The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-01-21
CRUEL PRACTICES.
SUPPLEMENTARY PROCEEDINGS De.
scRlBED BY A LAWYER.

h '
| scRIBEo BY A LAWYER.
No Help For . Debtor In New York, 81
Least When He IL on the Rack Whether
He Has Property or Not He Is Brutality
Treated by Court and Attorney.
Supplementary proceedings are dis
graceful proceedings" snid lawyer re-
GENTLY to reporter. "They arc disgrace
to our system Of practice, and as they are
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"
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 a Judgment Is obtained
and entered. An execution for the amount
| Of the Judgment is then issued to the sher.
III, 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 I'm
less specific property Ii pointed out by the
lawyer he does not spend days OF weeks In
detective work.
He reports to the lawyer, and the law
yer, If convinced no property Is in sight,
tells him to return the execution, No
goods. That Is by no means the end of
the 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 10 returned, an order in sup
Elementary proceedings for the examina-
ton of tho Judgment debtor. In the aft
davit annexed to 1t he swears that iudg-
ment has been recovered, that it was for
more than $25, that execution has been is
sued and returned unsatisfed, 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 tho court upon certain date to be
examintd 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
Ia had.
"Then the debtors trouble begins II
he does not obey the order and appear, he
can be lined and imprisoned for contempt
Of court. II he does appear, he finds him
self in crowded courtroom. His name
Is called, and he advances to the bar. "A
Judgment debtor to be sworn says tho
clerk, and the whole audience grins and
looks over the victim. Tho Judge swears
him, and with tho lawyer of his creditor
and his own lawyer, If he has one. be Ia
taken to any place which can be- fonnd
where the examination can be made. Va
can't courtrooms and clerks offices ara Of
ten used for this purpose, The more pnblio
tho place is the better it is liked, PubIicitv
ia what tho lawyer wants, and he has very
likely taken care, II the debtor Is n nromi.
nent person, to send notice of the exami-
nation to the newspapers.
1.-THE debtor ia pIaced unon tbe rack
and the examination hegIns Ana bano;.
where the Injustice of the nroceed;no
comes In. Such proceedings are in their
nature inuuisitorial. and The ORDINARY
rules of evidence do not apnlv. the conrta
have snid, and almost any question the In.
quisitor chooses to ask abont the nersona,
and private affairs of the debtor must he
answered. The object Of the lawvar IA tn
Road the person examined tn frsnzv tn
find out his sore spot and then rnb that
spot, to worry him until he will do or
almost ANYTHING to ston the er.
animation. A skiIlful iawver 70 easilv
DO this. and NOT only does he do this ~ tho
debtor is obdurate or has lowver tn d..
lend him, but he also subnunas the debit
)r's wife, mother or sisters. bis emnlovers
Or fellow employees as witnesses or II he
finds any Of them ara likely In have anv
property in their hands in which the indc.
nent debtor hasan interest be gets third
party order and has them sworn before the
,ourt as publicly and examined as nublicIv
,s the debtor was. The cruelty involved
n this and the modification Of innooent
bird parties who know little or notbino
.bout the matter are often yery great Init
he object the debtor-is fully
attained,
Few men or women can stand this sorb
4 thing very long. Thew either manage
o think Of some property thew have in
which case receiver for 1t il Amounted
nd the expenses Of the proceeding and SAD
osts are added to the amount to be col
scted, or they get violently angry Mt the
ullying they and theirs are subjected to
nd refuse to answer further ouestions