The Express.
London, England, 1846-11-05 00:00:00

SGII WATER AT LORD( iN.BREDGE.

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LONDON, THURI3DAY, NOV. 5.

THE country was declare d to be in a very bad way
a month back ; proriaions scarce ; supply hopeless ;
starvation inevitable. The great voice of the press
was loud in lamentation, pessimist in the view of the
present and the future. And the outcry had no small
share in producing, momentarily, that state of the
market which was pointed out as likely to befall, and
'to be permanent. The Times led people to expect to
see wheat at ZS vs quarter before next harvest, a pro-
spect that frightened the manufacturer, closed the
purse of the •mnsurner, and induced the corn-dealer to
hold book stlpply.
Amidst these untoward symptoms there was a
general cry fer the doctor. The state physicians were
summoned to meet in council, to consult, to prescribe,
and had they been on the spot, they could scarcely
1-Ive refti.eil to remove those ligaments on the free
movements of the country, which aid famine in its
operation.
But as is often the case, the malady ran away from
thedoctor; his rap at the door dispelled aches and
pinahings. And, behold, those who clamoured thus
much for physic, now declare that it can be done
without. Fears of famine have fled ; impossible sup-
p'iea have become not only possible, but superfluous.
High prices, so mach deprecated last week, are
booms and benefits this week. They will act as baits
to draw four or five millions of quarters from Ame-
rica. Those who doubt the existence, or the ooming
of those millions, are twitted as alarmists. The corn-
dealer, who was incited to ;told on in the hope of a £5
price, is now denonneedas guilty of villainous cupidity
far following the advice. Those who point to Irish
famine, and beg that the duty may be taken oft to meet
it, are told that wheaten flour is far too good for the
Irish, and that the cheapening of it would no more
benefit them thaa a fall in the price of caviare. And
3el Commissary-General Bourn informs the world
" Indian corn meal has risen to fifty-six shillings
a quarter, mach beyond the price of whole wheaten
meal, the growth of Ireland, or of barley meal, whe-
ther grown in kelt and or imported."
How are peopio t o have faith in such advisers; how
can conviction be so oliant as to twist round like a
weathercock, and to find that proper in November
which was denounced as monstrous in October ?
Because prices base given way in one of those
alternations which affect' the market, is each fall
sufficion to put within the reach of the starving
Irish some food more whole some and more civilised
. .

than bran and turnips? Is it sutEciently great or
sufficiently steady to induce ti 'le manufacturer to keep
his whole complement of hands for the whole comple-
ment of hours which ensures wit:glade wages P Bread
may be a little lower, but, at its pr "sent price, it must
absorb all the earnings of the poor consumer. The
home market for manufactures is cicsed, and all that
entangled mass of prospective distress which com-
pelled Whig and Tory chiefs last year to ins'at on the
opening of the ports, starts up this year with equal
intensity in England,—with far greater intensity in
Ireland and in Scotland.

We cannot think, therefore, that the question of
opening the ports can be considered as wisely shelved
by a small decline in prices, which is ',Nut the
mere reaction of over-speculation. The large sup-
plies which, we are told, lie piled up for us in the
warehouses of New York and of Odessa, cannot pour
over here at once for want of shipping. This is one
of the evils of a desultory and uncertain trade, de-
pendent on the oscillation of a sliding scale, that
often, when there are vessels, there is no corn to ship,
and when corn abounds, it either wants the means of

transport, or the expense of freight is raised extrava-
gantly by the paucity of these means. A frost may
clot* the corn-ports of Europe, and the quantity of
" three to five millions" of quarters of corn, which
were promised to reach the Channel before January,
are, by calculations quite as shrewd, beaten down to
a million. For these France and the Low Countries
are our competitors, and our corn-law courteously ex-
tends to them the preference.
The free-traders of Birmingham have been stirring
in the cause. In the midst of the excellent and ear-
nest truths which they put forward, we are sorry to
see that they mingle much of party and personal
strife, as well as other widely extraneous matter.
Mr. SCROLEFIELD treats the Premier almost in the
same spirit as the Irish Repealers, and frets at his
not performing off-band the task of omnipotence. Mr.
MONTE is more considerate, but, at the same time,
more lukewarm. The way to effect the great remain-
ing achievements of free trade, is not now, certainly,
to pit PEEL against RUSSELL, or to indulge in invi-
dious comparison, but to strengthen the hands and
the position of both, by maintaining the broad pin-

ciple with regard to trade and supply, which both
have recommended, and on which both, as far as it
was feasible, have acted.

WE are glad to see some signs of life in the matter
of the Small Debts Act. Throughout the country
the greatest anxiety prevails upon the subject.
Innumerable claims are suspended, and hosts of petty
debts recklessly contracted, in the confidence that
creditors will not carry their cases into the superior
courts, when a couple of months may enable them to
recover with increased rapidity and diminished costs.
Of all conceivable Acts this is the one which should be

brought into operation with the least delay. We have
at last the satisfaction of knowing that the fist step
in the matter has been taken. Lord COTTENUAM

has addressed a letter to J. E. 1). BETHUNE, Esq.,
;th a district plan for England and Wales an-
nexed. The districts in this plan are 59 in num-
ber, and the towns in which courts may be held
are appended. This is, of course, only a sketch
of possible arrangements. Mr. BETHUNE i 8 directed
to ascertain " from the persons most likely to furnish
correct and disinterested information, how far these
districts are likely to prove convenient and what she-

rations may be deemed desirable."
This information is merely preliminary. The dis-
trict maps, corrected by the local authorities, will be
laid before each bench of magistrates in the several
counties, and upon their revisal of them Mr. BETIICSE

will frame a report to be presented to the LORD
CHANCELLOR. Then will follow the statutory month's
notice of HER MAJESTY'S intention to make orders itt
council under the Acts, and not till that has expired
will such diners appear, finally establishing the
County Courts. These various processes can scarcely
be completed under three months, taking the highest
estimate of official diligence. And probably a half-
year will elapse before the machinery of the measure
is in full operation.

The importance of the act is great, and will be felt
in many directions. It will cut up by the roots a body
of disreputable writ-issuing attorneys. The Dodsons
and Fssgs are already loud in their wail. It is re-
freshing to hear the lugubrious anticipations of these
men, who have so long thriven on misery, and kept
alive an untold amount of rascality. hardness of heart,
duplir.lty, and falsehood. It is difficult to over-estimate
the mischief that will disappear with this class—the
sharp practitioners of the law. The purifying effects
..if this clearance of moral ems-pools will extend be-
yond the branch of the profession to which these
harpies belonged. Their worthy coadjutors of the
bar will languish and die cff. Issuing writs for petty
debts was not the only legal practice of the Quirks
and Snaps. But this brought in the bulk of their
gains. Their other drty work, in which the dis-
reputrble barrister was employed, cannot flourish
apart from the writ harvest.
With the removal of these nuisances come the
positive gains, to the small creditor, of a cheap, speedy,
and equitable process for the recovery of debts under
20/. It is the large infusion of equitable principles
1 into the Small Debts Act that gives it a new and a
peculiar value. The actions in the county courts are,
in the language of the act, " to be heard and deter-
mined in a summary way, according to equity and
good conscience." In accordance with this, we find
that almost all the loopholes of the pettifogger aro
stopped up. Misnomer, or inaccurate description of
person or place, in plaint or summons, is no longer
allowed to vitiate the instrument, or stop the pro-
ceedings. All that is required is, that person or place
be so described as to be commonly known. Minors
may sue for wages. The jurisdiction of the court
extends to unliquidated balances of partnership
accounts, and amounts of shares under an intestacy,
or legacies under a will.
One of several persons liable may be sued : those
not included in the suit, but jointly liable with parties
against whom judgment is obtained and execution
issued, may be sued in the same court for contribu-
tion. All the apparatus of pleading is swept away.
On the day named in the summons the parties ap-
pear. The judge proceeds in a summary way to try
the cause and give judgment, without any formal
joinder of issue. No plea of set-off, infancy, statute
of limitations, bankruptcy, or insolvency, is to bo
allowed, except after notice given. In all proceedings
under the act, the parties to the case, their wives, and
agents, and all other persons, may be examined
upon oath or solemn affirmation. Defendants may
be punished for fraud, for obtaining credit on false
pretences, or incurring debts or liabilities without
reasonable expectation of being able to discharge or
meet them ; or for concealment, or fraudulent trans-
fer of property, liable under execution. But this
imprisonment is to be a punishment for the fraud,
and is not to extinguish the debt, or deprive the
plaintiff of his rights of execution. Distresses under
the act are not to be vitiated by informality, nor is
, the party distraining to be deemed a trespasser for
any defect of form in the instruments. The party
aggrieved by this irregularity, may recover full satis-
faction for his special damage, by an action on the ease.
All these provisions are strongly in favour of the
creditor, and have a tendency to secure cheapness
and summariness of process. The want of these two
conditions: in the procedure of the superior courts is
the great grievance which this Act is designed to
remedy.

One provision for this purpose is, perhaps, more
important than any we have yet referred to. It is to
be found in eli use 88—the death-blow to litigation
clause. This enacts that no barrister, attorney, or
other person, except by leave of the judge, shall bo
entitled to be he and as counsel in any proceeding
under the Act. And if the judge do allow an
attorney to uplift his voice, he is not to be
entitled to any fee whatever, unless the debt claimed
is above 405.; to ini we than 10s., unless the debt be
above al. ; nor to me ire than 13s. in any case. The
barrister is bound a own to a maximum fee of
11. 3a. 6d. Fees of bat risters or attorneys are not to
be allowed in taxation c f costs, in case of a plaintiff,
where less than 31. is recovered—or, in case of a de-
fendant, where less than is claimed; or in any
case whatever, unless by an: wyler of the jade.
This clause should be prink in: large characters,
and suspended in every coin t . established or held
under this aet. We hope k sincerely that the
judges will discountenance all em aloyment of hired
advocates. We have little doubt ti tat the most com-
petent of them will exclude this glib and glosing race
altogether. Unless exclusion be the rt de, and admis-
sion of hired advocacy the exception, the act may
promote instead of diminishing litigation. When we
give cheap law, we are bound to discourage the re-
course to it, except in proper and necessa rY eases.
The creation of a race of ten shilling attorncy'-advo-
cotes, possessing all the worst points of the hart ister,
without the restraining effects of etiquette and edu Ca-
tion, would be an evil as great as the worst of those;
which the present act will remove. On the degree, in
which the courts are courts of summary jurisdiction,
will depend much of their usefulness. On the strictness,
with which paid advocates arc excluded, will depend
the brevity of proceedings. On the acquirements
and knowledge of the judge will depend the neces-
sity for such advocates. With a judge fitted for his
office, they will be superfluous. The inns of court
can furnish an abundance of men so qualified. Let us
hope that the power of patronage will not be abused
by the choice of ignorant and insufficient persona,
who may be lucky enough to have amused a judge,
or picked up a bowing familiarity with the l chan-
cellor. Had the appointments tested with Lord
LYNDIICRST !

Is a former article we offered some remarks on the
entire want of any special education or test for Office
in this country, and promised to return to the sub-
ject, which seems to deserve more attention than has
hitherto been given to it. In the present day espe-
cially, it has become a matter for grave considera-
tion. At no time, indeed, and in no condition of
public affairs, could it have been an inconsiderable
evil, that the service of the State should be undertaken
by men wholly unprepared for their particular duties.