BAD PLACE FOR BANKRUPTS.

Press, Volume XIII, Issue 1730, 24 September 1868, Page 3

BAD PLACE FOR BANKRUPTS.

TO THB EDITOB OF THB PBESS. Sib—The laws of bankruptcy in Batavia are somewhat stringent. A letter from Java to a merchant in Boston gives this outline :— To be a bankrupt here is a somewhat different affair from what it is in the United States. Immediately on becoming bankrupt the names of the parties aro placurded about town and in the Exchange as if (prima facie) infamous. [ The books are then examined by tho public officer for that purpose. If the estate does ' not pay 60 per cent, and the bankrupt can be ! proved to have done business after he knew i the facts he is put into prison as a criminal for , a number of years and declared "aloost," which signifies infamous, or without character. I After this the '* aloost" person is, indeed, ex- • communicated ; his word is not to be taken ; I he is not allowed to be a witness, even on oath, j and if a man trusts him he does it at his own j risk. He has no legal remedy, against him ; on the other hand, if a man takes his books to the public officer and declares that he has given up all he has, and it does not appear ~\ that he has been doing business, knowing he . was a bankrupt; and after a strict investigation, there aro no suspicious circumstances, hia creditors must sign his paper. Thus the creditor is protected without oppressing the debtor; tho rogue is distinguished from the • honest, and a person is obliged, by a terrible penalty, to know the state of his affairs, and when once embarrassed, to refrain from speculations to retrieve himself. This law came into operation in May, 1848, and it was not long before it caught something in the shape of an English concern, who paid about one quarter of 1 per cent., and whose partners are now expiating their offence in prison. Yours, &0., A Victim.