| Show attachments IN CIVIL CASES A BILL providing for attachments which has passed the council and was yesterday sent to th the house eHouse for its action thereon would sweep away all the protection which a debtor now has in this territory against having his bis property attached by any one or more of his creditors before judgment without notice and in a summary manner the gist of the bill is contained in Us its first two sections which are as f follows ol 01 asil sac c 1 the plaintiff at the time of issuing the summons or at any time afterwards may have the property of defendant the attached as security for the satisfaction of any judgment that may be xe recovered covered unless the defendant give security to pay such judgment as in this chapter provided in the following cases I 1 in inan an action upon a judgment or apon upon contract express or implied for the direct payment of money where the contract is not secured by any mortgage orlien or lien upon real or personal property or any pledge of personal property or it if originally so seigurd sei urd i such security has without any act acl 0 of plaintiff or the person to baom the security was given become valueless 2 laan action upon a judgment or upon contract express or Imp implied lito agai against not a defendant not residing in this territory 2 the clerk of 01 the court must issue the writ of attachment upon receiving an affidavit by or on behalf of plaintiff setting forth I 1 that the defendant Is indebted to the plaintiff specifying the amount as near as may be of such indebted nesi ness over and above all legal set off s or t counter e unter claims and whether upon a judgment or upon a contract for the he direct payment of money and that the payment of the same has not been se cured by any mortgage or lien upon real or personal property ur or any pledge of personal property or if originally so secured that such ty has without any act of the plaintiff or the person to whom the security was gives given become valueless or 2 that the defendant is indebted to the plaintiff specifying the amount as near as may be of such indebtedness over and above all legal setoff a or counter claims and t that ut the defendant is a nonresident non resident of the territory and 3 that the attachment is not sought and the action is not prosecuted to kin binder delay or defraud any creditor of defendant the above provisions mean that any debtor in this territory say for example a country merchant who owes amounts to a number of wholesale houses who is honest engaged in a strictly legitimate business and is solvent may suddenly have his store closed and his stock taken jaken charge of byl by an officer should a suspicion of his 10 solvency vency or reliability enter the mind cofone of one of his creditors or should on one e of the latter yield to a prompting of malice As attachments take besre pre cadence la in the order in which they are issued tile the rest of the creditors would engage in a lively scramble each bent ben t on his bis own in before the others ethers and any lawyer or business man can foresee the result in the great reat majority of cases the unfortunate ator debtor will be buried under an avalanche of litigation too great to admit of a hope that he will survive the amount of wrong and disaster dis astei possible possible to be wrought under such a law is very great and it Is a matte raOl astonishment that this bill should should have passed the upper branch of the legislature of this territory in such a torm form it if it shall becomer law without amendment the possibility to effect the finar cial ruin rain of one hilf half the country merchants and operative cooperative co stores throughout the territory inside of a month will be created such institutions will vill have no protection against a crash save the honor or leniency of their creditors cre ditora the malevolence of the measure extends to tc all classes of debtors but I 1 bears more directly upon persons engaged in mercantile and manufacturing pursuits we are speaking what would be possible under such a law rather than ihan of what would with wita reasonable certainly happen but wise guards against possibilities even though they ruay may be remote it is however reasonably curtain certain that it if tile the bill shall become a law is in its present form civil litigation litiza tion will be greatly increased in the territory and many merchants and small dealers who on account of un controllable contro lable circumstances are slow iv in meeting obligations may be hopelessly sunk under attachments all ail of the arguments that supported the theory that a debtor should nave some protection against his creditors weigh against this nill dili an enlightened policy would disapprove of placing in the hands bands of a creditor the power to bring upon any debtor such a disaster as a premature attachment suit must be not only because of the expense which it involves but of the damage it works to the reputation and credit of the defendant under the measure in ques lion the action of one malicious creditor might not only oaly result in great harm to a delen daut but bat also to others of his creditors by placing him in a position that would prevent him from meeting obligations which w aich he could and would woud py pay if not handicapped with attachments under the present law before a wrt of attachment w will ill issue one or more of the following grounds must be specified and supported by affidavit not merely on information and ollief but positively t that the defendant defea dant 0 stands in defiance a of an of officer licer or conceals himself so that process cannot be served upon him or has assigned dispo disposed sad ot of or concealed or is about to assign dispose of or conceal any of his property with latent intent to defraud his creditors or I 1 has departed or of is about to depart from the to the injury of his creditors or I 1 fraudulently contracted the debt or incurred the obligation respecting which the action is brought I 1 there is ambiguity in the present attachment tach ment law but the evident meaning of the legislature the common consent of the bar of tile the territory and the unive practice sali sall in it support the interpretation of the law which is here given toe present provisions relative to attachments are good equitable and just and greatly preferable to the bill in question among the evils the new measure would be likely to produce would be to increase litigation in the territory it appears to be in the interest of plaintiffs plaintiff s in civil suits and correspondingly to the detriment of defendants I 1 |
