DEBT (OF. dette, debte, Lat. dcbituni, that which is owed, from debere, to owe, from dc, from habere, to have). In law, strictly speaking, a sum of money due upon a certain and expressed agreement. This obligation may be founded on simple contract, be contained in a sealed instru ment, or be established by the judgment of a court. in this meaning a debt is a definite sum due, not merely a claim for damages. In some applications, however, the word has been much more broadly used, and it is probable that most courts would not confine it to the strict defini tion above given, unless required so to do by the context of a law or the special tire stances of the ease. Thus, it has been held that a debt may be it certain sum of money promised to be paid in the future as well as a sum already actually due and payable; but if the sum be payable upon a contingency at a future time it cannot properly be called a debt. In its more general sense debt is that due from one person to another, whether money, goods, or service; under the United States legal-tender statutes the term embraces any obligation by contract, ex pressed or implied, which may be discharged by money through the voluntary action of the party bound; where a statute prohibits a city from increasing its indebtedness, it is held that for that city to give its corporate bonds for the future payment of valuable property would vio late the prohibition; a bequest of 'whatever debts' might be due the testator at the time of his death has been held to include money de posited with his bankers: a tax is not of the nature of a debt, not being founded on contract, but being rather an impost laid by a government.
Under the dual form of government which ob tains in this country, an important question in regard to debts was raised as to the provision of the United States Constitution forbidding the several States to pass laws impairing the valid ity of contracts. It was questioned whether an insolvency law adopted by a single State did not violate this provision, where it allowed a debt already existing to be canceled upon the debtor's complying- with the regulations of the Insolv ency Act. It has been settled by the courts that the States have the right to legislate in this manner, but subject to the power of the United States to enact a uniform law of bankruptcy (q.v.). Of course a State's insolvency law can
not impair the obligation of a contract existing before its passage. But in all contracts implying a debt entered into after its passage, it will be presumed that the parties to the contract have in mind the provisions of such law.
Historically, there has been a remarkable and interesting change in the way in which the law has dealt with the debtor and provided legal methods for the recovery of the debt. In ancient thnes, the delinquent debtor was practically handed over to the tender mercies of his creditor; under the Nlosnie law, iu (;recce and Home, and in England mnler the Saxon rule, the debtor was made the actual -lave of his creditor. A change followed under the feudal system, owing to the fact that the feudal idea required frequent mili tary service, and imprisonment. of the person for debt was not consistent with that theory. As the feudal system fell into disuse and the im portance of trade and commerce increased, there was again a change toward the harsh treatment of the debtor, and it is only within our own time that imprisonment for debt has been generally abolished. The present tendency of legislation is to afford an easy and simple procedure, so that undisputed debts may be adjudicated upon quick ly, and as summarily as is consistent with the right of defense and of appeal. The action of debt or the simple substitutes therefor provided by the reformed procedure in England and this country, is a civil suit, whose worst result is a money judgment and an execution levied on the property of the debtor for its satisfaction. Where the element of fraud, false pretenses, or con cealment of property enters into the question, the courts still possess, both in England and the United States, power to restrain and under some conditions even to imprison the debtor.- For It fuller exposition of these principles and of other matters relating to phases of the general subject, see A nsooN DINO ; ATTACHMENT; BANKRUPTCY; CESSIO BONORLIM ; CREDITOR; DEBTOR; GARNISH MENT; IMPRISONMENT; INSOLVENCY; SEQUES