The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-14 00:00:00

digested code on the subject becomes very evident.
The new measure will abolish many fees now pay-
able on the hearing of causes; and more particularly
it will do away with the 201. and 10/. fees now pay-
able by the official assignee out of the first moneys
which come to his hands, and in lieu of these fees a
per-tentage will be levied of about 3I per cent. on the
gross receipts collected by him.
The Bill, as amended by the Select Committee of
the Lords, will probably be advanced a stage this
evening. We may here indicate the main features of
the measure in the words of our respected contem-
porary, the Law Review :
"As the Bill stands it amends, methodises, and conso-
lidates the different statutes 'relating to bankruptcy—it
provides for the reduction of the number of London com-
missioners from six to four, thereby effecting a consider-
able saving—it gives to the commissioners original j urisdic-
tion in all matters in bankruptcy—it abolishes the
fiat, and introduces a more simple mode of procedure ;
it gives a power to examine trade debtors on summons,
it simplifies the present Acts of Bankruptcy, and creates
additional ones ; it more effectually protects creditors
against fraudulent preferences and secret transfers, pro-
tecting at the same time all bona fide transactions; it
affords increased facilities for arrangements between
debtors and creditors, extending them to traders, this
privilege having heretofore been confined to non-traders,
and it confers a penal jurisdiction for certain specified
commercial offences, and, with respect to others, gives
the Court power to order payment of the costs of prose-
cutions out of a certain fund."
There will also be an ultimate saving of over
10,0001. per annum under this Bill, by the abo-
lition of two London Commissionerships three
Registrarships, the Secretaryship of Bankruptcy,
and other existing offices. But the mere mat-
ter of pounds, shillings, and pence, should be but
a minor consideration in a great public measure of
such vital importance to the commercial community
as the present. Considerable reductions may be
made, it is true ; but we doubt whether some of those
proposed are really desirable. Considering the great
extent of territory within its different districts, we
cannot conceive that six Commissioners are too many
for London. These districts include, not only the
entire metropolis on both sides of the Thames, but
the six home counties, together with Norfolk, Suffolk,
Cambridge, Sussex, and parts of Hants, Devon,
and Wilts. We really think that for a popula-
tion so numerous as exists in this great
extent of country, six commissioners are not more
than sufficient, or more than are required to perform
the onerous duties of their station. It might, perhaps,
be as well for the convenience of administration to
retain only four in the metropolis, and to locate one
in the centre of the south-eastern, and another
for the south-western counties. We would also sug-
gest that, in such country districts as have two
commissioners, there should be only one registrar.
It is practically so at Leeds at this moment. By
having only one registrar at Liverpool, Birmingham,
Leeds, Manchester, and Bristol, there would be an
annual saving of 4,5001., and even allowing an addi-
tional 1001. to each of the remaining registrars for
increased trouble, which would raise the salary 1,0001.
a year, a clear saving of 4,0001. per annum
might easily be effected. We also think that
the Bill should have made some provision
in the way of salary for the official assignees. A
payment, partly by salary (to cover expenses of
office and clerks), and partly by a per. tentage on the
receipts, so as to stimulate to increased exertions,
would be greatly preferable to the present lottery
system under which they are placed. We would
here inquire why it is, for a considerable time past,
two official assigneeships at Manchester and Bristol
have been allowed to remain vacant ? In Manches-
ter, which is regarded as a profitable district, the
practical result is to give to three assignees the emo-
luments which should be divided among four, and
thus to give these fortunate gentlemen net incomes
nearly equal to those enjoyed by the Commissioners
themselves.
Having thus incidentally noticed these matters, we
have, in conclusion, only to recal the public atten-
tion to the main and equitable provision of Lord
BROUGHIM'S Bill, and to congratulate the commer-
cial community oa the well-founded prospect of
speedily obtaining a sound and practical code of
bankruptcy law.

Mr. HUDSON is no longer a director of the York,
Newcastle, and Berwick Railway Company. Al-
though nothing was elicited during the course of the
strict and searching investigation into his conduct
to justify the charges that had been preferred against
him ; although it was clearly and distinctly shown that
the overcharges with respect to the shares of the Great
North of England Railway, which he had disposed of
to the company, originated in a very natural mistake
on the part of the secretary—a mistake of which Mr.
HUDSON was wholly unconscious ; although more
than $OO electors of Sunderland, headed by the most
influential inhabitants of the borough, had so recently
expressed " the high estimation in which they conti-
nue to hold his public and private character," and
declared that " the aspersions which had been so
unsparingly cast upon his reputation had not been
borne oat by the published evidence, and were totally
irreconcilable with the principles that have hitherto
distinguished his public life," certain shareholders
thought proper to call upon him to resign his seat in
the direction of the company, a requisition with
which he promptly complied. How far those gen-
tlemen were justified in taking a step so decided,
without waiting for the decision of the general body,
or for the result of the full inquiry into the affairs and
management of the company that is about to take
place, may well be questioned. We fear that it will
prove as injurious to the best interests of the company
as it is unquestionably harsh and unjust to the
individual.

The act carries with it its own punishment. A
considerable depreciation in the value of the com-
pany's shares has already taken place. The " Bears"
are reaping the fruits of their temporary triumph at
the expense of the misguided shareholders who have
suffered themselves to be led astray for the time being
by their bitterest enemies. For many years they
enjoyed the utmost prosperity, under the able gui-
dance and direction of Mr. HUDSON. Handsome
dividends were paid, and shares were quoted at consi-
derable premiums in the market. Everything was
ealcur de rose, and the highest encomiums were
bestowed upon the man to whose indefatigable exer-
tions they were indebted for so favourable a condition.
A change, however, took place. Every description
of property was deteriorated in value, and railways
were not exempted from the general lot. The same
profits could not possibly be realised during a season
of commercial stagnation and universal depression,
that had been obtained in better times ; dividends
were necessarily reduced, and prices fell even more
than the reduction of dividends would seem to warrant.
" A regular combination to depress railway property"
was formed, and the nefarious project was for a time
attended with but too much success. The " Bears"
assumed an unprecedented degree of activity, and
carried on their operations with the utmost boldness.
A panic took place, during the existence of which,
shares in the best dividend-paying lines were sold for
one half of their real value ; and seven or eight per
cent. could be readily obtained on unexceptionable

security.
Under such circumstances the " Bearish" fraternity
realised the most enormous profits, and those to whose
energy and enterprise we were indebted for the mag-
nificent network by which our island is intersected,
were plundered with impunity. One man, however,
opposed the strongest barrier to these nefarious trans-
actions. GEORGE HUDSON inspired a certain degree
of confidence in those who had the benefit of his great
personal experience, sound judgment, and energetic
determination in the management of their concerns.
He resisted the insidious attempts of those who
attempted to increase the dismay that prevailed, and
his vigorous exertions were mainly instrumental in
producing the reaction that took place in the latter
end of October last, by which so many of the
" speculators for a fall," as they are pleased to term
themselves, were caught in the traps they had prepared
for their unsuspecting neighbours. He thus incurred
the bitter and unrelenting hostility of those un-
principled men, who hated him for the losses they had
already sustained ; and who felt that there could be
no security for their future transactions so long as
GEORGE HUDSON remained the faithful and vigilant
guardian of the railway interests. Charges were
trumped up against his character and integrity, to
which the unfortunate mistake we have already
alluded to: gave some colour. A committee was
appointed to investigate the Great North of England
purchase account, the chairman of which was the
very individual who had preferred the accusgtions.