The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-21 00:00:00

FINANCIAL iIEFORM.

Mr. HUME moved fur an account showing the total
charge of military and naval half-pay arid pensions, and
civil superannuation and compensati,,n allowances in the
year 1828, and each of the subsequent years to 1848 in-
clusive, compared with the whole expenditure (inclusive
of the charge for debt) for the effective establishments
and other national expenses in the same years. (In
continuation of Appendix I. to the Third Report of the
Finance Committee of 1828.)—Agreed to.
SMALL DEBTS (IRELAND) BILL.
Mr. FAGAN, in moving the second reading of
the Bill for facilitating the recovery of small debts in
Ireland, said he would only occupy the attention of the
House for a short time while he stated the reasons
which had induced him to introduce this measure. It
was the boast of English Members who were well dis-
posed' towards Ireland, that they were anxious, in all
cases where it was practical, and where they believed
it would be advantageous to Ireland, to assimilate the
laws of that country to those of England. The 129th
section of the County Courts Act enacted that all per-
sons bringing actions into superior courts for debts
below 201., should do so at their own peril with regard
to the costs which might be incurred. If they succeeded,
they obtained no costs; and if they were defeated they
were obliged to pay the costs as between client and at-
torney, unless the judge should certify that the actions
were fit ones to be brought before the superior courts.
That clause was enacted in 1846, and it had given
general satisfaction in England As a specimen of the
amount of satisfaction which it had given, he referred to
a petition, presented a few days ago, from the merchants,
traders, and others of Sudbury and its vicinity,
stating that not only small debts had been recovered
by it throughout the country, but that actions for very
large sums had been brought under its provisions at a
comparatively small expense, and that many actions for
large sums had been settled out of court. They also stated
that they were of opinion that the jurisdiction of the
county courts might be extended to actions under 501.,
and that such a provision would give still greater satis-
faction. He referred to an instance of the evil effects of
the present state of the law with regard to the recovery
of small debts in Ireland, where an industrious farmer,
in the county of Waterford, was served with a writ for
a debt of 4/. Os. 9d., upon which the costs amounted to
31. 10s. That was a most mischievous state of the law,
and unquestionably called for some speedy redress.
He had embodied in this Act the provisions of the
County Courts Bill which had been applied with so
much success in this country. Indeed so much had he
sought to assimilate the Bill to the one he had pained,
that he was quite at a loss to understand what argument
could be brought forward to show that the enactments
to which he had referred should not be extended to Ire-
land. He was perfectly aware that professional men in
Ireland—and perhaps many in that House—might op-
pose the Bill, because it would lessen the 4xpenditure of
money in their profession, but the great mass of the
community were most anxious to see this law carried into
effect. It was stated that the debtor ought to pay his debt
at once, and that if he did not do so that the
creditor was perfectly justified, and, in fact, entitled to
put him to any expense he might think proper. He,
however, utterly denied that argument. The next pro-
vi,ion of the Bill was to enable assistant barristers in
Ireland to award costs to witnesses, as they had not that
power at present. The Act for the abolition of impri-
sonment tor small debts in Ireland gave them the power
to award costs to the amount of 5/. This Bill proposed
to endow them with a similar power. Iu some parts of
Cork a person might be proceededhe er h,, mustagainst
court twenty miles distant, where talc' his Rit-
nesses, and perhaps be obliged to st.p some days in that
distant town; yet the assistant barrister had no power
to award costs. Now that was a crying grievance, and
the barristers egret d in opinion that the Act of last ses-
sion in respect of ally ,wing costs should be extended to
cases of the nature proposed to be dealt with in this
Bill. The next provision was to enable justices of the
peace at petty sessions to take under their jurisdiction
civil bill debts of the amount of 40s. They had now
the power of adjudicating as arbitrators with respect
19 clanni 9n "in9;64lity 69ciegesi" but he wishe4under