To the Representatives of the People of the State of New York in Senate and Assembly convened:

The Memorial of the Subscribers, inhabitants of the City and County of New York.

Humbly Sheweth:

That your memorialists in the Month of January one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, associated for the relief of distressed Debtors confined in the Goal of the city and county of New York.

That your memorialists, since that time have, in rotation, made weekly visitations at the Goal in order to enquire into the situations of the unfortunate debtors, and administer such relief to their necessities as the charitable contributions of their fellow citizens have enabled your memorialists to afford.

That your memorialists in prosecuting the purposes of their association have, with unspeakable regret, observed a large number of persons confined within the walls of the Goal, deprived of the comfort of their families, prevented from the opportunity of obtaining the means of subsistence by their own industry, subjected to the danger arising from putrid and contagious disorders occasioned by crowded rooms and corrupted air, and liable to become useless if not pernicious members of society from the great danger they are in of acquiring habits of intemperance and debauchery, while attempting to drown the recollection of their present misfortunes and distresses by the excessive use of spirituous liquors.

That your memorialists are persuaded the existence of these evfils will be fully evinced when it is considered that from the 2d of January 1787 to the 3d of December 1788 there have been eleven hundred and sisty-two commitments to the Goal of this county for Debt.

That seven hundred and sixteen of these have been for sums recoverable before a justice of the peace and many of these under twenty shillings.

That there are at present eighty Debtors in Goal forty of whom are confined for sums under twenty pounds.

That your memorialists have endeavoured to discriminate between those who had any means of subsistence and such as were absolutely destitute yet they have constantly had from twelve to twenty-five on their list, and have furnished necessaries to one hundred and eighty-four persons.

That your memorialists conceive the interest of the community is greatly injured by the confinement of debtors for small sums, as thereby the certain profit which would arise to the society from the labour of the debtor, is sacrificed for an indefinite time, to the precarious prospect of recovering a debt, which the creditor has in most instances improvidently suffered to be contracted and which very often does not amount to one fourth of the value the public would derive from the labour of the debtor, during the time of his confinement.

That your memorialists subgmit these matters to consideration, in humble confidence that the wisdom of the Legislature will provide a remedy for our evil productive of consequences dangerous and destructive to an alarming degree.

New York, Decr. 12th, 1788.

 

Thomas Storm William Backhouse Jona. Lawrence, A. Hammond Richd. Platt, Melancton Smith Lawrence Embree, Rol. Troup John C. Kunze W. Cock

John Rodgers, Jno. Sloss Hobart John Mason James Cogswll Moses Rogers, Abraham Beach William Linn M. Clarkson James Watson James Laidler