Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-03-20
To be Continued.
IN PRISON FOR DEBT.
The Way the Law Is Made to Fit the
Case In Enuland.

Case In England.
1t is commonly supposed that ir
these days there is no Imprisonment
for debt in England, but the supposi.
ton is wrong, both in substance and
in fact.
True, the term imprisonment fol
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 ninety per CEN
Of such cases the poor defaulter suf.
fers his seven, fourteen or twenty.
eight days "close confinement" solely
because Of his inability to pay the
monthly sum ordered by the judge OF
the magistrate.
Nor, as already said, does the in
generation pay what is owing. Fol-
II the creditor chooses to do so he car
have the debtor committed again i'm
mediately after one term has beer
served and so on as long as the debt
or lives, because the judgment goes
on forever unless the amount Of it Is
paid.
But a second commitment on the
same judgment is very rare.
At the Jail in certain eastern
county. where the writer Of this ar
ticle spent fourteen days, he was moi
received quite as a felon would be
but decidedly not as a nonlawbreak-
er should be received and treated.
The time Of arrival was 2 p. m.
He had no dinner, so after his pock-
cts had been emptied and the articles
tabulated he was given six ounces OF
brown bread and four ounces OF
Harriet Lane"--i. e.. timed Austria
liam mutton.
He was then put into a receiving
CELL" eight feet by four feet six
inches, with a concrete floor six feet
below the level of the earth and de-
cidedly damp, as was proved by the
wet salt kept there for the prisoners
use.
Two hours later he was removed to
another receiving cell, this time with
wooden floor, twelve feet long and
six feet wide At o'clock there
came his supper. a pint Of weak oat-
meal Cruel and eight ounces Of the
ubiquitous brown bread-the staple
article Of diet and the best.
His bed was a two inch thick mat
tress of cocoanut fibre laid on three
boards supported on crosspieceE
about three inches from the floor.
The bedclothes were ample but the
pillow and bed boards were of a de-
cidedly hard nature.
At a quarter to loud bell rang
to go to bed, and at o'clock the gas
lin a small hole in the wall and shut
out Of a cell by a piece Of thick cor
rugated glass; was turned out Al
debtors get this treatment.
On the following morning at 1.3C
there came breakfaSt-a pint Of weak
tea and eight ounces If brown bread
Then the doctor called.
"Are you all right"
"Yes, thank you" And the door
changed like a clap of thunder.
Then came the chaplain. clergy
man from outside, rather old, much
grabbed and certainly unfit for his
post. He snapped like a terrier with
toothache. yet there was growl in
his snap.
"Umph! What are you here for?'
Debt"
debt! Umph. Why don't you be
honest and pay your debts? AND
the door banged louder than before
Finally came the governor on his
daily round of inspection.
A days routine was simply this:
Up at the ring of a bell at 5.45, dress
in the dark: then came lights, beds
and bedding were put away. cells
and corridor swept and busted and
cell utensils cleaned; at 7.3O break
fast, each prisoner being then lock-
ed in his cell till $50, at which time
all were mustered and marched tc
chapel.
Then from chapel to cells again, tc
be locked in until the governor made
his smart pace round of inspection
saying as he sped past each cell door
ANY complaints" but one hal TO Dc
there a week before the two words
became clear enough to be under
stood.
When he had gone all the debtors
were put into a room to pick cocoa
nut fibre. Then came an hours eX'
ercise in a large yard, after that din:
| ner and another locking In till l.3C
D. m., followed by another hours eX'
ercise and more fibre picking up, tc
$50. At 5.35 there was tea, wheL
each man was again locked In till I
O'Clock next morning.
The debtors were allowed to speaR
to each other while at work and al
exercise; they wore their own clothes
| if they wished to; there was no sup
ulated amount of work to be done
and here ended the only practlca
differences between them and tne
| lawbreakers in the other part or the
! prison-Pearson's Weekly.