The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-01-11
CRUEL PRACTICES.
SUPPLEMENTARY PROCEEDINGS DE-
SCRlBED BY A LAWYER.

He Has Property or Not He Is Brutaliy
rrsssed by Court and Attorney.
Supplementary proceedings are dis
graceful proceedings" said lawyer re-
gently to reporter. They are a disgrace
30 our system Of practice, and as they arr
conducted at present are nothing more
nor less than legalized prosecutions such
as few states would permit
Supplementary proceedings mean pro
ceedings supplementary to execution, u
said the lawyer, land are the process OF
examining man or woman to learn what
property he or she has which sheriff has
failed to find. When debtor Is sued, In
the course Of time judgment Is obtained
and entered. An execution for the amount
of the Judgment Is then issued TO the sher-
iff, who sends one of his deputies to ascer-
tain whether the debtor has any property
he can levy upon. The deputy does not
take any particular pains TO ascertain. Un-
less specific property is pointed out by the
lawyer he does not spend days or weeks in
detective work
He reports To the lawyer, and the law
yer, IL convinced no property is in sight,
tells him TO return the execution, No
goods. That is by no means the end Of
che affair. The hard work of collection Is
just beginning. From the beginning Of
the action the lawyer has contemplated
bringing 'sups, and he now carries his
plan into effect. He procures, as soon as
the execution is returned, an order In sup
Elementary proceedings for the examina-
sion of the judgment debtor. In the affi-
davit annexed 10 it he swears that judg-
ment has been recovered, that it was for
more than s25, that execution has been is
sued and returned uusatisned, that the
debtor had either residence or place Of
business In the city when the Judgment
was begun and that the Judgment was
rendered upon personal service of the sum-
mons
1.-THE order requires the debtor to appear
before the court upon a certain date to be
examined concerning bis property and for
bids him to transfer or make any other dis
position Of his property or in any way to
interfere Herewith until the examination
is had.
"Then the debtors trouble begins. II
he does not obey the order and appear, he
oan bo fined and imprisoned for contempt
Of court IL he does appear, he finds him
solf In q crowded courtroom. His name
is called, and he advances to the bar. "A
Judgment debtor to be sworn, says the
clerk, and the whole audience grins and
looks over the victim. The Judge swears
him, and with the lawyer of his creditor
and his own lawyer, IL he has one, he is
taken to any place which can be found
where the examination oan be made. Va
cant courtrooms and clerks Offices are Of
ten used for this purpose. The more public
the place IL the better IL is liked. Publicity
n what the lawyer wants, and he has very
likely taken care, II the debtor Is promi-
nent person, to send notice of the exami-
nation 70 the newspapers.
Tho debtor 10 placed upon the rack,
and the examination begins And here 10
where the injustice of the proceeding
comes IN. Suoh proceedings are In their
nature inquisitorial, and the ordinary
rules of evidence do not apply, the courts
have said, and almost any question the in
quisitor chooses to ask about the personal
and private affairs of the debtor must be
answered The object of the lawyer is 10
goad the person examined to frenzy, to
lind out his sore spot and then rub that
spot, to worry him until he will do or
promise almost anything to stop the ex-
animation. A skillful lawyer can easily
do this, and not only does he do this II the
debtor is obdurate or has a lawyer to de-
fend him, but he also subp9nas the debt
0r's wife, mother or sisters, his employers
or fellow employees as witnesses, or IL he
Ands any Of them are likely to have any
property In their hands In which the judg-
ment debtor has an interest he gets third
party order and has them sworn before tho
court az publicly and examined as publicly
as the debtor was The cruelty involved
IN this and the modification of innocent
third parties who know little or nothing
about the matter are often very great, but
tho oobject-worrying the debtor-is fully
attained.
Few men or women can stand this sort
Of thing very long. They either manage
60 think Of some property they have, in
which case a receiver for IL is appointed,
and the expenses of the proceeding and $50
costs are added to the amount to be col
lccted, or they get violently angry at the
bullying they and theirs are subjected to
and refuse to answer further questions.
This calls for an appeal to the court, be-
fore which all hands 60, and the debtor
has usually the option of answering the
questions or being committed to jail for
contempt Of court. This course also causes
greater publicity, and the lawyer is always
pleased 10 1nd q witness 30 contumacious.
AN examination ended, &c is fled In
the clerks Office and becomes public prop
erty. Prominent people In this city once
poor and unable to pay their debts have
found the facts disclosed In supplementary
proceedings brought up against them years
afserward, and family troubles without
end have been caused BY these records
Judgment debtors arc divided into two
classes-those who can and won't pay and
those who can't pay under any ciroum.
stances. In either case supplementary pro-
csedings avail little
The beat will simply swear he has
nothing The poor man will prove he has
nothing In nine cases out of ten the oply
result is the notoriety for the LAWYER. a
reputation for being keen and relentless.
which brings him business. And the
amount Of pain and morti ification inflicted
ls out OF all proportion TO the results. -
New York Press.
An Expsrienced Man.
A foreigner Of German extraction who
had been In this country only a few
n