The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-07 00:00:00

COUNTY COUBTS.

A pamphlet has just been published by Ridgway
of Piccadilly on the subject of the bills recently
introduced by Lord Brougham, and now before
Parliament, for the further extension of the juris-
tlietion of the County Courts, which will be read
with avidity by all who take an interest in the
improvement and perfection of these tribunals.
The pamphlet is in the form of a letter to the Lord
Chancellor, by " A Law Reformer," and. the bills
to which the writer directs his lordship's attention
are :
"1. A bill intituled an act for extending the juris-
action of the County Courts to certain matters cogniz-
able in the Court of Chancery.
"2. ' A bill intituled an act to extend the jurisdiction
of the Judges of the County Courts, and to facilitate pro-
ceedings in the High Court of Chancery.' And,
•" 3. A bill intituled an act to limit the jurisdiction of
her Majesty's Court of Bankruptcy, to abolish the Courts
of Bankruptcy for the country districts, and to give to the
Judges of the County Courts jurisdiction in matters of
bankruptcy in certain cases.'
" The first or 'County Courts Equitable Jurisdiction
Bill,' as it is called, is a bill to give to the County Courts
original jurisdiction in respect of matters which hereto-
fore have only been cognizable in the Coarts of Chancery,
and enacts that—

"' It shall and may be lawful to and for any person
seeking equitable relief to enter a claim against any per-
son from whom such relief is sought, either with the
-clerk of the County Court for the district within which
astoh last-menfioned person resides, or in Any other of
such Courts, by leave of the Judge of such Court, in any
of the following cases ; (that is to say,) in any case
where the party so seeking relief is or claims to be,
" I. 'A creditor upon the estate of any deceased per-
son, such creditor seeking payment of his debt out of the
deceased's personal assets :
"2. A legatee under the will of any deceased per-
son, such legatee seeking payment or delivery of his
kepey out of such deceased person's personal assets :
" 3. 'A residuary legatee, or one of the residuary
legatees, of any deceased person, seeking an account of
the residue, and payment or appropriation of his share
therein :

" 4. 'The person, or any of the persons, entitled to
the personal estate of any person who may have died
intestate, arid seeking an account of such personal estate,
gad payment of his share thereof :
"5. An executor or administrator of any deceased
person, seeking to have the personal estate of such de-
ceased person administered, under the directions of the
Judge of the Court for the district within which he
resides :

" 6. 'A person entitled to an account of the dealings
and transactions of a partnership dissolved or expired,
seeking such account :
" 7. 'A person entitled to an equitable estate or in-
terest, and seeking to use the name of his trustee in pro-
ec uting a suit for his own sole benefit :
"8. A person entitled to have a new trustee ap-
pointed, in a case where there is no power in the instru-
ment creating the trusts to appoint new trustees, or
where the power cannot be exercised, and seeking to ap-
point a new trustee.'
"The second, or County Courts further extension
Bill,' gives power to the Lord Chancellor to appoint
the Judges of the County Courts to be officers of and
assistant to the Court of Chancery, and to make general
orders and regulations for the following purposes,
viz. :
"1. For enabling the Court of Chancery in any
cause or matter, when it shall appear that any accounts
or inquiries that may require to be taken or made in
any such cause or matter may be conveniently taken or
made by a Judge of the County Court or a Master Ex-
traordinary in Ireland of the English Court of Chancery,
to direct that such inquiries or accounts, or any portion
thereof, shall be taken or made by one of the said
Judges or Masters Extraordinary, and to give such
directions as to the time and mode of taking the same,
and otherwise relating thereto, as shall be deemed expe-
dient :
"2. For making provision for taking down the evi-
dence and examinations to be taken under the authority
of this Act, and for providing for the filing, depositing,
and preservation of the examinations, depositions, affi-
davits, proceedings, and reports under any such refer-
ence, and the means of access to and obtaining copies of
the same :
"3. 'For authorising the Judges of the County Court
and the Masters Extraordinary in Ireland aforesaid
to exercise all powers of administering oaths, taking
affidavits, and receiving affirmations, declarations,
acknowledgments and attestations of honour, which
are exercised by the Clerk of Reports ; and for au-
thorising the said judges and masters extraordinary to
take pleas, answers, disclaimers, and examinations in
-causes and matters pending in the said Court of Chan-
cery, and also the examination of any married woman
with reference to her consent to the disposal of any funds
or monies subject to the order of the said Court, with-
out any commission or other authority than this act :
et 4. For enabling the said Judges and masters ex-
traordinary, without any commission or other authority,
to examine witnesses brought before them in causes and
matters depending in the said Court of Chancery, and
for enabling any party in any such cause or matter to
have his witnesses examined before any such Judge or
master extraordinary, and for regulating the mode of
such examination :
" For providing for the authentication and trans-
mission by post or otherwise of any such pleas, answers,
disclaimers, examinations, depositions, proceedings, and
reports, and of other documents relating to the matters
done
Iby or before any such Judge or master extraordi-

"And the third, or 'District Court of Bankruptcy
Abolition Bill," restricts the jurisdiction of the London
Court of Bankruptcy to a circle of twenty miles from
the General Post-office—abolishes the District Courts of
Bankruptcy—and gives jurisdiction in Bankruptcy to
the Judges of the County Courts, in all cases where the
trader resides beyond twenty miles of London."
The author, after stating his object to be the
placing these bills in a prominent point of view
before the Lord Chancellor, and after giving a more
full defail of the bill for transferring the bank-
ruptcy jurisdiction to the County Court Judges,
goes on to say
"g happily, these bills should become law, the
whole community will have the opportunity afforded
them of settling almost all their disputes and differences
at their own homes. In the bill conferring original
jurisdiction in equity, a 'right of appeal is given to the
Court of Chancery ; and in the bill transferring the
bankruptcy jurisdiction, an appeal lies to the Lords Jus-
tices—and had my Lord Brougham gone a little farther,
and proposed a still greater extension of the jurisdiction
of the County Courts—its extension to all matters of
debt, without any restriction whatever as to the amount,
I should not have been at all surprised, if (with those
Safeguards of appeal), his lordship had found Parlia-
meat—and more particularly the House of Commons—
perfectly ready to go along with him.
r‘ Lord St. Leonards, however, appears to be hostile
to these bills of my Lord Brougham's—hostile certainly
to the first, and to the third of them—to giving original
jurisdiction in equity to the judges of the County Courts
to the transfer to them of the Bankruptcy Juris-
dretion ; and as regards the second bill—the bill giving
power to the Lord Chancellor to appoint the judges of
the County Courts to be officers of the Court of (Man-
oery—his lordship, while he admits that certain powers
flight properly be given in aid of the Court of Chancery,
proposes, in the speech to which I have adverted, to
give those powers, not to the County Courts Judges,
but to the Commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy,
because, as his lordship stated, the Commissioners, from
the nature of their jurisdiction, would, in his opinion,
be likely to perform those duties with more satisfaction
to the Court of Chancery.' Lord St. Leonards objects
to giving these powers, trifling and comparatively unim-
portant as they are, to the Judges of the County Courts ;
and thence it is of course to be inferred that his lordship
will still more strongly object to any proposal for giving
them original jurisdiction in equity. Lord Brougham
proposes to reduce the London Court of Bankruptcy to
a Chief Commissioner, and two other Commissioners—to
confine their jurisdiction entirely to matters of bank-
ruptcy—to abolish the seven District Courts of Bank-
auptey—and to give jurisdiction in bankruptcy and ori-
ginal and other jurisdiction in equity to the County
Courts, while Lord St. Leonards proposes to retain the
Bankruptcy Courts in London and in the country, to
make the Commissioners officers of the Court of Chan-
cery, and to give them jurisdiction under certain clauses,
which appeared in Lord Brougham's Bankrupt Law
Consolidation Bill of 1849, and which at the time
acquired the name of the Dead Men's Clauses.'
"I have not the honour of knowing what your lord-
ship's sentiments are in relation to the bills to which I
spa directing your attention ; but I would fain hope,
tut when you come to look carefully into them, and
*SJ weigh and consider the arguments in their favour,
ou will feel satisfied that they ought no longer to be
; that no measure, such as that sketched out by
aboid-St. Leopards—no measure which does not enable
0 suitor to commence a Chancery suit in the County
Costs, will ever be received by the public as anything
lull an instalment—that the merely empowering the
lord Chancellor to appoint the Commissioners of the
Baukruptcy Courts to act "in aid" of the Court of
Chascery, will not reach the evils complained of, or be
looked upon as at all approaching to either the kind or
degree of Chancery reform that is required ; and that,
although such a measure might in some instances miti-
gate, it would never exterminate the intolerable griev-
ances of the present Chancery system. My Lord
Itraugha,m's plan is certainly a bold one, but it also ap-
pears to me to be both simple and right ; it is a bold
plan, because it rids us at one swoop of almost all the
grievances so long and so loudly complained of ; it is
simple, inasmuch as the meanest capacity may campre..
bend it ; and it is right, for this reason, that so long as
It affords due means of appeal, it must save the suitor
muck needless cost, and it cannot occasion any failure
ofjustice.
' I could give your lordship numerous instances—
instafices ad slauseam—of extreme hardship arising out
of the present order of things—instances of delay, of
uncertainty, and of ruinous expense—and instances, also,
of the dread and horror of these combined, operating to
prevent injured parties from seeking their just rights—
of their being advised by eminent counsel to abandon
those rights, and of their preferring to do so, and quietly
submitting to injustice rather than incur the infliction
and the misery of a suit in Chancery. I will, however,
content myself with referring to only a very few cases,
11haply because these appear to me sufficiently to eluci-
dail all this, and to point prominently to the kind of
Me:ly tkat is required ; and I shall begin with one or
two mentioned by Lord Brougham, in a speech made by
Ids lordship on the 14th of July 1851,, on the first read-

ing of the Court of Chancery and Judicial Committee
bill of that year."
Lord Brougham's speech on the Court of Chan-
cery Bill of 1851 is then given, containing several
cases strongly illustrative of the necessity of what
is proposed in his lordship's present bill, for giving
original jurisdiction in equity to the County Courts;
and then follows the opinions of two of the Judges of
the County Courts, illustrated also by cases, and the
examination of a solicitor, taken before the Chan-
cery Commission last year. The opinions of Lord
Cottenham, Lord Brougham, Lord Lyndhurst, and
Lord Campbell, on the act which established the
District Courts of Bankruptcy, are also given ; and.
the writer ends by saying "
But what is now proposed by my Lord Brougham
is, as I have already said, neither more nor less than a
return to the old rule. His lordship proposes to take
advantage of the County Courts for Bankruptcy pro-
ceedings ; to engraft on. them the system of official
assignees which has been found to work so well, both in
London and in the country; and, to return to the old
practice of prosecuting every bankruptcy, as near to the
place of residence or trading of the bankrupt as possible
—preserving, also, the old exception to that rule, by
giving to the Chief Commissioner power to order other-
wise under special circumstances. Formerly (I am only
going back to 1842), there was the London Court, with
six Commissioners„ and a jurisdiction of forty miles
around London ; and there were one hundred and thirty-
two lists of Commissioners for all the rest of England
and Wales. The rule, then, was to work or prosecute
the bankruptcy in London in all cases in which the
bankrupt resided in London, or within forty miles of it,
and in all other cases, before the list of Commissioners
for the place nearest to his residence. If the bankrupt
did not reside in London, or within forty miles of it, the
solicitor at the time he bespoke the fiat, was required to
certify which of the places for which lists of Commission-
ers were formed was the one nearest to the bankrupt's
residence, and to the list for that place, the fiat was, as a
matter of course, directed. This was the old rule. And
the exception to it was—that whenever it could be shown
that a majority of the creditors lived elsewhere ; or that
it would be more convenient to the general body of the
creditors ; or for the benefit of the estate, to prosecute
the fiat in London, or at any other place--then to the
London Commissioners, or to the list of Commissioners
for that other place, it was accordingly directed under a
special order.
" Such was the old rule, and such the exception, and if
in 1842, if, prior to the 5 and 6 Viet., cap. 122, County
Courts had been established as they are now, no one can
reasonably doubt that jurisdiction in bankruptcy would
have been given to them, and that these District Courts
of Bankruptcy never would have been thought of. Since
then, however, since the extension of the jurisdiction of
the London Courts and the establishment of the District
Courts of Bankruptcy, all bankruptcies have been prose-
cuted either in London or in one or other of the seven
District Courts. No matter where the bankrupt lives or
carries on his trade. If he lives in London, or at or near
to any of the District Courts, it is all very well, and
there is nothing to complain of; but if he and his credi-
tors live, as they frequently do, at a distance from the
Court, then ensue the grievances of which I complain,
and which are so well and so forcibly stated by my Lords
Cottenham and Campbell, and also by Mr. JohneS ; thea
ensues the " consumption of time and expenditure of
money" in journeying to the place where the Bankruptcy
Court is held, and which Commissioner Ayrton seems to
imagine can only occur when London is the point to be
arrived at. These grievances and this consumption of
time and expenditure of money Lord Brougham's Bill
wisely proposes to remedy by prosecuting the bank-
ruptcy in the London Court, in all cases where the
trader resides in London, or within 20 miles of the Gene-
ral Post Office, and in the County Court for the District
in which he resides in all other cases, reserving power to
the Chief Commissioner to make order for its prosecution
in London or elsewhere, without regard to the place of
residence or trading, on proper cause shown.
"This seems simple enough. The Court of Bank-
ruptcy will still have power on its being shown that a
majority of the creditors live at any particular place, or
that it is for the benefit of the estate, or for the interest
of the general body of creditors that the bankruptcy be
prosecuted there, to make order accordingly. The con-
venience of the greatest number is the thin,, to be at-
tended to, and this appears to be amply provided for and
secured. The County Courts already have jurisdiction
in insolvency—all insolvencies beyond 20 miles from the
General Post-office are prosecuted in the County Courts
—no difficulty is found to arise respecting them—nor
will any arise in respect to bankruptcy which cannot
easily be provided for.
"But if the prosecution of matters in bankruptcy, at
a distance from the place of residence, or trading of a
bankrupt be inconvenient, ho* much more so, my Lord,
must be the prosecution of matters in equity at places
distant from the residences of the parties and their wit-
nesses. Bankruptcies are of course most numerous in
the large and important commercial towns, and always
must be so—but a place which produces little or no
bankruptcy may, nevertheless, furnish a very considera-
ble amount of equity business. Take, for example the
cities of Chester, Lancaster, and York, which, I will
venture to say, neither of them produce a dozen bank-
ruptcies in the course of a year, but which, notwith-
standing, might yield a very considerable quota of busi-
ness under an original equity jurisdiction. Will there,
I would ask, be no hardship in dragging the Lancaster
people to Manchester, the Chester people to Liverpool,
and the York folks to Leeds ! and would not this hard-
ship be aggravated by the fact of each of these places
having all the while an equally competent tribunal—
having their own County Courts eh:4;e at hand in which
such matters might conveniently be decided ?
"I do not think it can be necessary to give other ex-
amples, or longer to detain your lordship. I think the
hardship and inconvenience must be apparent, as must
also the inconsistency and absurdity ; and I most sin-
cerely hope that when your lordship comes to apply your
mind to these bills of Lord Brougham's, you will arrive
at the conclusion that the scheme propounded in them,
is the one. that ought, under the circumstances, to be
adopted=-that the people, having had the benefit of
these County Courts extended to them in matters of
debt, ought now to have the same privileges given them
as regards matters in equity and bankruptcy ; and that,
if your lordship be not prepared at once to give an un-
limited original equity jurisdiction to the County Courts,
but think it safer to proceed cautiously and by degrees,
you will at least see that jurisdiction to some considera-
ble amount ought to be intrusted to them ; and then, if
the change should be found to work well, as there is no
doubt it would do, the jurisdiction can easily be in
creased.

"That the County Courts, in their present shape, are
perfect, or anything like perfect, no one pretends ; but
that with time, with experience, and with care, they may
be made as nearly so as any human institution is capable
of becoming, I will continue to hope ; and in the mean-
while, the knowledge that the people have shown so de-
cided and manifest a preference for them, will be suffi-
cient to justify your lordship in acceding to the proposi-
tions now made for the further extension of their
j risdiction. "

- We may return to this pamphlet on some future
occasion, and in the meantime recommend it to the
attention of our readers.

A BURGLAR KILLED NEAR BRIGHTON.

For some time past considerable apprehension has been
created among the inhabitants of detached houses in the
neighbourhood of Shoreham by a series of daring burglaries
which have been perpetrated almost weekly for some time
past. About a fortnight ago the house of Mr. Bridger,
a gentleman residing near Shoreham, was entered by bur-
glars during the night, and a quantity of eatables and a
pair of gaiters were stolen. Three or four times within
the last two months the house of the Rev. Mr. Wheeler
has also been entered, and edibles and wearing apparel
have been stolen upon each occasion • among other
things a neckerchief belonging to that gentleman's butler
Yesterday morning, between two and three o'clock,
the house of Mr. Bridger was again entered. Three
servants were at the time sitting up, well armed—a pre-
caution which has been taken nightly, ever since the
first robbery was committed, a fortnight since—and a
noise being heard to proceed from the pantry or milk-
house at the rear of the premises, the servants proceeded
to the spot. They there found that the door had
been locked by one of the other servants, and the key
taken away, and they were unable to enter the room ; '
but there were two window-holes in the top of the door,
one of the panes of which had been removed for
purposes of ventilation, and the servants were thus
enabled to see what was going on inside. They saw a
man in the room in the act of taking something from
a cupboard, and they immediately called upon him
surrender, telling him that if he did not do so they
would fire. Receiving no answer, one of the servants
fired, but without effect. He was again told that unless
he surrendered he would be fired upon. He replied
in a tone of derision, " Oh !" and immediately made for
the window by which he had gained admittance to the
room, and was making his way out, when he was fired
upon a second time by two of the party. An alarm
was then given in the house, and the thief, who had
effected his escape through the window, was found
lying on the ground, about six yards rom the win-
dow, dead, the shot having taken effect a little above
the hip on the right side. Dr. Carter, of Shoreham, was
speedily upon the spot, and he gave it as his opinion
that the man might have lived ten minutes after
he had received the shot, and that he had then died
from internal hemorrhage. The Steyning constable,
Mr. Poiney, having arrived, dispatched at once a
message to Mr. Chase, chief officer of the Brighton
police, who upon examining the premises, found
that the thief had attempted an entrance at the
same
spot at which the house was entered a fort-
night since, but, iron bars having been placed
there, a second place was tried with like effect, and the
entrance was at last effected through the window of the
milk-house or pantry. It is supposed the man had the
assistance of confederates in getting from the window.
On examining the body he proved to be a fine, well-
built young man, about 25 years of age, and had in his
pocket a huge life-preserver. On his feet were the
gaiters stolen a fortnight ago, and round his neck the
neckerchief of Mr. Wheeler's servant. The inquest has
been held on the body, and a verdict of justifiable homi-
cide returned.

SHOCKING DEATH AT WHITSTABLE.—An inquest was
held here on Tuesday, by Mr. Delasaux, on the body of
Ann Woodcock, the wife of a labouring man. It ap-
peared that she had been, at an early hour in the morn-
ing of the previous day, strolling on the sea shore in
quest of copperas stones, and, ?wing to the denseness of
the fog, did not perceive the rising tide till she was com-
pletely surrounded, when she attempted to escape, but
was drowned. Some folks heard her screams, but did
not arrive until too late, when they found her a lifeless
corpse. Verdict, " Accidental death." Deceased has
left seven-children.—Kentia Gazette.-