Legal Collection Of Debts

Man hns alwnys boen a trading, lendipg, borrowing animal. He is the only being on envth that makes bargnins to be fulfilled in future. The exchanges of other animáis are mnde with reference to the present time only. The lion never lenves a pnrt of the half-devoured carcnss to a hungry comrade, to be repaid by him nt a future day ; nor does the dog lend his fellow a surplus bone to gnaw, on condition of receiving, in a future time of need, anothor liona in return. The relatiun of Debtor and Creditor is founded upon this ability of making contracts for the future. In all ages, and among all nations, at all udvauced in the arts of üfe, the relution of debtor and creditor has existed. This is as it should be. Every man should be left at liberty to make what bargains he pleases with his neighbors, But it is also true, ihat, in all ages, and in all nations, possessing a rgular government, the whole power of society has been brouglit to bear in favor of the creditor to compel the debtor to fulfill his contract with him. Among some nations of antiquity, it is supposed that the Jefaulting debtor became the absolute slave of the creditor. And among the Jews, the whole property of the debtor was seized by the creditor, and where that was found to be insufficient, the debtor and his whole family were sold for the benefit of the creditor, till the debt should be paid See the story of the man who owed 10,000 talents in the New Testament. But among modern civilized nations, the lnw has restricted the creditor to the whole property of the debtor, with the privilege of putting the porson of the debtor into the public prison. This secms to have been designed as an engine of torture, that throiigh the drend of suffering the debtor might beinduced to pay what he owed. But as the prospect of paying debts might in many cases be utterly hopeless, provisión was made in some parts of our country that after imprisonment for a length of time, he might "swear-out." But under the process of imprisonment, the family of the dobtor, having been stripped of everything j might become a chaige upon the whole comunity. To obvíate this, it was found best to exempt from the power of the creditor, some articles of indispensable necessity to the family of the debtor, as well as a small supply of the necessaries of life. Another most important step in legislation on this subject has been the estire abolition of imprisonment for debt. This is within the memory of the present generation. Many can remembei the strenuous opposition to the measure which was j made, and the doleful prophecies putforth repecting its eifects. The Person of the debtor having been thus exempted from the power of the creditor, more and more of his personal proporty has been exempted from liability. Many of our egislutors have hada personal interest in extending the amount exempted ; and they have also found that in a community where almost every man is a voter, nnd the great mass nrfc not wealthy, it is popular to " do snmethingfor the poor man." Henee in our State, a supply of clothing, provisions, books, furniture, kc, has been exempted to every family ; and S250 worth of tools, stock, team, or whatever a man needs for carrying on his business, amounting in the aggregate, to about Si, 000. Besidos this, the most liberal provisions have been made for the support of widows and children, in preforonce to the paymant of creditors. The law recently enacted allowing married women to hold property ndependently of their husband, and free from all liabiüties for their debts, was another step diminishing the power of the creditor. Then came the Hoineetcad law. Every faraily must be some whkrk ; and if they cannot own any land, they must b driveu about from place to place at the mercy of the land holders ; or take refuge in the highways. In Texas, 200 acrei of liiud are now exempted from liabilities for debt : in Michigan, 40 acres : in Comiecticut, an amount not exceeding S300 in value ; and it is plain from the signs of the times, tliHt in a few years, a hoinestead of some kind willbe grauted to the debtor in all the States. From this brief history of legislation on the Credit System, it is evident to srery person that it has been all in o.ne direction. The power of the creditor has been steadily curtailed, and his facilities for enforcing the legal collection of his debts more and moro cut short. The question now arises, will this system of legislation bo preserved, will it become stationary, or will it continue to progress in the same direction in which it has nlwnys moved ? That it will not be reviscd, is evident from the fact that all politicbl power is now in the hand of the Inboring partof community. It has been through their nflueuce that. laws in favor of the debtor have been enacted ; and thinkyou that they will voluntarily imprison themselves again for debt, or give up their homes and llio lint articles of food and tlothingfor their families, merely lo gratify the class of Capitalists? Par from it. The power of making laws lies with the puur; they will not enact any which they conceive to bo against their own intorest; nnd ifat any time, they err in judgment in tliis matter, there will be no liick of keen-eyed poliücians, on the bright look-out to gnin popularity for themselves by poiuting out their true interst, and taking the lead in atlaining it. This systein of legislatioti will not remain stationury where it is. It is now incomplete and uufinished. In some of its parts it is inconsistent vvith itself. Why exempt from execution 40 acres of land, and yet let every acre of grain or produce grow on it be fiable to seizure by the creditor ? - How ïnuch does this encourage the owner to cultívate his land ? Besides. why exempt one third or one half the property in commmiity from Iinbility for debt, and yet leave the romainder liable ? - If the creditor ought to be able to enfurce his claim by law, then too much property is now nxempted ; if it be not best that it should bethusenforced, then all of it should be exempt. Legislation will not long remains where it is ; and as it cannot go backward for the. veasons alrcady given, its forward progress is inevitable. In addilion to this it may be remarked, that the vast change on this subject which has taken placo within the knowledge of the present generation, gives most encouragiug nssurance that tho work thus rapidly prosecuted to the present time, will go forward to complelion with unabuted speed and vigor. It is true, as before statod, that the power of society hus alwayi been exerted to enfurce piiyment from tlio debtor. But is there any sufificient reason for this ] A, of his own accord, and for purposes of private gain, trusts B to theamount of 85. He histrusted t'venty other men tbe eamearaount. for the sumo purposes, and received his pay. But B, the twenty first man, instend of being honest nnd trustworthy ns A supposod, provea to be knavish, indolent or vicious, and does not pay, Why, now should the whole State of Michigan be put in requisition, and the judges be pnid heavy salaries, twelve jurois be cnlled from thcir work, a nurhber of vvitnesses called to repeated attendance in court, and slieriiTa and lawyers be employed at high ratea of compensation : - aml for vvlint? Why, becau9e A foolishly made n mistnke in trusting B supposing him to be honest. This is n vnst nmountof machinery to put in motion to rmnedy A's niiitake. Nor is it nlwnys effrctunl then. In n vast proportion of cn9es, the attempted callections are not made, and the expenses incurrod becnme n pnrtial or total I093 to the comrauuily. But at the best, supposing the whole amount collectod, the whole expenses of collection oflen, not ahvays, exceeds the Bggregate sum collected. Where, then, ia the transaction ? Would itnotbe better to let every niiin trust every man upon his character, and when he sustained a loss of foolishly trusting another, to shoulderit without troubling the whole community with it, and become wiser for the future ? It will be underslood of course, thnt futuro transacions made after the abolition of collectors by luw, ore here spnUeii of. Existing contracta 6hould be governed by existing laws, In another paper, some reasons for making this change will be presented.