The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-12 00:00:00

The Lord Chancellor's Bill has been printed. It provides
that no suit shall be brought "in any court" for a money
demand not exceeding £2O, unless within one year after some
part of it became payable, reckoning no time during which
the debtor was absent from England; and (subject to the
same reckoning no process shall issue on judgments of any
Court for a sum not exceeding £2O (on a money demand),
unless within a year from their date, or from the last pay-
ment becoming due, or Ling male, or two years in case of
fraudulent conduct on the part of the dsLtor. The power
of a County Court to commit to prison on a judgment for a
sum not exceeding £2O is to cease except es now to be men-
tioned. If on the hearing of a judgment summons it appears
that the debtor has not any means or reasonable expectation
of being able to pay any pact of his debts, the judge may
decline to make any order; but if it appear otherwise, the
judge is to order him to deliver to the registrar a statement
of his debts and assets, and attend to be examined, notice to
be given to the creditors and protection granted meantime;
and if the debts owing by the debtor turn out to exceed £5O,
or if he is found to possess property which cannot be taken
under any process of a County Court, the Court may ad-
judge him a bankrupt. The Court may order his property to
be seized and sold, taking household goods and wearing ap-
parel beyond the value of £4, and tools beyond £3. Upon
examination of the judgment debtor and consideration of all
the circumstances (or in his absence at the time appointed),
the Court is to order him, unless he is adjudged a bankrupt,
to pay into court such sum as it shall think proper by in-
stalments for division among the creditors, and a copy of
the order is to be sent to his employer, who is to stop the
instalment out of his wages. If he has obtained credit by
false pretences, or been guilty of fraud or breach of trust,
or wilfully contracted a debt without reasonable expecta-
tion of being able to pay it, or disposed of or concealed pro-
perty with intent to defraud his creditors, or since the judg-
ment wilfully wasted his income by unjustifiable extrava-
gance, the judge may commit him to prison as a misdemean-
ant for not more than two months ; but when discharged he
is not to be liable to any other imprisonment under this act.
Upon payment of the last instalment ordered of the Court
he is to e:eceive a certificate discharging him from his debts.
The bill fur. her provides that no action shall be brought to
recover any debt for ale or beer consumed on the premises
where sold or supp:ied. If an action is brought in a superior
court for a debt not ex ceeding £2O, it may be removed into
the County Court on the al;nlication of the defendant; or the
defendant may within eight ways pay the debt without any
costs; or, if he suffer judgment by default, the plaintiff
shall recover no costs; nor if the pi intiff obtains a verdict,
unless the Judge certifies. Actions b; ought in a superiorq
Court for malicious prosecution, illegal arrest or distress•
assault, false imprisonment, seduction, And any other
action of tort, may if a judge shall think fit, be removed
into the County Court (unless the plaintiff gives security
for costs), on an affidavit that the plaintiff has no visible
means of paying costs. We come now to the proposed grant
of equitable jurisdiction to the County Courts. Every suit
that may now be prosecuted in Chancery may hereafter be
brought in the County Courts if such suit falls within the
following rules :—The demand must not exceed £lOO, unless
it be a distributive share of property; the whole property
sought to be distributed or administered in any suit must
not exceed £5OO ; if land is sought to be recovered or sold,
it must not exceed the value of £lO a year; it mortgaged
property is sought to be fore-closed or sold, the mortgage
must not exceed £300; if a partnership is to be dissolved or
wound up, the property must not exceed £5OO ; where the
suit is for specific performance or cancelling of an arrange-
ment for sale of property, its value must not exceed £3OO

Lastly, no injunction is to be granted by a County Court;
nor any suit entertained involving a question concerning
the sanity of a testator. There is to be a right of appeal to
the Court of Chancery against the decision of the judge on
any matter of law or equity, or on the admission or rejec-

tion of evidence. Salaries to be increased out of the fees to
be taken for all this additional business, but the salary of
the judge is not to exceed £1,600 a year.

HYDROPHOBIA IN LIVERPOOL.—Another death
from hydrophobia occurred in Liverpool on Tuesday, the
victim being a boy named Samuel Leech, who was bitten in
the lip about a month ago by a shepherd's dog, belonging to
a farmer living at West Derby, near Liverpool,

THE RUSSIAN NAVY.—A largo armour-plated
steam ram, of between 3,000 and 4,000 tons, built
by an English firm, Messrs. Charles Mitchell and Co,, of
Low Walker, on the Tyne, will be launched from the Go-
vernment dockyard, St. Petersburg, this month, for the
Russian Government. She has been built by English
workmen sent out from this ccuntry, and her armour-plates
havo also been manufactured in England. A gunboat,
built by English workmen, will also be launched about the
same time.

THE SOUTH YORKSHIRE COLLIERS. -- The
struggle between the masters and the men may now
be said to have actually commenced, and in such a manner
as to test in a very short time the strength of either party.
On the fact being made known on Monday that the masters'
association had agreed to open the two collieries on strike to
all men who wished to go-in on the old terms, a meeting
was held at Moyle Mill the same evening, when the men
were enjoined to stand firm, as the union would support
theca until the advance asked was conceded. A resolution
pledging the meeting to stand out until the men received
the 10 per cent, was unanimously agreed to. On Tuesday
evening a good deal of excitement was created in Barnsley
by the arrival in the centre of the town of some hundreds
of colliers, with a cart, pulled by men, containing a number
of the Oaks workmen, with printed notices on their hats.
It appeared that the men belonging to that colliery had re•
ceived notice to quit the houses occupied by them under the
the proprietors of the colliery that afternoon.