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

evu,
4 o,A4Lien ;49 ,

LONDON, MONDAY, MAY 14, 1849.

Lord BROUGHAM'S Bankrupt Law Consolidation
Bill will this evening be brought under the consi-
deration of the House of Lords. There can be but
little doubt that this Bill will become law during the
present session. It is a measure which has already
received the approbation of the leading mercantile
firms in the City best qualified to judge of its in-
trinsic merits, and also the sanction of the Lord
Chancellor. Last week, at a great public meeting
of the merchants and traders of the city of London,
a committee was instructed "to use its utmost ex-
ertions to urge upon her MAJESTY'S Government
and upon the Legislature the early passing of Lord
BROUGHAM'S Bill," with the introduction of provi-
sions to restore arrest on. mesne process, pro-
viding against its former abuse —to arrange
between debtors and creditors, when approved
by a large majority of the latter, and to distribute
the property of deceased insolvent debtors. The
Lord Chancellor is understood to object to the power
being given to the Court of Bankruptcy to distribute
the estates of deceased debtors, as originally proposed
by Lord BROUGHAM, and his :objection extends also
to the proposed court of appeal. Notwithstanding
the solicitations of the merchants and traders of
the city of London, we do not conceive that Parlia-
ment either will, or ought to permit the restoration
of arrest on mesne process. It worked badly, gave
rise to much oppression, fostered the grossest frauds,
placed even perfectly solvent parties at the mercy of
perjurers, and was freely resorted to by persons with
doubtful or disputed claims, in order to obtain
full or commuted payment on false pretences. It is
to be hoped, then, that arrest on mesne process may
not be restored under any circumstances whatsoever.
The consolidation of the numerous statutes relating
to bankruptcy has been loudly called for by the
actual necessity of the case. Loyd BROUGIIAM'S
great measure for reforming the administration of
bankruptcy has now had a fair and a long trial.
From time to time it has been " amended " (as the
phrase is) by so many additions and alterations, that
a clear, simple, and well-defined law has now become
a matter of imperative necessity. When the public
are informed that no less than fifty millions of
pounds sterling- are annually lost to creditors
in this country by insolvenciee and bankrupt.
cies, the impo, ttance of a judicious and well-

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 101. fees now pay-
able 1y the official assignee out of the first moneys
which come to his hands, and in lieu of these fees a
percentage will be levied of about 3J: per cent. on the
gross receipts collected by him.
The BiM, 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 bond 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-

Lion 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 fur 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 1,000/.
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
(ace and clerks), and partly by a per. centage on the
receipts, so as to stimulate to increased exertions,
would he 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
BROUGHAM'S Bill, and to congratulate the commer-
cial community on the well-founded prospect of
speedily obtaining a sound and practical code of
bankruptcy law.

Mr. IhnsoN is no longer a director of the Yorle,
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 800 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
uns?aringly cast upon his reputation had not been
borne out 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
individ nal.

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 reviping 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. Hunsox. Handsome
dividends were paid, and shares were quoted at consi-
derable premiums in the market. Everything was
colour de rose, and the highest encomiums were
bestoved upon the man to whose indefatigable exer-
tions they were indebted for so favourable a condition.
A thange, 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

;han the reduction of dividends would seem to warrant.

" A regular combination to depress railway property"
was fc,rmed, 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,
shag cs in the best dividend•paying lines were sold for
one lull 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, 111EIDSON 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 v'kprous exertions were mainly instrumental in
producing the reaction that took place in the latter
end e f October last, by which so many of the
" speculators for a fall," as they are pleased to term
themauives, 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 lon; as
GEORGE IlunsoN 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 accusations.

We have al_ready commented, on several occasions
and at considerable length, upon the report of that
committee and the evidence on which it was founded,
it is therefore unnecessary to recur thereto. Our
deliberate opinion, " that although there might have
been irregularities, there was nothing in any degree
approaching to fraud, or which might not have been
committed by a man of the highest integrity," was
fully corroborated by the 800 electors of Sunderland,
who, with the evidence fully before them, and
being as competent to form a sound judgment
lon the entire transactions as the members of the
1 committee, declared " that the aspersions that had
been so unsparingly cast upon Mr. HUDSON'S reputa-
tion were more to be ascribed to the disappoined
feelings of sanguine speculators, and the excitement
consequent upon the temporarily depressed state of
the important concerns over which he presided, than
to any just view of the transactions developed in the
recent investigation." There was, therefore, nothing
whatsoever in that report to justify his condemnation,
or to call for his immediate removal from the impor-
tant position which he had occupied for so many
years with credit to himself and advantage to the
company over which he presided; and it would be
manifestly unjust to anticipate the results of the
further inquiry that has been directed. It is not the
habit of Englishmen to condemn any person without
giving him a full opportunity of being heard in his
own defence, and of repelling the accusations that
may be brought against him. And yet we find that
Mr. HUDSON has been called upon to resign his office
whilst that investigation is pending—a proceeding
which may indeed be regarded as harsh in the extreme,
and utterly unwarranted by the circumstances of the
case. We cannot conclude this notice without briefly
adverting to cur own conduct in reference to these
transactions. We have received many communica-
tions thanking us for our continued advocacy of the
railway interests, and for vindicating the character
and integrity of the man who occupied the most pro-
minent position in the railway world, and who, in-
deed, was regarded as the incarnation of the system.
We have also received the coarsest and most unmiti-
gated abuse for the course which we conscientiously
and honestly pursued, imputing to us the most
improper and corrupt motives. We have had no
personal interest directly or indirectly in the result.
We received no communication of any kind either
from Mr. HUDSON or from any person acting in his
behalf. As we have already stated, we are strongly
opposed to many of his political views, and have had
no private acquaintance with him, to induce us to
fight his battles or to attempt to stem the tide of pre-
judice that had set in against him. But we sympa-
thised with a person whom we believed to be made
the victim of unwarrantable attacks, and of whose
honour and integrity we still entertained a high
opinion—an opinion that has not been in any degree
shaken by recent events ; and, therefore, in a spirit of
fair play we gave expression to our unbiassed and
disinterested opinions, opinions in which, we are
convinced, the community in general will eventually
concur when prejudices have passed away, and when
the entire affair is considered calmly and d:spas-
sionately.

Magna est veritas et pmvalehit."

We have no doubt that the. time will arrive, and
that speedily, when GEORGE HunsoN's character and
conduct will be regarded in their true light, and when
the clouds that now rest thereon will be completely
dissipated and dispersed by the light of truth.