Year: 1877

NNL0fd Aberdeen, IN the exhaustive and
thougktftii address delivered by him at
tile epeffing of the Social Science Con-
Sress, while touching upon almost,
every Subject connected with repression
of crime, the reformation of criminals,
and the economy of pauperism, drew
particular and useful attention to the
topic of imprisonment for debt. He
remarked that it might excite the sur
prise of many, even among the intelli-
gent audience before him, to be told
that a by no means inconsiderable sec.
ton of the inmates of our jails are not
confined through their being charged
with any crime or offense, and that the
law substantially recognizes this fact
by subjecting them to regulations care
fully discriminating between criminal
and non-criminal prisoners. Why,
then, are they ihcarcerated at all? The
noble President proceeded to inform
his readers that q large proportion. of
the class in question consist of debtors,
and that, although the grosser cruel
ties and anomalies of debtors prisons
have now become matter of history,
Imprisonment for debt still practically
remains a ssBritish Institution" It is
true that people are no; longer locked
up simply for owing money; but they
are committed to jail for emitting to
discharge their liability when ordered
to do so by competent tribupal. The
theoretical distinctioni is clear-enough;
but in. many cases the substantial eff
feet is about the same n n arOgg (


In fact, the Debtors act of 1869 did
not in any way interfere with the opera
tionio the acts for the recovery of
small debts; and while the Sheriff $ of
ficer was fain to hunt his prey under
somewhat novel conditions, the County
Court Bailiff swept, as he continues, to
sweep up, his prisoners as cheerfully as
ever. Now, the legal expenses of the.
County Courts are, thanks to the late
Lord Brougham, extremely moderate;
but their penal procedure is very rough
and very ready. The representative of
a tallyman or furniture-dealer in a
large way of business comes up before
the Court some Saturday or Monday
with as many as eighty or a hundred
Judgment nsesreturnable against
his customers, and of these suits a con-
siderable proportion result in the COM
initial of the debtor to prison for terms
varyingy between ten days and six
weeks. The defendant is not sent, to
gaol fol, non-payment of his indebted
ness. He is only committed for "con-
tempt of Court Sometimes his con-
tempt may have risen to the height of
five pounds, and sometimes it may
have sunk SO low as default of five
shillings; and, again, in many cases,
the assumed, contempt may be due
to the fact that the man is out
Of work., I that his. wife is in the
hospital, and that his children
are starving. When the Judge happens
to be more than usually humane and
painstaking functionary, he will abstain,
SO far as he possibly can, from sending
man to gaol; but he is sorely pressed
by the creditor, who is voluble, pertina-
cious, and practiced in such cases;
whereas the defendant is often timid,
inexperienced and ignorant. 1t too fre-
qiiently occurs that it really matters
very little what the debtor has to say for
himself. r,Committals on judgment
summonses become a process OF routine,
and man who has made default in the
payment of his installments is packed
Off to Hollaway or Horsemonger-Lane
as thing of course To this extent.
then, and no more, has Imprisonment
for debt been g abolished" We may
add that the penalty can also be ex-
acted for .non-paynient of aAlawyers a
bill of costs, and for satisfaction of
the damages in an action for breach of
promise of marriage. Creditors, and
lawyers, yehemently urge that, if the
power of imprisonment were wholly
taken away, fraudulent and prodigal
debtors who have no goods to be seized
would be enabled to set the law utterly
at defiance. Some tradesman plead
that if they do not give some kind of
credit to the poor their business trans
actions would be wofully restricted, that
the tally trade is, in reality, a boon and
not a curse, and that the sword of DAM
ocles which they hold over the debtors
heads never falls save in the case of will
full fraud or hardened contumacy.-
London Telegraph.