The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1933-01-27

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from the United States under the con-
ditions set out in the treaty.
Mr.. Hoover's message reached the
senate one day, and on the next day,
Senator Borah called his committee
together to consider that message. It
acted with unprecedented haste. 1t
did the somewhat unusual thing Of
drafting resolution right there in
the meeting, agreeing to 1t formally
and voting to submit 1t to the senate
at once. 1t is in the form of joint
resolution which means, Of course,
that after the senate has acted. it still
must be given the approval of the
house Of representatives
1t must be remembered, however,
that acts of congress are Of general
application always, and that IL the
arms embargo authority be delegated
to the President, he could employ it
to defeat shipments Of arms to the
Far East as well as to rebellious ele-
ments in Latin-America.
y nCNatHR RdUNEuptSy LAWS
Under conditions such as obtain
throughout the nation, it is quite logi-
cal that government, both state and
national should be searching for ways
and means to make the pathway easier
for those having financial troubles.
That takes in about 95 per cent Of
the population. So it was to be ex-
pected that President Hoover should
urge upon congress again, as he did
year or more ago, the necessity for
revamping the bankruptcy laws, al
though they have served with consid-
cradle satisfaction more than third
of century.
MIR. Hoover's message 'spurred new
efforts on the part Of two congression-
al groups-one from the senate, the
other from the house-to work out
some sort Of legislation that would
serve the desired ends. They have a
rocky road to travel, it must be said
at the outset. What they face is the
problem Of making things easier for
the fellow who is being ground under
the iron heel of the rights Of another.
Americas business structure has
been built on the sacred rights Of indi-
yiduals to deal freely and to have
those rights preserved. In other
words, without the right to contract
and to have that contract enforced
In courts Of law, 1t is recognized bust
ness would not get far. But it is sig
nificant of the trend of the times that
such subjects are under consideration.
The thing at which the legislators
are looking with longing eyes is
method of preventing so many indi-
viduals and corporations from having
the legal stigma of bankruptcy at
tached to them. 1t is recognized ev-
erywhere that an entry "Adjudged
Bankrupt" written into court records
amounts to an economic death SEN
tence. so the search is going to see
whether 1t Is possible to arrange q
new order in this direction.
While the determination is to ar
range for a reduction in the number
of bankruptcy DEGREES, there is pur-
pose that is of more Importance to the
average citizen in what the two
groups are doing. Basically, what they
want'and what everyone else wants is
to see an opportunity provided for the
debtor to "pay out" 1t is Of more
benefit to the debtor, to his creditors,
and to the whole structure of society
in the community where he does bust
ness If the debtor can be restored as
u "going concern and repay or re-
build the investment represented.
The question of revising the bank
ruptcy laws was given attention in the
1881 -32 session of the senate, and the
Department of Justice, by direction Of
President Hoover, made thorough
examination of court records and con-
ditions disclosed by them with view
to shedding light on course which
might be developed into policy. On
top of this, Representative McKeown
(Dem.), of Oklahoma. introduced a
bill in the house at the beginning of
the current session in December,
which, in effect, seeks to rewrite farm
mortgages. So that it is seen the pro-
posal to do something about debtors
inability to meet their obligations is
not just fly-by-night thought.
Give Them a Chance.
Senator Hastings (Rep.), of Della
ware, who is chairman of the two sub
committees that have been working
jointly on the problem, believes that
genuine possibilities exist for estab-
fishing a new order in the matter Of
dealing with men, and with corpora
tons, whose debts have sunk. or are
about to sink. them. He points out
that literally thousands of formerly
sound corporations and many times
that number of individuals have been
driven to the wall by conditions of the
last three years through no fault of
their own. Obviously. bad judgment
has played part, but the fact re-
mains that honest, Woodworking per-
sons who want to pay their debts
should have that chance. And that is
the purpose underlying the congress
sional effort.