The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-27 00:00:00

The New Bankruptcy Act.

Yesterday was issued, in a blue book of 530 pages,
the report of the select committee appointed to in.
quire into the working of the New Bankruptcy Act,
together with the evidence heird before them. This
report is simply a postponement of any decisive re•
commendations until next session. It is as follows :*
The length of time spent in the important inquiry en-

trusted to your committee has rendered it impossible for

them to do more than report the evidence taken by them,
while fulfilling the duty imposed on them. To report use-
fully on so difficult and intricate a subject requires great
care and much thought. Many attempts have already been
made to legislate with effect upon this important branch of
administration, and the failure of these manifold 'effult3
makes it imperative upon Parliament to act with great cir-
cumspection and deliberation in all futur3 proceedings in
this matter. Your committee therefore hope that at the
commencement of the next session of Parliament they may
be reappointed, and thus that stll2,ient time may be aff )rded
for a duo ccnsideratim of the many intricate questions that
have to be decided b4ure Effie:ocl legislation is possible.

...
It appears, however, that a long draft report watt
proposed by the chairman, Mr Moffat, and read to
the committee, though the above, proceeding from
Mr Ito( back, was ultimately adopted. This draft
report, which is of considerable length, contains the
following paragraphs respecting the commissioners,
the cfficial assignees, the credi. ors' assignees, the
registrars, the accountant in bankruptcy, the mes-
sengers and the ushers, denoting to a certain ex-
tent the nature of a great part of the evidence :
That as regards the commissioners, there is concurrent
testimony as to the great uncertainty of their decisions;
complaints are numerous as to the delay of all matters ad-
ministered in the court, and also as to neglect in exercising
the powers of punishing fraudulent debtors with which
they arc invested by the Act of 1861. That considerable
public inconvenience has also been experienced from the
it regular hours and short periods during which the courts
are open in London for the transaction of business, and
that the affairs of the district courts appear to be adminis-
tered in a still more objectionable manner. In one case it
was proved that a commissioner of the Leeds court, who is
in receipt of .£l,BOO per annum, resides in London, and
attends the court at Leeds for a few hours only.once a fort-
night. It will be obvious that such laxity on the part of
the commissioner, bring the head of the court, gives the
tone to the other officials.

As respects the Official Assignees.—There appears to
be a considerable amount of negligence and indifference in
the collection and distribution of the funds. A case was
quoted in which so long a period as nine months elapsed
atter a dividend had been declared before payment was made,
although the money was lying at the credit of the official
assignee's account. Much of this negligence is stated by
several witnesses to arise from the alteration in their mode
of remuneration by commission to fixed salaries of £l,OOO
or £1,200 a year; this view was supported by the evidence
of Mr. Commissioner nolroyd, Mr Miller (the chief regis-
trar) by Messrs. Lewis, Lawrence, and Reed, experienced
London practitioners, and by Mr. Sampson Samuel Lloyd,
President of the Associated Chambers of Commerce ; all of
whom concurred in advising that if the services of official
assignees are retained, their remuneration should be partly
by salary and partly by commission. There is no uniform
system of keeping accounts ; no sufficient control, either in
respect to their duties or their accounts ; that they stand in
an anomalous position with respect to the creditors' assig-
nee, who has, in the first place, to audit the official assig-
nee's account, the official assignee in return auditing the
accounts of the creditor's assignee. The system of audit is of
an incomplete and unsatisfactory character, being usually
made in a crowded room, where the accounts of 20 or N
different estates are all frequently audited at the same time,
amidst much noise and confusion. it was further proved
that very serious defalcations have occurred in the ac-
counts of the official assignees ; that they not moire
quently obtain power to sell tho property of the
estate previous to the choice of the creditors' assignee,
and to the detriment of creditors. That these
gentlemen aro not selected on account of any fitness fur the
offices. In the case of the Birmingham district court, it was
stated that two of them had been bankrupt, one as a banker
and one as a stockbroker, one was a newspaper editor, and
the fourth a clerical agent. That the principal amount of
labour in the collection of the debts is thrown upon the
creditors' assignee. That it is clearly proved that no check
or supervision exists as to whether the assets are collected
or left uncollected either by the official assignee or the cre-
ditors' assignee.
As to the Creditors' Assignees.—The existing act places
upon the creditors' assignees the responsibility of collecting
and settling all debts over £lO in value, but does not provide
the remuneration previously apportioned to the official as-
signee, and therefore the affairs aro frequently handed over
to solicitors, whose charges prove very onerous to the estate.
The arrangement has consequently not been found to work
advantageously, but it is suggested that payment by com-
mission to creditors' assignees would partially obviate this
disadvantage.
As to the Registrars.—These gentlemen appear to hold
an anomalous position, occasionally discharging the func-
tions of the commissioners, and when Lot so occupied their
duties appear to bo such as would bs butter discharged by
1 experienced accountants; their utility under the existing
system appears to be of an extremely limited character;
1 as to the control which should be exercised by the regis-
trars over the meesengers of tho court, it appears that in
one of the district courts two of the registrars were actually
ender pecuniary obligations to the messengers of the court,
and had been so for many years. The registrars are entrusted
with the au lit and taxation of the passsngers' bills of costs
against the bankrupt estate, and in the cases referred to,
each of the messengers
.is reputed to have overcharged
sums, amounting in one case to £1,423, and in the other to
£1,566 in two years, which overcharges had been allowed
by the re-*
1 , „is ,
trars and retained by the messengers.
AS regards the Accountant in Bankruptcy—This :officer
appears simply to discharge the duties of a \.treasorer, hav-
ing:
no control whatever over either the °Metal or creditors'
assignees, or their accounts.
As to the Messengers.—The payment of the officers fre-
quently constitutes a very heavy charge upon the assets,