Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1905-06-05
IN PRISON FOR DEBT
THE WAY THE, LAW Is MADE TO
FiT THE CASE in ENGLAND.

efaifEt
HOW . Person VINO Either Cannot or
win Not Pay Whist He owes May
he Thrust Into jail over aid over
Again For "Contempt Of Court" -
It Is commonly supposed that In
these days there Is NO Imprisonment
for debt In England, but the supposi-
ton is wrong, both In substance and
In fact. +bI2 " j. st25@E
True; the term imprisonment for
debt is done away with. perhaps be-
cause the debtor does not pay his debt
BY going to prison, yet to prison he
goes for it all the same, although In
the eyes and In the phraseology of the
law he goes there for contempt OF
court" whereas In go per cent Of such
cases the poor defaulter suffers his
seven, fourteen or twenty eight days
"close confinement solely because Of
his inability to pay the monthly sum
ordered by the Judge or the magis-
trate. %o* n '">f% :. -''t ~, go
Nor, as already said, does the incar-
ceration pay what Is owing. For IL the
creditor chooses to do SO he can have
the debtor committed again ;immedi-
ately after one term has been served
and SO on as long as the debtor lives,
because the judgment goes on forever
unless the amount Of it be paid.
But a. second commitment on the
same Judgment Is very rare. &.-,s #.'E;a ,"
.tAt.t3fe daii.in a certain eastern coun-
ty, where the writer Of this article
spent fourteen days, he was not re-
ceived quite as felon would be, but
decidedly not as Ia nonlawbreaker
should be received and treated. s.
The time Of arrival was 2 p. N.
He had no dinner, so after his peck
cts had been empt1ed and The articles
tabuIated he was given Xix. ounces a0f
brown bread and four ounces OF liar.
riet .,Lane''-l~ e., timed Australian
mutton. ). - -. .... -.
BE was then put into receiving
CELL" eight feet BY four feet elk inches,
With afconGfete door Bix feet below the
levei or the earth and decidedly damp,
as was proved, by the wet salt kept
there for the prisoners use.
Two hours later he w1s removed to
another receiving cell, shis time with a
wooden floor, twelve feet long and six
fest wide. AT 6 O'Clock there came bis
supper, a pint Of weak oatmeal gruel
and eight ounces Of the ubiquitous
brown bread staple article Of Diet
and the best. 354 @2=t;;*1 T.';>Iis, : s'<,is-
EHb bed was a two inch thick mat
tress of cocoanut fiber, laid on three
boards supported on crosspieces about
three inches from the floor.
The bedclothes were ample, but the
pillow and bed boards were Of a decid-
ediy hard nature. $50 rtt1 j!J'Gat,gi: =
-itAt a quarter to 8 a loud bell rang
to go to bed, and at 8 o'clock the gas
Tin a small hole in the wall and shut
out Of the cell by piece Of thick cor
rugated glass; was turned out. All
debtors get this treatment.
ID On the following morning at 100
there came BREAKFASTS pint OF weak
tea and eight ounces Of the brown
bread. Then the doctor called.
"Are you all +rightT', ,.-s~
Eyes. thank you" And the door
banged like clap Of thunder.
Then came the chaplain, q clergy.
man from outside, rather old, much
grabbed and certainly unfit for his post.
He snapped like a terrier with tooth
ache, yet there was grqwl in bis snap.
'Umph! What are you here for7''
"sDebt." 49,,
"Debt! Umph! Why don't you be
honest and pay your debtsT' And the
door banged louder than before. Final.
" came the governor on his daily
round OF inspection. s;e.sss,#i,H
"A days routine was simply this: On
at the ring Of bell at 5:45, dress in
the dark; then came lights, beds and
bedding were put away, cells and cor.
ridor swept and busted and cell utensils
cleaned; at 7:80 breakfast, each pris.
oner being then locked In his cell till
$50, at which time all were mustered
and marched to chapel. .-,...,
Then from chapel to cells again, to be
locked in until the governor made his