From wikipedia: Destitute persons unable to pay a court-ordered judgment would be sentenced to these prisons until they had worked off their debt via labor or secured outside funds to pay the balance; the product of their labor went towards both the costs of their incarceration and their accrued debt.
Labor was one form. I imagine being sent to prison moved families to action to bail out the debtor when possible.
Finally, consider all the debts paid to avoid going to debtors prison.
I don't know anything about the evolution of the system. Just pointing out that it wasn't an insane way to acheive the goal of debt payment. (Though a totally inhumane way)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debtors'_prison
Labor was one form. I imagine being sent to prison moved families to action to bail out the debtor when possible.
Finally, consider all the debts paid to avoid going to debtors prison.
I don't know anything about the evolution of the system. Just pointing out that it wasn't an insane way to acheive the goal of debt payment. (Though a totally inhumane way)