The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-17 00:00:00

THE PATENT LAWS.

Mr. COX asked the Attorney-General whether it was his
intention to bring in a bill this session to amend the laws
relating to patents?
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL did not think it would
be possible to proceed with the bill this session.
THE LEEDS APPOINTMENTS—MR. FERRAND'S
QUESTIONS.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said he hoped the house
would allow him a few moments to make some further
explanation relative to the questions that were put to him
last night by the hon. gentleman opposite (Mr. Ferrand) with
respect to the resignation of Mr. Wilde and the appointment
of Mr. Welch. He had received a letter from Mr. Welch
which ought to have come to hand yesterday. That
gentleman stated that ho received the appointment to the
Leeds District Court of Bankruptcy unconditionally—
(hear, hear)—and that at the time he was not in
a precarious state of health. With regard to Mr. Bethell, he
stated that he did not in the month of February, or at
any other time, attend at the Leeds District Court to make
the statement that he had been appointed. The officials
of the Court deniedall knowledge of the circumstance, and
they all stated they had no personal knowledge of Mr.
Bethell. (Hear, hear.) He had also read a letter from Mr.
Bethel], which was substantially to the same effect.

EAST INDIA CIVIL SERVICE.

Mr. A. MILLS rose to call attention to the existing regu

lations for the examination of candidates for the civil service
in India; and moved an address for copy of all correspon-
dence on the subject between the India-office and the Civil
Service Commissioners which had not yet been laid before
Parliament.

Mr. B. COCHRANE thought the system of examina-
tion was very faulty, and that next year a select committee
ought to be appointed to consider the subject.
Lord STANLEY offered several suggestions with a view
to the improvement of the system of examination for the
civil service of India. _ _

The discussion was continued by Mr. 11. Seymour, Mr.
Smollett, Mr. Grant Duff, Mr. Hennessy, Mr. Kinnaird,

Mr. Torrens, and Sir F. Heygate.
Sir C. WOOD defended the system of examination pur-
sued, on the ground that it had been recommended by a
commission, consisting of Lord Macaulay and several gen-
tlemen of great university distinction. The principle upon
which the subjects for examination were elected was not
that of giving a preference to any particular kind of educa-
tion or learning, but of affording students in any part of the
British dominions the opportunity of presenting themselves
for examination with a view to entering the civil service ;
and the examination was so conducted as to test not the

knowledge of the candidate on any particular subject, but
his general intellectual attainments. It was not to be de-
nied that these examinations had an inevitable tendency to
encourage cramming ; but that was not a peculiarity of the
competitive system in the Indian civil service ; for " coach-
ing," which was analogous to it, was well known in all our
public schools and universities. There was no objection
to producing the papers asked for, namely, the report of the
Civil Service Commissioners and the appendix thereto,
both of which would be shortly laid upon the table of the
house.

After a few words from Mr. VessrrTAßT, the motion was
withdrawn.

THE BANKRUPTCY LAWS.
Mr. MOPPATT rose to call attention to the report a
the Select Committee on the Bankruptcy Act of 1861, any
the existing state of the laws in regard to debtor and cre•

ditor ; and to move, " That, in the opinion of this house,
the report of the Select Committee on the Bankruptcy Act
of 1861 deserves the prompt and serious consideration of
her Majesty's Government." The hon. gentleman reviewed
the changes which had taken place in reference to the law
of bankruptcy during the last 40 years, and remarked that
the Consolidation Act of 1849, instead of improving the
then existing system, had rather tended to make matters
worse. [An unsuccessful attempt was here made to count
out the house.] The bankruptcy laws were at the present
time in a highly unsatisfactory state ; and the act of 1861
had produced results which no man connected with the
commerce of the country could possibly have anticipated.
In the first place, it had merged the trading with the non-
trading community, and had led the whole mercantile world
to avoid the Bankruptcy Court as much as possible in con-
sequence of the expense and delay in the course of proce-
dure. There was collected out of bankruptcy in the last
year £677,000, and the cost of collection and official charges
was £140,000, leaving but £520,000 for the creditors from
the whole of the bankruptcies in the United Kingdom. If
he compared that with the year 1843, when the commerce
of the country bore no comparison to the present, the
amount of bankruptcies was £1,067,000. That was not sur-
prising, if they analysed the account of last year, for of
7,324 bankruptcies, 6,600 were made on the bankrupts' own
petition, withoul leave of the creditors, and 595 at the in-
stance of the creditors. Out of 6,600 only 5,324 paid any
dividend, and out of the whole 7,324 only 80 were refused
prompt discharge. Practically, in the case of every estate
where there was a prospect of a dividend, any kind of com-
promise or assignment was agreed to rather than go to the
Bankruptcy Court ; and the natural sequence of it was
that every debtor knew he had an instrument at hand by
which he could cheat his creditors. This was done in two

ways, as inaugurated in the Act of 1861, by composition
or assignment. The practice of allowing debtors to evade
their creditors was telling upon the mercantile position of
the country, as was shown by the fact that, whereas in
1843 there were 640 compositions only, there were in 1864
1,348, and in the last three months of that year there were
no loss than 302 for less than ss. in the pound, some being
as low as 6d. and 3d. The great mass of insolvencies might
be said to be settled under assignment. Scarcely a week
passed in which two or three firms extensively engaged in
business did not suspend payment, placing their affairs in
the hands of their solicitors or friendly accountants, who
said to the creditors, " We will look into the books and tell

you what you can get ;" and in this way the creditors were
kept at bay. The friendly accountants, although some of
thorn were of the highest respectability, took the books as
they found them, and the consequence was that any mal-
versation or abstraction from the assets might pass undis-
turbed. A composition was announced, which the creditors
ordinarily were content to take, but there was generally a
serious difference between the money result and the state-
ment first made, and he had known several instances of
estates which upon the first showing promised to pay 20s.
in the pound, the debts of which might now be bought for
2s. or 3s. in the pound. In November of last year the debts
put into composition were £3,938,000, and in Deceniber,
£1,049,000,- or at the rate of £18,000,000 a year; and this
was shown not to be result of a period of extreme pressure,
but a normal state of things ; for the number of deeds
registered in those two months was 900, with a stamp
duty of £6,000, while the number for the six months
ending the 11th April was 2,800, with a stamp duty of
£15,614 ; and the stamp duty was only a partial test, as it
only extended to .f.. 80,000. What, then, was the remedy?
Scarcely anything had been suggested except the iutroduc-
ti
Bnooronthug
oinfthe Scotch practice. All the attacks upon Lord
gham's bill were upon the question of patronage, but
was said with respect to the benefit of the estate,
and the same thing occurred in the case of the evidence
. taken before the committee last session. Theon presenthe real
sys-
tem was essentially and fundamentally
principle was to let the creditors manage their own T
own affairs
with the debtors, and for the State to interfere as little as
possible. If the debtor were guilty of fraud, let him be tried
by the ordinary tribunals of the country ; but the creditor
should not have the power of punishing the debtor in any
way. The committee proposed to abolish imprisonment for
debt, to take away froni the creditor the power of coercing