The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-03-04
CRUEL PRACTICES.
SUPPLEMENTARY PROCEEDINGS DE-
SCRlBED BY A LAWYER.

Nc Help For e Debtor In New York, at
Least when He Is on the Rack-whcther
He Has Property or Not lie Is BrutaIly
Treated by Court and Attorney.
Supplementary proceedings are dis
graceful proceedings" said lawyer re-
Gently to a reporter. "Thcy are disgrace
to our system of practice, and as they are
conducted ut 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 Il 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 n judgment Is obtained
and entered. An execution for the amount
of the Judgment is thcn>issued to the sher-
if, who sends one of his deputies toascer-
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 is pointed out by the
lawyer he does not spend days or weeks In
detective work
"Ho 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 tho 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 Is returned, an order in sup
Elementary proceedings for the examina-
q ,Nft If ind ln1Nt Tn, ,fpt
davit annexed to it he swears that judg
ment has been recovered, that it was for
more than S25, that execution has been is
sued and returned unsatisfied, that the
debtor had either residence or place of
business in the city when tho Judgment
was begun and that tho Judgment was
rendered upon personal service of the sum-
mons.
"The order requires the debtor to appear
before the court upon certain date to be
examined concerning his 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 If
he does not obey the order and appear he
can be fined and imprisoned for contempt
of court If he does appear, he finds him.
self in u 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 swoars
him, and with the lawyer of his creditor
and his own lawyer, If he has one, he is
taken to any place which can be found
where the examination can be made. Va
cant courtrooms and clerks offices are Of
ten used for this purpose. The more public
the place is the better it is liked. Publicity
is what tho lawyer wants, and he has very
| likely taken care, if the debtor is "a promi-
| nent person, to send notice of tho exami-
nation to the newspapers.
"The debtor is placed upon the rack,
and the examination begins. And here is
! where the injustice of the proceeding
comes in. Such proceedings are i'm 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 tho debtor must be
answered. The object of the lawyer is to
goad the person examined to frenzy, to
find cut 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 if the
debtor is obdurate or has lawyer to de-
fend him, but he also subpnnas the debt
ur's wife, mother or sisters, his employers
or fellow employees as witnesses, or If he
finds any of them are likely to have any
\ property in their hands in which the judg-
ment debtor has an interest he gets n third
party order and has them sworn before the
court as publicly and examined as publicly
as the debtor w2s. The cruelty involved
in this and the modification Of innocent
third parties who know little or nothing
about the matter are often very great b It
the object-worrying tho debtor-is fall:
attained.
Few men or women can stand this sort
of thing very long. They either manage
to think of some property they have, in
which case receiver for it is appointed
and the expenses of the proceeding and $40
costs are added to the amount to be col
lected, or they get violently angry at tht
bullying they and theirs are subjected Il
and refuse to answer further questions
This calls for an appeal to the court, be
fore which all hands CO. and the debtor
has usually the option of answering the
questions or being committed to Jail fol
contempt of court. This course also cause,
greater publicity, and the lawyer is Away!
pleased to find witness so contumacious
San examination ended, it is filed il
che clerks Office and becomes public prop
erty. Prominent people in this city once
poor and unable 60 pay their debts have
found the facts disclosed in supplementary
4 proceedings brought up against them year:
afterward, and family troubles without
end have been caused by these records.
Judgment debtors arc divided into two
classes-thoso who can and won't pay and
those who can't pay under any circum
stances In either case supplementary pro
ceedings ailillittle.
THE beat will simply swear he has
nothing. The poor man will prove he ha!
nothiug. In nine cases out Of ten the only
result is the notoriety for the lawyer,
reputation for being keen and relentless
which brings him business And TIL
amount of pain and modification inflicted
Is out of all proportion to the results. -
New York Press.