when king frederick iii of denmark endowed the faroe islands to his favourite statesman kristoffer gabel (1617–1673), debes entered a bitter feud with his administration who suppressed the islanders in various ways. there came considerable complaints from the islands' inhabitants of unjust treatment by the civil administration in tórshavn. this included the persons in charge of the monopoly trade, the bailiff and others. debes is chiefly known for standing up for islanders mistreated by those who abused their power. he tried several times to inform the central administration in denmark of the wrongdoings, but was stopped every time by the bailiff. eventually in 1673 he managed to get away from the islands to carry out his plan and this consequently improved the situation of the faroes. during his stay in copenhagen, debes acquire his master's degree in 1673. after his return to the faroe islands, debes died in 1675.