The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-22 00:00:00

sinecurist called the accountant under the English
system. In the English Courts a clerk made
out an account, and the same clerk made out a
list by which that very account was to be checked.
The account and the list were then sent to an office
in London, where they were compared with each
other ; and for this business the English accountant
was paid £1,500 a year. In Scotland, on the con-
trary, the accountant had much work to do. He
had to see that the assignee as well as the bankrupt
should not be guilty of malversation ; and he had
power to employ a public prosecutor—an officer
much wanted in England. It had been thought
that there might be some difficulty in introducing
this system into England. The first question that
arose was to what court should the administration
of the new law be submitted. The bankruptcy
courts and the county courts were both unpopular
in this country ; but if a separate court were esta-
blished there was always danger as to the efficiency
of a court which confined itself exclusively to one
particular branch of the law. The Scotch Courts
undertook a great variety of business. With re-
spect to the appointment of an accountant the
Scotch system would not answer without some alte-
ration to suit the circumstances of this country.
There were only 500 bankruptcy cases in Scotland
in a year, while there were upwards of 7,000 in Eng-
land, and if thepresent system were altered and made
more popular, the number would probably amount
to 10,000 a year. The chairman then referred to
the penal clauses of the Bankruptcy Act, and said
that previous to 1861 certain offences in bank-
ruptcy were felonies, but now all offences under the
the new Act were misdemeanours only. Punish-
ments were much milder, and the law in that re-
spect was practically a nullity, there being no public
prosecutor, and much difficulty existing in proving
the intent on the part of the bankrupt to defraud.
The whole penal system, therefore, was entirely out
of joint. Now, in Scotland, civil and criminal fraud
was kept quite distinct, and unquestionably all cri-
minal offences ought to be brought before a criminal
tribunal—great crimes at the assizes, less crimes at
the sessions, and he would suggest that carelessness
on the part of the bankrupt should be punished by
suspension, and such like. The hon. Chairman con-
cluded by moving the adoption of the resolutions he
had read.

Mr. LUPTON (of Leeds) seconded the motion, and
said that the Leeds Chamber of Commerce had in-
structed him to express their approval of the altera-
tions proposed.

Mr. 3/10FFATT,
M.P., said he was of opinion that
any system of punishment connected with the law
of bankruptcy
was injurious, and that no satisfac-
tory alteration in the law could be effected until the
whole present system
was abolished. But when that
was done their labours would by no means be ended.
They would then, however, be able to create a
simple, clear, and expeditious system. His opinion
was that when a debtor contracted a debt he pledged
the whole of his assets, but not his liberty or future
labour, to his creditor. The old law, indeed, said
that he pledged his person to the creditor, but
common sense showed that that was so unjust a
system that personal arrest had become almost a
matter of form. His proposition, therefore, was to
abolish the law of arrest altogether. He certainly
should advocate the abolition of imprisonment for
debt. Again, he was opposed to that part of the
present system which subjected the minority to the
majority. He should, therefore, recommend such
legislation as would take away such power from the
majority. He would provide that all creditors who re-
ceived dividends should discharge the insolvent from
any future liability : he would, however, reserve to
any creditor who declined to come in and share the
assets already collected the power of obtaining pay-
ment of the debts owing to them from any after-
acquired property of the insolvent.
Mr. GIBBS said it was the general wish, he be-
lieved, that the duties of a creditor's assignee should
be made the subject of a regular profession, and
that those who embraced that profession should be
appointed the professional managers of insolvents'
estates. That was the Scotch system, and if
adopted in England the management of an insol-
vent's estate would become a simple matter of busi-
ness. There were some acts which he would treat
as offences on the part of the debtor. Those acts
were, first, extravagant living; secondly, fraudu-
lent preferences to creditors ; thirdly, concealment
and abstraction of property; and, fourthly, incur-
ring damages by litigation. The hon. gentleman
moved, as an amendment, that except in the case of
any one or more of those four offences, the penal
law in bankruptcy should be abolished.
After some further discussion,

Mr. BRoox, of Huddersfield, thought the adop-
tion of that suggestion would be a retrograde
movement. It was once the law of insolvency, but
that law had been assimilated to the law of bank-
ruptcy, and now it was proposed to make the law
of bankruptcy what was formerly the law of insol-
vency. He was sure that even if the House of
Commons agreed with the proposition the House of
Lords would not.

IVir. G. DIXON thought the proposition of Mr.
Moffatt, of giving the creditor a reserved •power
over the debtor, would be extremely inexpedient,
because if such was to be the law it would be im-
possible for the bankrupt afterwards to obtain
credit. With regard to the punishing of wilful and
reckless incurring of debt, he was of opinion great
difficulty would arise in defining what was reckless
incurring of debt. Not one-half of the commercial
men were decided on that question, and the proba-
bility was that the decisions of the different Courts
would not be the same. He hoped, therefore, that
no such proposition would receive the sanction of
the meeting,
After some further discussion,

The CHAIRMAN replied, and said there was great
danger in putting so much power in the hands of a
non-assenting creditor as Mr. Moffatt proposed to do.
The amendments having been negatived by a
large majority, the original resolutions were put and
carried unanimously.

A committee was then appointed to wait upon
the Lord Chancellor, and to impress upon him the
importance of assimilating the English law of bank-
ruptcy to the law of Scotland.