
10 at least . savage Inheritance
from the old Argonaut days. Un-
a. the circumstances Of the orig
lnAl adoption Of the attachment
laws Of this State they were per-
haps excusable. In the early days
the population Of California was
ESSENTIALLY nomadic. A mining
camp existed to day aud disap.
poared tomorrow. The inhabi-
tauts Of many a thriving munich
pality, ssbstween two days." folded
their tents, like the Arab, and ST.
lsntly stole away. The giving out
- rlch placers, the discovery ol
newer and richer ones, often dissi'
pAted town like April dew undei
the morning sun. In such times
rigid laws to protect the creditor
were not only excussble but Inn
pesatively called for. The mer
chant who sold goods to trader In
= mining camp was liable to heal
that his debtor had sold ont his
goods and decamped for parts un
known.
But We have long ago passed thi
stage. Business 10 Californi
should 1t once be placed on the foot
ing which now prevails in til
Eastern States. No creditor shoul'
b. permitted to close up q debto
merchants store and put hin
1t once into bankruptcy. In mos
Of the Eastern States 1t requires
long process of law to accomplish
sach . thing. Suit has to be regu
larry entered, the case takes III
place on the docket. goes regularl.
8, trial and execution issues in du,
o,urse. This gives the debtor, !
he II an honest man, time to make
asupreme effort to save his busi-
ness stsnding.
There Is one infs smous feature o.
the California attachm ent law. Il
II . case Of "devil take the hind
most, and "frst come first served
The humane man has no chance
The first creditor who pounces upor
the embarrassed debtor takes al
tie latter has, If that is needed tt
6ltisfy his debt. There is no con
slderation for the tardier and more
merciful creditor. The principle
Of . pro rata distribution Of an In.
solvents effects is not recognized
As consequence Of our peculiar
Attachment laws vicious system
sf doing business has sprung up in
this State. The jobber, knowing
that he can swoop down upon his
debtor without moments notice,
n tempted to give credit recklessly
To indemnify himself for this prsc
tics he exacts unnaturally large
profits. As result. it becomes u
game of shuttlecock and battledore
between the sharp jobber and the
equally sharp and perhaps more
nnscrupulous interior merchant
The honest merchant, Of course,
suffers from this system. He i,
compelled to pay the same high
prices as his unprincipled compel.
! itor, who fully ictsuds to cheat he
tobber II be can, aud which the
latter exacts in order to come OFT
whole on the long run. Everything
thus goes awry, and we witness, AS
the outcome, q most uuwh olesome
state OF business from which, last
though not least, the consumer
suffers an ,intolerable extortion.
uunniuuuuu