Star.
London, England, 1819-03-17 00:00:00

TREATY WIT!, AURRICA.

Lord CASTLEREAGH, by
,crder of his Royal
Highness the Prince Regent, presented a copy of the
Convention concluded between his Majesty awl the
United States of America. His Lordship added,
that he should not consider it his duty to ask from
the House any opinion respecting the said Treaty ;
Ibut that as in a few days it would be necessary to
introduce a Bill to give it effect, its provisions might
then be made matter of discussion.--The Treaty was
ordered to lie on the table, and to be printed.

JUSTIGN IN INDIA.
Mr. HUME, in rising to make the Motion of
which be had given notice on this subject, thought
he should best consult the wishes of the House, and
his own feelings, if he did not enter into the discus-
sion at present. He should only make one or two
observations. He wished the House to know that it
was completely in the dark with respect to the mise-
rable manner in which the administration of justice
was carried on in India. In saying this, he did not
make an unsupported assertion: the labours of the
Committee of 1812, would shew the facts on which
he founded his opinion, Civil justice was virtually
denied to the bulk of the people in our East Indian
territories, on account of the extraordinary expense
at which it was to be obtained. Before any indivi-
dual could commence an action for the recovery of
a debt, be was compelled to pay to the-Government
a fee of from 50 to one per cent. on its amount, as it
was Urger or decreased. There was besides, a heavy
stamp duty, add the enormous expense was altoge-
ther a denial of justice. Another serious groitnd of
complaint was, that for years no decision, could be
obtained. In the Reports of the Committee to which
he had alluded, it *vas even stated that a long life
could not suffice to obtain a decision in the Courts in
India. Those abuses had increased year after ye,ar,
and the situation of the' inhabitants of Bengal was
growing worse and smite. He did not lay the
blame on any individual, but on the system itself.
for the extensive system established by Lord Corn-
wallis, in 1792, in India, was altered in some parts,
and not uniformly adhered to. He then Moved for
copies or extracts . of various dispatches from the
Court of Directors to the several Governments of
India, respecting the administration of justice, both
civil and criminal, and the rilice its• that country,
from 1810 to the.testa time.
• Mr. CANNING. nekikowledged that a difference
and a controversy existed; not, however. retpecting
the excelletice, but tile adaptation of the system to
the habits of the nounert: ide was not disposedlo
admit of the high colouring giremby the Honourable.
Gentles:al to tba pictiireslbut,havreuld OW* drat be
was inclined.* uffietkre.diat. system s-so
fstltr'adapied as it. had- heals i4endticlhp tbe 'treat
and benevolent main iiihblaffitgiodueed it intoltdiso

in approaching whatever proceedegifrom site)) a mans
hoigerei, it should lie done with rekkereniind doubt;
He *greed With the Horiourablecriiiiteman„thit the
"harliinfstration of juitkein-india tiught to be kept
thp'iontreittl of 'thi Abihoißies at home,• and
the*.besitneans to =be adopted for that
-lAPltsi* was the publicity of their proceedings ft em
tittle to contended that the Papers moved
for 'w so4Olaniinoui, • that( if they were all to he
examined, the day or their .cliicussion would never
'arrive. )ie',(Mr. Canning) had therefore selected
' among them'the four which were most satisfactory.
And he recommended that which went by the name
of the Fifth Report, es 'conveying the most complete
abstract of all the information received in this country,
and as affording sufficient light to employ the utmost
research and attention of the House till the time when
the discussion on the subject should take place.
Lord MORPETII thanked the Hon6urable Mover
for having introduced such a subject to the House.
He was decidedly of opinion, that whatever expenses
we might throw on the natives—whatever means we
might adopt to crush and range Indian States under
our dominion—the best security for our empire was
a strict administration of justice.
Sir WILLIAM BURROUGHS contended, that
previous to the regulations introduced by Lord Corn-
wallis, there were no regular Courts in India. In
reality, there was no justice. That great man had
consulted him at the time on the system which he
proposed to establish, and which had his (Sir Wil-
' Ham's) unqualified concurrence. Though its intro-
duction had been attended with great difficulties, it
had proceeded with more rapidity than could haie
been reasonably expected. It had increased the at-
tachment of the people,to our Government, and in-
duced multitudes to emigrate into our territories
from other States. He did not deny that it might
contain great defects ;but it had done, and continued
to produce much good. The system of Police was
that which required most consideration and amend-
ment. He had had an opportunity of ascertaining
how wretched it was in the city of Calcutta—a. city
which contained a population of between 750,000
and 800,000 inhabitants—of all nations, of all creeds,
and all employments. All his efforts to improve it,
though ably assisted, has proved vain. In some in-
stances, Magistrates had private gaols of their own,
where they kept individuals for months, before they
even ascertained the nature of the charges against
them. He then quoted several cases where gross
abuses of this kind had prevailed, and pressed the
importance of the subject on the consideration of
the House.

Mr. HUME stated that the Committee of 1812
had' reported that it often happened that months
elapsed before an individual was brought up for hear-
ing; that during that time, he will confined in a
crowded prison, where death frequently occurred,
before it was ascertained Whether there was any real
charge against him. He then complained that the
whole system of Bengal Police was conducted by a
set of regular spies in the employment of the Govern-
ment. These were generally heads of robbers, who
had been allowed to turn King's evidence, and to
whom incautious Magistrates entrusted the execution
of their warrants. With respect to the want of eco-
nomy in the Judicial department, it might be ascer-
tained from this fact, that whereas the whole revenue
of India was £17,000,000, the expense of the judi-
cial and police establishment amounted annually to
£1,578,000, or nearly one-eleventh of the revenue.
Mr. HUTCHINSON wished to impress on the
Right Hon. Gentleman opposite, and his Majesty's
Ministers, the necessity of taking measures to improve
the wretched system of police. to which were sub-
jected not less than the sixty millions of inhabitants
who belonged to our Indian empire.
Mr. CANNIgG had already explained the bent of
his mind on the subject. It was one on which he
had meditated day and night, and yet he took no
shame to himself for not being able to express a more
decided opinion. As to the whole system of the Po-
lice it had been amended under Sir Edward East, and
its evils were now done away.
After a few words from Sir WM. BURROUGHS,
the motion was agreed to.
Mr. HUME then moved for Accounts of the ex-
pense of the Police and Judicial Establishment, in
four districts of India, from 1792 to 1818, or later,
if possible • and for Accounts of Judicial Charges in
the three Presidencies of Bengal. Fort &George, and
Bombay, froth 1810 to the present time.—Agreed to.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS ACT.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL took an historical
view of the state of the laws respecting Debtors, pre-
vious to the passing of the Insolvent IDebtors, Act in
1813. It was then found necessary to resort from time
to time to partial measures. The existing law would
expire in the present Session, and if not renewed with
such alterations as the necessity of the case might re-
quire, the country'would be reduced to the former
practice, and the Debtor might be kept in ,prison for
life, unless it pleased the Creditir to allow him to be
liberated. Dining the existence of the present law,
two Committees had been appointed to examine, with
the view of amending it, and an Act had Fassed,l
giving to the Judge of- the Insolvent Debtors Court
greater power to remand Debtors, if not satisfied with
the honesty of their conduct. All agreed that the]
principle of the law' was right, but that it wanted
correction in some of its provisions. Most of the
Petitions presented to the'House expressed that opi-
nion, and on these grounds it appeared necessary to
appoint a Committee to' consider the law as it stood,
'as well as the Petitions presented against it. There
seas no subject &4er for the attention ofthe House than
the question, whether there should not be some law of
,tliks sort fOptaiog part Of.the judicial system of the land ?
Instead of-the temporary measures to whiCh Parlia-
ment.had -beets obliged to hive recourse for the last
century, and Whioh, in thehnter part of the present
reign, had been requiodiseciften isery two years,
it were:bcuer that',*DetstOt and creditor should
•know on what seems tiny stood towards, each other.
With respect to the individual at the head, and those
engaged iii the seritice of tPe insolvent Debtors'
C.ounw during the exiinden of thi.4t, no one cpuld
be happier than thep.would.be ..having.tbele con-
duct, thoroughly • investigated. • He- (thedittegney-
G.reralj beretestimony to tht ability and. indentry
bUslnfs-sot,t4n.o.bOrt 1444**eii4.511.
ducted. All that it was possible talae:douischad
'been atifta.; He;.whised'Abe-whele,:gonteir tiis be
takeo,intqlosOderation,„and iftoiild4ccirtsfißivtlyt de-
eisicifi it gred

!Which was the only countirthat had no porm.,,,
legislatizn on that important subjeet.'kle then sto
That a Select Committee be appointed to take r
consideration the state of the Law respectinc,:ti,
discharge of Insolvent Debtors, and the various Act,"
passed in the 53d, 54th, and 56th years of his
jesty, to remedy the same, with the effects produced
thereby, and to report their obseriatintti therfts,t
on the best means of rendering the said Acts eff - -
Mr. Alderman WAITHM AN contended, that
withstanding the two attempts made since the pa!'sj:'
of the Act, to amend and alter it, the €:;e7,4,'
which it created continued to exist. • lie ccree-e,
that a subject more important, as it affected cite
rals of the people and public credit, could not (t
cupy the attention of the House.' He-agreed
the Honourable and Learned Gentleman t4ar • •
law should be passed to give securify'to cre(Pro
and at the same time protect unfortunate Lie,.!*c:
That was the object of all the Petitioiirthat had be
presented. Ile then drew a comparison hetaari
present Act and Commissions of Bankrupt,-;
• f X
thought the last far preferable to the former, as th
enabled those who had entrusted their propertr
any individual,:to arrest him in the midst of a ca.
of extravagance, before he had was: :d it all awa,
He had never seen an instance in which subste;
justice had not been obtained under Commissier.C.
Bankruptcy, if the Assignees had done their dam,
He complained that under the Insolvent Deb...:
Act, a debtor might go into the Rules of the Ern:.
or the Fleet, with £lO,OOO of his creditors' proper.:
who had no means of recovering a farthing. Ii
then mentioned several instances of such cc:11;:c.
and contended that if there were prisoners who ha
remained twenty and thirty years in confinement, •
was not in consequence of cruelty on the part
their creditors, but because they did not theme
give up their property to take the benefit of the Ar
He maintained that the celsio bonortm was delusi•
as the Court had no power to inquire into the Wa
in which the debtor had spent his property, and
ascertain whether he gave up the whole of it.
the Honourable and Learned Gentleman would .
'tend the provisions of the Lords' Act, and am

the Bankrupt Laws, there would be no necessity
a measure like the present.
Mr. ABERCROMBIE was of opinion, that
Honourable and Learned Friend had taken the I

course in wishing to refer to a Committee the cm
deration of the existing law, the alterations which
might undergo, and the petitions praying for its rcpe
As a Commissioner of Bankrupts himself; he co
dieted the assertion of the Honourable Alderma
that justice could be done in every case. How ccu
the Honourable Alderman also state that it was
fault of the Act of Parliament if a debtor went it:
the Rules of a Prison with the property of his C:
ditor ? If he had said that he could take the bate

of the Act, and still retain that property, tLea h
might have established a case against the law ;
what he had said was totally inapplicable. The
nourable Alder Man had in fact only complained,
under the present Act it was not practicable to kec.
the debtor in prison a longer time. AS to the
boxontm, instead of being injurious, it was the fai7:l:
principle on which it was possible to act, ;t7d Sce:-
land had grown into prosperity and wealth by it.

After a few words from kr. Fittest and Mr.
WAITHNIAN, the motion was agreed to, and theft!'
lowing Committee appointed :
The .Ittorney-General, Lord Althorp, Sir M. W. Fidler,
Mr. Alderman Waldman, Mr. Abercromby, Mr. 31artin,
W. Courtenay, Mr. Brougham, Mr. Alderman Wood, Mr. CI.
craft, Mr. Ilart Davis, General Gascoigne, Sir Robert
Mr. George Lamb, Mr. Fazakerley, and Mr. Lsmbton.