The Express.
London, England, 1847-09-15 00:00:00

I
of the act, and the practice which the payment of
officials by fees is calculated to enconrage, are in direct
antagoniem.
We must repeat what we have already said more
Lan once, that the full benefit of these courts will
not be reaped until the officers are paid by salaries
instead of fees. We trust that such • change will be
the first act of the legislature in regard to them.
Whether it be er not, it ought to be. There will be
strong interest made against any change. Unless the
public insist, it is very porible the Chancellor
' may allow the practice to remain as it is. The old
feeling of wolf and lamb has not yet quite disappeared
from the relation of lawyer and client.
Since our last noticing the subject of county courts,
we have received a solution of the enormous bile of
costs, of which so many of our correspondents patbe.
tically ask explanation. We find that the important
item is one Which does not figure in the schedule,
appended to the sot, nor in the 37th section, which
treats of the court fees. This item, charged " for the
fee fund," amounts, in cues where more than 40s. is
sued for, to one-twentieth of the debts claimed, and in
cases above one pound and lees than two, to sixpence.
This fund .is intended (sect. 52) to pay the rent, or
defray the costs of building of the court-house and
offices.
No provision is made for the cessation of this heavy
charge, after the purposes it is intended for are satis-
fied. As there can be no doubt that the fees received
by the officers very much exceed what their salaries
would be, if fixed according to the act, at a maximum
of 1,2007. for judges and 600/. for clerks, it would
appear most desirable that this fee-fund should cease
to be raised when once courts are provided. The
country should not seek to make revenue out of its
law courts. All that it can fairly ask the suitor to
pay is the actual expense of the machinery which
works for him. When once the cost of this is defrayed,
' not a farthing more should be exacted.
Complaint has been excited by an assurance of
Mr. Amos' in the Marylebone Court, that all parties
committed for disobedience to the orders of the court,
would be sent to the House of Correction, where they
would have only the gaol allowance and be compelled
to wear the prison dress. Undoubtedly the 09th
section of the act sears out Mr. AMOS in this threat.
Defaulters so committed are prisoners and not debtors.
They suffer for contempt of the court, not for cheating
their creditors. The act directs that they be com-
mitted " to the common gaol or House of Correction."
These unqualified terms certainly carry all the usual
consequences of such a committal, even to skilly,
silence, and " a Newgate-crop." It may seem harsh,
but so it ie. One remark, however, we must offer on
the fact. If this measure of justice be fair to debtors
of 20!. or less, why should it not be meted out to the
gentlemanly or lordly insolvent of thousands? If
the tender gosling is to be served up with such very
sharp sauce, why not the fleshy and well-feathered
goose ?
We have no objection to offer against severity to
recusant debtors, but we do trust, for the sake of
justice, that it is not to be confined to " email" ones.

Our Paris letters of Monday say that much embar-
rassment is reported to have been produced in the
Chateau and the Hotel of Foreign Affairs by the
events which the last week has unfolded. Spain,
Italy, and Africa, are simultaneously the sources of
grave uneasiness in high quarters. The Queen Isabella
will not be ruled by the missives from St. Cloud and
the Rue des Courcelles, eent through the Duke de
Glucksberg and General Narvaez. the lectures de-
livered to the Italians in the columns of the Lad:,
ow the beauties of passive obedience and non-resist-
ance, pass unheeded by that people; and the Lucchese,
to the undiseembled mortification of Louis Philippe
and M. Guizot, insist on a free press, a national guard,
and a political amnesty. The more M. Guizot warns
the Pupe against liberal measures, the more his
holiness won't listen, and will go fora ard, when
M. Rossi is commanded to make him go
backward. Abdel-Kader, meanwhile, starts again
to life, and is making a military promenade, followed
by ten thousand fighting men, from Taza to Fez,
apparently with as little resistance as Napoleon
encountered in coming from Frejus to Paris. These
things lie heavy at the heart of the King of the
French. The cabinet sit almost in permanence at
the Chateau of St. Cloud, the Dukes of Montpensier
and Aumale being admitted according as the scene is
shifted from Madrid to Algiers, or rice terse«. The
"hike de Broglie (who left for London on Sundae)
was admitted to a seat at the council board when the
Spanish question was under discussion.
It was said on Monday that a resolution had been
taken to send military aid to the Emperor Abdev.
rishman, against the reported aggression of Abut.
Kader.
The question of electoral reform has been taken up
by the councils general. That of the department of
the north, the richest and most enlightened in France,
voted in favour of a petition to the chambers for such
a reform as would at once assure the independence of
the constituency and the representatives. This was
carried by 21 votes against 9.
A reform banquet has taken place at Thu-le-Dec
which was attended by five hundred persons. under
the presidency of M. Paulin Gillen, member of the
council-general, and mayor of the town.
Le Commerce says that M. Guizot has received
despatches from the Duke de Glucksberg, informing
him that the new Spanish cabinet intends to convoke
the electoral colleges for the 25th inst. to elect a con-
stituent Cortes, which would assemble at Madrid on
the 15th October to discuss the question of succes-
don. This is only the reproduction of a report which
ws have already mentioned, and which is probably
produced by the actual circumstances of the case in
](a rid at present
The reported accident to the Doke de Nemotue
which we mentioned yesterday has not been the sub-
jest of any authorised notice in the journals, although
a good deal of public attention was attracted to it on
Saturday and Sunday, and the columns of the Mem-
tear Parisien were anxiously examined. Galignods
Messenger on Monday gives the following particulate
which it affirms may be taken as the real details of
the accident :
Mille the Dukes de Nemours and d'Aumale and do
Prime de Joinville were out together on 'Wednesday, mid
witilat the latter was cocking his gun to take a shot, it west
a inadvertently, and a' small portion of the charge strack
life elder brother in the head, Fortunately, however, du
ssasequences were very slight. Most of the shot paired by
bila royal highness, some lodged in his hat, and one Daly es-
tared tie upper part of the cheek. Indeed so alight was**
OM ea the duke that he would not undergo any tsanta.
dee at the thee, but insisted on continuing the snort. 9'
returning to the palace the duke would not allow the ROW
man to extract the shot from his face, because he thought
might alarm the Queen and the duchess. fie,ltowever.
submitted to some outward applications, and remained Viet
for the rest of the day, but on Thursday morning sou uP
an early hour, and, mounting his horse, went to three!. some
matururres preparatory to a sham fight. ln the evening hs
presided at a grand dinner.
The Persian ambassador, Mirza-Mehemet-Ali-Khan,
whose arrival at Toulon we have already mentioned,
is expected in Paris, where he is to be lodged In
the
Palace Elysee Bourbon, and to be treated with the
greatest magnificence.
The administration of commerce has published a
report of the trade of France for the year 1846, by
which the following general results are esMblished:
Total commerce by ses CllOOO,OOO
Total commerce by load

Grand total pyr,xo,oco
This consists of imports and exports, as 6311"1:
by
Imports pea 05000,01,
Imports by land 14,700,40

£14,300,000
Exports by sea
Exports by land

ic,ooo,oee
The Journal des Debals remarks on this as follosm:
If we examine the results, of the navigation , "' I
mar
somewhat important increase for 1846. The general *
ment consisted of 32,515 vessels and 3,925,000 tom; that
to say, 353.000 tone more than in 1845. The twigs it:
is true, has obtained ashare in this increase;
it will be observed that the seas of Surol4 ?If
flag has gained 28,000 tons, whilst that of the *MO
countries has lost 10,000 tons. Ludy, what all the IsOmo_t
tiros% affected to be raised with respect to our navy la
prevent being seen, is that the movement under the Fns
flag is increasing, slowly, it is true, but condemed,. lad...
more than ten years ego it only affected from 38 to 39 per
of the transports; but in 1846 its proportion toss 10145...
It is certainly greatly to be regretted that it was not /80111_,..
but we must not lose sight of tho fact that of all onsaw••_,....
ours is, without contradiction, that whose elfs."..
has the least of heavy and cumbersome articles,
the aliment of great navigation ; and in spite of thisecr w
ea
vantage, against which wars of tariffs could do m
rather which they would infallibly aggravate, it is
tory to be able to state that the general tonnage of wsramj.
time commerce has passed in ten years from 2,900,1117
to 3,925,000, that is to say, that it has almost
Certainly that is not a falling off.
La Presse says that the conditions under NA*. .111
new loan in to be contracted for are of a novel OP