The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-03 00:00:00

Sp• •
rit of the Public Journals.

( From the Times of this day.)
There.are some terrible blots in our penal lees"
ltition as affecting fraudulent bankrupts. It was
but' the other day that the great delinquents,
Strahan, Paul, and Bates nearly escaped the
punishment dne to their misdeeds by reason of the
imperfect and absurd phrasing of a particular
clause in an act of Parliament. The case, fortu-
nately, did not turn upon the point which was
involved in the construction of this clause, or the
result might have been problematical, although
the compliance on the part of the bankrupts with
the formal requirements of the act amounted in
reality to a fresh fraud. The Judges expressed
strong opinions against the validity in point of
law of the plea urged by the bankrupts under this
preposterous clause. We are glad that the sound-
ness of their opinion was not 'put to the proof
when we see what the letter of the law has effected
for two other bankrupts, Gordon and Davidson.
Their case was argued on Friday last by adjourn-
ment from the 10th of November, and the result
was that the conviction was quashed by a majority
of the judges sitting as a Court for the Considera-
tion of Crown Cases Reserved. Eight points had
been urged by the counsel for the criminals against
the validity of the conviction. A few of these are
worthy of mention, if only to show how deeply
involved in chicane this portion of the law yet
remains. One of the objections was, that when
commissions had been allotted by the Chancellor to
particular commissioners, no other commissioner
could take up the case without the Chancellor's
sanction. This particular petition had been allotted
to Commissioner Goulburn, but proceedings under
it had subsequently taken place before other com-
missioners. Another ground of objection was, that
in the proceedings the bankrupts were described as
of Mincing-lane, and of West Ham-lane, in the
county of Essex, whereas in the Gazette West Ham-
lane was said to be in the county of Middlesex.
Again, a summons was left upon the bankrupts on
the 26th of July, calling them to appear on the
17th of July—a day past—and on the 19th August.
This, as it was contended, was not a valid sum-
mons. The objection which stands sixth on this
precious list does the very highest credit to the in-
genuity of its framers. The bankrupts had been
summoned to attend before Commissioner Goul-
burn on a particular day, but as he himself did
not sit, the inference the bankrupts drew was
that their presence was not required. It vas
Mr. Commissioner Goulburn who had requested
the pleasure of their company—not the Court of
*Bankruptcy. Then there had been a trifling altera-
tion in the petition—an alteration in the verifica-
tion of the petition by the petitioning creditor—an
alteration in the adjudication by the commissioner
—an alteration in the deposition verifying the pe-
tition. All these were matters of slight account,
not calculated to damage the interest of the bank-
rupts, nor in any way affecting the question of their
guilt or innocence of the felony for which they
were indicted—namely, not surrendering under
t heir bankruptcy.
It is but fair to the course of British justice to
say, that when these points were argued, on the
10th of November, before Chief J ustico Jervis,
Baron Parke, and Justices Erle, Crompton, and
Willes, they were all overruled save one. Still
they are good evidence to show the opinion of
lawyers as to the points by which fraudulent
bankrupts may be saved. The point ou which
the conviction was ultimately quashed was as ludi-
crous and frivolous as any of those which have as
yet been particularised. This it was : The
course adopted in serving the notice of adju-
dication was to leave at the counting-house
of Gordon and Davidson one duplicate of the
notice of adjudication, and one duplicate Of
the notice to surrender, whereas it was con-
tended there ought to have been two duplicates.
Was it not possible, otherwise, that one of the
partuels might have gone to die counting-house,
put the single duplicates in his pocket, and have
omitted or forgotten to mention the matter to his
partner ? Then, as it could not be known to the
law which of the partners had received the paper. 4,
they were both to be held free from notice. In
point of fact, Messrs. Gordon and Davidson—men
who have been guilty of one of the most enormous
commercial frauds upon record, who dodged away
from this country to avoid the consequences of
their guilt, who were hunted like a brace of foxes
from one European territory to another—are to be
held ignorant of the fact that any legal proceedings
had been instituted against them. They were ac-
cidentally away from their place of business. How
could it possibly have entered into their heads that
they were the subjects of proceedings before a
Court of Bankruptcy? Such are, literally, the
grounds upon which these two men have escaped
the sentence they deserved. Of the 10 legal Pun-
dits who were called upon to decide this knotty
point, six took one view of the case, and four
the other. Lord Campbell, Barons Parke and
Alderson, Justices Cresswell, Williams, and Cromp-
ton were of opinion that two notices were required;
while Chief Justice Jervis, Justices File and
Wines, and Baron Platt thought one notice suf-
ficient. The roll facts of the case were, that David-
son and Gordon, the unconscious innocents, when
they found themselves in peril of immediate arrest,
bolted secretly from the country and made their
ivay to Ostend, then to Brussels, then to Aix-la-
Chapelle, then to Neufchatel. As we have no ex-
tradition treaty with Switzerland these doves might
have found rest for their weary piuions in some
Swiss oasis but for an expedient to which the
creditors had recourse. They transferred some
bills granted by the trsants to Swiss subjects, so
that Messrs. Gordon and Davidson were again
compelled to take flight. From Geneva they pro-
ceeded ultimately to Naples, where they were given
up to the Government. When conveyed to Malta,
owing to some technical objection in the form of
the warrant, they were discharged by the magis-
trate. They were, however, compelled to leave
Malta in such a manner that the Southampton
steamer was their only rcsourse. On arrival at
the port last mentioned they were, of course, in-
stantly arrested, and in clue course brought to
trial at the Central Criminal Court on the 23d of
August last. As a matter of
form, Gordon was
the one actually
.put upon trial. The charge,
evidence, &c., were precisely the same in David-
son's case, but when the legal objections to the
conviction had been stated,' arranged
itti for
convenience sake that I)avidsou;S
should stand over until the result of the telechu.ndiecil
proceedings was known. Gordon and Davidson
are both, therefore, free from the consequences of
the first charge—although, upon the snouts, the
jury in
August last had immediately returned a
verdict of " Guilty" against the ono who repre-
sented both.
We are not without good hope that, under some
of the other indictments hanging over them, the
prisoners may be visited with such punishment as
may deter others from following in their footsteps.
There are various indictinents, charging them with
obtaining sums varying from 2,4001. to 17,0001.
under false pretences. Ulleertitill as the criminal
law affecting bankrupts appears to be, some stone
may at last strike home. Teo case is a very bad
one indeed. Here are two men who break up
their business with unsecured debts, including time
debt due to Overend and Gurney, and other debts
upon fictitious warrants, amounting to the sum of
5..0,00011. Their assets have been found to Le
2,0001. It is impossible to conceive a worse case,
not only from the magnitude of the deficiency, but
from the shameless frauds perpetrated by the part-
nere. We are far from thinking that all private
hankers arc like Strahan, Paul, and Bates, and all
merchants like Gordon and Davidson, but still the
number of fraudulent bankruptcies, which are of
well-nigh weekly occurrence, proves that the sub-
ject requires review. At least let the criminal
portion of the bankrupt law be entirely purged
from chicane. Av
conclusion of a
speculation, e
W. may soon enter en a fresh era
ithin a twelvemonth after the
canpeacedive
we shall require all the secu-
rity the law e us against fraudulent bank-
rupts.
aTlietn)desires, but it must
aitohsne
will
insure a
continuancecO
beip)teaaccee iu3p.o'vnifrYs'tucehve(tryFerr:raslt
of the blessing to Europe for many a, year to
allies are DOW in a situation to dictate terms.. naTelliTs"
not a reason for insisting upon any whichare
unreason-
able ; but, since the fortune of war has turned in our
favour, at least let us take security that we shalt not
have the same bloody work to begin over again ten yean
hence. Every argument used by the self-styled "Peace
Party" is a weapon which telis with the greatest force
against themselves. We agree with them as to the oh_
left, but we differ entirely as to the means by which it
18 to be attained. Their argument, when fairly carried
amounts to this —that any oreat military Power
wi,ieraybseatcpuheeroffeiectt'loibaertttyaesko
to
d'
to be " left wo.eak‘evrhenneicg.nliebnoiciirgiis.
b ,ur has
re-
peated on the a swallowed up, the pro ceas may be re-
nal
aggremor next, and the next, until the great origi-
nal
threaten the tutt! attained such proportion as to
the Czar are off eutes of mankind. Until the fleets of
shores, we are not to interfere;
and his armies neon our
doubtful if the more ent;nterfere ; and even then it is
azivastie professors of this creed
would be prepared to re recommend resistance. Every ra-
tional man, in this country at least, hates war for its
Own sake. When it is forceduren us it is a dreadful
necessity-'a necessity of which
in the present inbtance can, Prevenn't°
tshte, and, happily,
few spokesmen, however, speedy
recur.
recce. Very like to take
place in the ranks of the Peace-at.„3„prkePasty
assumes the more The
original cry now politic form
Isapprove of
" Enough has been dose. 111,7 do not d' of
war in the abstract—not they. When Lord J. Russel
was at,Vienna they were inclined for peace from a pro_
found conviction that any terms which could be im_
posed on Russia, would be found nugatory is practice