The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-21 00:00:00

MA Y 21, 1850.

TO WILLIAM HAWES, ESQ., CHAIRMAN
OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE LAW OF
DEBTOR AND CREDITOR.
Dear Sir,—Tide last report of your Committee is
founded on misinformation on all material points,
which I much regret, as I entertain a sincere respect
for its members.
"Dropped " actions are not (as your report as-
sumes) all settled in the judge's chambers, nor do they
end always in favour of the plaintiff. Defendants
commonly compel the plaintiffs to drop actions by
dread of costs, &c. The costs of a writ and the costs
of a judge's chambers, &c., are infinitely larger than
you assume. But the main points on which I ven-
ture to dissent from you are your views on instal-
ments and the principles of credit. Peculiar circum-
stances have given me considerable actual experience
on commercial affairs.
No court of justice can ensure punctuality in com-
mercial payments. Courts are merely a remedy for
desperate cases, and debts more or less " bad."
Regard for credit and character must ever bo the
only effective security for the regularity of ninety-
nine out of one hundred of all the commercial trans-
actions that occur in the world.
Prudence and caution in the selection of his cus-
tomers is what every experienced mercantile man will
and must mainly rely upon, to whatever degree of
perfection our system of courts may be carried. No
court can interfere at all until a contract has been
broken.
Before the County Courts existed every trader set
down a given amount of capital (say ten per cent. in
some cases), in order to meet the contingency of that
class of debts which would not be punctually paid or
be altogether lost.
Now it is this class of debts, and this class only, on
which the proceedings of the County Courts have
any operation. No court can have any effect except
on the same class of liabilities.
Tour report assumes that the instalments allowed
by the judges of the County Courts gives to debtors a
longer time to pay than they would have had before
the Act, the fact being that the class of debtors who
appear commonly before them, and who are made to
pay in a few months, would generally have not paid
(from poverty or pressure) in as many years, or (from
dishonesty) would never have paid at all.
You admit the necessity of protection to misfortune.
How can it be given without leaving a discretion to
the judge ?
Why it should be assumed that the judges of the
County Courts lean towards the debtor, I cannot con-
ceive.
Lawyers by profession are habitually inclined to
strictness, and a judge of our courts, from daily ex-
perience of the subterfuges of the class of debtors he
has to deal with, will lean, if he leans at all, in favour
of the creditor.
The Attorney-General's charge against us is, that
our courts are plaintiffs' courts.
What value there is in the representations about
instalments made to you, I can form some judgment
from my own experience.
For the last three years I have on an average tried
upwards of 300 causes a month. The judgments have
commonly been to pay by instalments.
In nearly every case the instalments were fixed
with the full concurrence of the creditor, generally
fixed by the plaintiff himself, and with a view to his
own benefit. The instances in which I have felt it
my duty to give time in opposition to the plaintiff's
wishes are so few, that at present I can only call one
or two to mind in many thousand cases !
Plaintiffs are not always honest. Debtors are not
always the reverse. I beg to refer yen to a very
valuable work, entitled "Credit the Life of Com-
merce," by a member of your Committee, Mr.
Elliott, who describes the following as a common
practice—a statement which I can confirm from ex-
amples that have come under my own observation.
A swindler sets up in business. He travels, takes
orders, sends to all the tradesmen he sees double the
amount of goods ordered—and those, too, of an in-
ferior description. The tradesmen write and remon-
strate ; they receive in reply an intimation that if
the iniquitous demands made upon them are not paid
actions will be brought against them—a threat which
in nine cases out of ten induces submission.
In the superior courts plaintiffs rarely commence
actions at all (whether just or unjust) against any
but the solvent, the honourable, and the timid. Re-
spectable attorneys dissuade plaintiffs from suing the
swindler and the knave.
On all men of the slightest pretension to character
the fear of exposure in an open court (like the County
Court) operates as a more powerful motive to pay
debts than writs and costs.
Men without character are reckless of costs, and
will commonly go on to trial in a superior court from
desperation or revenge.
1 writ will sometimes terrify into payment an
unfortunate man, to whom a judge of the County
Courts would give time. But if this be done at the
expense of other creditors, or by some desperate effort
or breach of principle, is not this a public mischief
and not a good ?
The interests of creditors cannot really be promoted
by a system of intimidation and inhumanity, though
some few exceptions may seem to favour that conclu •
My opinion is against a clause to make execu-
lon immediate in case of bills of exchange.
Unforeseen misfortunes may occur to the acceptor
of a bill, as to another man. It is absurd even to
order a rogue to pay what he clearly cannot pay.
Frauds should be punished as frauds.
The supposed length of causes for large sums is all
a mistake ; the most tedious causes are those for small
sums, in which the parties are ignorant, unbusiness-
like, and litigious. Commonly trade debts between
201. and 501. are secured by bills of exchange, which
exclude all dispute.
On an average, there is a vacancy among the judges
of the superior courts about once a year. To re-
duce their number to what it was 20 years ago would
be a great public good. The salaries of three judges
would save about 15,0001. a year, which might be
given back to the Consolidated Fund, or employed in
lessening the costs of the County Courts.
From your experience of commerce it will be to
you a familiar maxim, that all establishments or in-
stitutions embracing large and extensive operations,
can be carried on relatively at a much smaller expense
than those which are confined within a small scale.
The costs of the County Courts may be easily reduced
if large amounts he included. A self-supporting
system should be placed on a broad basis. Even
within their present limits County Courts, though
self-supporting, do not cause one-twentieth of the
costs to a suitor that the superior courts do, though
supported by the taxes of the country. What a satire
is this on the administration of justice !
Posterity will be incredulous at facts which out-
strip the fictions of novelists. Who will believe that
in the 19th century, while the courts of the rich
were maintained by the country, the courts of the
poor were maintained by themselves?
I remain, dear Sir, with sincere respect,
Yours faithfully,
A. JUDGE OF THE COUNTY COURTS.

sion.

DEVONPORT DOCKYARD.
(From the Herald.)
The clouds of a threatening tempest in the political
horizon of Europe still hang about us, and our con-
tinental neighbours are busy in perfecting their naval
power and organising a large body of sailors. This,
independentlyofany other consideration, would be a suf-
ficient ground for once more calling attention to the
most wretched condition and actual inefficiency of our
great western arsenal at Plymouth, which, unhappily
for the country, still remains in a state of the most
lamentable confusion and dilapidation. If a crippled
ship were to run into Plymouth Sound, and to de-
mand immediate attention we very much doubt if the
requisite repairs could be furnished. There is not a
dock in the establishment into which a 36-gun frigate
could be taken fully stored ; there is only one solitary
dock which can receive a modern first .rate at all, and
then only once or twice in a fortnight, at a light
draught of water—perhaps not even then. There is
only one other dock which will take two-deck ships of
the new build, except by stripping the wales off the
side in order to gain a few inches of space, as was
lately done in the case of the Vanguard, and this,
with the exception of a miserable double dock,
requiring extensive repairs, and applicable only to
a class of ships fast vanishing from the service, is
positively all the dock accommodation which this
establishment can furnish. It will be in the recol-
lection of our readers that only a few months since
the Terrible, a large steamer, having damaged her
keel in steaming into the harbour at Devonport, was
obliged to return to Portsmouth for repair, there not
being any dock accommodation at the Devonport
yard. Now we respectfully submit to the First
Lord of the Admiralty, who generally brings as
large an amount of sound practical sense to the con-
sideration of great public questions as need be desired,
whether this is a state of things consistent with the
naval interests of Great Britain. Here is our great
western arsenal—the first port in the Channel to
which our ships and fleets would resort after an
action, without a single dock into which any one of
them could be taken, except by a total removal of
their stores, &c., and then only for a solitary ship
once or twice in a fortnight—and this, too, after
having spent about 100,0001., with all the incidental
expenses of a large engineering establishment, and
nearly twelve years' labour, the very object of which
was, by the prudent foresight of former Boards of
Admiralty, to remedy so ruinous a state of things. Any
one who sbould by chance find himself in her Ma-
jesty's dockyard at Devonport would suppose he had
got amongst the excavations of Pompeii or the ruins of
Persepolis. The changes which have occurred in the
public service since the work began may be considered as
one source of this ruinous state of things. Let us,
however, for a moment, again briefly review this
question from the year 1839, when the new works
were first proposed, up to the present day, when a
variety of schemes and blunderings has distracted
the attention of the Admiralty and left the establish-
ment in a ruined position. The board in 1838,
considering the new and enlarged dimensions given
to ships by every naval power, and especially in
this country, and the great want of dock accommo-
dation at Devonport, very prudently entertained the
question as to the absolute necessity which would
arise for improving the condition of our important
national establishment there ; and it was determined,
after very mature reflection, to construct a closed
basin, within which four or five sail of the line could
be easily and expeditiously fitted with the required
stores close at hand—a basin containing two large
class docks, capable of receiving the largest ships
in the navy, fully stored, and with the advantage of
docking twice every 24 hours, and whenever most
convenient; and this was to be done merely by the
conversion of a paltry boat basin, and a miserable
double dock, greatly in want of repair, and for the
refit of which a large sum would be required. Now,
let us for an instant see who were the authorities
upon which this great measure rested. We had first
the late Admiral Warren, allowed by every one to
have been one of the most thinking and intelligent
men in the service ; a man of no ordinary capacity,
and possessing the highest claims to respect. Admi-
ral Warren was the admiral superintendent of the
establishment, when this question was first considered.
We had further, as the master shipwright of the
establishment, the late Mr. Hawkes, repeatedly eulo•
gised by the Hon. Baronet Sir James Graham, in
Parliament, and with great truth, as being the one of
the most sober-minded, thinking, and talented pro-
fessional shipwrights the country had ever pro-
duced. Mr. Hawkes, cradled as it were in the
dockyard service, drew up an admirable re-
port, with drawings and models, upon the
state and requirements of the establishment,
which report is still (at least we should hope it is) to
be found amongst the records of the Admiralty.
Then we had again the late Colonel Brandreth, who
was expressly selected by Lord Minto'3 Board of
Admiralty, we should presume, on account of his
great engineering ability, to superintend the public
works of this country, and who was of course so far
responsible as an authority for this work. Sir Charles
Wood, the present Chancellor of the Exchequer, was
the able secretary of the board at the time, and there
were very many other competent persons consulted,
all of whom gave their full assent as to the necessity
of the new work. And be it further recollected,
that not one of the dockyard officers threw the least
difficulty in the way—not one of them said, as some
of them now say, when the wind has set in a new
direction, that such a basin was not required—that it
breaks up the working space of the dockyard—that no
ship could be got in or out of the basin without damage
to the copper, and such like ad libitum assertions, all
of which, on examination, will be found perfectly fal-
lacious. On the contrary, the proposed measure re-
ceived every sort of encouragement, so that the work
was speedily put in hand. Well, we go on for ten
years, overcoming very considerable engineering
difficulties—we complete a costly dam and a magnifi-
cent mass of sea wall, and a fine invert for the caisson
at the entrance of the basin, the granite blocks of
which weigh several tons each, and cost from three
to five guineas the block—we partially excavate the
proposed docks—we spend 100,0001., and by dint of
hard work arrive within hail of the completion of the
whole as first intended. But now a change in the
authorities has arrived. Three of the eminent origi-
nators of the plan are no more. No sooner
are they gone than we are virtually told
by certain others who have succeeded them, that
their predecessors were entirely ignorant of the
requirements of the naval service—that the whole
business was a gross blunder—and they very coolly
propose to the Board of Admiralty to throw away
the fruits of ten years' labour and 100,000/., and sa-
crifice the whole scheme to their own peculiar views
and opinions. The basin is proposed to be contracted,
to be converted into an open basin. The magnificent
invert, which cost at least 12,0001., is to be rooted
up, or rather blown up, with combustibles—for in no
other way could it be done—and a dock is proposed
to be made, somewhere about 50 feet deep, under the
pretence of the necessity of taking a ship into it at
dead low water spring tides ; in fact, when no first-
rate would attempt to come into the harbour, and
when a great bank with only 14 feet on it at low water
exists outside the basin. When this very modest
proposal was forwarded to the Admiralty, it was re-
jected with disdain, as a matter of course, as
reasonably should have been. Again was it
Everi
pro-
posed, and again was it decidedly negatived.
since ;this period, however, those devoted
works have become the prey of some new scheme for
converting them into something not
has originally
been
see,
the whole establish
com-
pletely ruined, and,
as Le
ment left without a single esffie nt dock for the re-
pairs or refit of our sailing ships. haveleVes,or
ff
had now
no less than five or six dissolving viw
plans of conversionn of these works—some of them
partially acted o , and then again stopped. We had,
plan by the master-shipwright for
first, in 1846, a
breaking up the invert, contracting the basin, and
making an extraordinary deep dock such a dock,
says the late Colonel Irvine, in his evidence, " as was
never heard of before, and which no engineer could
assent to. Then we had a revised plan of this kind.
After a short time Mr. Rendel, civil-engineer, was
called in to inspect and report on the work. We had
accordingly, as a matter of course, a new scheme,
which was to abolish the basin docks altogether, con-
tract the basin, and build jetties. The excavation for
one of the docks far advanced was accordingly in great
part filled in, and Mr. Rendel's suggestions ordered to
be put in force. After a short time, however, a stop
was put to this, and Mr. Bendel was sent down, with
two other civil engineers, Walker and Cubitt, to make
a further report on his own plan, accompanied by a
part of the Board of Admiralty. Well, in a multi-
tude of councillors there is said to be great wisdom.
VVe had in this case a multitude of councillors cer-
tainly ; but for the wisdom we seek in vain—except
it should be found in another 'new scheme which was
subsequently submitted by the civil engineers, for
all
the two docks with a smaller basin. Like
the former schemes of mutilation, however, it appears
to
to have missed fire, and we had a dead halt—all
par-
ties found themselves in a sort of fix, an
for a time, were accordingly suspended. ltthe awoß,
rk
now offered to the Board, by
which
ar a A plant was
gepdar of the
ocks stil
double (lock was to be saved,
and two l
Mr.-W. Church-
-1
obtained in the basin. This
was yrks. It certainly
ward, long employed on the wo
had more merit than anlywoLhveerrc, hawnagse ansetyeetnptreor:
poposed. The proposal,.
before
eo tuhse
uenhgaiten
e.perrosfesses
of compliment to At
enter-
tained, out
this moment we have D
by Colonel Green, the director of
to be a final plan,
professors, who,
works, who would of course,h from his very position
like the
iltehpet,hehaovte other
reen all attempting to bend
take a sotfanid,enwe
suitors
the bow of Ulysses. Whether this last scheme will
be eventually carried out is yet to be seen. Colonel
Green has judiciously enough, managed to leave
the question still open to a future return to the
original plan. One of the proposed docks is to

•-

be completed, as in the plan of Mr. Church' yard ;
and of course all the fillings lately thrown int( the
excavation must be dug out again. Our space will
not at present admit of entering upon much far-
ther detail of these conflicting and most. ex-
traordinary and extravagant proceedings. We may,
however, return to a critical examination of what
is intended to he done, when we know certainly
what is really taking place. In the meantime we feel
it a duty we owe to the country and to the navy to
protest against the subversion of the original plan, as
determined on in 1839 by such competent authorities
as those we have named. And since the objections to
the original design are mere matters of opinion, pal-
pable assumptions, with nothing to back them, but
the unproved claims of those from whom they origi-
nate to a higher degree of perception than those who
preceded them, it would be at least prudent to weigh
well the actual value of such assumptions, considered
on the questionable ground of mere individual opi-
nion, before we proceed to ruin and mar a great and
necessary public work, considered essentially to the
interest of the navy, and thereby to waste a ♦ery large
amount of the public money.

ABORIGINES PROTECTION SOCIETY.
The thirteenth annual meeting of this society was
held yesterday at Crosby Hall.; Thomas Fowler,
&q., presiding.
The CHAIRMAN having briefly adverted to the in-
teresting character of the society,
The SECRETARY read the report, which stated
that during the past year the society's tfforts had
contributed to a considerable extent in checking the
commission of evil amongst the aborigines, and the
committee expressed their firm conviction, that were
the aboriginal people of our colonial dependencies
admitted to the unrestricted exercise of their rights
and privileges as British subjects—were they ren-
dered eligible fur offices of trust, honour, and emo-
lument, and treated in all respects as the equals of
their European brethren, their social advancement
would follow upon their political elevation. The
society continued their solicitude in behalf of the Red
River Indians, under the jurisdiction of the Hudson's
Bay Company, and the committee were engaged in giv-
ing publicity to, and seeking redress for, any grievances
inflicted on that tribe with which they were made ac-
quainted. Having referred to the case of Robert
Erskine, a native of the Gold Coast, upon whom it was
alleged that great barbarities had been perpetrated by
the order of two officers of tbellst West India Regi-
ment, stationed at Cape Coast Castle, in order to in-
duce him to confess himself guilty of a theft of
which be was suspectsd, but of which he declared
himself to be entirely innocent. Through the in-
strumentality of the committee the subject bad been
brought under the notice of the Colonial-office, and
the result was that Earl Grey had requested the Com-
mander-in-Chief to institute an inquiry into all the
circumstances of the transaction. On the 26th of
last June a deputation from the committee waited
on the President of the Board of Trade, for the pur-
pose of calling his attention to the evils arising from
the practice of engaging as seamen natives of the
various islands in the South Pacific—Lascars, Afri-
cans, and others, who were discharged on the vessels
reaching England, and being abandoned to their own
resources, became, in the majority of instances, de-
pendent upon either public charity, or private
benevolence ; but the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty, to whom the matter".had
been referred by Mr. Labouchere, hadinti-
mated that they did not contemplate making any
alteration in the Act of Parliament to meet the case.
The committee, however, were determined to raise
the question again at the earliest opportunity that
offered. Agricultural implements had been trans-
mitted to Sir H. Smith, to be distributed among the
Kafirs, by the society, and subsequently an additional
grant from the Negro and Aborigines' Fund Com.
mittee, in conjunction with further subscriptions
from the society, placed the committee in a position
to consign a considerable quantity of clothing, &c.,
to Sir 11. Smith, for the use of this tribe. The
committee being fully impressed with a conviction
that the Kafirs and the Aborigines of New Zealand
would never be redeemed from barbarism, unless po-
litically organised and instructed, and admitted to the
full exercise of their rights and privileges as British
subjects, addressed Lord John Russell on the occasion
of his introducing into Parliament the Australian
Colonies Bill, with the view of obtaining in that mea-
sure a clause embodying their views. They also availed
themselves of that opportunity to remonstrate against
the proceedings of Sir J. Brooke, in connexion with the
massacres off Borneo, on the 31st July, 1849, but they
disclaimed any personal feeling towards the functionary
in question. Believing that the exposition of the
manufactures of all nations, to be held under the
auspices of his Royal Highness Prince Albert, the
productions of the aborigines would bear a favourable
comparison with those of civilized intelligence, many
of which they surpass in taste, elegance, and execu-
tion, the committee communicated with the council
of management, with a view to secure the exhibition
of specimens of aboriginal manufactures. They were
rejoiced to learn that the council entertained the
intention of admitting them, and had already solicited
contributions from trading companies and missionary
societies. The committee hailed this circumstance
with much satisfaction, for they believed that the
comparison would greatly tend to enlighten the
public mind as to the real capabilities of aboriginal
races, and to establish their undoubted claim to a far
higher rank for intelligence than popular prejudice
has hitherto been disposed to assign to them.
The expenditure for the past year amounted to
319/. Us. 5d., of which the receipts were deficient
about fifty pounds.
The Bev. J. BURNET moved the adoption of the
report, and the appointment of the committee for the
ensuing year.
The Rev. M. A. Hasisoe (King's Coast) seconded
the motion, which was unanimously adopted.
Other resolutions, approving ,the objects of the so-
ciety, the mode by which they proposed to effect them,
and expressive of a determination to support thein-
stitution, were also agreed to.
Thanks were then voted to the chairman. The
meeting, which was most numerously and respectably
attendtd, then separated.

RACES T
lci

Harpenden
Manchester
Coggeshall
ILL

Wye 3
Newton ..
Len him
_ _

Ascot

Knighton
Sutton Park

Carlisle , ..........

Newmarket ............

Tiverton .................
Lancaster ..............

Writtlo 0
Liverpool lO
Ipswich
Mansfield
liinneil . l2

Ripon

0 COME.

.7.
Southwell
Stokesley
Epsom Summer 2B

rx.
Beverley, &c.... l9
Hampton . . 19
Newcastle
Bibury 26
Ludlow 26
Stockbridge 27
'LI,.

♦ua

Worcester
Brighton 7
Wolverhampton l2
Eglinton Park
Reading
Great Yarmouth 2O

SEPTE.
Warwick .., 3
WQymonth 4
Lichfield 9
Cheadle (Staffurthhire) 9
Leicester ll

Nottingham l6
Stamford l7
Salisbury lB
Winchester . 23
Chelmsford 23
Odihatn 26
Goodwood
Leominster

Daley
York 2l
Stirling
Eccles
Derby
Egham . 2$

:MBER.
Doncaster
Richmond
Bedford
Manchester Autumn

OCTO
Newmkt. First October 1
Chesterfield 2
Chester Autumn 8 I

IBER.
I Newmkt. Second 0ct.... 14
Wrexham .
1.............. 15
Newmarket ............ 2$

THE TEA TRADE, MAY 20.--The deliveries of tea
last week in London were 488,9541 b. Oa the Queen's birth-
day, as usual, there was no business done at the Customs.
The market has not been active.
m London.
n
Co
OSTEND, MAT 19.--The Baron and Baroness
e e r a
Eiserdecher and family, and Professor Gregory and family
arrni\l'peadnhye,srestyeaeinste.srdhaipy,sibry•
Edward the Nav
Com-
pany'sigatioThe Countess Pauline Neale arrived at the St.
General
Banks,
n l
Steamfr
Katherine's
xi
ail
sleaili Wharf,shblyp
Caledonia,the Generalon Monday,
Steam
Navigationo
ay, from Ham-
burgh.
Science is the advanced guard in the march of com•
mon sense;_ and if it does ruthlessly lay the axe to the roosts
of the old forest, it takes care that new and more valuable
crops shall occupy the cle
Eliza Cook's Journal.
_ariyn
OVERLAND ROUTE.g
e.sTerday morning his Royal
pulled by their Royal High-
Highness Prince Albert,
nesses the Prince of N\a,aies Prince Alfred, the Princess
ccom
,
,
Royal, and Princess Alice, paid a visit to the Gallery of
Illustration, Regent. streetlonels Grey and Gordon,
royal partNA-irN.V , to see the moving Diorama of
the Overland Route to
India.
as
The suite consisted of Co-
Miss Hilliard, and Mr. Birch. The
received by Messrs. Grieve, Telbin, and
Absolon.
Stocqueler delivered the explanatory details.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert.
lexpressed himself much
satisfied with the Diorama, particularly praising the seas,
skies, and the views of MaaTaa'atpidar

BRITISH BENEFICENT INSTITUTION. A meeting
of the council of this institution was held at Freemasons-ball
on Saturday last; Lord Erskine, the Noble Chairman of the
council, presided, supported by Lord De Manley, Sir Charles
Ibbetson, Bart., Rev. Wm. Johns, and others. After the
preliminary business the accounts were audited and approved.
and several arrangements made to give effect to the festival
on the 3d of July, at which Lord Cardigan will preside, sup-
ported by
a numerous assemblage of nobility. The secre-
tary, Henry F. Richardson, Esq., announced that the Lords
Bishop of Salisbury, Ripon, and Norwich, the Rev. Wm.
Johns, the Rev. Win. Phillips, the Rev. Wm. Hall, and the
Rev. -- Johnson, had consented to preach in aid of the funds.
The meeting then broke up, after receiving from
Sir Charles Ibbetson, Bart., chairman of the board of
stewards, a report as to the arrangements made for the Pa-
tiyal, Tlaank4 were Toted to the Pablo Chairman.