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Basic Bankruptcy Law for Paralegals

5th Edition David L. Buchbinder


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Basic Bankruptcy Law

for Paralegals

Fifth Abridged Edition


Basic Bankruptcy Law

for Paralegals

Fifth Abridged Edition

David L. Buchbinder

Robert J. Cooper
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ISBN 978-1-5438-1375-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Buchbinder, David L., author. | Cooper, Robert J., 1961- author.

Title: Basic bankruptcy law for paralegals / David L. Buchbinder, Robert J. Cooper.

Description: Fifth abridged edition. | Frederick, MD: Aspen Publishing, [2020] |

Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “Paralegal textbook on

bankruptcy and debtor/creditor law”—Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019055388 (print) | LCCN 2019055389 (ebook) | ISBN

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p. vii

Summary of Contents

Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments

Introduction: Paralegals and the Bankruptcy System

Chapter 1. A Short History of Bankruptcy

Chapter 2. Introduction to the Bankruptcy Code

Chapter 3. Understanding the Client

Chapter 4. Filing a Petition

Chapter 5. Chapter 1: General Provisions

Chapter 6. Needs Based Bankruptcy or “Means Testing”

Chapter 7. Useful Definitions—Section 101

Chapter 8. Overview of Chapter 7

Chapter 9. Conversion and Dismissal

Chapter 10. Exemptions

Chapter 11. Trustees, Examiners, and Creditors’ Committees

Chapter 12. The Automatic Stay—11 U.S.C. §362

Chapter 13. Objections to Discharge and the Dischargeability of Individual Debts

Chapter 14. Property of the Estate, Turnover Complaints, and Introduction to

Avoiding Powers

Chapter 15. Avoiding Powers

Chapter 16. Liquidation Provisions

Chapter 17. Claims and Administration

Chapter 18. Chapter 13: Reorganization Proceedings

Chapter 19. Chapter 11: Reorganization Proceedings

Chapter 20. Chapter 12: Reorganization Proceedings

Chapter 21. Introduction to Courts and Jurisdiction


p. vii

p. viii

Chapter 22. Statements and Schedules Tutorial

Chapter 23. Means Testing Tutorial

Chapter 24. Researching Bankruptcy Issues

Appendix 1. Noticed Motions and Ex Parte Applications


Appendix 2. Documents and Deadlines
Glossary
Table of Cases
Table of Statutes
Table of Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
Table of Secondary Authorities
Index

p. viii
p. ix

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments

Introduction: Paralegals and the Bankruptcy System

A. Role of the Paralegal

B. Common Activities

Chapter 1. A Short History of Bankruptcy

A. Origins of Bankruptcy Systems

B. Bankruptcy in the Middle Ages

C. Early English Insolvency Laws

D. Bankruptcy in the United States

Summary
Key Terms
Discussion Questions

Chapter 2. Introduction to the Bankruptcy Code

A. Organization of the Bankruptcy Code and a Note on the Text

B. Overview of the Bankruptcy Code

C. The Bankruptcy System

D. Composition Agreements—A Bankruptcy Alternative

Summary
Key Terms
Discussion Questions

Chapter 3. Understanding the Client


A. The Client Interview

1. Intake

2. The Interview

B. The Fact Pattern

p. ix

p. x

C. “Cash on the Rocks”

D. Initial Interview

Discussion Questions

Chapter 4. Filing a Petition

A. Gatekeeper Provisions in Individual Bankruptcies

1. Prepetition Credit Counseling

2. Debt Relief Agency Provisions

B. Voluntary Petitions

C. Involuntary Petitions

Summary
Key Terms
Chapter 4 Checklist
Discussion Questions
Practice Exercises

Chapter 5. Chapter 1: General Provisions

A. Notice and a Hearing

B. Rules of Grammatical Construction

C. Powers of the Court

D. Statutes of Limitation

E. Who May Be a Debtor

Summary
Key Terms
Chapter 5 Checklist
Discussion Questions
Chapter 6. Needs Based Bankruptcy or “Means Testing”

A. Introduction

B. Current Monthly Income

C. Deductions

D. Special Circumstances

E. “Totality of Circumstances”

F. Procedure

G. Needs Based Bankruptcy Examples

Summary
Key Terms
Chapter 6 Checklist
Discussion Questions
Practice Exercises

Chapter 7. Useful Definitions—Section 101

A. Claim

B. Community Claim

p. x

p. xi

C. Corporation

D. Creditor

E. Current Monthly Income

F. Debt

G. Debt Relief Agency

H. Domestic Support Obligations

I. Equity Security Holder

J. Individual with Regular Income

K. Insiders

L. Insolvent

M. Judicial Lien

N. Lien
O. Median Family Income

P. Person

Q. Security

R. Security Agreement

S. Statutory Lien

T. Transfer

Summary
Discussion Questions

Chapter 8. Overview of Chapter 7

A. Employment and Compensation of Professionals

B. Bankruptcy Petition Preparers

C. The Chapter 7 Process

D. Rule 2004 Examinations

E. Discharge and Reaffirmation

Summary
Key Terms
Chapter 8 Checklist
Discussion Questions
Practice Exercises

Chapter 9. Conversion and Dismissal

A. Conversion

B. Dismissal

Summary
Key Terms
Discussion Questions
Practice Exercise

Chapter 10. Exemptions

A. Background

B. Selecting Exemptions

p. xi
p. xii

C. Federal Exemptions

D. Unaffected Claims

E. Lien Avoidance to Preserve Exemption

F. Claiming and Objecting to Exemptions

Summary
Key Terms
Chapter 10 Checklist
Discussion Questions
Practice Exercises

Chapter 11. Trustees, Examiners, and Creditors’ Committees

A. The United States Trustee

B. The Trustee’s Duties

C. Preparing a Case for a Trustee

Summary
Key Terms
Discussion Questions
Practice Exercises

Chapter 12. The Automatic Stay—11 U.S.C. §362

A. The Automatic Stay

B. Activity Subject to the Automatic Stay

C. Activity Not Subject to the Automatic Stay

D. Duration of the Automatic Stay

E. Obtaining Relief from the Automatic Stay

Summary
Key Terms
Chapter 12 Checklist
Discussion Questions
Practice Exercise

Chapter 13. Objections to Discharge and the Dischargeability of Individual Debts


A. Distinguishing a Discharge from the Dischargeability of Individual Debts

B. Debts Nondischargeable Without Creditor Action

C. Debts Nondischargeable with Creditor Action

D. Complaints to Determine Dischargeability of a Debt

E. Objecting to Discharge

F. Complaints Objecting to Discharge

Summary
Key Terms
Discussion Questions
Practice Exercises

p. xii

p. xiii

Chapter 14. Property of the Estate, Turnover Complaints, and Introduction to

Avoiding Powers

A. Property of the Estate

B. Turnover Complaints

C. The Trustee’s Avoiding Powers

Summary
Key Terms
Discussion Questions

Chapter 15. Avoiding Powers

A. Introduction and Definitions

B. Fraudulent Transfers

C. Post Petition Transfers

Summary
Key Terms
Chapter 15 Checklist
Discussion Questions
Practice Exercises

Chapter 16. Liquidation Provisions


A. Liquidating Estate Assets

B. General Rules

Summary
Key Terms
Chapter 16 Checklist
Discussion Questions

Chapter 17. Claims and Administration

A. Claim Determination

B. Filing a Proof of Claim

C. Secured Claims

D. Statement of Intention

E. Redemption

F. Order of Distribution

G. Bankruptcy Administration Timeline

Summary
Key Terms
Chapter 17 Checklist
Discussion Questions
Practice Exercises

Chapter 18. Chapter 13: Reorganization Proceedings

A. Introduction—Reorganization Proceedings

B. Special Chapter 13 Provisions

p. xiii

p. xiv

C. Dismissal or Conversion—Reorganization Provisions

D. Chapter 13 Plan Provisions

E. Confirmation Hearings

F. Confirmation Conditions

G. Feasibility Analysis

H. Cramdown
I. Effect of Confirmation and Chapter 13 Discharge

Summary
Key Terms
Chapter 18 Checklist
Discussion Questions
Practice Exercise

Chapter 19. Chapter 11: Reorganization Proceedings

Introduction to Chapter 11

Summary
Key Terms
Chapter 19 Checklist
Discussion Questions

Chapter 20. Chapter 12: Reorganization Proceedings

Key Terms
Discussion Questions

Chapter 21. Introduction to Courts and Jurisdiction

A. Bankruptcy and Federal Judges

B. Activity Within a Bankruptcy

C. BAFJA

D. Core and Noncore Proceedings

E. Removal and Appeals

F. Jury Trials

Summary
Key Terms
Discussion Questions

Chapter 22. Statements and Schedules Tutorial

A. Introduction

B. Ken and Bretony Bottomline

C. Schedules

D. Statement of Financial Affairs

Summary
Discussion Questions

p. xiv

p. xv

Chapter 23. Means Testing Tutorial

A. Introduction

B. Current Monthly Income

C. Official Form B122A-2 Chapter 7 Means Test Calculation

D. Deductions—Internal Revenue Expense Standards

E. Deductions—Additional Expense Deductions

F. Deductions for Debt Payment

G. Determining Whether the Presumption Arises

Summary
Discussion Questions

Chapter 24. Researching Bankruptcy Issues

A. Traditional Methods

B. The Internet

Chapter 24 Checklist
Discussion Questions

Appendix 1. Noticed Motions and Ex Parte Applications


Appendix 2. Documents and Deadlines
Glossary
Table of Cases
Table of Statutes
Table of Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
Table of Secondary Authorities
Index

Note on Forms Manual: The forms referenced in the text can be downloaded from

the publisher’s website for the book at www.AspenPublishing.com/Buchbinder-

BankruptcyAbridged5.
p. xv
p. xvii

Preface to the Abridged

Edition

This book evolved from a need to develop a nuts-and-bolts

description of the bankruptcy system written in a manner that could

be easily understood by nonlawyers.

Our primary intent has been to design this text as a basic primer

for legal assistants or paralegal students to help them grasp the

practical aspects of representing debtors or creditors within the

bankruptcy system. To meet this challenge, we have explained

practice and theory together in as concise a format as possible. We

have chosen this approach because practice is almost always

dictated by underlying theory, and it is easier to learn a practice when

one has been provided with the basic theory behind it.

This Abridged Edition of Basic Bankruptcy Law for Paralegals


reflects the many thoughtful comments of paralegal instructors and

students from all over the country, some of whom have gone to

exceptional effort to make sure their thoughts were heard, to enhance

the practical nature of the text, and to further simplify the subtleties

and nuances of the Bankruptcy Code and system. This edition

focuses primarily upon consumer bankruptcy since the vast majority

of bankruptcy cases are filed as consumer Chapter 7 or Chapter 13

cases. The generally Chapter 11 business related material has been

significantly edited to provide just enough material to expose a


consumer practitioner to the basic terms and concepts since they

occasionally do appear in consumer practice.

Along with the now standard Practice Pointers and Practice

Exercises features, this Fifth Abridged Edition continues the unique

innovations introduced in the last edition, as well as utilizing the most

up-to-date revisions to the Official Bankruptcy Forms and the most

current dollar amount adjustments. In August, 2019, a new

subchapter was added to Chapter 11, the “Small Business

Reorganization Act of 2019” and we have been able to incorporate

discussion of these new provisions in the text. This edition again

focuses on Chapter 3, Understanding the Client, where we introduce

client interview skills and the interview process. In this chapter, we

also present a detailed fact pattern designed almost like a short story

to both develop the interview concept and also to provide a reference

basis for the instruction to come. In conjunction with this “story,”

throughout the book we have included “Fact Pattern” references to tie

the material on a given page back

p. xvii

p. xviii

to the fact pattern presented in Chapter 3. The hope is that this

design will help to facilitate the learning process for the students as

they can tie the new material presented in each subsequent chapter

back to the underlying fact pattern. This revised edition includes the

most up to date statutory adjustment of dollar amounts, as revised

triennially, most recently on April 1, 2019, to the exemption amounts

and other provisions in the Code. Combined, these innovations and

revisions represent the cutting edge in bankruptcy education.

Paralegals are invaluable in the bankruptcy system. Under proper

legal supervision, paralegals can efficiently perform various tasks for

clients at a substantial savings. Because much of bankruptcy

practice is routine, presenting these routines and the reasons for


them will help a paralegal be properly prepared to assist in a debtor or

creditor bankruptcy practice. The introduction describes the role of

paralegals in the bankruptcy system. The student should read the

introduction twice, once at the beginning of the course and again at

the end. In this way, the material will act as both an introduction and

final review of the course.

It has not been our intent to analyze the complex subtleties of the

Bankruptcy Code and its attendant case law interpretation, but rather

to describe the routine events that occur in all bankruptcy

proceedings, events that normally occur without dispute or litigation.

These events account for a majority of bankruptcy practice, much of

which is not problematic. Thus, law students and nonbankruptcy

attorneys may also find this text a useful reference tool for finding

answers to common bankruptcy questions.

For example, by reading Chapter 5 of the Abridged Edition, the

forms accompanying Chapter 5 in the forms materials, and Appendix

1, any student or practitioner can quickly learn the basic principles of

providing notices to creditors or parties in interest in bankruptcy

proceedings, and learn about the documents and the timing involved,

while receiving some guidance as to the existence of applicable local

rules in a given district.

Our philosophical goal in undertaking this work has been to

describe the Bankruptcy Code as a comprehensive system of debtor

relief and debt system. We are honored to have been given the

opportunity to evolve the original work from the laboratory of actual

use.

Upon completing this undertaking we have reached the

inescapable conclusion that the Bankruptcy Code exists first and

foremost as a tool of debt collection and not of debtor relief.

Conversely, the debtor relief afforded by the Bankruptcy Code is

among the most liberal relief ever provided in the evolution of

bankruptcy laws in Western civilization. Nonetheless, the 2005


legislation has been perceived by many to restrict debtor relief while

enhancing the debt collection aspects of the Code.

This edition has also been prepared with the secondary purpose

of aiding creditor representatives in understanding how the

bankruptcy system may be properly utilized as a debt collection

device to increase overall recovery rates. We

p. xviii

p. xix

are optimistic that having described the Bankruptcy Code in this

manner we may aid, however slightly, in enhancing the efficiency of

the system.

We hope you find the text useful and practical as the teaching

device it is intended to be.

Finally, please note that the text occasionally refers to forms

materials. The forms are available for download. All forms can be

accessed at the publisher’s website that accompanies this text:

www.AspenPublishing.com/Buchbinder-BankruptcyAbridged5.

David L. Buchbinder
Robert J. Cooper

January 2020

p. xix
p. xxi

Acknowledgments to the

Abridged Edition

I would like to thank all of those who have provided assistance,

comradeship, and succor in creating an Abridged Edition of Basic


Bankruptcy for Paralegals. First and foremost is Robert, who has

made substantial and major contributions to the work. David Herzig

and Troy Froebe from Aspen Publishers have worked long and

patiently to bring this project to reality. Betsy Kenny, who has been

my editor for almost 20 years, gets a special appreciation for her

support and patience.

The above paragraph was written in 2008. Now it is 2019. I take

great pleasure in thanking first and foremost Bob Cooper for his

invaluable contributions to this work. I would like to thank Jordan

Jepson at Aspen Publishing for her guidance and assistance during

the publication process, Nicholas T. Lasoff who guided us through

development, and Paul Sobel at The Froebe Group who handled the

actual production process. I would also like to acknowledge the

instructors who teach and the students who learn from the work who

have thought and think highly enough of it to give Robert and I the

pleasure of keeping it up-to-date.

David L. Buchbinder
When David called and asked if I would like to co-author this

Abridged Edition, my first thought was a resounding “Yes!” Later, the

reality of already being overextended between working, teaching,

coaching, and participating in several other projects and committees

started to sink in. As they say, sometimes life gets in the way. When I

hesitantly mentioned David’s offer to my wife, she was immediately

excited and said, “Of course, you said yes! You’ve always wanted to

write.” So of course, I said yes. Somehow, someway, we made it work,

and make no mistake: Writing takes its toll on the entire family.

Without the support of my wife and my three boys, I could not have

committed the time and effort to this project that it required and

deserved. I knew that the original text was an excellent resource, and

I only hoped that I would be able to make some small contribution.

Ultimately, it was a joy working and brainstorming with David, and I

think that the quality of the final product shows just how successful

the collaboration was between him and me. I will forever be grateful

to him that he thought of me

p. xxi

p. xxii

when it came time to tackle this project. It is amazing what one

simple “Yes” can lead to. Thanks, Dave!

It’s eight years later, and I still think that it’s been a blast to work

on this project. The focus of this “great writing adventure” has always

been on the instructors and the students. Our goal was to provide

them with a reference that they could use to help them navigate the

ever-growing morass known as the Bankruptcy Code. I like to think

that we have succeeded in at least giving them a paddle. This latest

revision is the first to include all of the changes in the law, the Official

Forms and the exemption amounts in the Code, as well as a brand

new chapter focusing on client interviews and providing an underlying

“fact pattern” for the entire book. It was a huge undertaking, but I
think well worth the time invested in the end and a benefit for the

students.

Robert J. Cooper

Acknowledgements to the Fifth Edition

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or maybe I

have that backwards. I have been blessed to work with David again

on this Fifth Abridged Edition. Our collaboration always makes this

process a joy to accomplish. In this edition, we are again the first out

of the gate with the new Code changes effective April 1, 2019, as well

as the recent changes to the Official Forms made effective December

1, 2017 and those effective on April 1, 2019. Chapter 3 continues to

be our working model in this edition and the bedrock supporting our

examples throughout the text. We are excited to get these changes

out and to start helping our students to assist their clients.

Robert J. Cooper

p. xxii
p. xxiii

Introduction

Paralegals and the Bankruptcy System

The use of paralegals to assist bankruptcy counsel has grown

commensurate with the growth and acceptance of paralegals within

the legal system in general. Many basic services can be provided to

clients at a substantial cost savings because of the low hourly billing

rates of paralegals compared to associate or partner attorneys.

In this regard, however, it should be stressed that a paralegal may

not operate independently of counsel in providing bankruptcy-related

services to clients since the courts have consistently found such

activities to constitute the unauthorized practice of law, which in

many states can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor. See Chapters 7

and 9 infra. The paralegal must always tread cautiously in the face of

clients who will invariably seek to pressure the paralegal to provide

legal advice.

A. ROLE OF THE PARALEGAL

The role of paralegals in bankruptcy practice is similar to that of

paralegals in other areas of legal practice. Paralegals may be required

to research specific legal issues based on counsel’s factual analysis

of a matter. The research activity may be as simple as verifying the

existence and amount of a particular exemption, or may involve


complex issues of adequate protection in relief from stay motions.

See Chapters 10 and 12 infra. Regardless of the nature of a research

assignment, the basic methodology presented in Chapter 24 will

allow many issues to be competently researched in minimal time.

Inthe area of document preparation, paralegals aiding in

bankruptcy practice will often provide substantial assistance, and a

majority of their services, to counsel in preparing the statements and

schedules and the Statement of Current Monthly Income for a debtor

or proofs of claim for a creditor. See tutorial Chapters 22 and 23 infra.

In smaller firms, paralegals may also be asked to prepare preliminary

drafts of motions for relief from stay, complaints objecting to the

dischargeability of a debt or the discharge of a debtor, and motions to

sell property. See Chapters 12, 13 and 16 infra.

p. xxiii

p. xxiv

In the realm of bankruptcy litigation, a paralegal will provide

litigation support services similar to those performed in other areas

of legal practice.

B. COMMON ACTIVITIES

When representing debtors, the most common activity performed by

a paralegal is assisting counsel in the preparation of the basic

documents required to be filed in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy (see

Chapters 4 and 8 infra) or with regard to a Chapter 13 proceeding

(see Chapter 18 infra). The checklists and forms accompanying these

chapters will serve as useful practice aids for students in class and

for practicing paralegals.

When representing creditors, paralegals will perform a number of

basic tasks. Preparing a proof of claim, as described in Chapter 17

infra, is by far the most common. A paralegal may also assist counsel
in the preparation and prosecution of a motion for relief from the

automatic stay, as described in Chapter 12 infra, for creditor clients.

Preparing a preliminary report to counsel concerning the

information contained in a debtor’s Statements and Schedules is a

task that is also regularly performed by paralegals for creditor clients.

See Chapter 22 infra. This analysis will help a creditor to determine

the likelihood of a recovery, to decide how much effort to expend in

attempting to recover a dividend from a bankruptcy estate.

Other than legal issues involving specific application of the

Bankruptcy Code or Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, the types

of activity conducted will not vary from those in any other litigation:

Facts and documents have to be investigated and organized,

discovery may take place, depositions will have to be digested, briefs

and motions may have to be written, and finally, the matter may have

to be prepared for trial and actually tried. The value of paralegals in

assisting with these services is well proven.

p. xxiv
p. 1

A Short History of Bankruptcy

Learning Objectives

■ Trace the evolution of bankruptcy law in the United States

■ Introduce the concepts of debtor relief and debt collection

■ Identify the foundational terms and concepts necessary to

approach a study of the bankruptcy system

A. ORIGINS OF BANKRUPTCY SYSTEMS

Throughout history, financial crises have affected the lives and

relationships of and between individuals and businesses. Regardless

of the era, unemployment, illness, unforeseen disaster, and

technological advance have all often contributed to financial failure.

The methods developed by societies to resolve the effects of financial

crisis are known as bankruptcy systems. Bankruptcy systems exist

in any society where there are debtors (those who owe) and creditors

(those who are owed). Bankruptcy systems have existed in some

form from the first moment that a tribal chieftain or village elder

ordered the seizure of a debtor’s possessions and their distribution to

multiple creditors in full or partial satisfaction of the creditors’ claims.


Creditors have always sought to collect debts and debtors have

always sought relief from debt. These contrasting concepts of debt

collection and debtor relief are the foundation of any bankruptcy

system. The primary focus of the debt collection features of

bankruptcy systems has always been to formulate a body of rules“ . .

. to provide for the collection of assets of a debtor and the equitable

distribution of the

p. 1

p. 2

1
proceeds of those assets among . . . multiple creditors.” The primary

focus of the debtor relief features of bankruptcy systems has

vacillated throughout history from one extreme to another, from

punishment to forgiveness. Bankruptcy systems containing liberal

debtor relief provisions have existed primarily in sophisticated

economies, where a continual reconciliation of accounts has been an

economic necessity. Simpler economies have tended to contain more

conservative debtor relief concepts, the mere sparing of life

sometimes being considered revolutionary. The one exception to this

pattern appears to be ancient Israel, in which liberal debtor relief

concepts prevailed in a simple agricultural economy.

While the historical trend of debtor relief has favored punishment

rather than forgiveness, our present United States Bankruptcy Code

departs from this trend in its liberal treatment of debtor relief. In many

respects, the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is perhaps the most liberal debtor

relief bankruptcy system to come into existence since the jubilee year

2
of the Old Testament.

The jubilee year occurred every 50 years. (Every seventh year was

a sabbatical year in which some limited form of debtor relief was

3
provided. ) The essence of the jubilee year is contained in the biblical

verse: “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty
throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a

jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession,

4
and ye shall return every man unto his family.” In the jubilee year, all

debts would be discharged, some mortgages released, and all

indentured servants or slaves freed (the concept of discharge, legal

relief from debt, is the most basic element of debtor relief). During the

intervening years, any family member had the right to redeem, by

payment, any property or persons that had been seized or given in

5
satisfaction of a debt.

The debtor relief provided for in the Old Testament most likely

derived from even earlier regulations that existed in ancient

Mesopotamia, from where the early Hebrews migrated to the region

that became Israel. In the eighteenth century B.C., section 48 of the

Code of Hammurabi released debts in a year where crops are

destroyed by storm. A century later, King Ammi-Saduqa of Babylonia

issued decrees releasing private debts in barley and silver and freeing

people from debt slavery in an effort to resolve economic difficulties

in his kingdom. These are the earliest recorded evidences of some

6
form of debtor relief from which bankruptcy systems have evolved.

p. 2

p. 3

Unlike in ancient Israel, second chances were not generally given

to debtors in the other ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean

basin. Early Greek law did not seek to discharge debtors or reconcile

accounts: a debt was always collectible. In the fifth century B.C., the

Twelve Tables regulated only the procedures for selling an individual

7
into slavery to satisfy a debt.

The commentators concur that death, slavery, mutilation,

imprisonment, or exile were often the only prospects for debtors in

8
ancient Greece and republican Rome. Roman republican law also
provided that multiple creditors could, upon exhibiting a debtor in the

forum for three days, divide the debtor up into pieces in satisfaction

of the debts. Evidence exists suggesting that multiple creditors could

also seize a deceased debtor’s corpse and hold it for ransom from the

9
debtor’s heirs until the debts were satisfied. This practice would

make sense in Roman culture since the body had to remain whole if it

were to commence a successful journey into the afterlife. The

religious significance given to the satisfaction of a debt thus acted as

an incentive for repayment. This appears to have been the state of

insolvency law, as such, during the Roman Republic.

In the course of the Empire, Roman debtor relief and collection

10
law evolved in a direction favoring debtor relief. By approximately

the second century A.D., debtor slavery had been abolished. Debtor

imprisonment continued to exist, but this was distinguishable from

slavery in that creditors could not use the services of an imprisoned

debtor. The debtor could be held for ransom only until friends or

11
family of the debtor paid the debt. (Debtor imprisonment has

existed throughout history, including the twentieth century.)

The Roman Empire encompassed much of present-day Europe,

North Africa, and the Middle East. This vast area, comparable in size

to the United States, developed a sophisticated commercial economy

permitting free trade throughout its territories in a civilization without

motor vehicles, aircraft, computers, the Internet, or any other form of

instant long-distance communication. In this environment, Rome

developed an insolvency system that permitted exemptions (an

exemption is property that a debtor may protect from seizure by

12
creditors) and restrained personal execution. This restraint took the

form of a debtor ceding all assets for distribution to creditors.

Although this act would not discharge those debts that were not fully

repaid, it did act to prohibit creditors from killing, mutilating, or selling

the debtor into bondage. This procedure was


p. 3

p. 4

known as cessio bonorum.13 The assets so surrendered were

distributed according to statutory priorities similar to modern United

14
States bankruptcy law. To a modern American observer, this

procedure would appear similar to a Chapter 7 liquidation proceeding.

A form of composition agreement in which a discharge could be

15
granted also came into use as the economy grew in sophistication.

A composition agreement is an agreement between a debtor and

multiple creditors for the repayment of debt. These procedures would

be recognizable today as the reorganization proceedings known as

Chapter 11 and Chapter 13.

When the Western Roman Empire dissolved in the fifth century

A.D., the then-existing economy of Western Europe also collapsed.

Whereas for approximately five centuries it had been possible to trade

between London and Constantinople (modern Istanbul) with identical

currency, trade practices, laws, and language, this commonality

ceased to exist. The rise of the Dark Ages caused a corresponding

devolution of bankruptcy laws.

B. BANKRUPTCY IN THE MIDDLE AGES

During the Dark Ages, the financial system of Western Europe

receded as an important factor of daily life. Debtor imprisonment

16
returned to vogue, prevailing throughout the period. The Christian

Church proclaimed debt and insolvency sinful. Debtors were subject

to excommunication while alive or denial of a Christian burial upon

17
death. As had been the case in early Rome, religious sanctions

were once again utilized as an incentive for debt repayment.

The debtor punishments of the Dark Ages were not radically

different from the earlier practices of the Roman Republic. They were
consistent with a simpler society in which there once again existed

few entities with multiple creditors. In the Dark Ages, a serf would

generally be beholden to only two creditors: the feudal lord and the

Church. Neither institution could or would tolerate an unsatisfied debt

from a subservient soul.

The punishment of debtors was necessary to assist the land-

owning and religious ruling classes to maintain their power.

Forgiveness became a radical idea in this stratified economic

structure. The lack of a commercial economy also

p. 4

p. 5

eliminated any practical need for a reconciliation of accounts or

balancing of books after an extended period of time.

International commerce and trade began its resurgence in the

18
tenth century. As trade recommenced, the credit system resumed.

As the number of debtors with multiple creditors increased, the

bankruptcy system began its renaissance.

The first bankruptcy laws that arose in the late Middle Ages were

to a large degree reenactments of the cessio bonorum of the Roman


19
Empire. The focus of such statutes was twofold: the prevention of

fraud upon creditors stemming from an inequitable distribution of

assets and the protection of the debtor from imprisonment. If all

assets were surrendered for distribution to creditors there would be

no imprisonment. A discharge was not given or contemplated. These

statutes were limited to use only by merchants. Loss of a trading

place or bench ( banca) in the local market would befall a debtor who
fraudulently concealed or transferred assets while not paying his or

her just debts. In Italy this was known as banca rotta and in France

as banquerotte. This is the etymology of the English word

bankrupt.20 The composition agreement began to reappear in


21
Western European law as early as 1256 in Spain. A composition

agreement provided some form of debtor relief in that a debtor could

be released from the debts due those creditors who agreed to the

composition. By the seventeenth century, the composition agreement

existed throughout Western Europe with the exception of England,

where such statutes did not come into regular existence until after

22
1705.

C. EARLY ENGLISH INSOLVENCY LAWS

The emphasis of early English insolvency law was on punishment.

Forgiveness was rarely known to English debtors prior to 1705. This

is an important point to recognize in any study of American

bankruptcy law because the law of England as it existed in 1776 is

the direct legal antecedent of American bankruptcy law.

Anglo-Saxon England practiced debtor imprisonment, although

the sale of a debtor into slavery or debtor dissection was probably not

23
permitted. The first statute akin to a bankruptcy statute was

enacted in 1283. The Statute of Acton Burnell authorized the seizure

of a debtor’s assets to satisfy debt. If the assets seized were

insufficient to satisfy the debt then the debtor would be imprisoned

p. 5

p. 6

24
until the debt was paid. We recognize at least part of this procedure

today as a “writ of attachment,” a common state law collection

device.

From the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, debtor imprisonment in

England evolved under two related writs, capias ad respondendum


and capias ad satisfaciendum. The former allowed a creditor to

“attach” a debtor to ensure appearance at trial. The latter allowed a


creditor to imprison a debtor in satisfaction of a judgment until the

25
debt was actually paid. Some form of debtor imprisonment existed

26
in England until the twentieth century. The first true insolvency law

27
in England was not enacted until 1543. This delay, in contrast to the

rest of Western Europe, is attributable to England’s lack of substantial

28
involvement in international trade until the sixteenth century. The

statute of 1543 permitted the seizure and distribution of a debtor’s

assets to creditors and imprisonment of the debtor if the debts

remained unsatisfied. The proceeding applied only to merchants and

29
was initiated by creditors. There was no discharge for the debtor.

To the extent that this proceeding was creditor initiated, it was similar

30
to the present-day American involuntary petition. In 1571, the

Statute of Elizabeth further refined the system of asset distribution to

creditors. This statute defined fraudulent transfers as acts of

bankruptcy. Transactions deemed fraudulent that occurred within a

fixed time prior to the bankruptcy filing were considered void. For

instance, concealing property from creditors would be one such

31
act. This statute is a likely basis of today’s concept of an avoidable

32
transfer, which is a major feature of our Bankruptcy Code.

Composition agreements made their appearance in England rather

late in comparison to the rest of Western Europe. When they did,

compositions were permitted only in the Chancery Courts and only

during a relatively short period of time (approximately 1583-1621).

Another statute authorizing compositions existed for only one year,

33
1697-1698. Because a discharge, legal relief from debt, could occur

only as a result of a composition, punishment prevailed over

forgiveness in early English bankruptcy law.

In 1705, England enacted a statute in which a composition with

34
creditors could effectuate a full discharge of all debt. The Statute of

Anne appears to be the first law to recognize a full discharge or legal

relief of debt by a debtor since


p. 6

p. 7

the jubilee year of the Old Testament. Otherwise, the Statute of Anne

is remarkably similar in appearance to the bankruptcy system as it

existed at the height of the Roman Empire.

Under the Statute of Anne, a debtor would receive a full discharge

and be able to retain exempt property provided that certain conditions

were complied with. The conditions were that a minimum dividend of

eight shillings per pound be paid to creditors and that no act in fraud

of creditors had taken place prior to the bankruptcy. If a lesser

dividend were to be paid, a commissioner would determine the

35
debtor’s exemptions. In 1732, the Statute of George added the

consent by four-fifths of the creditor body as a requirement of the

36
debtor receiving a discharge. These statutes compose the formal

roots of American bankruptcy law.

D. BANKRUPTCY IN THE UNITED STATES

America began as a nation of debtors: “[I]t is stated that nearly half

37
our total white immigration came over under indenture.” Indentured

38
servitude acted as an alternative to debtor prison in some colonies.

Georgia was originally settled by indentured servants. In general,

colonial bankruptcy law corresponded to that of England in the

39
eighteenth century. One goal of the Constitutional Convention was

to establish the free flow of trade and commerce between the various

states. In an effort to achieve this goal, the framers reserved for

Congress the power “to establish . . . uniform Laws on the subject of

40
Bankruptcies throughout the United States.” By virtue of the

Supremacy Clause, which provides that federal law is the supreme

law of the land, the enactment of a federal bankruptcy law preempts

41
the states from so acting and acts as the supreme law of the land.
The power granted Congress to enact federal law on the various

subjects, including bankruptcy, that are described in Article I, Section

8, of the Constitution, does not, however, require congressional action

within a described area. Thus, although Congress has the power to

enact bankruptcy laws, it is not required to do so. Accordingly, there is

no constitutional requirement that there be a federal bankruptcy law.

Bankruptcy laws were only in effect in the United States for short

periods of time during the nineteenth century. However, a federal

bankruptcy law has been continuously in effect since 1898.

p. 7

p. 8

Debtor imprisonment continued to be a prevalent practice in the

United States until after 1830. After this date, a movement toward

debtor relief began and individual state constitutions began to abolish

42
debtor imprisonment. While debtor imprisonment lasted, however,

there were periods of time during which substantially more debtors

43
occupied prisons than convicted criminals.

The first United States Bankruptcy Act was in effect from 1800 to

1803. This statute was virtually identical in its features to the law in

44
England as it existed after 1732 as described above.

The second United States Bankruptcy Act was enacted in 1841,

effective in 1842, and repealed in 1843. This statute permitted

voluntary proceedings and applied to nonmerchants as well as

merchants. A voluntary proceeding was one initiated by a debtor

seeking relief. Exemptions were expanded to include “necessaries of

life” in addition to clothing. A discharge was granted with creditor

consent. Certain transactions were void in fraud of creditors and

45
some debts would not be affected by a discharge.

The third Bankruptcy Act was in effect during Reconstruction,

46
1867 to 1878. This act expanded upon the scope of debtor relief
provided for in the 1841 law by permitting state exemptions to be

claimed by a debtor and by permitting, for the first time in a

bankruptcy law since the Old Testament, a full discharge without

creditor consent or payment of a dividend. Additionally, the 1867

Bankruptcy Act contained provisions permitting an “arrangement,” or

composition. These arrangements are the genesis of the present-day

47
reorganization proceedings of Chapters 11, 12, and 13.

A fourth Bankruptcy Act was enacted in 1898 and remained in

effect, with amendments, until October 1, 1979, when the present

48
Bankruptcy Code became law. The 1898 Act contained all of the

basic elements that are present in today’s Bankruptcy Code. An

amendment enacted in 1938 contained provisions creating Chapters

XI and XIII, the reorganization proceedings that still exist under the

49
Bankruptcy Code. The Supreme Court described the Act’s liberal

debtor relief provisions as providing a “fresh start” to debtors in their

50
financial affairs. In 1970, Congress authorized a commission to

determine the desirability of reforming the Bankruptcy Act. In 1973,

the Commission reported that modernization and

p. 8

p. 9

51
recodification of the Bankruptcy Act was in order. The report was

accepted, and the Bankruptcy Code of 1978 was the result. An

analysis of this Code in its present form, along with practical

descriptions to aid in conducting many routine bankruptcy

procedures, is the subject matter of this text.

Thus, the substantive foundations of our current United States

Bankruptcy Code are rooted deep within the history of Western

civilization. For individual debtors, the Bankruptcy Code emphasizes

the discharge of debt and the allowance of exemptions, thus giving a

fresh start to the debtor. Such liberal treatment of debtor relief has
not existed since the jubilee and sabbatical years of ancient Israel.

For creditors, the Bankruptcy Code emphasizes the orderly and

consistent liquidation of assets and distribution of dividends. In

various forms, this collection process has existed in sophisticated

52
commercial economies since the Roman Empire. Finally, the formal

and stylistic aspects of the United States Bankruptcy Code began

their evolution with the 1705 English Statute of Anne.

Summary
Bankruptcy systems exist in any society where there are debtors

(those who owe) and creditors (those who are owed). The practice of

the jubilee year in ancient Israel provided debtors a discharge or legal

relief from debt.

In other ancient Mediterranean civilizations, debtors were

punished and not legally forgiven from debt. During the later Roman

Empire, a bankruptcy system developed in a sophisticated

commercial economy. In this system, debtors were allowed to protect

property from creditors. This concept was and is known as

exemptions.

The United States Bankruptcy Code evolved from eighteenth

century English bankruptcy law. Our Bankruptcy Code provides for

debtor relief in the form of a discharge and also permits debtors to

protect exempt property. The Bankruptcy Code provides creditors

with an orderly process to liquidate the debtor’s nonexempt assets

and to distribute the proceeds as dividends. An analysis of the Code,

in its present form, along with practical descriptions to aid in

conducting many routine bankruptcy procedures is the subject of this

text.

p. 9

p. 10
KEY TERMS

bankruptcy systems

composition agreement

debt collection

debtor relief

discharge

exemptions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Why do individuals or businesses seek bankruptcy relief?

2. What distinguishes debtor relief from debt collection in a

bankruptcy system?

3. How does the concept of debtor relief in modern American

bankruptcy law compare with debtor relief found in England

before the American Revolution? The Roman Empire? Medieval

Europe?

4. What is the etymology of the term bankruptcy?

1. Merrick, A Thumbnail Sketch of Bankruptcy History, ABI Newsletter

(July/Aug./Sept. 1987).

2. 11 U.S.C. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of

2005 (“BAPCPA”), Pub. L. No. 109-8, 119 Stat. 23 (2005), limited and restricted

the scope of debtor relief. BAPCPA demonstrates the pendulum-like nature of

the treatment of debtor relief throughout history.

3. Leviticus 25:1-8.

4. Leviticus 25:10. If a portion of this verse seems familiar, it is because the phrase

“proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” is the

inscription on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

5. Leviticus 25:11-55. The purpose of the jubilee year was to give debtors a second

chance or fresh start. The “fresh start” concept is another essential feature of

the United States Bankruptcy Code.


6. Gwendolyn Leick, Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City (Penguin Books

2001), at page 187. Code of Hammurabi, Section 48.

7. Vern Countryman, Bankruptcy and the Individual Debtor—and a Modest

Proposal to Return to the Seventeenth Century, 32 Cath. U. L. Rev. 809 (1983).

Under the Twelve Tables a creditor had to provide a 60-day redemption period

before a debtor could be sold into slavery. Payment of the debt within this

period would prevent sale into slavery.

8. Id. See also Radin, Debt, 5 Ency. Soc. Sci. 33-34 (1931); Ford, Imprisonment for

Debt, 25 Mich. L. Rev. 24 (1926).

9. Countryman, supra n.7; Radin, supra n.8; Ford, supra n.8.

10. Merrick, supra n.1; Radin, supra n.8; Ford, supra n.8.

11. Radin, supra n.8.

12. Radin, supra n.8 at 34, 37.

13. Merrick, supra n.1.

14. Riesenfeld, Evolution of Modern Bankruptcy Law, 31 Minn. L. Rev. 401, 432

(1947).

15. Id. at 439, citing Code of Justinian VII.71.8. Justinian reigned as emperor of the

Eastern Empire during the sixth century A.D. Although after the final collapse of

the Western Empire, which most historians date at A .D. 476, the Code of

Justinian is generally accepted to be a codification of law as it existed during

the Empire period. Justinian’s Codes, therefore, demonstrate the evolution of

bankruptcy law from the Republic to the Empire. A composition is an

agreement between a debtor and two or more creditors that satisfies the debts

for less than payment in full. See chapters 2, 18-19 infra.

16. Ford, supra n.8 at 25; Radin, supra n.8 at 34.

17. Ford, supra n.8 at 25.

18. Radin, supra n.8 at 34.

19. Merrick, supra n.1.

20. Countryman, supra n.7 at 810.

21. Riesenfeld, supra n.14 at 439-440.

22. Countryman, supra n.7 at 811-812. See infra this chapter.

23. Id. at 810-811. Ford, supra n.8 at 26.

24. 11 Edw. (1283). Countryman, supra n.7 at 811.

25. Countryman, supra n.7 at 811; Ford, supra n.8 at 27-28. A writ of capias ad
satisfaciendum was used in 1989 in New Jersey to place a debtor into custody.
A Bankruptcy Court refused to abrogate the writ. See 76 A.B.A. J. 28 (Feb.

1990); In re Bona, 110 B.R. 1012 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 1990). The use of a writ of

capias ad satisfaciendum was affirmed by the New Jersey state courts as


recently as 2000 in Marshall v. Matthei, 744 A.2d 209 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div.

2000).

26. Ford, supra n.8 at 31. Ford points out that in 1921, 424 contract debtors were

held imprisoned in England.

27. 34 & 35 Henry VII, ch. 4 (1543).

28. Merrick, supra n.1 at 12.

29. Countryman, supra n.7 at 811-812; Merrick, supra n.1 at 13.

30. See chapter 3 infra.

31. 13 Eliz., ch. 7 (1571); Riesenfeld, supra n.14 at 422.

32. See chapters 14-15 infra.

33. Riesenfeld, supra n.14 at 442-443.

34. 4 Anne, ch. 17 (1705).

35. Countryman, supra n.7 at 812.

36. 5 Geo. II, ch. 30 (1732); Countryman, supra n.7 at 812.

37. Countryman, supra n.7 at 813.

38. Countryman, supra n.7 at 813.

39. Ford, supra n.8 at 28. See also Central Virginia Community College v. Katz, 546

U.S. 356 (2006), in which the U.S. Supreme Court discusses the evolution of

American bankruptcy law from the early English Statutes.

40. U.S. Const., Art. I, §8.

41. U.S. Const., Art. VI.

42. Ford, supra n.8 at 32-33.

43. Ford, supra n.8 at 29, reports that in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts,

and Maryland there were three to five times as many persons imprisoned for

debt as for crime. Countryman, supra n.7 at 814, cites statistics indicating that

debtors constituted approximately 20% of all prisoners in Boston during the

1820s.

44. 2 Stat. 19 (1800). Countryman, supra n.7 at 813; Riesenfeld, supra n.14 at 407.

See also notes 34-36 supra.

45. 5 Stat. 440 (1841); 5 Stat. 614 (1843); Countryman, supra n.7 at 814-815;

Riesenfeld, supra n.14 at 407, 423.

46. 14 Stat. 517 (1867); 20 Stat. 99 (1878).

47. Countryman, supra n.7 at 815-816; Riesenfeld, supra n.14 at 409, 423, 446-447.

48. 30 Stat. 541 (1898). See chapter 2 infra.

49. 52 Stat. 541 (1938). Countryman, supra n.7 at 817; Riesenfeld, supra n.14 at

408. See chapters 23-27 infra.

50. Local Loan Co. v. Hunt, 292 U.S. 234 (1934).

51. Countryman, supra n.7 at 818; Report of the Commission on the Bankruptcy

Laws of the United States, H.R. Doc. No. 137, 82d Cong., 1st Sess., pt. I, ch. 17
(1973).

52. Globalization has spawned a corresponding growth of bankruptcy statutes

throughout the world bearing many similarities to Chapter 11 of the United

States Bankruptcy Code. Chinese Bankruptcy Law permits liquidations and

reorganizations of business entities. See The Enterprise Bankruptcy Law of the

People’s Republic of China, Bankruptcy Strategist, Volume 25, Number 9 (July

2008). In 1991 Hungary became the first former Warsaw Pact country to enact

a bankruptcy law. See ABI Newsletter (November/December 1991). A law

permitting business bankruptcies became effective in Russia in 1993. See ABI

Journal, April 1993. Polish bankruptcy law contains a statute similar to Chapter

11. See Bankruptcy Court Decisions Newsletter, June 10, 2003, LRP

Publications: “Poland to enact new insolvency law to aid economy.”

p. 10
Another random document with
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räätälin istuessa jo jalat ristissä pöydällä ompelemassa niitä talokas
Jussi Issakaisen uusia laveita sarkahousuja, astui suutari sisään iso
laukkunsa selässään, teki ylimalkaisen hyvänpäivän niin aateveljille
yleensä ja räätälille erityisesti kuin porvareillekin, ja levitti loukkoon
lestinsä, pikilankansa, harjaksensa, naskalinsa, vasaransa ja kaikki
muut työkalunsa sekä nahkatarpeet, ja ryhtyi valmistamaan sille
Pirhosen rengille niitä pitkävartisia vedenpitäviä lapikkaita, joita
Pirhosen renki on jo useampaan kertaan kiirehtinyt.

Ja nyt paukkuvat kilpaa puheenjohtajan nuija ja suutarin vasara,


suutarin takoessa nauloja Pirhosen rengin lapikkaanpohjiin ja
puheenjohtajan naulatessa äyrejä verovelvollisille, ja
taksoituslautakunta torkkuu vähemmän kuin ennen, sillä siitä on
mieltäkiinnittävää, jopa jännittävääkin katsoa, mitkä ensiksi
valmistuvat, Jussi Issakaisen sarkapöksytkö vai Pirhosen rengin
lapikkaatko.

(1923.)
»VELJESVIHA» PORLAMMILLA

Marianpäivänä pitivät Porlammin Lotat iltaman, minkä porvarillisen


hapatuksen vastamyrkyksi Porlammin sosialistit päättivät tilata
Loviisan kommunistisen näytelmäseuran esittämään samana
päivänä
Porlammilla kapinahenkistä näytelmää »Veljesviha».

Loviisan korkeimmissa kommunistisissa teatteripiireissä otettiin


tämä toverillinen anomus suosiollisesti huomioon ja päätettiin lähteä
Porlammille »Veljesvihaa» esittämään.

Vierailunäytäntö herätti ansaittua huomiota myöskin


huligaanipiireissä, jotka päättivät läsnäolollaan kunnoittaa tätä
Porlammin oloissa harvinaista taidetilaisuutta, ja kun Loviisan
kommunistien näytelmäseura matkusti Porlammille, seurasi sitä
samassa junassa joukko Loviisan ja Valkon huligaanimaailman
valioedustajia, jotka ahkerasti voitelivat sisällisiä saranoitaan
ollakseen perillä parhaassa esiintymiskunnossa.

Porlammille saavuttuaan läksi varsinainen näytelmäseura


pitämään pääharjoitusta työväentalolla, mutta huligaanit tunkeutuivat
erään porvarin navettaan vaatimaan itselleen äskenlypsettyä ja
terveellistä lehmänmaitoa.

Sitä ei heille annettu, josta syystä Loviisan ja Valkon huligaanit


vähän hermostuivat ja ryhtyivät hajoittamaan porvarillisten
maitopösöjen navettaa, aloittaen ikkunoista.

Tämän johdosta kiiruhtivat porvarilliset maitopösöt samaan


navettaan edustamaan porvarillista maailmankatsomusta ja
pönkittämään lahoa kapitalistista navettajärjestystä, ja tämän
vastavallankumouksellisen toiminnan lopputuloksena oli, että
kommunistisen katsantokannan edustajat lensivät toinen toisensa
jälkeen navetasta raittiiseen ilmaan kauniimpina kuin he olivat
navettaan mennessään olleet, sillä heidän etufasadinsa ja osittain
myöskin takafasadinsa olivat auliisti koristellut sekä heleämmillä että
tummemmilla punajuovilla ja sinimarjoilla, vihertävään vivahtavilla
makkaroilla ynnä koristeellisilla kuhmuilla ja sarven-aluilla.

Kokouduttuaan jälleen maantielle panivat loviisalaiset ja


valkolaiset vieraat katkeran vastalauseensa tällaista menettelyä
vastaan, joka olennaisesti poikkesi suunnitellusta ohjelmasta, ja
lausuivat halveksimisensa ei ainoastaan porvarilliselle vaan myöskin
sosialistiselle Porlammille ja koroittivat äänensä ja kirosivat
Porlammin ja julistivat hajoittavansa ensin Lottien iltaman ja sitten
työväentalon »Veljesvihan».

Kun sanoma tästä päätöksestä levisi Porlammilla, ryhtyi


suojeluskunta valkoiselle pistinvaltakunnalle kuvaavaan
toimenpiteeseen ja asetti vahdit suojelemaan Lottien iltamaa.

Tämän johdosta Loviisan ja Valkon huligaanit, lausuen ankaran


tuomionsa porvarillisesta kenkkuilemisesta, jättivät Lottien iltaman
omaan arvoonsa, ja päättivät kohdistaa koko toimintansa
työväentalon seuduille.

Talolla näyteltiin juuri »Veljesvihaa» ja valkokaartin kauhistuttavia


varjopuolia ja punakaartin miellyttäviä ja liikuttavia valopuolia, kun
Loviisan ja Valkon huligaanimaailman vispikerma saapui talon
pihamaalle ja nosti pöyristyttävän sotahuudon ja ryhtyi ryntäämään
sisään teatterihuoneistoon.

Järjestysmiehet huusivat, että älkää hyvät veljet, ja huligaanit


huusivat, että nyt näytetään se oikea veljesviha, ja kommunististen
taiteilijain esittäessä »Veljesvihaa» niillä petäjälaudoilla, jotka
Porlammilla kuvaavat maailmaa, vetivät huligaanit esille pamppunsa
ja puukkonsa ja järjestysmiehet vetivät esille pamppunsa ja
revolverinsa, ja se veljesviha, joka nyt esitettiin eteisessä ja portailla,
voitti todellisuudentunnussa, draamallisessa voimassa ja sujuvassa
esityksessä ja yhteisnäyttelyssä ehdottomasti lavalla näytellyn,
vaikka eivät järjestysmiehet eivätkä huligaanit olleet ennättäneet
edeltäkäsin ensinkään syventyä ja eläytyä osiinsa, eivät olleet
pitäneet mitään yhteisharjoitusta, eikä heillä ollut edes kuiskaajaa
käytettävänään.

Läsnäolleet vakuuttavat huligaanien tulleen siinä määrin


pehmitetyiksi, että heidän selkäpuolensa voi suurin piirtein katsoen
arvostella kutakuinkin yhtä pehmoiseksi kuin vatsapuolenkin, ja kun
heidät täten oli lyöty, hakattu, piesty, revitty, raastettu, peipoteltu ja
riepoiteltu ja lopuksi heitetty jonkinlaisina myttyinä tunkiolle,
saanemme katsoa heidän tulleen osapuilleen tuntemaan veljesvihan
ja sen tuhoisat seuraukset, jonka jälkeen he verisin naamoin ja
käyttäen kieltä, mistä ei henkinyt mikään erikoisempi suopeus
Porlammia ja sen toverien taideharrastuksia kohtaan, vetäytyivät
erääseen riiheen paikkailemaan itseään, mitä paikattavissa vielä oli.

Minkäjälkeen, niinkuin säännönmukaiset iltamaselostukset


päättyvät, »itsekukin läksi kotiansa kohti», tuntien saaneensa
suunnilleen sen, mitä oli lähtenyt hakemaankin.

(1923.)
INKILÄN EMÄNOSKET
KYSELEMÄSSÄ TURHIA
KOMMUNISTISOLULTA

Torstai-illaksi oli Inkilän työväenyhdistyksen talolle ilmoitettu


kommunistipuhujan, kommunistisen nuorisopiirin edustajan
puhetilaisuus. Paikalle oli saapunut myöskin Viipurin piirin
sosialidemokraattisen nuorisojärjestön edustaja, sammuttelemaan
tarpeen vaatiessa sen ruman tulisia nuolia.

Ja oli tilaisuuteen saapunut, paitsi luokkatietoista kommunistista


yleisöä, myöskin Inkilän emänoskeloita.

Kommunistipuhuja selvitteli laajapintaisessa puheenesityksessä


työläisluokan kommunistiset ja noskelaiset gategoorit ja
työläisluokan politiikan hämäämiset porvaripetojen kesyttämisen
merkeissä, mikä on johtanut uinuvan luokkatietoisuuden
kammottavaan heräämiseen kapitalistivaltion patruunatehtaan
synkässä ympäristössä. Tuontapaisen työväenpolitiikan
hermokeskuksissa on havaittavissa ilmeistä väsähtyneisyyttä, ja
suunnan ainemassoista, itse puolueesta kuulee kuka tahansa asioita
tarkata tahtova vulgaanista jymyä. Sosialidemokraattien leirissä
pidetään kyllä paljon parranpärinää, mutta se ei ole aatteellisuuden
innoituksen tuimaa hyökkäyshuutoa, vaan pikemminkin torjuvia
liikkeitä tekeväin valitusta.

Sittenkun puhuja vielä oli esiintuonut, että noskelaisten luottamus


luokkataistelutekijöihin, joukkovoimiin ja joukkosieluun on kadonnut
jättääkseen tilaa ajatuksellisesta laiskuudesta johtuvalle poliittiselle
näpertelylle, mille sanontatavalle Inkilän rikkiviisaat emänosket
irvistelivät ala-arvoisesti ikeniään, ryhtyivät viimemainitut
kohentelemaan pikkuporvarillisia pöksyjään ja esittämään
esitelmöitsijän harkittavaksi, vastattavaksi ja Inkilän ainemassoille
selvitettäväksi eräitä kysymyksiä.

Kommunistisolun niistettyä nenänsä ja luotua tutkivan silmäyksen


inkiläläisen ainemassan sfinksimäisiin kasvoihin esittivät Inkilän
emänosket kysymykset: mitkä menettelytavat olisivat olleet
sosialidemokraattisia parempia Suomessa jälkeen kansalaissodan?

Kun ei kommunistisolu tuntunut kysymyksen ajatussisällystä aluksi


oikein tajuavan, esitettiin se hänelle uudelleen, jonka jälkeen puhuja
kakisteli kurkkuaan ja puhui jotain, joka nähtävästi saattoi olla yhtä
läheisessä yhteydessä Tutankhamenin hautalöytöjen kuin esitetyn
kysymyksen kanssa.

Koska Inkilän ainemassat eivät olleet saaneet vastausta tehtyyn


kysymykseen, niin vetosivat paikkakunnan emänosket hartaasti
kommunistipuhujan parhaimpiin tunteisiin ja pyysivät häntä vain
vastaamaan tähän kysymykseen: mitkä menettelytavat olisivat olleet
sosialidemokraattisia parempia j.n.e.?

Sittenkun esitelmöitsijä oli sekautunut internatsionaaleihin ja Lex


Kallioon, mutta kysymys oli jäänyt vastaamatta, totesivat Inkilän
emänosket, ettei puhuja näkynyt olevan sen enempää selvillä Lex
Kalliosta kuin nykyisistä internatsionaaleistakaan, ja esittivät hänen
vastattavakseen seuraavat kysymykset: mitkä menettelytavat vievät
paremmin kuin sosialidemokraattiset sosialistiseen yhteiskuntaan?
Jos sellaisia on, niin mitä ne ovat?

Pyyhittyään hikeä niskastaan ja otsaltaan ryhtyi kommunistisolu


puhumaan teoriasta ja käytännöstä, ja koska hänen käsityksensä
teoriasta ja käytännöstä näyttivät hämäriltä, niin pyysivät emänosket
häntä, jos mahdollista, selvittämään, mitä ne semmoiset teoriat sitten
hänen mielestään olivat?

Puhuja hengähti helpotuksesta, ilmoittaen heti, että teoriat ovat


vain semmoista, jota joka mies voi laatia.

Inkilän emänosket päästelivät useita koleita hohotuksia, mitkä


vaikuttivat hämmentävästi kommunistisoluun, ja vastasivat, etteivät
noskelaiset siitä huolimatta niin vain tee itse teorioita, vaan seisovat
sen isopartaisen Marxin teorioiden pohjalla.

Minkäjälkeen Inkilän emänosket kalkkarokäärmeellisesti hymyillen


pyysivät saada uudistaa äskeiset kysymykset.

Kommunistisolu huomautti tämän keskustelun osoittavan, että


kysymyksiä on helpompi esittää kuin vastauksia, mihin erinäiset
pikkunosket yhtyivät halpa-arvoisilla räkätyksillä, eräiden viitatessa
sananlaskuun, että yksi hullu voi kysyä enemmän kuin yhdeksän
viisasta vastata.

Kun täten oli keskusteltu 4 tuntia ja kun kaikki muut väittelyt olivat
päättyneet samalla tavalla, hyväksyivät Inkilän emänosket törkeällä
äänten enemmistöllä 17 äänellä 7 vastaan joukon päätöslauselmia,
joissa väitettiin kommunistisolun saaneen kovasti saparoilleen ja
hävinneen väittelyn.

Kokous loppui ja Inkilän emänosket kehoittivat kommunistisen


nuorisopiirin puhujaa menemään uudelleen kouluunsa ja tulemaan
sitten takaisin, kun korvantaustat ovat kuivuneet, ja poistui puhuja
talolta noskelaisten ihmissyöjien irvistellessä pirullisesti ikeniään.

(1923.)
JULMA LAKI

Odotamme, että maailmanvallankumouksen jossakin määrin


käheäksi käyneestä kurkusta kohoaa piakkoin tuskan ja raivon huuto
kuulakkaalle kevättaivaalle. Oikeastaan olisi sen jo pitänyt kuulua.
Olemme kuulostelleet pää kallellaan ja oikea etukäpälä
samanpuoleisella korvallisella, mutta sitä ei vielä ole kuulunut.

Mahdollista on, että maailmanvallankumous juuri tätä


kirjoittaessamme raaviskelee parransänkeään ja miettii, missä
muodossa se oikeastaan päästäisi hätähuutonsa valloilleen.

Juttu on nimittäin tällä kertaa hiukan omituinen.

Maailmanvallankumouksen praktiikassa ei ole moista tapausta


vielä sattunut.

Syypää on Bulgaarian synkkäkatseinen porvarillinen hallitus ja sen


päämies Stambulinski.

Hra Stambulinskin valtakunnassa on niinkuin muuallakin


bolshevikkeja, joitten päämääränä on kukistaa hra Stambulinskin
hallitus sekä koko porvarillinen bulgaarialainen yhteiskuntajärjestys,
ripustaa hra Stambulinski kaulastaan mahdollisimman korkeaan
lennätinpylvääseen ja muodostaa Moskovasta saatujen ohjeitten
mukaan uusi neuvostoparatiisi.

Kun hra Stambulinski on ensiksikin porvari ja toiseksi hyvin


jyrkkätuumainen ja itsenäisiä suunnitelmia hautova porvari, niin ovat
Bulgaarian bolshevikit erikoisella mielenkiinnolla odottaneet, kuinka
hallituksen päämies lopuksi heihin ja heidän edesottamisiinsa
suhtautuu. Onko hän, meteleitä ja rymäköitä peläten, olevinaan
ikäänkuin ei huomaisi bolshevikkien olemassaoloakaan, vai ryhtyykö
hän ankariin vastatoimenpiteisiin ja tekemään kuolemantuomioiden
ja vankiloiden avulla kommunisteista marttyyrejä
maailmanvallankumouksen punaiselle alttarille?

Nyt on maailma saanut tietää hra Stambulinskin ja hänen


hallituksensa suunnitelmat.

Ja kaikki maailman kommunistit ja erityisesti Bulgaarian


kommunistit istuvat suu auki ja tuijottavat kauhusta jäykistynein
silmin Bulgaarian hallitukseen, julmaan, armottomaan hallitukseen.

Sillä Bulgaarian hallitus ei olekaan ryhtynyt taistelemaan


bolshevismia vastaan eikä tekemään bulgaarialaisista
kommunisteista uhrilampaita ja veritodistajia
maailmanvallankumouksen alttarille.

Vaan on Bulgaarian hallitus päättänyt ryhtyä vakavasti


toteuttamaan kommunismia valtakunnassaan!

Ensi maanantaina kokoutuu Bulgaarian uusi eduskunta, sobranje.


Ja hallitus on antanut laatia kommunisteja koskevan lakiehdotuksen
eduskunnalle esitettäväksi.
Lakiehdotuksessa säädetään, että jokaiseen bulgaarialaiseen
kylään, jossa on enemmän kuin 10 kommunistista äänestäjää,
perustetaan kommunistinen yhteiskunta, johon jokaisen
paikkakunnalla asuvan kommunistin on pakko kuulua. Kaikki
kommunistien kiinteä ja irtain omaisuus sekä tulot takavarikoidaan ja
julistetaan heidän yhteisikseen. Näin syntynyttä kommunistista
omaisuutta hoitavat viranomaisten ja kommunistien edustajista
muodostetut lautakunnat. Kommunististen perheitten jäsenten
perintöoikeus lakkaa, ja menevät heidän perintönsä kommuunille.
Kommuunin jäsenten on tehtävä kaikkien työtä samojen sääntöjen
mukaan, ja ruokatavaransa ja muut elintarpeensa saavat he rahatta
kupongeilla kommuunin varastoista.

Näin tulee kommunistinen yhteiskunta toteutetuksi mitä


puhtaimmassa ja ihanteellisimmassa muodossaan Bulgaarian
kommunistien keskuudessa. Mutta porvareita ei siihen päästetä
sotkemaan asioita ja punomaan mustia vastavallankumouksellisia
juoniaan. Porvarien täytyy edelleen pysyä vanhan ja lahon
järjestelmänsä mädännäisyydessä ja katsella aidan takaa vesi
suupielessä kommunistisen yhteiselämän riemuja ja ihanuuksia.

On huomattava, ettei tässä ole kysymys mistään vapaaehtoisista


järjestöistä. Lakiehdotuksen mukaan on Bulgaarian kommunistien,
niinkuin sanottu, pakko ryhtyä toteuttamaan kommunismin suuria ja
yleviä periaatteita käytännössä ja omassa elämässään.
Kommunistisia Aatamia ja Eevoja ei karkoiteta välkkyvillä miekoilla
unelmiensa paratiisista, vaan heidät ajetaan päinvastoin vaikka
väkisin sinne sisään. Bulgaarian hallitus tahtoo pestä kätensä
Historian marmorikovien kasvojen edessä ja antaa kullekin
alamaiselleen etsimättömän tilaisuuden tulla autuaaksi omalla
tavallaan.
Mutta entäpä jos joku tai jotkut kommunistit sanovat, että kiitoksia
vain, mutta meitä ei vielä haluta ryhtyä elämään kommunismin
oppien mukaan? Me haluamme vielä toistaiseksi itse päättää
omaisuudestamme, perinnöstämme ja työstämme vanhassa
porvarillisessa järjestyksessä. Olkaa hyvät ja menkää hiiteen
lakeinenne! Emme tahdo ryhtyä elämään kommuunissa.

Siltäkin varalta on lakiehdotuksessa pykälänsä, johon aate on


todennäköisesti saatu suoraan Neuvosto-Venäjältä. Siellä, niinkuin
tiedämme, on ampumista käytetty laajassa mittakaavassa ja hyvällä
menestyksellä niitä vastaan, jotka hangoittelevat kommunismia
vastaan. Ja niinpä säädetään nyt myöskin Bulgaarian hallituksen
lakiehdotuksessa, että ne bolshevistisen kommuunin jäsenet, jotka
koettavat elää porvarilliseen tapaan ja elättää itseään muussa kuin
kommunistisessa järjestyksessä, tuomitaan kuolemaan ja ammutaan
julkisella paikalla.

Kauhusta väristen on sekä sivistynyt että bolshevistinen maailma


vastaanottanut tiedon Bulgaarian hallituksen aikeista. Sillä voiko
kuvitella mielessään vertahyytävämpää julmuutta, kuin että
kommunistit pakotetaan elämään omien oppiensa mukaan.

Mutta Bulgaarian tyly hallitus on sitä mieltä, että juuri se on paras


lääke kommunismia vastaan.

Meikäläisten kommunistien ei kuitenkaan pidä tästä pahasti


pelästyä. Luonnollisesti itkee heidän sydämensä verta
kommunistiseen elämään tuomittujen bulgaarialaisten
aatetoveriensa kovan kohtalon vuoksi, mutta omalta mieskohtaiselta
osaltaan voivat he tuntea itsensä turvallisiksi. Täällä eivät vallitse
Balkanin olot, täällä saavat kommunistit kyllä edelleenkin elää
porvarillisessa yhteiskunnassa, eikä kukaan pakota heitä
perustamaan kommuunia. Pikemminkin heitä estellään moisesta
onnettomuudesta.

Tässä valkoisen hirmuvallan ohranamaisessa järjestyksessä on


ainakin se hyvä puoli.

Saa nyt sitten nähdä, millaisen mötäkän kommunistiset lehtemme


nostavat, jos sobranje todellakin hyväksyy, niinkuin kylläkin
mahdollista on, Bulgaarian hallituksen epäinhimillisen julman
lakiehdotuksen.

(1923.)
SIINÄ SE VASTA MIES!

Järvi lepää rasvatyynenä. Kuuma on. Ilma väreilee


paahtavaisuuttaan. Kalat ovat idiootteina, eivätkä välitä
pyydyksistämme vaan lausuvat niille raukean halveksimisensa.

Laiskottaa. Huomaamme, ettemme ole Trotski. Trotskia nähtävästi


ei laiskottaisi tässäkään tilanteessa.

Olemme syventyneet erääseen täkäläiseen lehteen lainattuun


kuvaukseen Trotskista, Neuvosto-Ryssän nykyisestä pääjehusta.
Kuvausta ei ole kirjoittanut Trotski itse — ainakaan ei hän kainona
miehenä ole viitsinyt pistää omaa nimeään alle, — vaan eräs
bolshevikkiolojen innostuneena kiivailijana tunnetuksi tullut hra
Georges Popov. Ja tällä kertaa on hän virittänyt balalaikkansa
Trotskin kunniaksi.

Varmastikaan ei hra Trotski, jonka oikea ja alkuperäinen


juutalaisnimi on Bronstein, ole mikään jokapäiväinen
vallankumousilmiö. Juutalaisella seikkailijalla, joka jo puolikymmentä
vuotta on ollut suurten miljoona-armeijain ylipäällikkö ja joka tällä
hetkellä, kun Lenin on myönnetty lopullisesti toheloksi ja pois pelistä
joutuneeksi, lienee Venäjän todellinen hallitsija, täytyy olla päässään
muuta kuin vanhoja sahanpuruja. Ainakin on hän kavereineen
onnistunut saattamaan äsken vielä mahtavan ja pelätyn suurvallan
sellaiseen alennustilaan ja viheliäisyyteen, ettei historia ole moista
romahdusta nähnyt, ja sekin on jo jotakin, josta hänelle ja hänen
kumppaneilleen on annettava täysi tunnustus ja vilpitön kiitos.

Kuitenkin on kaikki se mielestämme vielä vähäistä sen rinnalla,


mitä hra Trotski — hra Popovin kuvauksen mukaan nimittäin —
muutoin tekee ja ehtii.

Ensiksikin on hänen hartioillaan hallitustaakan pääpaino. Sitäpaitsi


on se hän, joka oikeastaan johtaa Venäjän ulkopolitiikan. Hän se on
järjestänyt suuret teollisuustrustit, ja hänen kourissaan ne ovat koko
kommunistipuolueen ohjakset.

Kuulkaamme edelleen: »Paitsi huolenpitoa punaisesta armeijasta


ovat hänen käsiteltävinään asiat, jotka koskevat sisä- ja
ulkopolitiikkaa, teollisuutta, kauppaa, kirkkoa, nälänhätää,
kaivosteollisuutta, lentolaitosta, kommunistista internationaalia,
maailmanvallankumousta, propagandaa, raha-asioita y.m. y.m.
Hurjaa vauhtia risteilee hän Venäjän äärettömillä lakeuksilla
puuttuakseen itse asioiden kulkuun, missä sitä tarvitaan, tai
tullakseen omin silmin vakuutetuksi asiain tilasta. Sillävälin on
hänellä aikaa ottaa osaa sotajoukkojen katselmuksiin ja pitää
sytyttäviä puheita. Niin, onpa hänellä »vapaahetkinään» aikaa
harjoittaa kirjallisia tutkimuksiakin; hän valmistelee lakkaamatta
suurteosta »20:nnen vuosisadan kirjallisuudesta». Levätessään
maa-asunnollaan Moskovan ulkopuolella sanelee hän puhelimitse
tätä teostaan kaupungissa olevalle sihteerilleen».

Puh, sallikaa meidän välillä vähän huokaista. Meille tuli jo hiki hra
Popovin kuvausta suomentaessammekin
Juu, kyllä se on aika poika. Vaikka ei tällaisen ilmiön tarvinnekaan
koskaan syödä eikä nukkua, niinkuin muiden ihmisten, niin on se
sittenkin paljon ennätetty ja jaksettu, etenkin kun Trotskinkaan
vuorokauteen ei mahtune enempää kuin 24 tuntia.

Mutta edelleen! Älkää luulkokaan, ettei Trotski muuta ennättäisi.


Kyllä hän ennättää. »Joka päivä lukee Trotski kaikki neuvostolehdet,
mikä lueskelu useimmiten aiheuttaa määräyksiä, päätöksiä ja
toimenpiteitä, hän tutkii sitäpaitsi johtavat venäläisten
maanpakolaisten äänenkannattajat ja maailman sanomalehdistön
etevimmät edustajat. Todellisina lepohetkinään syventyy hän
Einsteinin, Spenglerin, Kautskyn ja muiden suurmiesten teoksiin».

Jo moinen luku-urakka veisi jonkun muun sällin päivän aivan


tarkkaan, mutta me arvelemme, että Trotski muiden yli-inhimillisten
kykyjensä ohessa osaa myöskin katsoa kieroon ja lukea kahta lehteä
yht'aikaa, samalla kun joku hänen sihteereistään lukee kolmatta
lehteä hänen oikeaan korvaansa ja toinen sihteeri neljättä lehteä
hänen vasempaan korvaansa.

Trotskin urheiluharrastuksista ei hra Popov mitään mainitse, joten


meidän täytyy jatkaa omin päimme. Pysyäkseen ruumiillisesti
kunnossa sellaisen työtaakan alla täytyy Trotskin tietysti hoitaa
terveyttään ja urheilla. Otaksumme, että hän aamulla mylleröi 15
minuuttia, juoksee sitten maratonin Moskovan ympäri, heittää kuulaa
ja keihästä, saavuttaen uusia maailmanennätyksiä, ja toimeenpanee
köydenvetokilpailun: Trotski köyden toisessa päässä ja komppania
puna-armeijalaisia toisessa päässä. Trotski vetää vastaan haraavaa
komppaniaa perässään pitkin ketoa niin että tomu pölisee, ja aidan
takana katselevat bolshevikit nakkaavat lakkinsa ilmaan ja huutavat
»uraa!»
Trotskista aikakautemme etevimpänä taidemaalarina,
kuvanveistäjänä, säveltäjänä, skruuvinpelaajana,
huuliharpunsoittajana j.n.e. ei aikamme anna tällä kertaa puhua. Me
emme ennätä niin paljon kuin Trotski.

Mutta Trotski ennättää sitä enemmän. Hän tekee kaiken. Muiden


bolshevikien ei tarvitse muuta tehdä kuin istua ja pyöritellä
peukaloitaan. Vuoroin myötäpäivään ja vuoroin vastapäivään.

Ja ryssien huusholli on edelleen sillä kannalla kuin on. Ja


toivottavasti pysyy vielä kauan. Eläköön Trotski!

(1923.)
BOLSHEVIKIT KEKSIJÖINÄ

Teekeittiötä lukuunottamatta — jos nyt sitten sekään on alkuperäinen


venäläinen keksintö — eivät venäläiset tähän saakka ole keksineet
muuta kuin bolshevismin. Tietysti ei se tosiasiassa ole venäläinen
keksintö, mutta ainakin lankeaa ryssälle kunnia pitkälle menneistä
kommunistisista kokeiluista.

Näissä kokeiluissa ovat ryssät kuitenkin tehneet eräitä keksintöjä,


joita heidän lehtensä »Ekon. Shisnj» on paljastanut hämmästyvälle
maailmalle.

Tiedämme, millainen kiire ja into bolshevikeilla oli saada ruplan


arvo mitättömäksi. Bolshevikit luulivat että se kapitalismin ruma ja
musta pahahenki asuu juuri ruplassa. Bolshevikit puhuivat ensin
keskenään ja sanoivat sitten kaikelle kansalle, että jos saadaan raha
mitättömäksi, niin silloinhan häviää kapitalismi itsestään. Porvareista
päästään tappamalla heidät, ja kapitalismista päästään tappamalla
rupla, painattamalla niin paljon paperirahaa, että se tulee
mitättömäksi.

Tuumasta toimeen. Ohjelman edellinen puoli sujui mainiosti.


Porvareista päästiin todellakin tappamalla heidät.
Ja ruplan tappaminen onnistui myös yli kaikkien odotustenkin.
Maailmanhistoriassa on ennenkin esiintynyt kelvotonta ja arvotonta
rahaa, mutta niin arvotonta kuin bolshevikkirupla ei ole esiintynyt
eikä tule vastakaan esiintymään, koska todennäköisesti ei tule
maailmassa koskaan olemaan muita sellaisia finanssineroja kuin
bolshevikit, jotka harkitsisivat kannattavaksi painattaa »rahaa», mikä
ei ole likimainkaan sen paperin arvoinen, jolle se on painettu.

Mutta pää tulee lopulta vetävän käteen. Bolshevikinkin.

Bolshevikitkin ovat, raha-asioitaan tuumiessaan, alkaneet katsella


toisiaan pitkin silmäripsin. Ja nyt he kuiskailevat ällistyneen
näköisinä toisilleen. Omituista! Ruplan tapoimme, niin että se nyt on
kerrankin tapettu, mutta kapitalismin paholainen ei kuollutkaan! Se
päinvastoin kasvaa ja vahvistuu Venäjällä päivä päivältä, sillä vaikka
bolshevikkien hattua ei haittaakaan Venäjän satamiljoonaisen
kansan nälkään kuoleminen, niin eivät bolshevikit itse kuitenkaan
halua kuolla nälkään. Ja se on edessä, ellei kapitalismille tehdä
uusia myönnytyksiä joka päivä.

Sekin pieni sivuseikka jäi bolshevikeilta ovelissa laskuissaan


huomioon ottamatta, että valtion maksukyky meni penkin alle
samalla kertaa kuin ruplan arvokin. Tämä laskuvirhe on tuottanut
paljon murhetta bolshevikkien huushollissa. Mutta asiaa ei voida
enää auttaa. Marx ei ole neuvonut, millä tavalla rupla saadaan
takaisin arvoonsa, sitten kun se kerran on saatu niin arvottomaksi
kuin se nyt on.

Nyt vaatii edellämainittu vaikutusvaltainen bolshevikkilehti


ankarasti ja aivan vanhaan porvarilliseen tapaan, että valtiopankin
setelinanto-oikeutta on rajoitettava.

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