In their cases the characters are small, and the signature has nothing striking about it. On the whole, the writing is like that of a woman. Characteristic of the handwriting of thieves is the bending of almost all the letters. Lombroso suggested to an irreproachable young man who had been put in the hypnotic state that he was a brigand, whereupon his hand writing wholly changed : he made large letters and enormous " t's."
worth unhappy wight is now suffering durance vile. There are a few ^20 and ^10 debts scat tered among the 6,984 cases, but in the vast majority of them the amounts do not exceed one sovereign, and very many are debts of a few shillings. Dpes it not seem ridiculous to put a man in prison for so paltry an amount, and thus make him a non-producing member of the com munity? One man at Sleaford was actually sent to prison for a debt of 3s. only.
L. B. Proctor, the distinguished historical writer, and author of the " Bench and Bar of the State of New York," was among the distinguished guests at the annual meeting of the Provincial Historical Association at Quebec. His response to the toast " Canada and the United States, controlling powers of the American Continent," was exceedingly appropriate to the occasion, pleasingly delivered, and elicited rounds of applause.
A well known lawyer of Philadelphia repre senting the defendant in a certain case, being urged to have his client liquidate the amount of a claim, responded as follows : —
Among the popular fallacies which still exist is the idea that imprisonment for debt is a thing of the past. It may surprise some people to learn that in England alone no fewer than 6,984 per sons were sent to prison in 1892 for not paying their debts. This is no chimerical statement nor vague estimate, but an actual fact, certified by the Superintendent of the County Courts, De partment of the Treasury. Of this large number, equivalent to 134 im prisonments per week, or 22 per day, 253 persons were sent to prison more than once in respect of successive installments of the same debt. Two persons, one at Bacup and one at Dursley, were imprisoned five separate times for paltry debts of jQ 2s. 3d. and £2 9s. 8d. respectively! In matters statistical, London is nearly always at the head of the list, but in this account it comes very low down, only fifteen persons out of its vast population having been sent to prison in 1892 for not " paying up." Leeds is at the head of the list with 397 such cases. Stockton-on-Tees comes next with 374 petty debtors sent to prison. Birmingham is third with 301. The list is a miserably paltry one. The largest amount recorded is a debt of,£36 18s. iod., with court charges amounting to £ 6s. in addi tion. For the non-payment of this a Wands
My client came to me to-day In truth and verity to say That he had naught to pay. Some of the debt he owns is just, But poor and humbled in the dust. Have mercy, he will say. Have mercy now, he loud doth call, In time I'll surely pay you all If you will give me time. Now, in this case, what can be done, But let the debt in judgment run Till money takes the place of rhyme. The plaintiffs lawyers, not to be outdone in that kind of warfare, in reply feelingly portrayed the sad predicament of their client, a carpen ter : — Your muse inspired you to say In lofty rhyme and polished verse, If execution should but stay The plaintiff's cause would not be worse. Long has he labored amid the dust, (The saw-dust kind), and inward " cussed"' The law's delay. Alas, how true, And as he works he makes his moan That he must toil, unhelped, alone. If when your client called that day, He noted well that pay l1e must, Reluctantly we grant a stay; Though short of cash, we will be just.
New States are prolific of amusing occurrences, as well as new legal propositions. Judge C., a very dignified and capable lawyer, was one of the first judges of the District Court upon the admis sion of the State of Nebraska, and was assigned to the third district, which comprised nearly all
