The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-14 00:00:00

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE
PROMOTION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE.

BRADFORD, THURSDAY.
The attendance to-day in St. George's Hall was
much the same as yesterday, when Mr. M. Milnes
delivered an address on Punishment and Reforma-
tion. There were again to-day a number of excur-
sions to places in the neighbourhood. Yesterday
afternooa the attendance at the sections was gener-
ally speaking large, and great interest was mani-
fested in some of the papers and discussions.
The following is an outline of what took place in
the various departments :

JURISPRUDENCE.

President—Vice-Chancellor Sir W. P. Wood.
Some discussion took place on the recent reforms
in the Court of Chancery, arising out of a paper
read the day before by Mr. Daniell, Q.C.
Vice-Chancellor Sir W. P. WOOD read a paper on
Charitable Trusts. The object of the paper was,
first, to call attention to the present policy of the
law on this subject ; secondly, to the inconsistency
and incompleteness of that policy ; and thirdly, to
the necessity for revisions. The law, he said, al-
lowed a testator to select the object of his charity
at his own discretion, instead of confining him to an
existing life or lives, and 20 years afterwards, as in
the case of other bequests. This led to absurd and
preposterous bequests, some of which the writer no-
ticed. One, for example, was that of a testator who
divided his estate into two portions, one to be given
to the 15 prettiest young women in the parish, and
who were most constant in their attendance at church,
and the other to the spinsters of 50 years of age
possessing the same qualifications. (Laughter.) The
chief remedy he pointed out for preventing such
absurdities was to subject contributions of a chari-
table nature to the control of the Charitable Com-
missioners, under certain conditions.
The discussion on the paper was adjourned.
Mr. HASTINGS, the secretary, brought forward
the report of the committee on mercantile legisla-
tion, appointed at Liverpool. Several subjects had
occupied the attention of the committee, the most
important being the subject of bankruptcy. He re-
ferred to the bill on the subject approved by the
association, and introduced to Parliament by Lord
J. Russell. The committee found that though the
bill was approved by the chambers of commerce
and trade protection societies generally throughout
the country, it had not met with the same favour
with many eminent merchants in London. A con-
ference had been held with those gentlemen, when
Mr. Morley and others objected to the mode of ap-
pointing creditors assignees in the bill, and sug-
gested that the appointment should be in the hands
of three creditors, called inspectors, to be named by
the whole body of creditors. It was also suggested
that the certificates of bankrupts should be indorsed
with some statement of their character and conduct
and the reason of their insolvency. A third sug-
gestion was, that a trader in difficulties might be
allowed to apply to a commissioner in chambers, on
being pressed by certain creditors, in order to pre-
vent the evil arising of preference to creditors.
These alterations had been adopted and introduced
into the bill, and thus the co-operation of the Lon-
don gentlemen had been secured. The subject of re-
gistration of partnerships, and also of the incorpo-
ration of chambers of commerce, had received the
attention of the committee, and the appointment of
a committee was suggested to acquire information
on the subject of registering partnerships.
Mr. F FRY brought before the section a paper
on the provisions of the Bankruptcy Bill which had
been introduced to Pliament under the auspices
of the association, whiar ch had been drawn up by
himself and Mr. F. Bristoe
Mr. W. S. GIBSON, a registrar of the Newcastle
Court of Bankruptcy, forwarded a paper on " Laws
affecting Debtors and Creditors, and the Amend-
ment of the Law of Bankruptcy," which was read,
in his absence, by Mr. Ryland. The paper sug-
gested the following alterations in the bankruptcy
law :—First, to subject all cases of insolvency to
judicial control, and to abolish voluntary deeds and
private arrangements ; secondly, to revise the laws
of bankruptcy and give greater facilities for the
punishment of fraud; thirdly, to modify the classi-
fication of certificates ; fourthly, to reduce the ex-
pense of bankruptcy proceedings, by charging the
salaries and compensations as annuities on the Con-
solidated Fund ; fifthly, to pay official assignees
partly by salary and partly by fees ; sixthly, to
alter the procedure of the court as far as regards
the publicity of business ; seventhly, to revive the
sub-division Court of Commission as a court of ap-
peal on questions of certificate ; and lastly, to in-
vest each commissioner with the power of a County
Court judge to enforce payment of debts.
Mr. RAYNER, of Huddersfield, supported Mr.
Fry's Bill.
Mr. M. Ross, of Manchester, urged the propriety
of a law to prevent bankrupts absconding- to Scot-
land or Ireland, and thus escaping from their Eng-
lish creditors.
After some conversation the subject was adjourned.
EDUCATION.
President, Mr. C. B. Adderley, M.P.
A paper on " Some bearings that existing cir-
cumstances, and particularly the period of time
available for education respectively in different
classes, ought to have on our educational aims."
Among other suggestions the writer proposed cer-
tain alterations in the length of time required for
a University education, in order to induce the mid-
dle classes more largely to avail themselves of the
advantages offered by the Universities.
The Rev. H. LATHAM read a paper " On the esta-
blishment in Cambridge of a school of Practical
Science." He urged that Cambridge possessed
peculiar facilities for the establishment of such a
school. There should be professors to give instru,:-
tion in chemistry, mineralogy, civil engineering,
practical surveying, &c. ; that suitable workshops,
mechanical and philosophical instruments, &c.,
should be provided, and that the students who
passed a successful examination should be distin-
guished with the degree of A.P.S., Associate in
Practical Science.