into the transaction had he been obliged to pay ready money; but A., notwithstanding he has occasion for the money, is enabled, by the facility of negotiating or discounting bills, to give the requisite credit, without disabling himself from prosecuting his business. In a case like this, both parties are said to be supported by credit; and as cases of this sort are exceedingly common, it is contended that half the business of the country is carried on by its means. All, however, that such statements really amount to is, that a large proportion of those engaged in industrious undertakings do not employ their own capital, but that of others. In the case in question, the printer employs the capital of the paper-maker, and the latter employs that of the banker or broker who discounted the bill. This person had most likely the amount in spare cash lying beside him, which he might not well know what to make of; but the individual into whose hands it has now come, will immediately apply it to useful purposes, or to the purchase of the materials, or the payment of the wages of the workmen employed in his establishment. It is next to certain, therefore, that the transaction will have been advantageous. But still it is essential to bear in mind that it will have been so, not because credit is of itself a means of production, or because it can give birth to capital not already in existence; but because, through its agency, capital finds its way into those channels in which it has the best chance of being profitably employed.

The real advantage derived from the use of bills and bank notes as money consists, as has been already shown, in their substituting so cheap a medium of exchange as paper, in the place of one so expensive as gold, and in the facilities which they give to the transacting of commercial affairs. If a banker lend A. a note for 100% or 1,000l., the latter will be able to obtain an equivalent portion of the land or produce of the country in exchange for it; but that land or produce was already in existence. The issue of the note did not give it birth. It was previously in some one's possessica; and it will depend wholly on the circumstance of A.'s employing it more or less advantageously than it was previously employed, whether the transaction will, in a public point of view, be profitable or not. On analysing any case of this kind, we shall invariably find that all that the highest degree of credit or confidence can do, is merely to change the distribution of capital to transfer it from one class to another. These transfers are occasionally, too, productive of injurious results, by bringing capital into the hands of spendthrifts: this, however, is not, except in the case of the credit given by shopkeepers, a very common effect; and there can be no doubt that the vast majority of regular loans are decidedly beneficial.

Abuses of the present Credit System in Great Britain. Means of obviating them. The previous observations refer rather to the credit given to individuals engaged in business, who mean to employ the capital which they borrow in industrious undertakings, than to that which is given to individuals not so engaged, and who employ the advances made to them in supporting themselves and their families. In neither case is credit of advantage, unless it be granted with due discrimination, and with reference to the character, condition, and prospects of those receiving it. In this country, however, these considerations have been in a great measure lost sight of, in the granting of credit by shopkeepers and tradesmen of all descriptions. Owing to the competition of such persons, their extreme eagerness to secure customers, and the general indolence of opulent persons, which disinclines them to satisfy every small debt when it is contracted, the system of selling upon credit has become almost universal. Few among us think of paying ready money for any thing; seven tenths of the community are in the constant practice of anticipating their incomes; and there is hardly one so bankrupt in character and fortune as to be unable to find grocers, bakers, butchers, tailors, &c. ready to furnish him upon credit with supplies of the articles in which they respectively deal. We look upon this facility of obtaining accommodations as a very great evil. They are not, in one case out of five, of any real advantage to the parties receiving them, while they are productive of very pernicious results. The system tempts very many, and sometimes even the most considerate individuals, to indulge in expenses beyond their means; and thus becomes the most fruitful source of bankruptcy, insolvency, and bad faith. To guarantee themselves from the extraordinary risk to which such proceedings expose them, tradesmen are obliged to advance the price of their goods to a most exorbitant height; so that those who are able, and who really mean to pay the debts they contract, are, in fact, obliged to pay those of the hosts of insolvents and swindlers maintained by the present system. Many tradesmen consider themselves as fortunate, if they recover from two thirds to three fourths of the sums standing in their books, at the distance of several years.

The extraordinary extent to which the credit practice is carried may be learned from the inquiries of the Parliamentary Committee on Small Debts. It appears from them, that hatters, shoemakers, &c. in the metropolis, have often 4,000l. and upwards on their books in debts below 104, and that five sixths of their book debts are below that sum ! A large proportion of these debts are irrecoverable; but owing to the artificial enhance

ment of prices, those that are good are sufficient to indemnify the traders for the loss of the bad.

It is not easy, we think, to imagine any system better fitted to generate improvidence and fraud. The vast majority of those who become insolvent, or are imprisoned for debt, consist of labourers, artisans, half-pay officers, clerks in public and other offices, annuitants, &c. - persons whom no prudent shopkeeper would ever allow to get permanently into his debt. The following Table exhibits some of the effects resulting from

this system:

Number of Persons committed for Debt to the several Prisons of the Metropolis in the Year 1842, and the Sums for which they were committed.

It is time, certainly, that something effectual were done to put an end to such flagrant abuses to a system that sends 1,929 persons to a single prison for debts under 201. ! We do not mean to say or insinuate that credit may not frequently be given to the labouring classes with the best effects: but it is of its abuse that we complain, -- of its being indiscriminately granted to every one; to those whom it encourages to continue in a course of idleness and profligacy, as well as to those industrious and deserving persons to whom it may occasionally be of the greatest service. To secure the advantages of credit to the public, free from the enormous evils that result from its abuse, is an object of the highest importance; and few things, we believe, would do so much to secure it, as the taking from creditors the power to arrest and imprison for debt. (See BANKRUPTCY.)

It was stated in the House of Commons, (19th of February, 1827,) that in the space of 21 years, 70,000 persons were arrested in and about London, at an expense to the parties, it may be estimated, of between 150,000l. and 200,0007. ! In 1827, in the metropolis and two adjoining counties, 23,515 warrants to arrest were granted, and 11,317 bailable processes were executed. Hence it may be concluded, that in this single year, within the above limits, no fewer than 12,000 persons were deprived of their liberty, on the mere allegation of others, without any proof that they owed them a farthing! Well might Lord Eldon say that "the law of arrest is a permission to commit acts of greater oppression and inhumanity than are to be met with in slavery itself, and that the redress of such a grievance would not be attended with any fatal consequences to the country."

The following Table, which shows that 1,078 persons were committed to Horsemonger Lane prison, in 1842, for debts amounting, in all, to only 2,3214. 168. 93d., being, at an average, no more than 21. Ss. 8d. each, proves that the discussions which have taken place with respect to the law of arrest and imprisonment, have not, in any material degree, lessened its mischievous operation. Whatever else may be dear in England, the fact that thousands of people are annually imprisoned for such miserable trifles shows that personal liberty is, at all events, abundantly cheap.

A Return from Horsemonger Lane Gaol of the Number of Debtors committed to the said Gaol, on Process out of Courts of Request, during the Year ending 1st of January, 1843; stating separately the aggregate Amount of Debts and Costs; showing, in Classes, the Number confined from One to less than Ten Days, for Ten Days and less than Thirty, Fifty, Seventy, and One Hundred Days; and stating, also, the Amount paid out of the County or other Rates, for the Maintenance and Support of such Prisoners, as accurately as possible.

We defy any one to show that the law of arrest and imprisonment has a single good consequence to be placed as a set-off against the evils of which it is productive. Tradesmen depend, as is clearly evinced by the above statements, upon the despotical

power which it puts in their hands, to get them out of scrapes; and believe that the fear of being subjected to arrest will stimulate even the most suspicious portion of their debtors to make payment of their accounts. The records of our prisons, and of our insolvent and other courts, show how miserably these expectations are disappointed. We believe, indeed, that we are warranted in affirming that the more respectable classes of shopkeepers and tradesmen are now generally satisfied that the present system requires some very material modifications. The law of arrest and imprisonment is, in fact, advantageous to none but knaves and swindlers, and the lowest class of attorneys, who frequently buy up small accounts and bills, that they may bring actions upon them, and enrich themselves at the expense of the poor, by the magnitude of their charges. Such oppressive proceedings are a disgrace to a civilised country. Were the law in question repealed, credit would be granted to those only who deserved it; for, generally speaking, tradesmen, supposing they had nothing to trust to but their own discretion, would not deal, except for ready money, with those of whose character and situation they were not perfectly informed; and the difficulty under which all idle and improvident persons would thus be placed of obtaining loans, would do much to wean them from their vicious courses, and to render them industrious and honest. "Those," says Dr. Johnson, "who have made the laws, have apparently considered that every deficiency of payment is the crime of the debtor. But the truth is, that the creditor always shares the act, and often more than shares the guilt, of improper trust. It seldom happens that any man imprisons another but for debts which he suffered to be contracted in hope of advantage to himself, and for bargains in which he proportioned his profit to his own opinion of the hazard; and there is no reason why one should punish another for a contract in which both concurred."

The power of taking goods in execution for debts is also one that requires to be materially modified. At present, the household furniture of every man, and even the implements used in his trade, should there be nothing else to lay hold of, may be seized and sold in satisfaction of any petty claim. It seems to us quite clear that some limits should be set to this power; and that such articles as are indispensable either to the subsistence or the business of any poor man ought to be exempted from execution, and, perhaps, distress. The present practice, by stripping its victims of the means of support and employment, drives them to despair, and is productive only of crimes and disorders. We are glad to observe that there seems to be a growing conviction among mercantile men, of the inconveniences arising from the present practice. A petition against imprisonment for small debts, subscribed by many of the most eminent merchants, manufacturers, bankers, &c. of the city of Glasgow, was presented to the House of Commons in 1833. It contains so brief, and at the same time so forcible, an exposition of the evils resulting from the present system, that we shall take the liberty of laying it before our readers.

"Your petitioners have been long and seriously impressed with the belief that very great evils have arisen and do arise from the imprisonment of debtors in Scotland, especially for small sums.

"The petitioners will not here question the policy of the existing laws which authorise the imprisonment of debtors for considerable sums, nor do they intend to object to the creditor retaining the fullest power over the property and effects of his debtor; but they are humbly of opinion that, in so far as these laws give creditors the power to imprison debtors for small sums, such as for 8. and under, they are not only injurious to the public, and ruinous to the debtor, but even hurtful to the creditor himself.

"It would be a waste of time to dwell upon the hardship of subjecting debtors to imprisonment for small debts, contracted sometimes certainly under circumstances of real distress, but more frequently from the improper use of credit, with which they are too readily supplied. The creditor takes care that his profit shall be commensurate with his risk; and the debtor is induced to purchase freely, and at any price, that which he is not immediately called upon to pay: the creditor coolly and cruelly calculates upon the power which the law has granted him over the person of his debtor if he fail to discharge his debt to him, while the debtor torgets that, by the credit so imprudently afforded him, he is preparing the way for his own ruin, and that of all who have any dependence upon him.

"The total number of debtors imprisoned in the gaol of Glasgow alone, for debts of 87. and under, was, in the year 1830, 353; in 1831, 419; and in 1832, 437; while the whole number of incarcerations in that gaol for sums of every description were, in the year 1830, 557; in 1831, 630; and in 1832, 696; the proportiou of sums of 8. and under being nearly two thirds of the whole on the average of these 3 years.

"To remedy these evils, your petitioners humbly submit that means should be adopted for the repeal of the laws at present in force, in so far as they sanction the recovery of small debts by haprisonment, reserving their effect in every other respect; the result of which would be, that credit for small sums would be greatly limited, if not entirely extinguished, and the poorer classes rendered more provident ; and by purchasing with money at a cheaper rate what they now buy at an extravagant price, they would be enabled to procure for themselves additional comforts, from the more economical employment of their small incomes.

"May it therefore please your Honourable House to take this matter into your consideration, and to adopt such means as you in your wisdom shall see proper, to prevent the incarceration of debtors for sums under 8., and thereby remove or greatly mitigate the evils of improvidence on the part of the debtor, and of oppression on the part of the creditor, which necessarily arise under the present system."

So reasonable a proposal, supported by such conclusive statements, could not fail to make a deep impression; and a bill was soon after introduced, and passed into a law, (stat. 6 & 7 Will. 4. cap. 70.) taking away the power of imprisonment in Scotland for debts under 81. 68. 8d. over and above interest and expenses, except in cases of fraud. This bill is admitted to have been eminently beneficial; and it is to be hoped that the

advantages of which it has been productive may lead to the extension and general application of its principle. Propriety of placing all small Debts beyond the Pale of the Law. The taking away the power of arrest and imprisonment, except in the case of fraudulent bankruptcy, would certainly be a material improvement upon the existing system. But we are satis fied that it does not go far enough; and that by far the most desirable and beneficial reform that could be effected in this department would be to take away all action for debts under a given sum, as 50l, or 100l. The only exception to this rule should be in the case of claims for wages, or labour done under executory contracts. To prevent the measure from being defeated, no action should be granted on bills under 50l. or 104, except upon those drawn by or upon regular bankers. This would be a radical change certainly; but we are fully satisfied that it would be highly advantageous to every class of the community, and most of all to labourers, retail dealers, and small tradesmen. It would protect the former from oppression, at the same time that it would tend powerfully to render them more provident and considerate; it would teach the latter to exercise that discretion in the granting of credit which is so very indispensable; and it would be publicly beneficial, by strengthening the moral principle, and making the contraction of debts for small sums, without the means of paying them, at once difficult and disgraceful.

We agree entirely in opinion with those who think that it is to no purpose to attempt to remedy the defects now pointed out, by multiplying courts and other devices for facilitating the speedy recovery of small debts. This is beginning at the wrong end; or rather it is attempting to obviate the influence of one abuse by instituting another. No wise statesman will ever be easily persuaded to fill the country with petty local courts; for these, when not absolutely necessary, are the merest nuisances imaginable; and he would, at all events, exert himself, in the first instance, to do away, in so far as possible, with the circumstances that make individuals resort to them. But it is certain that nine tenths of the cases in county courts originate in questions as to simple contract debts under 501.; and were such debts placed, as they ought to be, beyond the pale of the law, the courts would be wholly unnecessary. Our object ought not to be to provide means for enforcing the payment of trifling debts, but to prevent their contraction. We believe, indeed, that, instead of lessening, the multiplication of district courts will materially aggravate, all the evils of the present credit system. The belief that they may readily enforce their claims by resorting to them will make shopkeepers and tradesmen still more disposed than at present to give credit, while the unprincipled, the inconsiderate, and the necessitous will eagerly grasp at this increased facility. What there is of caution amongst our retail dealers is in no inconsiderable degree owing to the want of those petty tribunals so many are anxious to have universally established. The more they are increased, the less will caution prevail. But instead of diminishing this virtue, -for such it really is, it cannot be too much increased. Nothing will ever deter those who ought not to obtain credit from taking it while in their power; but those who give it may be made to exercise greater discretion; they may be made to know that it is a private transaction between themselves and those to whom they grant it; and that in the case of petty debts they have only their own sagacity to look to, such transactions not being cognizable by law. A measure of the sort here proposed would not, as some appear to imagine, annihilate credit. It would, no doubt, annihilate that spurious indiscriminating species of credit, that is as readily granted to the spendthrift and prodigal, as to the frugal and industrious individual; but to the same extent that it de prived the former of the means of obtaining accommodation, it would extend those of the latter. Nothing short of this-nothing but the placing all small debts beyond the pale of the law will ever fully impress tradesmen with a conviction of the vast advantages that would result to themselves from their withdrawing their confidence from courts and prisons, and preventing every one from getting upon their books, of whose situation and circumstances they are not fully aware; nor will anything else be able completely to eradicate the flagrant abuses inherent in the present credit system, and which have gone far to render it a public nuisance.

One of the worst consequences of the present system is the sort of thraldom in which it keeps thousands of labourers and other individuals, whom the improper facilities for obtaining credit originally led into debt. Such persons dare not leave the shops to which they owe accounts; and they dare neither object to the quality of the goods offered to them, nor to the prices charged. Dr. Johnson has truly observed, that "he that once owes more than he can pay, is often obliged to bribe his creditor to patience by increasing his debt. Worse and worse commodities at a higher and higher price are forced upon him; he is impoverished by compulsive traffic; and at last overwhelmed in the common receptacles of misery by debts which, without his own consent, were accumulated on his head." By taking away all right of action upon small debts, this system of invisible but substantial coercion would be put an end to. The tradesman would

take care who got, in the first instance, upon his books; and instead of forcing articles upon him, would cease to furnish him with any unless he found he was regular in making his payments; while the customer to whom credit was of importance would know that his only chance of obtaining it would depend upon his character and reputation for punctuality. The abuses of the sort now alluded to, that grew out of what has been denominated the truck system, justly occasioned its abolition; but these were trifling compared with those that originate in the bringing of petty debts within the pale of the law.

When the former edition of this work was published, we were not aware that it had been previously proposed to take away all action for debts under 501. or 1007.; but we have since met with a pamphlet, entitled Credit Pernicious, published in 1823, in which this plan is propo ed and ably supported. There are also some valuable remarks and observations on the topics now treated of, in the Treatise on the Police, &c. of the Metropolis, by the author of the “Cabinet Lawyer," pp. 114–134.

CREW, the company of sailors belonging to any ship or vessel No ship is admitted to be a British ship, unless duly registered and navigated as such by a crew, three fourths of which are British subjects, besides the master. (3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 54. § 12.) The master or owners of any British ship having a foreign seaman on board not allowed by law, shall for every such seaman forfeit 10%.; unless they can show, by the certificate of the British consul, or of two British merchants, or shall satisfactorily prove, that the requisite number of British seamen could not be obtained at the place where the foreign seaman was taken on board. It is also ordered that the master of every British vessel arriving from the West Indies shall deliver, within 10 days after arrival, to the Customhouse, a list of the crew on board at the time of clearing out from the United Kingdom, and of arrival in the West Indies, and of every seaman who has deserted or died during the voyage, and the amount of wages due to each so dying, under a penalty of 501. (3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 54. § 19.; 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 52. § 16.)

CUBEBS (Ger. Kubeben; Fr. Cubebes; It. Cubebi; Sp. Cubebas; Rus. Kubebü; Lat. Piper Cubeba; Arab. Kebabeh; Javan. Kumunkus; Hind. Cubab-chinie), the produce of a vine or climber, the growth of which is confined exclusively to Java. It is a small dried fruit, like a pepper corn, but somewhat longer. Cubebs have a hot, pungent, aromatic, slightly bitter taste; and a fragrant, agreeable odour. They should be chosen large, fresh, sound, and the heaviest that can be procured. The duty on cubebs was reduced in 1842 from 6d. to 1d. per lb., and in that year the quantity entered for home consumption amounted to 67,093 lbs., producing a nett revenue of 500l. 17s. 4d. Their price in the London market, in bond, varied, in June 1843, from Il. 128. to 21. per cwt.

CUCUMBER, a tropical plant, of which there are many varieties, largely cultivated in hothouses in England.

CUDBEAR, a purple or violet coloured powder used in dyeing violet, purple, and crimson, prepared from a species of lichen (Lichen tartareus Lin.), or crustaceous moss, growing commonly on limestone rocks in Sweden, Scotland, the north of England, &c. About 130 tons of this lichen are annually exported from Sweden. It commonly sells in the port of London for about 20l. per ton; but to prepare it for use it must be washed and dried; and by these operations the weight is commonly diminished a half, and the price, in effect, doubled. Though possessing great beauty and lustre at first, the colours obtained from cudbear are so very fugacious, that they ought never to be employed but in aid of some other more permanent dye, to which they may give body and vivacity. In this country it is chiefly used to give strength and brilliancy to the blues dyed with indigo, and to produce a saving of that article; it is also used as a ground for madder reds, which commonly incline too much to yellow, and are made rosy by this addition. The name cudbear was given to this powder by Dr. Cuthbert Gordon, who, having obtained a patent for the preparation, chose in this way to connect it with his own name.- -(Bancroft, Philosophy of Permanent Colours, vol. i. pp. 300-304.)

CUMMIN SEED (Ger. Kumin; Fr. Cumin; It. Comino, Cumino; Sp. Comino; Arab. Kemun), the seeds of an annual plant (Cuminum Cyminum Lin.), a native of Egypt, but extensively cultivated in Sicily and Malta. They have a strong, peculiar, heavy odour, and a warm, bitterish, disagreeable taste. They are long and slender.

CURRANTS (Fr. Raisins de Corinthe; Ger. Korinthen; It. Uve passe di Corinto ; Lat. Passula Corinthiace; Rus. Korinka, Opoek; Sp. Pasas de Corinto), a small species of grape, largely cultivated in Zante, Cephalonia, and Ithaca, of which islands they form the staple produce; and in the Morea, in the vicinity of Patras. The plant is delicate; and as 6 or 7 years must elapse, after a plantation has been formed, before it begins to produce, its cultivation requires a considerable outlay of capital. The crop is particularly liable to injury from rains in harvest, and is altogether of a very precarious description. After being dried in the sun, the currants are exported packed in large butts. They are in extensive demand in this country; and, when mixed with flour and suet, make a dish that is peculiarly acceptable to the lower classes. But, as if it had been intended