The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-26 00:00:00

ASSIMILATION OP ME MERCANTILE

LA W.

A bill brought in by the Lord Chancellor for the as-
eh-Dilation of the mercantile law of the United Kingdom
contains a clause abolishing the necessity for a written
contract In the purchase and sale of goods. The measure
will cnnie on for discussion after Easter, and it is parti-
cularly desirable that this part of it should be folly ue-
iterstood, since it mu-t have an important bearing on
every mercantile transaction. According to the 17th
section of the Statute of Frauds, no contract fer the sale
of goods of 101. or upwards is valid unless some note or
memorandum in writieg of the bargsin be made and
signed by the parties to ho charged by such contract or
by their authorised agents. The act is a very old one,
and, in the ()vision of a former Chancellor, every lire of
it was " worth a subsidy." It has not applied to Scot-
land, in which country a verbal agreement is binding ;
and in some parts of England, especially Manchester, i
has been disregarded. In London Alias been looked upon
with favour, and strictly adhered to. This discrepancy
of custom being inherently objec!ionable, although it
dose not appear to have been attended with s
practical inconvenience as might have been anticipated,
the Mercantile LAW Commission, in a report printed last
rer, recommended that tt e enactment uheuld be re-
pealed, "and that the laws of. England and I•eland
should in this respect be assimilated to the simpler rule
of the common law observed ill Scotland." On the
theoretical propriety of effecting an assimilation of the
law there can be r.o quesiiiin. The point is, slieuld the
Scotch system be made to conform to that of England
and Island, or should the process be of the opposite
kind ? The chief ergument in favour of abolishing the
prevision smile to consist in the in xpediency of making
an inflexible rule in a matter which, without interfering
with any moral principle, may be left to individual dis-
cretion. Those who cemider a written note of contract
advantageous may still insist upon having it; but why,
it is asked, shut out the possibility of parol testimony in
cases where parties prefer the risk of dispensing with
rue' a precaution In the absence of a written note
juries would be entitled to require evidence of the most
unimpeachable description before deciding in any
given case that a contract had been completed ; but
instances must sometimes occur in which persons
through ignorance of the law enter into verbal agree-
ments, which could not be disputed without reckless
dishonesty ; and it is contended that no enactment can
have a salutary operation which precludes redress under
such circumstances. Ori the otle r h end, the r axons f
g the English practice possess considerable
weight. The cases of error from ignorance of the law are
mostly of an insignificant character, whereas the fact
that the enormous tray sections of London, which affect
the commerce of the entire world, have always been
carried on under the existing system, and would, at
least temporarily, be unsettled by any change in it, is
a strong plee for demanding its continuance. At pre-
sent the broker who makes the contract which is to
bind both parties sends the bought and sold note
at once to each party respectively. If he has
misunderstood or abused their instructions, the
mischief is at once corrected ; but if no written evi-
dence be required, and the transaction rests on the
verbal evidence of the broker, there is obviously an
opening for much mischief " It may be said," observes
a legal correspondent of great commercial experience,
that this mischief will in time be corrected, and that
if brokers are found to abuse the confidence of their em-
ployers they will cease to be employed, or will on all oc-
casions use written contracts ; but to arrive at this re-
sult you will have to go through a very doubtful expe-
riment, and probably much litigation." This diversity
of opinion being prevalent., it is desirable that the atten-
tion of the merchants of London should be given to the
suiject, and the object of the present remarks is to sug-
gest that' they should take some measures to ascertain
the general feeling respecting it.
.
On the propriety of
written contracts being always insisted upon practice
there is not likely to be much difference of view among
the prudent persons, and even if the expediency of
.abo-
lishing the law by which they are made imperative
should be a Imitted it is to be hoped that the custom, as
a custom, will never be relaxed, and that juries willlearn to view with great suspicion any claim in which
it way have been neglected.—Tinte3.

The bar silver brought by the last West India mail
was sold yesterday at 61d. per ounce, showing an ad-
vance of
Mr. Heory Luard, the general manager of the Lon-
don and County Bulk, has resigned, and Mr. William
M`Kewan, his deputy, has been provisionally appointee
to succeed him. This change is stated to have no con-
nection with the recent death of Mr. Sadleir, whose se.
eurities deposited with the bank, and which consisted of
title decd;, have all been pronounced perfectly regular,
after an eamninatiou instituted by Messrs. Freohlold.