JUL 17 1906 ASS MASSACHUSETTS LABOR BULLETIN. AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION, ISSUED BI-MONTHLY, FROM THE OFFICE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR, ROOMS 250-258, STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MASS. A business man or capitalist, when in financial difficulties and pressed for payment by his creditors, can take advantage of the provisions of the National Bankruptcy Act, which was approved July 1, 1898, and amended February 5, 1903. The law, as it stands to-day, covers 37 octavo pages, set in fine type, and it is, of course, impossible to reproduce it here. By its provisions a person can be freed from his past indebtedness and be able to start his business life anew. To be sure, the workingman has a right to avail himself of its provisions, but few, if any, of them have the means to pay for legal advice and the costs of court. In his case, the trustee process, much to his detriment, is usually invoked by the impatient creditor. In 1898, what is known as the "Dubuque Law" was passed under the caption "An Act to Provide an Equitable Process after Judgment in Certain Cases." This law was amended in 1899 and in 1901. As it now stands, it forms chapter 168 of the Revised Laws, and is herewith presented : Section 80. Upon the filing of an application of a judgment creditor, with an affidavit made by him or a person in his behalf that the judgment is founded upon a claim for the ries of life furnished to the judgment debtor or his family, or for work or labor performed by the judgment creditor for the judgment debtor, the justice or clerk of a police, district or municipal court of the judicial district in which the judgment debtor resides or, if he does not reside within the district of any such court, the justice or clerk of a police, district or municipal court held within the county and nearest to the town in which the debtor resides, or in the county of Nantucket a trial justice, shall issue a notice to said debtor to appear at a time and place named therein to show cause why an examination into his circumstances should not be made and a decree be entered ordering him to pay such judgment in full or by instalments, weekly, monthly or otherwise. Said notice shall be served by delivering a copy thereof to the defendant or by leaving a copy at his last and usual place of abode, at least seven days before the return day thereof. At the hearing the court shall first ascertain if the creditor's claim is for the necessaries of life, or for work or labor performed by the judgment creditor for the judgment debtor, as stated in his affidavit, and, if it so finds, it shall make inquiry, by examination of the judgment debtor or otherwise, as to his circumstances, his income from any source, and his ability to pay said judgment; and if the debtor fails to appear at the time and place fixed, such inquiry may proceed in his absence. If it shall appear that said notice has not been served as herein required, the court may continue the proceedings and issue a new notice to the debtor. If the court finds that the debtor is not able at the time to pay said judgment in full or by partial payments from time to time, it shall enter a finding thereof, which shall be subject to revision upon like notice and inquiry and upon proof of changed circumstances. In such case, the clerk or justice shall not issue a subsequent notice to the debtor until the creditor or a person in his behalf has filed in court an affidavit stating in substance the evidence of the debtor's change of circumstances upon which he relies for a revision and until the court in its discretion has determined that there is occasion for a new inquiry into the debtor's circumstances. If the court finds that the debtor is able to pay the judgment in full or by partial payments from time to time, it may, after first allowing the debtor out of his income a reasonable amount for the support of himself and family, enter a decree fixing the time, place and amount of payments to be made by the debtor on said judgment out of his income in excess of said allowance. Section 81. If the debtor at any time fails to comply with such decree the creditor may cause him to be notified to show cause there for and, unless the debtor shows good cause therefor, the court may order that unless he complies with such decree or with such modification thereof as it may then make, within the time stated in said order, such failure shall be a contempt of court; and if, at the expiration of the time fixed by the court for compliance with such new decree, the debtor still fails or refuses to comply therewith, the court may enforce its decrees by proceedings for contempt as a court of equity might do; but not more than fourteen days' imprisonment shall be ordered by the court as punishment for any one such contempt. The debtor may be released by order of the court at any time, upon payment of the claim and costs or upon his giving a bond to the creditor, with one or more sureties who shall be approved by the court, conditioned that he will comply with all existing or subsequent decrees of the court; or, after seven days' imprisonment, he may be released by order of the court, upon filing in court his personal bond, conditioned that he will thenceforth comply with all decrees of the court. If the debtor is released upon his personal bond, as aforesaid, he may, if he does not comply with said decree within sixty days after his release or fails to show to the court good cause for his noncompliance, again be cited to appear before the court by the creditor and proceeded against as for a further contempt of court. Section 82. A judgment debtor may himself apply by petition for the benefit of the provisions of section eighty, and may cause a creditor holding a judgment against him for the necessaries of life furnished to himself or his family to be cited to appear and show cause why an examination, as herein before provided, shall not be made; and the court may, after a hearing, proceed in the case in the same manner as if such application had been made by a creditor. Section 83. If a judgment creditor institutes proceedings as provided in section eighty, all other processes or suits to enforce or recover upon any judgment upon which such proceedings are based and all actions or proceedings by other creditors against such judgment debtor, relative to wages, shall be suspended, except as provided in the following section, until the judgment or judgments on which such proceedings are based shall have been fully satisfied; but the provisions of this section shall not prevent the attachment of any property of the debtor other than his wages, either before or after judgment, or the levy of the execution thereon. Section 84. A creditor who has recovered a judgment upon a claim for the necessaries of life against a debtor against whom proceedings by another judgment creditor are pending under the provisions of the four preceding sections may, upon motion and after notice to all parties in interest, inquire into the validity and amount of the claim of any judgment creditor for whose benefit the decree under the provisions of said sections has been entered. Upon the hearing of such motion, the court may order any judgment creditor who is then a party to the proceeding to render an account to the court of all amounts theretofore paid by the debtor upon such judgment, and may also, after a hearing, enter a decree revoking or modifying any previous decree in the proceedings, and may order that payments thereafter made by the judgment debtor be apportioned between the different judgment creditors who are then parties to such proceeding. Section 85. The court may, at any time upon written notice to the opposite party or to his attorney of record, revise, modify or suspend a decree made in any proceedings under the provisions of the five preceding sections. Section 86. No costs shall be allowed to either party after proceedings have been commenced under the provisions of the six preceding sections, except that twenty-five cents shall be paid to the clerk or justice who issues the notices therein provided, and the same fees shall be paid to officers for copies, service, travel and other expenses as are allowed by law in the service of writs, and they shall be paid in the same manner. [Chap. 168, Revised Laws.] This law, although it is not so designated, is in reality a State Bankruptcy Law for the benefit of debtors owing comparatively small amounts, principally for the necessaries of life. Opinions in regard to its practical operation are given hereinafter as expressed by dealers who were interviewed by our agents during the progress of the investigation. During the past ten years there has been a notable change in the conduct of retail establishments as regards the giving of credit. Formerly, the credit system was extended almost entirely to the well-to-do, the poor being given but slight opportunity to use the system. The retail dealers would naturally not have objected to its continuance if their bills had been paid with some regard to promptness, but it is their general testimony that both the poor and the rich take advantage of their opportunities and fail to pay their indebtedness. The introduction of the sale of groceries and provisions in department stores and the establishment of many stores controlled by corporations selling at low prices have also obliged many retail dealers to abolish the credit system in order to compete with these stores, which they can only do by selling for cash. On the other hand, however, there has been a large extension of the credit system by the instalment stores, where furniture, clothing, jewelry, household goods, in fact, almost every needed article, can be procured by the payment down of a small part of the price, the balance being paid in instalments as agreed upon at the time of purchase. The Bureau has endeavored by a recent investigation to arrive at the non-collectable indebtedness or bad debts" of what may be designated as classes of people in the city of Boston. Special agents of the Bureau were sent to the retail grocery and provision stores, real estate agents, clothing and furniture dealers, and to undertakers in the city, requesting a statement of the amount of debt incurred by their customers which had been found by them to be impossible of collection. The amount of indebtedness shown in the tables which follow represents the total standing. on the books of the stores making reports at the close of the year 1904, but which, at that time, was not outlawed. The classes referred to are called in the tables the wage-earning class, the trade class, the professional class, and the moneyed class. In the wage-earning class are included laborers, operatives in factories, shops, mills, and stores, workers on the streets, and those in similar occupations. In trade are included bookkeepers, salesmen, clerks, and other persons engaged in this class. The professional class includes lawyers, physicians, clergymen, instructors in schools and colleges, etc. In the moneyed class are included bankers, brokers, financial and insurance agents, etc. The first table shows, by sections of the city, the amounts due grocery and provision dealers by each of the classes mentioned, together with the number of stores reporting such indebtedness and the number of debtors. In the Central District, or what is called the City Proper, 127 dealers reported 4,956 debtors who owed them $84,235, which amount they considered non-collectable. In East Boston, 92 dealers reported 4,624 debtors with bad debts. amounting to $64,467. In Charlestown, 39 dealers reported 3,787 debtors with non-collectable debts amounting to $33,585. In South Boston, 182 dealers reported 8,509 debtors owing $104,905, which they considered uncollectable. In Roxbury, 86 dealers reported 8,245 debtors owing them $69,527, which they never expect to receive. In Dorchester, 41 dealers reported 4,945 debtors with an uncollectable amount of $78,977. In West Roxbury, 43 dealers reported 3,295 debtors, the sum deemed impossible of collection being $29,101. At the North End, 64 dealers reported 3,077 debtors with bad debts amounting to $31,790. At the West End, 109 dealers reported 2,474 debtors with $49,625 deemed non-collectable. In Brighton, 14 dealers reported 1,570 debtors with a non-collectable sum amounting to $24,700. We present next a recapitulation for the city, including all grocery and provision stores represented in the preceding table: Non-collectable Indebtedness. The City of Boston ·Groceries and Provisions. The whole number of stores reporting was 797, with 45,482 debtors owing them the amount of $570,912, which they deemed non-collectable. Of this amount, $426,150, or 74.65 per cent, was owed by the wageearning class; $128,331, or 22.48 per cent, by the trade class; $3,173, or 0.55 per cent, by the professional class; and $13,258, or 2.32 per cent, by the moneyed class. Of the $426,150 owed by the wage-earning class, $157,098, or 36.86 per cent, was due to grocers; $88,997, or 20.88 per cent, to provision dealers; $173,005, or 40.60 per cent, to dealers in both groceries and provisions; and $7,050, or 1.66 per cent, to dealers in groceries and liquors. |