The Prescott daily news., 1909-01-23
PROTECTION FOR
 WAGE FARMERS
Senator TOney, of Pine Bluff, Introduces Bill to Limit Collections to
 Legitimate Lines.

The protection of the railroad men or the state against over jealous and in some cases un- scrupulOus, collectors and col lection agencies is the object of a bill which has been introduced in the Senate by Senator H. K. Toney of Pine Bluff. The intro duction of this bill is the result of a demand for some means of putting a stop to an evil which has been growing up for some time, but which has recently be- gun to assume such formidable proportions as to bring it to the public attention.
 The evil which this bill aims to remove consists in the assign ment or transfer of claims a. gainst residents of this state to citizens of other states thereby depriving the persons against whom the claims are filed of the right of exemption to which he is entitled under the laws of this state. Railroad men are pract tic ally the only class of men who are affected by this system, since the assignment of a claim to nonresident is of no use unless the defendant is employed by a corporation which does business in the state where the suit as brought, thereby giving the as signee chance to garnishee the wages of the defendant in what ever state the suit may be insti- | tuted.
 The proportions which this evil is assuming are shown by the fact that scarcely a day passes that one or more suits are not brought in some other state a. gainst a railroad man residing in this state, a judgment secur- ed and a writ of garniShment filed against the railroad by whom the defendant is employ ed.
 Under the laws of Arkansas as in every other state man | is allowed a certain amount of property exempt from execution or attachment. A single man in | Arkansas is allowed exemptions | in personal property to the am- ount of $2OO, in addition to his wearing apparel. A married man or woman who is the head of a family is allowed $500 worth of personal property in addition to wearing apparel. When a suit is brought the defendant may file
 a schedule verified by affidavit setting forth the property which he claims as exempt, and if the value of his property does not exceed the amount of eXemp- tions allowed under the law, he is protected from execution or attachment. In scheduling his property the defendant may in- clude wages that may be due him for a period of 60 days.
 In order to defeat the purpose of this law regarding exemptions collectors have adopted the plan
 
 claims which have been placed in their hands against railroad men. to persons in the states. Suit is brought in the name of the assignee a judgment secured and a writ of garniShment is sued against the railroad by which the defendant is employed. If the railroad company has in it's hands any money due the de- fendant it is compelled to pay it over into court for the benefit of the plaintiff in the suit.
 It is claimed that this system opens the way to other abuses in addition to depriving the de- fendant of his right of exemp- tion. The expense of going to an- other state to defend such a suit would often be greater than the amount of the claim and as a consequence in nearly every case judgment is permitted to be entered by default. This, it is alleged, encourages the filing of suits or unjust claims or the in creasing of the claims to two or three times the amount of the original debt, the holder of the claim knowing that the de- fendant cannot go to the expense or trouble of appearing in anoth- CT state to defend the suit. Even where the claim in a valid one and the suit is brought only for the actual amount of the debt the costs in the proceedings