The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-06-16

| tniS very c0ntlnkencys oectaTeS H tHc
 laboror or renter does inform the person
 of whom he seeks employment, the latter
 shall incur heavy pains and penalties If nc
 employs him. without the first employers per mission. What is this but saying. If
 man breaks a contract with his cred | itor, he shall not work at his accustomed | vocation for others, without permission of the creditor? What is this. but CO., ercive weapon placed by law In the hands of the employer, to compel the debtor to pay debt. to perform the con | tract? Under the Constitution of Ala
 bama there can be no Imprisonment for I debt. nor can 1t be treated directly or in- directly, as crime. The only constitu-
 tional method of enforcing contract for personal service, is to get judgment
 for the broken contract, by seizure and sale of the defendants property. Bu, this statute attaints the debtor, makes him a legal pariah. if he attempts to ex- ercise his right to labor, without an- other mans cosent. and that man his
 creditor One of the most valued liberties
 of man is to work where he pieases: and to quit one employment and go to an- other. subject, of course, to civil liabii- ity for breach of contract obligations. These laws attempt to take this right away, anu ueStToy tniS lDeTty. Wnen q mans liberties are taken from him be- cause he does not pay debt, and he iss
 punished. if he does not perform a civil contract, or 'abandons the leased prem isis" the place where he agreed to do it, he Is put in prison bounds, and imprls- onment for debt, in the meaning of the
 Constitution. The statute, in effect
 makes him fixture to the place, because
 he owes debt. This will readily be per-
 ceived by glance at the practical ef-
 feet of these laws, upon a laborer or
 renter, who has abandoned his contract.
 whether with or without sufficient ex- euse In determining these things, the
 law looks behind the face of the statute.
 It takes things at what they are, and
 not merely at what they are called
 Imprisonment for Debt.
 It is a fur damental principle of law that the legitimacy of the exercise of the police power, or any other legislative authority, concerning the constitutional rights of the citizen. whatever the Ian- guage employed in the statute, is to be
 tested and determined by its natural ard reasonable effect upon that right
 It Is maxi malike of the law and com
 mon sense that no power can be exer- cised indirectly, which cannot lawfully
 De exercised directly, What is the na-
 tural and reasonable effect of the penalty
 imposed upon the laborer or renter, for
 not giving Information as to his broken contract, before engaging in service else-
 where. when measured by the legal and practical consequences which inevitably Ioiiow! The laborer or renter who once enters into contract and breaches if
 no matter how righteously, subjects him. seit during the whole term of the con- tract 10 FISK Of prosecution, if he takes ike employment with others. without hrst informing the subsequent employer or the prior contract. The mere quitting or the contract whether rightfully, or
 Wfengly, clouds and lmpedes his right 10 work fo.' others. during the whole time the contract Is to run. The law pro-
 vides no means for determining the jus-
 tice of his excuse, at any time. in any mode. In any tribunal, unless he first, risks the penalty of hard labor, by takn the new employment, without inform ing the subsequent employer of the prior contract. The Iaborer or renter is. therefore. com pelled to judge at peril of hard labor. no matter how conscientious his action
 whether he had sufficient excuse for breaking the first contract. This ,s not required of any Jother freeman in ,ha iand, or exactedf of any other debtor If IS penalty imposed for debt. The per son from whom he seeks employment may desire the service of the laborer or renter. and for that matter, believe he was justified in quitting the former ser vice, yet almost invariably, the would be employer will be deterred from giving work to the laborer or renter, because in that event he would assume the peril of maintaining the justice of the laborer or renters excuse. and if he failed subjects nlmsef to heavy fines and penalties If, however. he succeeds in convincing the new employer that he was justified in quitting, aud so obtains employment. and the former employer insists that he was not and notifies the new employer that he does not consent, the latter, in all proba hility. will dismiss the laborer or renter, rather than risk prosecution un- der peril of heavy penalties, If he fails to show the laborer or renter had suffi- elent excuse for leaving. The Justice of the laborer or renters excuse for quit ting is always an open question. ever hanging over him, and never finally de- termnable except by facing jury in the prisoners dock. 5o, ,ir sF
 It is matter of common knowledge that nearly all the farm laborers and the land renters in the counties in this State. to which this statute is applicable are men of very. little means. and must rely upon advances or have work to sup port themselves and their families at all times. To a man In this condition, a dis pute or difference with his employer, re- sulting in the abandonment of the ser- vice. no matter what the right of the lahorers or renters contention, is calam- itous, in the extreme. The leaving of the service. whether with or without just ex- cuse, puts insuperable obstacles in the way of earning a livelihood by the sweat of his brow. elsewhere than with the first employer. or on the rented premises. He must stay there: or else leavinR,f must starve. or go to work elsewhere, which. m most instances. he cannot do, except hv violating this statute. and running the rick of conviction for crime by not in- forming the new employer. Practically. the law places the renter or laborer at the mercy of his first employer, because he has broken civil contract A man with such power over the sustenance and liberty of another Is master of his des- tiny, and the laborer or renter. in such condition. is a serf in all but name. These results. so damaging and harass- ing to the liberty and equality of the la b0rer and renter before the law, fall upon him because he has preached a former contract. and to coerce him to perform 1t, The penalty, for not informing, Is upon him. because he has preached the contract. and the prohibition against his employment by those who knew of the breach Is aimed at him because he has preached his contract. The whole scheme purpose. and inevitable effect of these statutes, is to coerve the laborer or rent CT to pay debt, return to a personal service. by stress of penal enactment, ievelled at his person in the one instance, and against his right to work in the oth- "a rtyf, ka k,