The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1884-03-04 00:00:00

WAIMEA*.
COUNTY COURT.

IRS lOW BANEXUPTCT ACT.

There wee very little Weide, at do Wareham C ninty
Wort on Fridar, mod of the COY being undispetwl, and
ware dispoesel of by AU. Fakland Filitttr (Rscorder).
An Inaportdt discussion, however, took Vice on Me
New B dtkruptcy Act, in the ntelalnery of which Mr.
S 'dead Takla! Alma,. appears to have dteoovered a
dram difed. The discuseio • StJell oa the caw of Tonmu
Davide, sadder, of Wareham v. Georg, Whiffs°, ff.rley
Mat.w, Ringwood. .0.4101 .C 8 7.. otaj edgm-nt earn.
moan Mr. Trevor', 00 Foote, appeared for the ddemiaet
The deleodsat was formerly on • fdr way of buitoiet .t
Wareham, bet be met with revered, and hie cacaos.
stances Mai on hopelessly involved. He took steps to
minks himself a baakrapt„ but, hr 10461/ MOOS or other,
wee tined. doe*:

ii7s.l7 inoe-a-liis present employer—Mr. Batelle, of
Burley Manor, Ringwood—was road In Court. and from
it it would appear the defendant ta now working ai •
labourer, earning Us. • week, out el which he has to pay
Is, lames rat Slue lie has been then hie creditors hum
foam] him out, and he has been Peatirred by • firm of debt
colectora. hut, finding be has nothing in tha world but a
small modicum of household furniture, they hare mated
than attentions. It,. Elided* believe. the uuenemat to
be a hard: working. 'Wale% but unfortuuete man, and just
such. cue as should be net by brad lotion, so thst one
creditor alone should not have Its power of taking toe
whole of his little goods.
His Honour add • working man, whose debt, di not
mount to upwards of ASO, by the tiled Elution of the
New Lew, (maid when Judgment war obtained &sand
him forthwith coma before the County Coma stets. he
IVY unable is pay what he owed, and anon Komodo( Us,
smarm(' of It, the Ruistrat took • list of his debte, and
the creditors were called before the judge But the
difficulty with the Couoty Court Jodgee an curving out
tau Act, was that it must he upon judgment forthwith,
and not upon • j 'dement gtlollllllll. Whoever framed
that clause, Could not have framed it better to prevent its
becoming worksbla 11th. defendant wished to avail
himself of the pr.ollegee of the Art and hie debts did not
amount to more than an, be must tel • little judgment
subset him from some creditor, and upon that he mum
apply for the apolication of this llitad section. Mr.
Chamberlain in the House of Commons said if
the judge. with "sweat rmeonahlenese " would
only endeevou to oetrl it Out, It might
be done, but whatever sweet rudonableneas he
might have, he certainly entertained • good dui for
applying the Act to the working man se well al to the
rich one. (DA with the different Regisirera would reel
• good deal aa to the working of the Act. Hs could not
Set in deism se, for hie hand was 'stopped. The letier
from the master was • lona AU one, and written with •
groper feeling by him for his poor workmen. bot he (the
Jodie) could not stand between the plaintiff and the
nights the law gave him
Mr. Treura remarked the power* of • judgm int
summons were not given On much for the payment of dm
money St for contempt of oourt. In this use the defend.
ant had no means whatever, so there could be no coat mid
of court
The defendant was railed up, and t'se Judge told him
he should be very happy to sooty the now let t Us..
hot he wee unable t do so. Could be pay • reduced
order
Defendant replied he could not par anything. Ile had
no mune wiiatever ; he gave up all he had to be made •
bankrupt, and he did not know but it we. to he dooe.
Hie creditors had never received • penny of it ; n-itber
had he.
The Judge ft. Mr. Travers): Get some friendly
creditor to sue him for half-crown, aid get jidgment.
His Honour further remarked he thought the Act ought
to be carried out fairly. It we. the Lord Chancellor's
idea of applying the principle of the At to poor
people, so that it should no loiter he the blowy of the
itiau who had once bun rich, but to extend it gent rally
t I the working mar a 3 that a men's lets:our should not be
pledged entirely for his prat debts. Ile was glad to have
an uportunity of divoning thie matter, and he
mentioned the eau in which his turned colleague, Mr.
Metcalfe, of Bristol, found there were no funds whatever
—not even sufficient to par the preliminary costa
HI. Honour thn proceeded to quote the Section of the
Act bearing om the present cue, also the general role
meting thereto, but It wae imposdhle to evade
the fact th it judgment fo:thwith most precede
the leidelication of the section. Hs hod tried
all he could to put a different c int troction
I hnt he was uneble to do so. Bat there was an impot ant
quatificetinte to the motion (1 teal tn which be had no
doubt would be amended erten ir. we. pointed out to the
proper authoritied. Ths quid/esti., related to the
cirru Mat anCee onder which the ind-btolnees was lectured,
and read thus—" And puiticularly where the same or any
part thereof was obtained by means of Baud, or whether
guilty of 'Manua improvidence, gambling or intimper.
sue?' Thu. wet • provision which clucked any mis-
chievous operation of the Act ; and wareeriely with
regard to the man who took money from hie wife and
want le the allehaire, or was guilty of any fraud. NUM og
could he better than the principle and provisions of the
Ant if it could be csrried out If between that day earl
the next court • small judgment could be obtained against
lii, defendant in this rue. either there or at any other
Gnarl, tee Act could he applied.
The Judge (to the defendant) : Gould you pay S.. •
month /
Defendant : No, I can't sir, I ain't pay anything. I
molt go to prime, I suppose.
The Judge: No. no, you shan't.
Defendant: I ain't live with the money I g now :It
I. only • " bide-about.-
Ultimately the Juke varied the order to 21 a month,
leaving it to Mr. Travers to do as be thought fit.

Thomas At wens an I S u (stone mei—hon to, Swantge).
v. R id Arles (Weymoath). —olom. £3 lit 2 I.—Tbere
pricticallo sit about* in this mat:: defendant
simply plioivie I Inability —Jodgni.nt forthwith.
J. H. II indoll and Co. (Bore TOO., (mho, ihrsh
Dian., (Hut Mooll 5. lld., goals supplied.
—Defendant is a widow. anl the debt was rontralts4
durinn her husban I. lifoti —Tne Indite was of opinion
plaintiff could not so. the widow in this cue.—Dsfond•
sot: I am 9elle3lly penniless. al% and hare not • friond
cr • penny In the world.—Hia Honour: Go booms; there
will be • non-eult.