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

small
share
system
attenhtsivoon thatceived from the the anomalies of the
bankruptcy
commu-
nity in general.
Now,
ohuog the exertions of well-
wever, that reason can
no longer prevail, for
informed persons, the frauds and fallacies of the
case are pretty generally known, and must have
been widely disseminated through the length and
breadth of the land. Mr. MOFFATT affirmed, as a
fact, that creditors were ready to accept almost
anything rather than go into the Bankruptcy Court.
And who can doubt it. They spend a great deal of
tune in annoyances and trouble, with very little
profit in some cases, and none in many. The hon.
member truly observed, that it was impossible to
base any measure upon the existing system which
would be successful or satisfactory. Too much was
attempted, and it would prove a failure if it sought
to undertake anything beyond its due limits. Thus,
in seeking to prove the honesty or dishonesty of the
debtor, it essayed more than was compatible with its
power and resources. Enough has been shown by this
time to corroborate the force of the statement here
put forth, that this latter endeavour is " quitebeyond
the scope of a sound and useful bankruptcy system,
and should be abolished." Mr. MOFFATT'S proposi-
tion, that the existing law of bankruptcy should be
abolished altogether, and a simpler system substi-
tuted similar to that now in use in Scotland, was an
admirable one, and it would be a great advantage if
such a thing could be done in every point of view.
The Scotch system has given general satisfaction,
and from attempting too much it does not fail, as
ours does in so many palpable ways, but answers
the legitimate ends for which it is designed. The
State has very little to do with the manage-
ment of affairs in Scotland ; and the credi-
tors in general make their own arrangements
through an agent that they appoint for the purpose
of transacting the business. A final court of appeal
was also advocated by Mr. MOFFATT, and his sug-
gestion of permitting the creditors to receive the
estate of an insolvent in lieu of their debts would
now probably answer in the long run. By this
means, as he observed, a debtor might say " There
is a good dividend, let me go," and thus 16s. in the
pound might often be realised, which at present
very seldom took place. The fact is that a series
of abuses has:rendered the workings of the existing
systems quite incompetent for the purposes for
which they were designed, and while professing to
sift the subject and adjust the difficulties of the
case, the employees of the Bankruptcy Court suffer
the proceeds of the estate to melt away, and by the
time the day of reckoning arrives the creditors find
that all their time and trouble have brought them
nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit. The law
that is so proverbially known as the eater of the
oyster and divider of its shell never appears so to a
greater extent than when it is surveyed under the
aspect of the Bankruptcy Court. There it seems
to culminate its inconsistencies and absurdities, and
out of the necessities of some and the losses of others
to reap an unrighteous harvest. " A sound, intel-
ligible, and satisfactory state" is what Mr. MOFFATT
prophecises as the result of his proposed alteration,
and certainly if that object is in any degree attained
many great and important improvements will be
made upon the past and present system. A decided
change is what is imperatively called for, and unless
that takes place it is idle to expect and useless to
promise any benefit of a practical nature to those
interested in the affair. It is to be hoped that after
all that has been said and written in a theoretical way
upon this subject, and all that has been gained in a
practical form by the workings of the faulty system
now in vogue, some great change will take
place, and that the country's good sense may not be
insulted by any more patchings and tinkerings of
unsound measures, but that a new and simple
scheme may be adopted to answer the desired end
of securing as much money as possible for creditors,
instead of squandering away the assets of the bank-
rupt in unbecoming ways, and for unworthy pur-
poses. The interests of the commercial members of
the community surely merit attention from the Le-
gislature, and it will be a great disgrace if their
wants and wishesare not to be made paramount to
the prejudices of officials and the predilections of
red-tapists to their own notions. For many reasons
a real reform in the law, and especially in the Bank-
ruptcy Act, is more necessary than in a Parliamen-
tary sense.

It was only to be expected, after the number of
serious accidents that have lately occurred on our
railways, and especially after her MAJESTY'S just
and forcible remonstrance on the subject, that the
opening days of Parliament would not pass over
without some allusion to the subject. Accordingly
Mr. BENTINCK, last evening, called the attention of
Mr. GIBSON to the matter, and asked whether it
was the intention of the Government during the
present Session to bring forward any measure for
the better prevention of railway accidents. It was
fully in accordance with the general policy of our
existing administration, and could hardly have sur-
prised any member of the House that the President
of the Board of Trade stated that he and his col-
leagues had no such intention. For this inaction
he brought forward several reasons, many of which
were plausible enough,but which are haxdly altogether
satisfactory. Mr. GIBSON thinks the matter is best
left to the directors of the various companies, who,
during the year 1863, have paid, in the shape of
indemnities, nearly £170,000. He further argues,
that in the year 1864 the railways have conveyed
220,000,000 of passengers, of whom only 14 have
been killed, so that the computation stands at 1
passenger killed out of every 15,719,285, and
one injured of every 315,638. This, however, is
not quite the way to look at the question. The
number of fatal accidents is comparatively small,
but if those fourteen deaths arose from preventible
causes, if they were occasioned by carelessness or ne-
glect of duty,
the public has just ground for com-
plaint and uneasiness. According to Mr. GIBSON'S
inference we might as well calculate the small
proportion of fatal accidents occurring in our
thoroughfares, and thereupon cease from punishing
furious driving. Mr. GIBSON admits that the acci-
dents to passenger trains have increased from 52 in
1863 to 77 in 1864, but he attributes this to the in-
creased number of trains running. Increase of
traffic demands increase of care, and the traffic,
rapid as its increase is, has certainly not risen at the
rate of half as much again in 12 months, so that an
addition of 25 to 52 in the number of accidents must be
altogether disproportionate. Under these circum-
stances, though doing every justice to the public
spirit of the railway companies, and fullyappreciating
the advantages of leaving enterprise unfettered, the
public may be inclined to think that so far from
diminishing the responsibilities of the companies it
may be desirable to take measures to increase their
sense of their obligations to their passengers.

Accidents by fire are common enough to excite
every one's attention. The danger concerns lall,
and therefore one would suppose that all would
unite in endeavouring to avoid it, and in providing
the best means of escape in case of personal danger.
But it is a singular thing that a very large propor-
tion of the fires that annually occur in the Metro-
polis arise from sheer carelessness or recklessness,
while, although anxious householders may make
proYieloA for due precautione being taken by them