The Russellville Democrat., 1886-01-28

weIfsre of hIs family, and careless In hls exertions to meet just debts promptly and faithfulIy. II is an incentive to iileness, aud fobs man of that noble selfrcliancc which the debtor has when he feels that the stnte instead of saying, lyon shall be secure in the possession of your property against your creditor wheth CT you exert yourself for m honest living or not, says to him, sshow yourself man, hew out your own fortune. pay your fust debts and you shall be secure in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. l endow you with all the personal rights and immunities enjoyed by, and make YOU the peer of the most lordly citizen in my do main. will protect your property the same that will the property of the creditor, but for the acquisition and retention of property you must depend npor yc:s:Is assa exertions " The nobs.ty of labor loses it's charm when it is known that the state fosters idIeuess and lends it's aid to him who will not work, but lives by making sharp trades and then retreating behind a liberal ex- emption law.
 It will De impossible without ex- tending this article farther than 1 desire. to elaborate each of the above reasons, and l pass on to nohce some other positions which think are faIlaclOus.
 Judge c. in urging q liberal ex- emption, says: ~Therc is no suffer eDt consideration for depriving the debtor Of the means of support" !" The abolishment of exemption laws cannot deprive any able bodied, hon est man of the means of support. So long as God gives man health and strength, and he has the will to ap- ply that health and strength to hon. est labor, he has the means of sup port.
 Honest labor is sure of it's reward, and is now further above par than any commodity know-of. How far the province of the state 5 authorit, extends toward furnishing the labor ing debtor, be he farmer, mechanic, doctor or teacher, implements, tools, medicines and books, whereby they may accelerate their acquisition of worldly wealth goes, leave for those gifted in statesmanship to say.
 Judge C., arguing against legal coercion in the collection of debts, says: "No man was ever made honest by statute" He might have added that statutory enactment never made a man happy, or contented, or pros- porous. The attributes of mans heart and mind, and the governing impulses of his life are not implanted or determined by statutory enact, ment. But can 1t not he truthfullv said that the law does in thousands of cases make dishonest men observe honorable rules of conduct and pay value for value received, when he wonld evade payment were it not for the law?
 HOW ABOUT THE RAsCALs?
 "Against the rascal who deliberate tely makes up his mind not to pay" say, Judge C., "collection laws are of no avail, he easily evades them"
 Not often. Where there are whole some collection laws, saying to a man: "If you desire to be held in good esteem as an honorable citizen of this commonwealth you must pay your honestly contracted debts," 1t IS hard to escape payment. I have seen how shrewd attorney who gives his attention to collections will follow these dishonest creditors from place to place and make it so warm for them by the law that pay ment is usually secured.
 Because rascal once in a while cvades tue collection laws, is that a a reason why we should have vlrtu- ally no collection laws at all, which IS practically the case where the ex emption is larger than seven men out of every ten have? Try it in criminal law. Because the shrewd criminal occasionally evades the punishment prescribed by law for his crime, is that sufficient cause why the criminal laws should be abolished?
 THE PAUPER
 "The state," Judge c. proceeds to say, "wants no paupers within her borders to be supported at public ex pense, and it should not permit one class of citizens to reduce anotlicr class to that condition"
 "The poor ye have with you always" :" but we must remember that every poor man is not pauper. The poor man, in this country. so long as he has health and strength and the will to laber, is not pauper. Every able bodied mans labor will bring hlm and his family a support. The scarcity of reliable labor and the high wages it commands, is, so far as my observation extends. one of the most potential reasons why farm ing does not pay better In this state.
 A pauper, within the meaning of tho law, as l understand it, is one