The Times of Tuesday contained a letter addressed to the
Home Secretary by the bon. secretary of the Humanitarian League on the subject of imprisonment for debt. The Debtors Act of 1869 gave to County Courts jurisdiction to commit any debtor "who either has or has had since the date of the order or judgment the means to pay the sum in respect of which he has made default." Now, "however honest a man may be, if he has not money enough to pay all his debts he must leave some unpaid," and the most innocent of people may come within the words of the Act. Moreover, as "A County Court Judge" points out in the same issue, many Courts use the Act as a kind of screw to compel the friends of the debtor to pay for him. During last year 11,405 persons were sent to prison for inability to pay their debts, and of these 7,851 served the whole term of their sentence. We entirely agree with these correspondents that it is time to get rid of the anomaly which allows a man to lose his character for a debt of a shilling, and plays into the hands of moneylenders, pack- men, canvassers, and the "other harpies who prey upon the working classes."
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