The age-herald., 1902-03-11
COURT DELIVERS SPECIAL CHARGE AS TO BANKRUPTS Judge Jones Determined to Stop Unlawful Practices ot
 Creditors
JURY TOLD TO INVESTIGATE
Should Return True Bills In Cases Where Garnishments Are Sued Out On Debts Covered
 By the Petition.

ment from the bench in regard to the practice of certain persons suing out tax | ation garnishments on claims which have | been discharged in bankruptcy, delivered | a special charge on this subject to the | grand jury in which he explained the law on conspiracy in regard to alleged new promises" and other matters in this l connection.
 Judge Jones has received many com plaints from persons who have been dis charged in bankruptcy and against whom proceedings have been begun on debts scheduled ip their bankrupt petition. The provisions of the bankrupt law have been utterly disregarded in many instances and Judge Jones has determined to put stop to it.
 Judge Delivers Charge.
 Judge Jones said in his charge:
 At the opening of the court l charged you in substance that you represented the conscience of the government of the Vni- ted States as to putting in motion the machinery for the enforcement of its criminal laws l feel it my duty to give you now specially in charge the investi- gation of an evil, which it needs the en- forcement of the criminal law to redress and punish.
 "rhe constitution of the United States gives Congress the power to pass uniform laws of bankruptcy. It has exercised that power at different times in our history, according to it's views or the necessities and condition of our people. There may be grave abuses arising from the opera tion of the bankrupt law, though on the whole 1t has probably been a benefit rather than a hindrance to the welfare Of the people. Whether SO or not, Is question of policy which Congress alone must determine. Whether men like or dislike the operations of the law every -,,lH o1o md fIo,. citizen ought to be made to obey it. It Is matter of common knowledge that the purposes of the bankl upt law, in many communities, have been successfully and designedly frustrated and defeated, and that this has been accomplished by col crable resort to legal proceedings
 Discharges Ignored.
 Discharges have been trampled on by litigants, who do not hesitate to sue the former debtor in order to harass and op- press and finally force the debtor to pay an obligation from which the law of the land absolves him, rather than submit to the expense, cost and delays of legal proceedings, which are generally accom- plished pained by garnishments which tie up the debtors only means of support When a man goes into bankruptcy and is discharged by the court, he has the right, given him by the constitution and
 
 from harassment and molestation in the courts on account of the debt, unless it be of the class upon which a discharge does not operate. If pressure can be put *pon the former debtor by colorable | legal proceedings, which amounts to moral or physical coercion compelling the surrender of .ne right given the former debtor by the constitution and laws of the United States such right Is taken away and denied as effectually as if the debt or were prevented by force from plead l ing his discharge In the courts. The gov ernment of the United States is not DOW erless to enforce any right which its con- stitution and laws give to its citizens in this respect.
 Law Against Conspiracy. | "It Is provided by the statutes Of the | United States, if two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten or intimidate any citizen in the free exer- | else or enjoyment of any right or priv | ilege secured to him by the constitution or laws of the United States, or because | of his having so exercised the same, ''| l the persons guilty of such conspiracy shall be fined not less than five thousand 1 dollars and imprisoned not more than | ten years.
 When two or more persons conspire to 1 defeat the operation of the bankrupts
  | splracy resort to colorable legal pro- | ceedings to defeat the effect of such dis l charge or to harass or oppress the l debtor by legal proceedings in order to break down any practical operation Of | the discharge they are guilty of con- | spiracy under this statute. It is a mat | ter of wide rumor-I might almost say common knowledge-that in some locali- | ties debtors whose debts have been ooba a6 in, ha plxrI1n which a discharge has been granted by the court of bankruptcy frequently put the claim in the hands of collectors or pretent to have made transfers to third persons, and that these transferees, with full knowledge of the bankruptcy of the debtor and that he is no longer liable for the debt, contract to bring suit against the debtor and to tie up his wages by garnishment, and to repeat this process until the debtor succumbs to their de- mands from sheer inability to keep up the contest in the courts.
 They Furnish Witnesses.
 "In other instances, collectors of these bankrupt debts often furnish witnesses to prove a new promise reviving the debt and under that pretense, continue to pursue the bankrupt. All understandings or agreements of this kind made by the former owner of the debt with the so- called tranSferee or the person WnO en- gages to collect the debt for harassing the defendant in the courts, are conspiracies within the meaning of the statute to which have called your attention. They injure the citizen in the free exercise or enjoyment or the rights secured to him by the constitution to be freed from the debt, or they 'oppress' him because of his having so exercised the right-that is to obtain a discharge in bankruptcy. They are intended to prevent or hinder him in the free exercise of enjoyment or such right. These conspiracies affect the most helpless and dependent classes of the community, and have resulted in great harm alike to laborers and employ CTS,
 Tt is not a small matter when the rights of the citizen of the United States guaranteed by the constitution and laws are contemptuously disregarded and evaded in any case This denial of such right is all the more odious, when 1t is sought to be effected by merely colorab,e legal proceedings in order to cloak and clothe with the sanctity of judgments in the courts conspiracies to violate the law of the land and to rob a citizen of rights