Star.
London, England, 1829-05-13 00:00:00

IMACKAL PARLIAMENT.

-HOUSE OF LORDS. NUT 12.
•
Sunni public and private Bills were brought up from the Com-
mons, and read a first time.

Lord SK EL3IEKSDA LII presented a Petition (maths Opt-
ative Alanuiacturers of klanchester, praying that Government
4ould take steps to prevent the prevailing practice of paying
labourers in goods instead of money. lb, Lordship said the prac-
tice they eismplainea of was now becoming a-very general one In
Lancaster and York, and. indeed, in all the Lugo nsanofacturing
'counties through the empire. The measure prayed for by the pelt.
dotter. should, it any where, originate in the other Holm of Par-
liament ; but he had taken that opportunity of calling their Lord-
ships' attention to the subject, that, in case any Hill should come
from the !louse of Commons, their Lordships might be disposed
is view it in a proper lighc--.Ordered toile on the table.
sate mom COMPANY'S CHAMP..

The Marquis of I..ANADOW.7lsaid.onp;Tenting a Petition
from one of the largest manufacturing town. in 'England. he hoped
be might be permitted to call the attention of the House fora few
minutes to the subject contained in it. and which certainly was one
of lacerate and pressing importance. It was the Petition of Mem-
bers of the Chamber of Commerce in Xlanchester,• praying that
their Lordships would take into consideration he expediency. of not
allowing the moot,* to continue in the trade between this coun-
try and [Adis; and also, in coundering the •fxpediency•Mgranting
a renewal of the East India Company's Charter, it pray-d that
they should be guided by a view to secure the public interest and
the benefit of the community at large. He (Lord Is) cusfessed
be was not at present disposed to enter Moo the argument, or dis-
ciple the merits of the question; but this be should say, that if their
Lordships intended to discharge their duty as thelegi.latisse power
of the empire, they could not take too early an opportunity of in-
quiring into the real nature of the subject, and the consequences
that arose out of the matter contained in that petition. He did
not mean to call upon the Noble Duke nr any tat his Majesty's
Ministers to declare his opinion upon the subject, or to make
known the intentions of the Government respecting the Anal ad.
jostment of the question. Not only he did nut intend to call upon
his Majeky's Guvernosist .to du this, but be really hoped that
they were not prepared to give any thing like a rash or hasty opi-
nion upon it. H. hoped their Lordship. would inspect the dome.
mastery evidence that had been received before they formed an
opinion, which oohs-would enable them to come to a more satis-
factory decWoo upon it. AS that be should now do would be to
ask the Noble Duke, or the Noble Lord near him (Lord Navaho.
rough), not what the opinion of his Majesty's Ministers was, but
what was the course of the preliminary inquiry which they in-
:tended to adopt, and which might enable them to corn. to a Anil
decialoo ? whelk/ it was their intention so appoint a Committee,
which he certainly thought would be the best way to proceed. He
'could not be erne to allow the present &talon of Parliament toeless
without moving foe seek documentary evidence, which could be'
*reposed during she meek that might enable their Lordships and
Alma& to some to the consideration of the subject neat year, pro.
vided with all the materials necessary on so important an occasion.
' The Whims was of such great importance that he hoped their
:Lordships would ceinest to have it read at ler:gds, convinced as be
'was that is expressed the feehoga of ail the great manufacturing
oovothrotbrooglorat.

The l'etltioxi having been read at length,
Lord ELLENBOROUGH said be could assure the Noble
Weigle that his Majesty's Government felt equally with him the
kstreMe kepettillar d the sobjeet to which be bad alluded ; and,
bediess be moltaullfe hie that. sioet the subject-began to bum-
Aden& log badllever lest sight el k. and from the kat dap .1
ollse bp had take amealoros for lay* Whore the Home

of blejestyialikorevnisent, tea alba subject s.
.bat BA,. It would not be denied that it was the dilly
rst every Government to provide off ctuldly for the
%/seedy administration of justice; and if that applied to'
all count' ice, and. to all Governments, it applied Pecul
liarly to so commercial and exteusive a country as this.,
When he called to their Lordships recollection that:it'
appeased, from Returns laid before the-other House of
Parlia*nt, that the property vested in the Court of
...hancery amounted to near 40,000,000 i. and when he
reminded them that a con.iderable portion of that sum
vested in the Uou!t of Chancery was the object of liti.
Rani ,n and contention. he was sure they would see 'hat-
eful into est: of the country called . upon them to take
life proceedings id that Court into their -attentive coh-
sideration. It vies important that no misapprehension
should take place; they should endeavour to forma
right conception of suits in Chancery. which bore little
or no resemblance to suits in. Common Law. A snit in
Common Law was one between two individuals con-
tending about a point in issue, which, was soon heard
and -oon decided ; but in suits in Equity it was very
different. The province of that Court was to take cog-
nizance of property, and afterwards to distribute that
property amongst a variety of individuals. It was ob-
vious, therefore, if they were to contrast the Court of
Civil Law with the Court of Equity, they would find
that the complaints of misconduct and unnecessary de.
;ay in those Courts were rash and unfounded. He hoped
they would allow him now to direct neir attention to
what had been done respecting the Courts of Equity
and Chaocet y. In the year 1825 a Committee was ap-
pointed fir inquiring into what hid been done in the
Court of dhantery, and to inquire into those delays
which existed, end which he (the L9rd Ch incellor) ad;
mitted did still exit in the administration of justice in
that Court. Tae Committee consisted of a number of
individuals nio.t eminently qualified both by their learn.
ing and information. He should now state to them to
what die Committee had directed their attention. It
Was found. that.thete was a itteae delay . between •tbit.
c,tnimencenbent of the cause and the time that it came
for bearing in the Court, and the Commissio.ors cense
to certain resolutions, the object of which was to expo.
dite the causes up to the time C.l hearing as much as
possible. Tile.e resolutions had since been Acted on,
tild he was happy 'to state that in these preliminary
stases suits in Equity now proceeded much more rapiily
than they dud berme. An this part of the case there
were two viols only upon, which doubt remained, the
or iocipal of which was the mode of examining witnesses.
Upon this poi.it the Commission came to the conclu-
sion that no alteration should be made. He was
bound to consider the conclusion to be correct ; still the
subject was so important that it ought to receive lur-
ther_inquiry. The nest point to which the commission
dimmed. th,ir attention was the period after hearing
the cause, and upon this point they suggested sons
aherations which were afterwards adopted. The Com.
missioners also suggested a great variety of measures,'
which were postponed for reasons to 'which be should
presently advert. The Commissioners afterwards am.
siieeed bow far they might accelerate the. cause at the
time of, bearing. aid they naturally directed their at-
tention to this impoitant point. He did not, however,
think they had attended sufficiently to that part, And he I
was so.ry that the resolutious which they adopted were
attended with no effect whatever in obviatin4 the great
,evil compla.ned ul. When. he told their L .rdships that
a period at t i,:hteen months ela,ssed between the setting
down of the CA•vse for heating and the time when st
was gone to be heard, they might form some ides of
what or meant to convey. The evil did not., however,
rest here. (The Noble Lord proceeded to enumerate
many of the evils raising from the delay at the progress
of suits in equity.) hut this, he should observe, was
' ,ot an evil of modern times. In " The Life of Sir Z
'.l ate" it was stated that when be came into the Court
of Chancery he found it clogged up with causes, many
or which had been twenty or thirty years in that state.
They would find Lord Bacon, in a speech to King
James, alluding to the same evil. In 1621 a member
of the House of Commons, named. Alford, stated in
his place in the House, that causes had been delayed
in the Court of Chancery twenty or thirty years; and
Coke, that the briefs in the Court of Chancery were
mare numerous than could possibly be disposed of. In
1655, for he was desirous of ti acing it down to the pre-
sent time, which was during the Commonwealth. the
attention of Parliament was directed to the subject, and
a vote was passed to correct this evil. In 1707 a book
was published. which was said to have been written by
an attorney of the Court. It was not alone in olden
times that those evils had existed ; they had been conti-
nued in modern days, and the Noble and Learned Lord
(Eldon) would, doubtless, testify that they existed at the
present moment. It was impossilde for him to name
that Noble Lord, notwithstanding the political cliff&
rencrs that existed between them, without adding that
no persons could sit upon the bench which he had so long
filled without having abundant opportunities of per-
ceiving and admiring the great sagicity and extraor-
dinary erudition displayed by the Noble and Learned
Lord. It, had been said of that Noble and Learned'
Lord throughout the profession, that no man ever
doubted his decisions except himself; and he (Lord
Lyedhurst) felt assured that none of the Noble Lord's
predecessors had better understood the complex system
of equit.y. There was another grievance, to which he
iviShed to:direct the attention of their Lordships. .If a,
serge set dorm for hearing were not disposed of quickly.

various Gibbons arose out aft which would never have
had existence if the cause had been disposed of quickly;
and it *ciuld,of course,- often happen that these nO-
- whentdisposed of, would come again before the
Court in the shape of re-hearingi. Another evil would
occur, one which would be at once obvious to their
Lordships.. During the years at which a cause most to
pending many of the parties *sight die, and this
the whole ufachinery of the case would be compli-
cated. He would theft ask if he had made out such a
case as would justify their LotdshipS in interposing
with reference to this twist abstruse and important mat-
er? I was certainly time so, to do if it were possible
to do Joy thing, and she only question that could exist
was as teethe mode in wfdch any 'alteration should be •
made. It war endoubWly true that differences of opinion
wou'd be found to be entertained by doff. rent tiidivis
duals, but aWenen would doubtless concur in the hel•ef
that a remedrbf some description wasabs.ilutely neces-
sary. He vet desiroos. after having made the most
Minute inquiries, after having cousaltA the best auto's-
' titles, anttatter bowing most minced* deliberated upon
all be hadbeard suet knew, t 6 prepo.e such a remedy for
shrov,l.leilhotals4se at once as simple and as icon°.
-as ebeilittiribif the •rastieet wound asimieit to ha
Ie trould now take leave to call the attention of the
House toi the state of the Court of Exchequer:* 'A R
' port lay upon their Lord-hips' tab a made by certain
Commissioners appointed to inquire relit ie. to the course
of coMrnon law in this country. Th.t Report boss
menifest•proofs of the seat industry, skill; ,and seal
with which it had been ma le; and t e Me'mbsis who
composet! she COmmission deserved well of their .euttn•
try. rh that Report would be found mane very ins-
portant -suggestions—suggestions; however, that did
not originate with them, for they had been made many
years before; the principal of which was this, viz. that •
it was essential to the due administration of justice th.t
the common law and equity should be.separated in that
Court in which they were now united—the Court of
lEeehever. He would :der to oneauthoitty, and rape
of the highest be could possibly cite—the authors* of
Sir John Richards—and he selected him because sa his
acknowledged judgment, his great -experience. 'and the
high opinion which he (Lord Lyndhurst) entertained of
him. Their Lordships would feel at once convinced of
its being essential to separate the equity proceedings
at common law in the Court of Exchequer when they
were inf firmed that not more than fifty equity caves had
been decided in that Court during a year, being scarcely
a seventh part of the number of ththe decided by the
Master of the Rolls; and that not moue than five eases
at Nisi Prius had been determined there during a Term,
when as many hundreds had been decided in the Coutt
of King's Bench. it seethed necessary, therefore, to
`adopt the recommendation of the Committee in order
to render effectual that which was now fa. from beitig
so. He sus* lar.from designing to cast any oppi °brio in
upon tbejudges of that Court. He was tar from attrs-
buting to them any wart of ability Or judgment. it
was the vice .1* the system, the vi:e r,f use establish-
ment, of witch he 'complained. That Court was 06w
filled with able Judges, and bad always been so; )et
the evil no* existed. and had alsayi hien In existence.
He proposed, then, that a new Judge should be . ap-
pointed by the Crown, a new Equity Judge under the
Court of-Gbaocery, who shi-uld have p veer cf. hearing
in..tions and decisnng upon the earl. us mat'rers now to
be decided by the Lord Chincellor and tie Vice Chan-
cellor ; and he should propose that the Equity eases now -
laid beore the Court of Exchequer 'should 'be trans-
ferred to this Judge, and that, consequently, 4.e should
decide that Equity jurisdiction that nevi lay *sus the
Court of Exchequer. He did nest Mean to pr pose that •
this change should be made immednitely, but he .prs..
posed that the Judge should be now appointed, and be
ready to receive that jurisdiction whenever Parliament
should think proper. • He was thus anxious to state his
view of the question, as a Member of the Gates nmeht,
in reference-to the suggestions of the commi,sion of
inquiry into the common law of the cinintry. Various
improvements had been devised, and Bills were now
preparing to emery them into effect ; but ti ere was ho
probability that such 'Bills would be'Passed during the
present Session of Pailiament,, although they might
probably be panted, and stand offer until the neat Ses.
sloth He thought their Los dships *mold be dispo. d
to adopt the ginner part of these reci.airtiendations, and
if, during the ne=t Parliamentary Session, Parliament
should divide the Equity jurisdiction of Court of
Exchequer from the common' leer juiisdiction, then
would be the period for proposing t -e daioder of the
Equity portion of it to that Judge. S ich a course ap-
pealed to him to be necessary for many reasons; one
would be in refeettifee to compensation to Offiertb, which
was usually granted; but the I ificeri of_ that Court
could be transferred to that Cowl to which the Equity
business would go. He had thus stated the geueial
plaos and intentions of the Government. Tbere'reis
another point to whirls he would beg to aii cif th dot-
tention of the Hots& .He alluded to' the office of
Master of the Rolls, keit had inserted no clause re•pect-
ing it in this Bull, in cifesequence of the unhappy state
of health in which thattLearned Judge now remained.
No one could be more ',gable of the great and tra.uL
able services, or of his *when and sagacity, thaw was
he (Lord L.) and he hadibtroduced no clause bearing.
upon his office into this Bilt, because he had had lib op-
portunity of cousultingiiiitt fnreference to it. But
perhaps it was necessary, inasmuch as, in the year
1819, that Learned Gentleman, beitig then a Metobet or,
the Houte of Commons, dttling a discussiot; on ihis,
question, bad pointed out the great' advantages that
would result from more lengthened sittingfot the blab.;,
ter of the Rolls Court. Their' Lordships Were aware
that the Master of the Rolls iat only three tirrifrs in the,
week during Term, but then only four hours Charing,
each of those three days. and that in the evening. But
let not the House suppose that 12 bouts of the week;
was thus gained to the Court of Chancery, fur upon the
evenings when the Master sat it was the practice of.the•
Court of Chancery to rife at three o'clock; so that efts
Master of the Rolls only added six effective bouts to
the Coos tof Chancery. He would adMit chit the pre-
sent Judge could do more in six hours than many, i:thers ,
in thirty; but the public.bad an undoubted right to
claim a more extended service. Out of Term it was ,
not often that the Master of the Rolls sat more tban
four evenings during the week. What hi .0200 Pl to
'propose was this—be had not, however, inserted is in
the Bill—he proposed that the Master of the Roils
should sit like 01 the-other Judges in 60..0'4°0144
breiking off their duties.. of carrot, when neeedsin ep •
and this would add much to the advantage of tut pub..

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