The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-29 00:00:00

SOLICITORS.

The costa of the solicitor ;inetcCule the most serious item
in the expense of every bankruptcy. In.my court at Leeds,
in the five years from Jan., 1843, the aggregate amount of
costs was 26,4711., or above 5,0001. a year. From this it
is easy to form an estimate of the sum paid in all the courts.
It appears to me that the solicitor receives too much out of
each bankrupt estate ; this is not because he is overpaid for
what he does, but because he does too much ; that is, he
does business which ether people ought to do, and which is
not properly, within the province of a solicitor to meddle
with. This arose in the following manner :—Before the
year 1832 the solicitor applied to the Lord Chancellor for
each commission of bankruptcy, and he had what was
termed the carriage of the commission, that is, he had the
custody of it, and the management and control of the whole
of the business thereunder. In thos , days it was jocularly
said that a commission of bankruptcy was the most' valu-
able commission which the Grown could confer on a sub-
ject. In those days the assignees left everything to the
solicitor, who, on his part, was nothing loth to accept the
charge, knowing that he would be amply remunerated for
his pains. In fact, he did everything, and was well paid
for everything he did. Now, however, the scene is, or
ought to be, totally changed. To take care of a bankrupt
estata we have commissioners, registrars, an accountant, a
taxing master, an official assignee, a creditors' assignee, a
messenger, accountant, and broker, and if these officers do
their duty, all that remains for the solicitor is a little, and
usually but a little, law business. Nevertheless, the soli-
citor still transacts, and is paid for, much that has no re-
lation to the soience of law. The result is that far too large
a proportion of the expense of bankruptcy is caused by the
solicitor's ordinary bill of costs. The table of averaged ex-
penses which I have before quoted shows that very nearly
one-third of the whole expenses of bankruptcy consists of
the costs of the solicitor. Now for the remedy. I propose
to appaint a solicitor to every court, whose duty would be
to act as official'solicitor under every bankruptcy, and to
be paid a fixed salary of 4001. or 5001. a year, such salary
to be paid out of the same fund as the other officers of the
court. The experiment of the official assigns in place
of the creditors' assignee has been found highly successful.
I believe that an official solicitor would be no less success-
ful. Ido not propose that it should be imperative on the
creditors to have recourse to-the official solicitor. They
should be allowed to select any other solicitor if they think
tit ; only, in that case, the dividend could be reduced by
the amount of the bill of costs. Ido not perceive that this
measure would be unfairly injurious to the profession.
Other great public bodies have their official solicitors, who
are remunerated by fixed salaries, and why not that com-
mercial chamber, the Court of Bankruptcy ? It is to be
remembered that all the costs of a bankruptcy are paid in
reduction of a dividend to be made of an estate already in-
solvent. I have already suggested various reductions in
different branches of the Court of Bankruptcy, and the so-
licitors will have no just reason to complain if they are in-
cluded in the reduction.

PROOF OF BRIM
According to the existing practice, a creditor who desires
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the affidavit costs a sum important to a poor man ; it can
scarcely be less than from his. to 1/. As no oath or affidavit
is required under a deed of assignment, or in the Insolvent
Debtors' Court, I do not perceive the necessity for one in the
Court of Ilankruptcy. I therefore propose to abolish both
oath and affidavit. In lieu thereof, let the bankrupt, or in his
absence the official assignee, prepare a list of creditors, and
let the bankrupt swear to the truth of this list, and let this
suffice, unless the debt be disputed or doubted, in which case
the official assignee should write to the creditor informing him
of that fact, and requesting him to attend personally to esta-
blish his debt. When the time arrives for payment of the divi-
dend, the official assignee may send by post the dividend
cheque (or warrant, as it is termed), which should be endorsed
with a printed form of receipt, to be signed by the creditor,
ending somewhat to this effect, " I declare that the bankrupt
is now indebted to me in the sum of £ for goods sold and
delivered to him before his bankruptcy, and that I have
received no security or satisfaction for my debt," and let
signing this declaration be punished as for perjury if untrue,
and be accompanied by forfeiture of twice the amount of the
dividend.

THE BANKRUPT'S BALANCE-SHEET.
The balance-sheet, as it is termed, is a document which
every bankrupt is compelled to filo in court before he is al-
lowed to pass his last examination ; it ought to contain an
account of his debts and property, and a statement of his in-
come and expenditure for a certain period before his tank-
ruptcy. In my opinion a radical change is required in the
matter of the balance-sheet, as to its form, as to the person
who prepares it, and as to the payment for its preparation.
As regards the form of the balance-sheet, it is an elaborate
document. This result has been brought about by leaving
the preparation of balance-sheets in the hands of a particular
class of professed accountants. We all know the state of per-
fection to which pleadings had been brought by the pleaders
a few years ago—we all know the state to which bills and an-
swers in Chancery have been brought by the equity draughts-
men—we all know the state to which deeds of conveyance
have bceu brought by the conveyancers--and what is the state