The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-10 00:00:00

THE BELFAST. COMMISSION.

Mr. O'REILLY asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland
when he would lay upon the table of the house the report
of the Belfast Commission of Inquiry; and whether he in-.
tended to propose any legislation founded on that report.

Sir R. PEEL said he did not know what the recommen-
dation of that committee would be, and therefore couldnot
say what Government would do in respect of it.

EX-GOVERNORS OF COLONIES.

Mr. BAILLIE COCHRANE asked the Secretary of
State Tor the Colonies if, during the recess, the case of the
ex-governors of colonies had been taken into the consi-
deration of the Government ; and whether a bill would be
introduced to grant them retiring pensions.
THE LAW OF BANKRUPTCY.

Mr. MOFFATT moved for a select committee to inquire
into the working of the present law of bankruptcy, and to
report thereon. He said he would not detain the house by ,
travelling over the grounds which he stated last session
with regard to the operation of the old aystem and its
abuses; but he felt bound to allude to a Parliamentary re-
turn on the subject for the year ending the 11th October,
1864. In that year the total money passed under the
Bankruptcy Act was £680,000. The total of the official
charges on the estates administered was upwards of £140,000,
or at the rate of 20 per cent., and that was exclusive of
solicitors' fees and various other charges. Out of 7,200
bankruptcies 600 were at the instance of the creditors, and
the 6,600 at the instance of their debtors. Of these estates
only 1,500 admitted of a dividend, and only in 150 cases
had the dividend exceeded 7s. 6d. in the pound, whereas in
as many as 5,200 cases there had been no dividend at all
declared. They had, in fact, set up a bankruptcy law which
encouraged knavery and the worst class of offences which
could be committed in a commercial community. The
Bankruptcy Act of 1861 did contain some provisions which
they might have expected to have seen work more satis-
factorily. An important feature in that act was the settle-
ment of bankrupt estates under composition and under
assignment. The first mode had .not proved so serious a
failure as had been supposed, for as much as £1,100,000
had been obtained under composition. From a return for
the last three months they got a notion of the character of
these compositions. For the three months ending Decem-
ber last, they learned that of the 304 estates settled under
composition paid less than ss. in the pound ; that 250 of
those paid less 35., and that in several of these latter cases
the dividend was less than 2s. 6d. In fact, creditors pre-
ferred to take anything in the shape of composition rather
than go into the Bankruptcy Court as the law now stood.
With regard to assignmegts, it would appear that it was
the object of the law to incite to fraud, The law allowed
the insolvent to make out a list of creditors having a claim
upon his estate, and there were no means by which the accu-
racy of tile return could be tested. The rights of creditors
were positively nil, for no creditor would venture to under-
take the responsibility of questioning the correctness of the
return. The result was, fraud flourished. He, however,
did not wish to cast all the blame on the author of that act.
Indeed, he might observe with resfiect to that act that it
had been greatly mutilated in its passage through Parlia-
ment, especially in another place, and had been sent down
to the House of Commons a thing so emasculated that its
utter failure was not to be wondered at. The whole system
of the English bankruptcy law was faulty in principle, inas-
much as it proposed to do two things, with either of which
it had no right to interfere. In the first place, it invoked
the interference of the State in the collection and distribu-
tion of the assets of the debtor. In the next place, it set
up a tribunal to judge of the honesty or dishonesty of the
insolvent. That was entirely wrong, and it was better they
should have no bankruptcy law at all than one of that cha-
racter.
For his own part, he should like to see the old bank-
ruptcy law restored, as it would be an advantage not only
to the commerce of the whole country, but also to that of
the commercial interests of the world at large. In his own
experience he had known foreign houses which had parted
with their goods to English traders, and were honest bona
fide creditors, but when those traders failed they were left
without a dividend, or had to be content with one of a shil-
ling or two in the pound. He would therefore suggest to Par-
liament the propriety of getting rid of a system so entirely ef-
fete, and substitute for it some very simple machinery ignor-
ing all interference by the State in matters between creditor
and debtor. In Scotland they had an excellent system, where
the interference of the State was of the slightest character.
Under that system the creditors named the person who was to
collect the assets of the debtor, he whom they appointed giving
them good security for the proper discharge of that duty
He worked for the creditor; and by the creditors he was
soomrkeesdooshatissyfastcetmorialys
tthoab:mthopdaifirteide
establishment
at
into
uHutieiths shithshmoeeu l
peculiarn country.dt lifktcoeo sulixer
ee-
paid. Ten years' experience of that act proved that all
w
wg eonuclide swoifs ef cr oiunns
tt
ar yo
oien, t rfoodr utche
ed
of appeal of the highest character. He give
°lett,
tensthe
creditors the sole power of the mana
vents' estates, and they should be the persons to give h
e
debtor his discharge. Those creditors, however, whowdtiidhe
not choose to come in and share in the distribution of those
assets should retain their claim against all property h
he might subsequently acquire. The establishment of such
a system would put an end to fraud, and place the law of
bankruptcy in a sound, intelligible, and satisfactory state.
The same system had worked in France with very great
success. There was now about X. 40,000 a-year received from
estates out of which no dividend was declared, and that
would be an ample basis on which to found the pensions of
those officials who might be so got rid of.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said the time had not
arrived for the discussion of those questions raised by the
hon. gentleman. It would, however, soon arrive, and lead,
he had no doubt, to many important changes.
Mr. ROEBUCK would not oppose the motion. H
injustice
call the attention of the house to the great
rose to
He merely
which had been done by the committee of last session to cer-
tain parties. The Lord Chancellor sent down to that com-
mitteeeommiscseiteinrs Messrs
pa,
persw.hAicyrth hoandabendenuparrzagtreodn.bylnthe
conse-
quencetwo of that report Mr. F. Whitmore, formerly a mer-
chant in the city of London—but who having become a
bankrupt got appointed to the humble office of official as-
. .
signee--and who was now 80 years of age, had become the
inmate
of a lunatic asylum in consequence of the aspersions
cast upon him.
a
The charges against others were yet sub
,judice, and therefore he would not say anything of them ;
but in the case of Mr. Harris, the official assignee of the
pose more than
faulter and
Birmingham Court,
I whereby he renderedilad behinaeoser
wing
who was charged with being a de-
pose
longerliable
xf,oroeotafined and used for his own pur-
tPeo 2riOodpe
than h
cent.a n a
on week,
the
amount, there
proved that the commissZnae proper examination, which
were too general in this allersga japed to conclusions and
at which the money had been ns, not stating the dates
returned or the amount on ,