The Statesman.
London, England, 1815-02-15 00:00:00

NEW INSOLVENT BILL.

DIROM TUN 7IONTULT KAGAZINM.]
The ascendency of reason in the affairs of a pea.:
, plea is the test of their advancement in cisititation
: and freedom. It is the Unhappy condition of sta.:
tions, still savage or subject to despotic sway, to iti
1 the dupes of prejudice and passion. On the con.
trary, a nation governed by its own free will, and
by good intelligence, makes laws which impose no
impracticable conditions, and balance tile jtitTt pile;
tensions of every CLIS, of the community.
The latter, in a qualified degiee, is the condition
of the People of England. The House of Coin:
moos may not be wholly adequate to all its prO;
fessed con,titutional purposes, hee.ause so many* of
its Memliers do not represent their due ptoportiosi
of the people; yet six hundred and dfly Legislateri
fan not deliberate two hundred days in every year,
without passing, even by chance, many salutary
laws. In points which du not affect their personal
interests with the Minister, it must be admitted by
the severest patriotism, that they distribute eqval jui.
lice between their fellow-citizens ; while, in the 400
public and private Acts of every 'Session, many of
the provisions evince a disposition to ameliorate the
condition of society, either, closely following, of
often (seceding, the progress of public intelligence:
It is my present purpose to invite attention to a
law which has recently. been passed to stljust the re;
lations of debtors and creditors, ccionsottly Called
" Lord Redesdale's Act ;" though its ptinciple had
, been urged for 20 years, by the pi`es#nt evliglll.ollld-
' and benevolent Governor-General of India. It it

one of those laws in which the intelligence of file Le.
gislat ore preceded that of large and active portions
of the public, in regard to some of whom its provi-
sions interfered with their profits ; while, in relation
to others, it took away powers which they had too
long been accustomed to exercise. An interested
opposition has in consequence been organized against
this, law, which will call for all the ugliness of Par-
liament to resist. Practising attornies have not oc-
casion to commence the half of their customary num-
ber of suits ; Sheriff's Officers do not make a half
of the usual number of captions; the sponging-
houses are without company ; the gaolers have fewer
inmates on whom to prey ; the barristers get but a
tithe of their ordinary fees; Jews and discounters
meet with fewer cases of urgent distress; and the
officers of the Courts of Law experience a serious (fe-
falcation in their perquisities. flow then, say aft
these people, can so'injurious a law be suffered to re-
main in the Statute Book ?
Such, at least, is the question of the hungry pet-
tifogger, who calculates his gains by the number of
victims he can embarrass or Immure--of the hum-

bailiff and his followers, whose subsistence depends
on the business of their patron, the attorney—of the
gaoler, who calculates his salary on tha gratuities
paid 'by debtors for indulgence—of the barrister,
who gets a fee for his opinions, his pleadings, his
declaratan, and his brief on one side or the other—
and of the officers of our tribunals, who, by a nar-
row policy, are allowed to derive their salaries from
misery, instead of being liberally paid by the Pub-
lic. In the county of Middlesex, I an► told, this
haziness of these several classes has fatten riff inThe
Oroportiog of 1 to 3; and, through the whole
kingdom, in the proportion of I to 4. Can we
wonder, then, that every itrill!rig difficulty in the
execution of the Bill has been improperly magnified
—that cases, in which it may happen to relea..e un-
worthy c!,jects, have been unduly dwelt upon—and
that every means have been excited to alarm the
commercial world, and the powerful members of the
legal profession, into a belief of alleged dangers from
Its operation?

ILet us, -hilverrer, dispassionately enquire-W*6a
purpose and objects. We shall find, that its prieci.
pie is• to render not only the present, but the future
property of the debtor, liable for his debts. And
*hat more can reason expect or desire ? Can creditors
ask more of debtors than their property, present
and future ? Ought not the present property to have
been sufficient—could justice fairly ask more?—Yet
this law commits all future property, and renders the
debtor virtually a slave, till the creditor is satisfied
With what ground of reason then can creditors corn.
plain of this Act ? Do they want more than the pre-
sent and future possessions of their debtor?—lf they
do, their wishes ought not to he gratified—they are
Shylorks, seekiiig their pound of human flesh, who
ought to be hunted oat of civilized society—and ty-
rants, who ought not to enjoy the protection of laws
made by free men le the spirit of reason and justice.
The terms and provisions of the Bill all tend to
that object, the transfer, of the property of the
debtor to his creditors.--For this purpose ars
assignee, or assignees, usually the chief of the cre-
ditors, are appointed to take possession of the pro-
perty and make dividends—the penalty of trans-
portation is inflicted for making false returns—
public advertisements and circular notices are given
to creditors, who are heard in person, or by Coun.
set—the debtor is subject to public interrogatories—
and great rewards are offered for discoveries of con.
cealment. These provisions, if pot effectual, were
made as much so as coesistent frith the "spirit of the
British Constitution ; aid if, on ohy point, they ap.
pear to be ir:sufficient, the framers of the law cart
have no objection to improve or extend them, so
that, as far as human inquisition call extend, a full
disclosure of the debkir's property shall be made.—
Let the re eerd he increased for the discovery of con.
cealments--jat the punishment be the most terrible
known to the law, and let it be invariably inflicter(,
rather than innocence should suffer for the frauds of
killit—or that the jiist principles of this law should
be abandoned, because tftey may occasionally be
aimed by knaveryl set the guilty be amenable for
crimes, but them only. a tine, as accurately as
you can. the really culpable nay of debtors; and
punish offevders as severely as you please, but do
not extend your penalties to the innocent or unfor-
tunate, or, what would be worse than any definite
legal penalty, leave them to be punished in the die.
cretion of any enraged, vengefel, and inexorable
creditor.
Other provisions of the Act deprive a debtor of a
second enlargement within five yvars, so that no man
can insult public decency by iircurriti, debts, in the
expectation of being speedily liberated again.—Ass
unprincipled career of a year must be atoned for by
four years unpitied imprisonment, a penalty so far