The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-05 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.)
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.
BILLS OF EXCHANGE BILL.
Lord BROUGHAM moved the second reading of this
bill, "to permit the registration of dishonoured bills of
exchange and promissory notes in England, and to allow
execution thereon." He said that the system he pro-
posed to introduce here had prevailed in Scotland for
upwards of a century and a half, greatly to the benefit
of the suitor, of the trader, and of the mercantile interest.
When a party in England or Ireland held a bill of ex-
change or a promissory note, of the genuineness of
the signatures to which there could be no doubt, and
though there might be no flaw whatever in the title of
the holder—though it was a matter of course that he
should obtain his verdict, judgment, and execution—he
had yet often to go through the form of an action at law
for the purpose of enforcing his right. In nine hundred
and ninety-nine cases out of every thousand there really
was nothing like a defence ; because the party who had
signed, unless his signature was contested, unless for-
gery had been committed, had admitted his liability, and
must ultimately pay. Scotland was far better situated
than we were in this particular. Here the holder of
the bill ran all the risk of the delays of the law, and
incurred the expenses of law proceedings. Ife might
be stopped by quibbles and niceties for a while,
and had the absolute certainty of a considerable delay
before he could obtain judgment and execution. In the
interval between the accruing of his claim and his ability
legally to enforce it, the party to whom he looked might
become insolvent, and then, instead of his 20s. in the
pound, he might get only ss. or ls. Preferences might
be fraudulently given, and in various ways he might suffer
grievously from the delay. In Scotland it was other-
wise, and we might very advantageously take a leaf out
of their book to guide us on this subject in our legisla-
tion. The law there was as follows :--A protest of a
dishonoured bill or note became a judgment against
parties whose names were on that bill or note. This
protest must be registered within six months from the
date of the instrument ; and then, within six days
after its being recorded, a judgment and summary exe-
cution might at once issue. If the party from whom
payment was sought had a defence, there was full
and ample opportunity allowed him for urging it. He
might come forward and stay execution by what was
termed a suspension. He might suspend the pro-
cess of law altogether if he was not liable, or he might
suspend it until it was ascertained whether he was liable
or not. He had only to apply to a judge, who at once
examined into the grounds alleged for staying execution,
and if they were such as would be incompetent in law,
the petition was at once dismissed. When the grounds,
however, were such as, if proved, would entitle the

. .
debtor to resist payment, the prayer of the petition was
granted, and execution stayed till the grounds of suspen-
sion were discussed, in which both parties were allowed
an opportunity of deliberately making good their pleas,
and averments ; and upon the proof and argument thus
submitted the court finally determined whether execu-
tion was to issue or not. But in general no suspension
was granted without security given by the party apply-
ing for it to pay the debt, if it should be found due, and
the costs of suit. The bond into which the sureties were
required to enter became, if the holder was successful
in the suit, a warrant for instant execution against the
sureties. This system, he could assure their lordships,
was found to act most admirably, and had for many
years had the most beneficial effects. It was originally
introduced very many years ago, when the trade of
Scotland lay in a very narrow compass, but till the
reign of George 111. did not apply to promissory notes,

nor, except in certain cases, 6 drawers and acceptors.
Since then the benefits arising from it had been very
great ; for though not of course the only, it certainly
was one great cause of the prodigious increase in the
Scottish trade. Look at the river dues on Glasgow. Forty-
five years ago the lessee paid 5001. a-year for the har-
bour dues. By the last return they were 80,0001.; an
increase which he would venture to say was unexampled
in any other part of Europe. He called their lordships'
attention next to the number of protested bills as com-
pared with the number for the non-payment of which
there was any legal defence. In 1845, he said, there were
in all Scotland 3,600 bills protested; of these there was
not 1 per cent. on which any attempt was made to dis-
pute theliability, and of the few attempts so made not above
one-tenth were successful ; so that if there were one thou-
sand protested, net above one per cent. of that number
were the subject of a suspension ; and of the ten contests
which did take place, this defence was successful in only
one. He would not Stop to dwell upon the obvious ad-
vantages of this system, which took from the debtor the
possibility of pleading defences for the mere purposes of
embarrassment and delay, at the same time that, in requir-
ing security, it tested his solvency and position. Either he
must provide acceptable securities who would be liable
for debt, interest, and coats, or he could pay the money
into court merely by way of security, and then try the
cause and decide which party was in the right. There
had been various meetings in Manchester, Birmingham,
Leeds, Sheffield, and elsewhere in favour of this bill, to
which he trusted their lordships would at once accord a
second reading. It was then his intention to propose
that it should be referred to the committee, which his
noble friend had moved, or was about to move, on the
Common L tw Procedure Bill.

Lord CAMPBELL expressed his entire approval o
the bill.

After a few words from the LORD CHANCELLOR, the
bill was read a second time.
ARBITRATION LAW AMENDMENT BILL.
This bill was read a second time.
CHIMNEY-SWEEPERS' BILL.

On the motion of the Earl of SHAFTESBURY, the
Chimney Sweepers Bill was referred to a select com-
mittee, as required under standing order 175. In the
course of his observations, the noble earl stated that
children of tender age were still argely employed in the
great towns to cleanse chimneys, notwithstanding the
prohibitions of the law.
THE WIVES AND CHILDREN OF SOLDIERS
ORDERED ON FOREIGN SERVICE.

Lord ST. LEONARDS moved for a return of the
number of the wives and children ofsoldiers on service in
the East, or ordered there. His object in bringing before
the notice of their lordships the condition of these women
and children was by no means to interfere with the
regulations against the marriage of soldiers without ,
leave. At the same time it might be desirable to revise
those regulations, bearing in mind the altered circum-
stances of the case. Of late years they had done much
to ameliorate the condition of their soldiers ; and inas-
much as they had shortened the period for which men
were enlisted it would be desirable to discourage marriage
as far as possible, at least during the first period of their
service, after which they were at liberty, if they chose,
to quit the army. It was, however, necessary, for ob-
vious reasons, that a certain proportion of the soldiers
should be married ; and he should be glad if the
Government would consider souse means of providing
for their wives and families while they were abroad.
It was obvious that their families must be maintained in
' some way, and the only question was which would be
the best plan to adopt ? It might be asked, why raise
this question at the present time ? His answer was that
the number ordinarily required for the colonies was not
large, and they were not taken away without due notice,
so that they Gould make arrangements beforehand. In
the present case, however, the number taken away was
very considerable, and it had come upon the men suddenly.
With respect to the war in which we were embarked,
there was but one feeling throughout the country ' • and
there was a no less general determination that the fami-
lies of the soldiers we sent forth to fight our battles
should not be neglected, otherwise the cheers which had
accompanied our armaments from our shores would have
been meaningless ; but those cheers were intended to
assure our soldiers that those who were nearest and dear-
est to them should be taken care of. (Hear.) Now there
were only three ways in which that could be done. The
first was by means of Government aid, which he hoped
would not be resorted to except it should be found abso-
lutely necessary. The second was the state in which
these poor women and children would inevitably be left
unless something was done, viz., dependence on parochial
relief. But if there was one thing more odious to a
soldier than another, save only disgrace before the
enemy, it was the idea that his family might be driven
to the workhouse. The third plan was, by benevolence
properly directed. A considerable sum had already
been subscribed for this purpose ; but if it were distri-
buted in the usual way, it would only afford a temporary
assistance ; and, moreover, it might hair wivese positively
to live
injurious effect, by accustoming soldiers
upon alms. Now, what he (Lord St. Leopards) ards) pro-
posed was that the inhabitants of the parishes to which
the women belonged should take upon themselves to re-
lieve them of the burden of maintaining some of their
children, where they had more than they could possibly
provide for themselves. He would give them an instance.
He knew a woman of excellent character, the wife of a
husband equally deserving. She was left with six
children, and it would have been perfectly impossible for
her to have maintained herself and her family. Two of
them were taken from her, and with that assistance she
was enabled to provide for herself and the rest of her
children, without recourse to the union, into which she
must otherwise have been inevitably driven. He could
narrate several other cases in which, by means of a little
assistance of this kind, women had been enabled to
avoid the workhouse ; and thus they would see that
this mode of affording relief was not only the most con-
sonant with the feelings of the soldiers, but would also
be the most effective. (Hear, hear.) The only objec-
tion that could be brought against it would be that it
would sever the ties between a mother and her children.
But that he denied, because the children that would
require a mother's care or that could maintain them-
selves, would not be removed from her. He proposed
that there should be no spoiling of these children, or
treatment of them in a manner that would unfit them
for their proper station in life; but that they should be
so brought up that when their father returned he
should find them much in the same state as they would
have been had he not been ordered on foreign service.
(Hear, hear.) He hoped that their lordships and the
public would give this plan their best attention, for he
was convinced that if properly carried out it would an-
swer the end they had in view, and cheer the hearts of
our soldiers more than any other that could be devised.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH did not oppose the
motion, but he should be glad to hear some member of
the Government express sentiments on the subject.
For his own part, he thought that any plan, whether
adopted by the Government or by individuals, which
should induce women more freely to marry soldiers,
would be the most unkind thing that could possibly be
• done to them. The noble and learned lord had not suf-
ficiently considered the fact that in the line regiments