The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-26 00:00:00

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TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Six,—The great assistance you have rendered by promo-
ting amendment of the law, induces me to solicit insertion
of the following :
I consider the public much indebted to the Lord Chancel-
lor for the acts to register titles and abolition of the atro-
cious vesting order system in " The Court for Relief of In-
solvent Debtors," which was too often used for the punish-
ment and plunder of solvent debtors, and the victims denied
the right of appeal to the superior caurts, except by writs
of audito querela, -which by neglect of judicial duty have be-
come difficult to use, and the demurrer system rains in ac-
tive operation to defraud men and families of their property.
The demurrer. practice extends to the most flimsy pre-
tences; for example, in the preparation of a narrative of
facts in a bill or complaint, the plaintiff may desire to insert
several pages of explanations, or to insert copies of docu•
nar.,,nts which he considers important to &Ippon his claims;
the cost of printing 10 pages extra in a bill olcomplaint will
be only 605., and in some eases £5O is given as a fee to
counsel by a wealthy dttlendaut to suppress the bill for what
the court pleases to consider demurraele matter, bdt at the
sane time allowing couu,el to state whatever he piews,:,s,
true or false, without beiug sworn.
In building transactions ill results have been of common
occurrence, on account of the high tato of interest, large
margin of value, opportunities for disputing every advance
as the works proceed, and preventing the creation o; income
by withholding the advances required for finishing ; and be-
cause mortgages in building transactions are usually exe-
cuted upon arrangements to advance as works proceed ; in
fact it is obtaining a mortgage without a shilling of consi-
deration and obliging the mortgagor to exhaust his means
and credit in improving the security. It appears incredible
that such a heartless system should exist in a great com-
mercial country where impartial justice is supposed to be
administered, yet such is the fact, and to an enormous ex-
tent. The course of practice is to select the most valuable
building estate,whieh the apparent respectability and means
of the mortgagee will enable them them to obtain, promis-
ing the owner every assistance he may desire to create in-
come by the erection of houses and to make the required ad-
vances as w=orks proceed under the direction of an architect
acting for the mortgagee, bat M the same time inserting a
much smaller amount in the mot gage deed than the value
of the works planned by the archiixt. This enables the
mortgagee to find pretence for disputing. on every advance
when required. Agreements are comparatiYely carried out
thus :—lf an agreement be made for a mortgagOr to enter at
a door, he is refused admittance there, and required to enter
by the window, and when he consents to this inconvenient
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some dark agent who will insist on his return, to adopt the
impracticable mode of entry—through the keyhole. The
mortgagor is thus led into liabilities, and when the houses
are roofed the mortgagee will, as soon after as possible, re-
fuse further advances, ti 29 debts for works and materials
therefore remain unpaid, notsc_ithstanding their value has
been added to the security. The houses of course remain
unproductive, because they are untinNled, interest in the
meantime accumulating, and professional costs and other
charges increasing, and the mortgagee and hie' Adviser then
commence complaints about not being able to obtain pay-
ment of interest and return of the money advanced, which
they have taken care the mortgagor shall not have the
means of paying; the only means contemplated for repay-
ment having been by letting or selling the houses origin-
ally arranged to be finished, by advances to be made by the
mortgagee.
It is a matter of astonishment that our legislators permit
such abuses in the administration of the laws, when the fall
of the Roman Empire and the Revolution of France in
1793 were the result of similar abuses connected with liti-
gation and imprisonment. And with such facts and exam-
ples in history it appears still more incredible that English-
men have allowed their fellow-creatures to be incarcerated
40 years or 40 hours unless guilty of a crime. If the
victims of 10, 20, and 40 years incarceration, bad commit-
ted burglaries and been sentenced to seven years' transpor-
t tation for each, the expiration of the time or tickets of leave
would have procured their release, and if without sentence
and subjected to the course followed in criminal prisons, the
ordinary gaol delivery would have set them free at the ex-
piration of a few weeks. And it will be difficult to meet
with one case of a debtor whose confinement in prison could
have conferred any fair and honourable benefit on his cre-
ditors. It is not commercial men or fair traders that fill
our prisons, or find employment for sheriffs' officers. It is
usurous bill discounters and unfair money lenders. These
are the classes for whose almost exclusive benefit we have
maintained debtors' prisons at so heavy an expense to the

country.
To effect general reform in administration of the law, the
following acts, it appears to me, among others, are re-
quired :
An Act for entire abolition of imprisonment for debt or
contempt for non-payment of costs, without being first
tried and found guilty of fraud by a jury.

An Act for the appointment of a Minister of Justice and
Public Prosecutors, but not to interfere with the grand
jury system.
An act to abolish the use of demurrers and establish trial
by jury on every question of right to be decided in Equity.
An act to compel barristers to be sworn in every case to
make full and correct statements (to the best of their know.
ledge and belief).
The above acts will not prevent a general modification of
the laws by competent members of the legislature.
Honest administration of the laws and protection to native
industry are the great secrets of success in all Governments,
and it must be a source of anxiety and regret with all
honourable men to be obliged to witness the abuses com-
mitted with administration of the law, and the want of pro-
tection for the working classes of the United Kingdom.—l
remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
OBSERVER.