The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-11-22
SACRED IN ALL LANDS
DEBTS or HONOR, NOT coLLEcTlBLE
BY LAW, so REGARDED.


wifo or Daughter For Debt.
One Of the most curious illustrations Of
the kinship OF nations Is had In the results
of an inquiry made by tho state depart
ment concerning debts of honor. At the
request of the national board of trade
circular letter on the subject was sent to
the consuls in foreign countries, and the
replies have been published in the circular
reports Debts of honor are defined as
those not collectible by law, and the al
most uniform practice in all the countries
from which reports have been made is to
regard drinking, gambling and betting
obligations as paramount 20 debts TO the
butcher, the baker and the candlestick
maker.
Consul General Goldschmidt ut Vienna
writes that gambling and betting debts,
Rs well ms usurious loans, are paid because
honor is at stake and from fear of pub
licity. Drinking debts are settled with
view to obtaining more drink, while the
payment OF fees for physicians cures and
matchmaking may be considered as aris-
ing from gratitude. Any debt contracted
on pledge of honor by an officer Of the ar
my or navy is not only collectible at law be-
fore the usual courts, but the officer, IL he
fails to discharge his debt of honor I'm full,
may also be called before military court of
honor. Belgian law is hostile TO gambling
debts, and George w. Roosevelt, consul at
Brussels, writes that it is now held by the
superior court Of Belgium that it is ques-
tion of public and moral law not to ac-
knowledge q gambling or betting debt,
and under the force of this new view there
Is no doubt that many people will find
~ s,<L II Ats.f.x
and pay such debts.
Honorary debts in France arise mostly
between clubmen, says Consul Charles r.
Williams at Rouen, and nonpayment Of
them would incur expulsion and degrade
the person who could not pay. Therefore
clubmen do their utmost to pay these
debts. Although absurd, it is fact that
a man can become quite isolated and cut
Off from society il he fails to pay 1000
francs lost on the turf or at his club in
baccarat or some other game, but can
maintain his standing IL he owes 10000
francs to his upholsterer, boOtmaker or
tailor. This Is the fashion, nothing else.
In former times man unable to meet his
debts of honor committed suicide. Now
he retires from the place for a greater or
less time and sometimes fails to return.
A man once disgraced in his club seldom
returns to satisfy his debts of honor.
Though gambling debts in Germany are
not recognized by the code, drinking debts
are collectible, but Frank ii. Mason mt
Frankfort writes that tho obligations
among professional men, students and
military and naval officers are in the high
est degree sacred and binding, and that
they are paid at any sacrifice and in pref
erence to legal Indebtedness of n COM
mercial character, for the reason that il
repudiated or neglected they would ruin
the social standing of the delinquent.
Lorin A. Lathrop at Bristol is of the
opinion that Englishmcn would pay their
debts of honor before they would pay their
legal debts, though he understands that
bookmakers mt the races lose largely by
bad debts. The penalties of social ostra-
cism are SD severe against defaulter in
England that the most reckless OF game
sters will pay his debts Of honor, while his
tradesmen seek in vain for their money.
A similar state of affairs exists in Ireland,
but the contrary is the case in Scotland,
where gaming and betting arc forbidden.
Probably China furnishes instances of
the most vigorous adhesion to the rules
of honor In the Flowery Kingdom, the
land of inertia and contradictions, Consul
Edward Bcdloe at Annoy found "no great
magazines, no trusts, syndicates, pools,
patents, copyrights or monopolies and few
of those influences or causes whose end Is
bankruptcy" If from the legal systems
of the United States and England every
statute were stricken out, the writs and
more especially such enactments as tho
statute of frauds, the statute of limitations
and the statutes of descent and distribu-
Sho ~. n.1ar hon a Ill
resemblance to the present Jurisprudence
of the Chinese empire. The lawbooks, so
called, of the country are hardly commen-
taries They profess to be statements Of
what is considered right and proper by
the community at large. In the second
place, the Chinese regard litigation as an
evil and try to reduce it to n minimum.
There are no lawyers, no costs, fees or al
lowances. There are no calendars, rules
of practice, judgment rolls nor any OF the
machinery which makes the attorney SO
prominent feature of civilized life. A
magistrate hears and determines q case
very much as n father does a dispute be-
tween two children. In the third place,
litigation being an evil, public policy has
increased to very large extent the num-
ber of obligations which have no legal
nature except the honor of the debtor.
Drinking, gambling and betting debts
are not collectible at law in China. The
first named Is practically unknown. The
only saloons and barrooms are those owned
and patronized by Europeans. The ma
tives regard alcoholic stimulants as food
or food accessories, using them at meals,
and then In minute quantities. Drunkards
and total abstainers are almost unknown.
1t is disgrace of the deepest sort fer
Chinaman to be dipsomaniac. It Is
equally disgraceful TO supply him with
liquor or 20 do business with him when
under its influence For this reason drink
ing debts are extremely rare.
IL IL very different with gambling debts.
They are pre-cminently debts of honor and
are more willingly and speedily paid than
debts of any other kind. To meet obliga-
tions of th,s type Chinaman will pawn
all his personal property and borrow from
all his relatives. Numerous cases are re-
corded in which he has sold daughter,
A cOnCubine or even n son TO obtain the