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Remedies to collect Debts.

It is the duty of the representatives of a deceased person to close the administration of his estate as soon as practicable; and for this purpose they are required to render an account at the expiration of each year of their transactions, and the condition of the estate, and may be compelled to do so upon the petition of creditors, heirs and legatees.

7. Remedies to Collect Debts.

Imprisonment for debt.-Imprisonment for debt does not exist

in Texas.

Judgment and execution.-Judgments of courts of record bind the real estate of the defendant in the county where they have been rendered from their date; but such lien will expire unless execution is taken out upon a judgment within twelve months. If the defendant has not sufficient property in the county where the judgment was rendered to satisfy the debt, writs of execution may be sent to any county in the state. Executions are made returnable on or before the first day of the next term of the court from which they issue. They run alike against real and personal property. Where the defendant does not designate the property to be levied on, it is the duty of the sheriff to take first the personal property, then the uncultivated lands, then the slaves, and if then the debt cannot be made from these, then the improved lands of the defendant. Any person supposed to be indebted to the defendant, may be summoned to appear as a garnishee, and proceedings had as upon attachment. (a)

It is provided by the constitution of Texas, that the homestead of a family not exceeding two hundred acres, if in the country, or the value of two thousand dollars, if in town or city, shall be exempt from sale on execution for any debts subsequently contracted.

All property offered for sale on execution must bring twothirds of its appraised value, the defendant selecting one of the appraisers, the plaintiff another, and they calling in an umpire in case of disagreement. When the levy is made upon slaves, or

(a) D. D. 90.

Remedies to collect Debts.

personal property, the defendant may retain possession by giving bond with security conditioned for their forthcoming on the day of sale; and if this bond is forfeited, execution issues at once against principal and security, upon which no indulgence can be · allowed. (a)

Remedy against sheriffs, &c.-Where the sheriff or other of ficer fails to pay over money collected under an execution, when demanded by the person entitled to receive the same, he shall be liable to pay ten per cent. per month on the amount collected, besides interest and costs, to be recovered of him and his sureties by motion before the court from which execution issued, three days previous notice being given. (b)

Courts. The District Courts sit twice a year in each county of the state, and have original jurisdiction in all civil cases involving more than one hundred dollars.

Attachment.-Attachments, both original and judicial, belong to the jurisprudence of Texas. An original attachment may be issued by any judge of the Circuit or County Courts, or any justice of the peace, upon affidavit by the plaintiff or his agent, that the person against whom the attachment is prayed, either absconds or secretes himself, or resides or is about to remove beyond the jurisdiction of the court, so that the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon him, or is about to remove his property beyond the jurisdiction of the court, so that the plaintiff may probably lose his debt, and an affidavit also of the amount of the indebtedness, and that the attachment is not sued out for the purpose of vexing or harassing the defendant. It is not necessary that the debt upon which the attachment is issued should be due. Attachment may be granted in behalf of non-resident creditors, against any estate of a non-resident debtor in Texas, when the latter hath not sufficient property in the place of his residence to satisfy the debt. In the case of a non-resident, the attachment runs against his real estate, in case of a deficiency of his personal property. The law contains the usual provisions for the bond of the plaintiff, the replevy of the property by the defendant, the sale of any perishable property, proceedings of garnishment, &c. (c)

(a) D. D. 90.

(b) Ib.

(c) Laws of Texas, ii. 89.

Remedies to collect Debts.

Judicial attachments may be resorted to upon the return of any original writ, "non est inventus." Before judgment can be entered on attachment by any District Court, public notice must be inserted in some newspaper nearest the court, for four weeks successively, pending the cause, stating the amount, property attached, names of parties, and the court wherein proceedings are pending.

CANADAS. (a)

1. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON THE LAWS OF UPPER AND LOWER CANADA.

2. LAW AS TO RIGHTS IN ACTION, IN LOWER CANADA.

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4. FRAUDS IN LOWER CANADA.

5. LIMITATION OF ACTIONS IN LOWER CANADA.

6. EFFECT OF MARRIAGE UPON THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY, IN LOWER CANADA.

1. General Observations upon the Laws of Upper and Lower Canadas.

The laws in force in Lower Canada are,

1. The acts of the British Parliament which extend to the colonies.

2. Capitulations and treaties.

3. The laws and customs of Canada, principally founded on the jurisprudence of Paris as it stood in 1663, the edicts of the French kings and their colonial authorities, and the Roman civil law.

4. The criminal law of England as it stood in 1774, and as explained by subsequent statutes.

5. The ordinances of the governor and council established by the act of that year. And,

6. The acts of the provincial legislature since 1792.

Of the laws, it may be said in general, that the criminal is English, with some provincial statutes not repugnant thereto; the admiralty is wholly English; the commercial laws of evidence

(a) The chapter on Canadas has been compiled from Howard's, Clark's, and Martin's Colonial Law, and from Burge's Commentaries on Foreign and Colonial Law.

General Observations upon the Laws of Upper and Lower Canada.

are English. Trial by jury is universal in criminal cases, but in civil matters the appeal to trial by jury is confined to certain cases, viz., the demand must exceed ten pounds sterling, the parties, merchants or traders, and the subject matter grounded in debts, promissory contracts, and agreements of a mercantile nature only; or else, the cause of action must arise from personal wrongs to be compensated in damages; in all other cases, the bench are judges, both upon the law and upon the facts. The court of general original civil jurisdiction, is the Court of King's Bench, which has a jurisdiction similar to the King's Bench and Common Pleas at Westminster.

Intimately connected with the laws of the country are the tenures by which land is held; all lands granted since the conquest, are in free and common socage; in the French districts, lands are held according to the old Norman law.

The civil and criminal law of Upper Canada is substantially the same as that of England; administered in the same manner and by similar functionaries. It is therefore unnecessary to recapitulate the English statutes, as to frauds, limitations, usury, promissory notes, &c. The bankrupt laws of England have not been introduced into either province.

Upon all bills of exchange drawn in Upper Canada, on any person in Europe or the West Indies, which may be protested for non-payment, ten per cent. damages with six per cent. interest upon the principal sum furnished here, from the day of date of protest to the time of payment, and charges of protest, may be recovered by the holders of such bill; the principal sum to be reimbursed to the holder at the par of exchange, that is, at the rate of one hundred and eleven pounds and one-ninth currency, for every hundred pounds sterling. Where the bill is drawn upon any person in North America, the West Indies excepted, four per cent. damages and six per cent. interest upon the principal sum, may be recovered.

Real estate may be taken in execution in either province upon judgment, and sold for the payment of debts. It must first appear, however, that the goods and chattels are not sufficient for this purpose. Lands, however, cannot be sold until the expiration of twelve months from the period of delivering the writ to the officer.

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