Year: 1868

The distress among our people is unexam-
pied 1t is useless to dwell upon the causes
of it, or to speak of it in detail. The pres
sure of debt is upon nearly every house
hold. Thousands and thousands are likely
to be stripped of all they have while the
large amount of property thus put upon the
market must pass into the hands of the few,
who happen to have money or credit. 1t is
true, we have homestead provisions and GER
tain exemptions, but these are temporary,
depending to a large extent on the will of
the military commander. The people are
asking for relief, for exemptions, for homo
steads, which shall be permanent in charac-
ter, and not liable to be changed either by
legislation or 10y military orders.


Every sympathy of our nature is touched
by the appeals that are reaching us by every
mail. The cry for relief is almost universal.
1t is not for us to say in what mode relief
should be administered, but in this respect
there is force in the saying, "where there is
a will there is way" Many think the
Convention possesses plenary power on this
subject. How this is we can not say, as we
are not sufficiently learned in the law to ven-
ture an opinion; yet, whatever the Courts
may decide on the subject, time is what is
needed. The gist of the whole matter IS,
the people ask for time in which to arrange
and compromise their debts; and those of
them who are embarrassed and threatened
with bankruptcy, ask for indulgence until
the next crop.is made and until the State
Can begin to realize some of the beneficial
effects of its restoration to the Union. It
seems to ms this wish is alike natural and
reasonable We do not interpret the general
idea about "killlng old debts'' to mean re-
pudiation. The new debts already have The
advantage of the old, and to that extent the
litter are-if not 8" killed"-pretty well
stunned. We do not perceive that .une debt
is more sacred or binding than another; yet,
under the existing stay laws and military
ORDERS the new debts are colectable, while
the old ones are STAYED or barred 1t is the
new debts, incurred for agricultural imple--
ments. horses, mules, fertilizers and the like,
that are most pressing To say that they
shall becollectable, and at the same time to
bar the old debts, is not only partial in itself
and not calculated to afford the relief that
is needed, but to the extent to which the old
dehts are postponed or impaired they are
practically repudiated. To repudiate debt
for good and al, is to say it shall never be
collectable. We do, not think any consider
able portionofour people would SO declare in
relation to any debt, old or new. s3Es baf


A friend writing US from the eastern part
of the State expresses regret at a sentence
in recent article of ours on Bankruptcy
/ Our friend las misapprehended our mean
ing. We said, "we advise all who cannot
/ pay their debts, and who are honestly dispos-
ed to surrender all their property and take
the benefits of the act and begin lie anew,
to go into bankruptcy" A man who can
not pay his debts,"--that is very strong cx-


pression.-and, who is about to have every


thing sold by the Sheriff, and still he bound


in future for such debts as his property will


not paw, certainly acts wisely in goin! into


bankruptcy, and thus, while he disentangles