DEBT 



1725 



IN THE UNITED STATES 



DECALOGUE 



(6) Wit 



(d) Ceases to be 



ancient times the debtor was handed over to 

 the not usually tender mercy of his creditors; 

 in Greece, in Rome, among the Jews and even 

 in England under the Saxons, the debtor be- 

 came in name and in fact the slave of his 

 creditors. During the Middle Ages the man 

 who was unable to pay his debts received 

 more leniency. Every man was primarily a 



IN CANADA (Years) 



soldier, and his services were at the call of 

 his overlord. In such a system it was impos- 

 sible to allow imprisonment for debt to break 

 up an army. As the feudal system declined 

 and trade and industry became more impor- 

 tant, the debtor was again subjected to harsh 

 treatment. The uncertainties of business made 

 it necessary to keep a strong check on debtors, 

 and imprisonment was the usual penalty for 

 delinquent debtors. Imprisonment, however, 



seldom brought the creditor the money he 

 wanted, and the debtor's prison gradually be- 

 came recognized as a blot on the penal 

 system. 



Imprisonment for debt is still allowed in 

 nearly all countries, including Great Britain, 

 Canada and the United States, but only in 

 such exceptional cases as involve fraud, false 

 pretenses or other statute offenses. For ordi- 

 nary debtors the terrors of prison are no more. 

 The writings of Charles Dickens had an im- 

 portant part in teaching the English-speak- 

 ing world the horrors and the uselessness of 

 the debtor's prison. Imprisonment for debt, 

 with a few exceptions, was abolished in 

 France in 1867, in England in 1869, in Bel- 

 gium in 1871, in Ireland in 1872, in Switzerland 

 in 1874, and in many other countries since 

 then. In the United States such imprisonment 

 has been abolished by the statutes of the indi- 

 vidual states. (See BANKRUPTCY, which is a 

 remedy both for debtors and for creditors.) 



Debt, National. See NATIONAL DEBT. 



DECALOGUE, dek'alahg, the TEN COM- 

 MANDMENTS, comprising the whole moral law, 

 which, according to the Old Testament, were 

 "written with the finger of God" on two tables 

 of stone and given to Moses on Mount Sinai. 

 The text and application of all versions are 

 practically the same, but the division varies in 



