Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-07-11
t,osr OF n.NKnUrrCY

The operations Of the bankrupt acts,
sofar as relates 10 the admission Of per-
sons to the benefits thereof having yir-
tually ceased on the first day of last
MONTH the Charleston Mercury has taken
the trouble to ascertain the number Of
persons who have become voluntary
bankrupts in Sonth Carolina, and what
has been the amount lost to both debtors
and creditors, by being absorbed in the
cost Of the proceedings The Mercury
says: Ell
By reference to the records of the Dis
trict Court of the United States for South
Carolina, il will be found that the entire
number of petitions filed in voluntary
bankruptcy in this State is 848. This ia
not 90 large a number by great deal, as
might have been naturally expected, when
it is recollected thai The benefits of the act
are not confined TO persons who are ieehni-
cally speaking Graders" but are open to
the whole community alike, TO lawyers,
doctors, farmers and mechanics, as we'll as
to merchants; and when the widespread
desolation and ruin Of the war are con
sidered. Small as the number is, how
ever, the expense is enormous.
There are many incidental expenses, ca
peoially creditors expenses, of which no
estimate can be made, but the following es,
mate Of the costs which the bankrupt him
self incurs may be regarded as a fair
average: /. Counsel fee, SIS. 2 Clerks
costs, 50. 3. MarshaPs coats, $50. 4. Regis
tra's costs, $40 Total expense of the suit,
$l44 Multiply this by the number OF
cases and we have Sl02, III as the actual
court expenses Of the bankrupts alone. A
very comfortable fortune to be divided out
between some people. The largest item,
sos, 500 for lawyers fees, is Of course very
much scattered. The other items, how
ever, settle very comfortably upon certain
individuals. The Clerks costs, 1852, go
all 10 one man. The same with the Mar
shaPs costs, $l6,960. The Registrars costs
S33, 920, are divided between four persons
1t is estimated that about one-third Of this
amount, or 81, 800, falls into the hands of
the Registra for Charleston district, this dis
trict doing more business than any of the
others. In addition to these fine piekings,
the Registrars receive dollar for each ac-
count proved before them, and as The num-
Der of these will probably average at least
twenty to the case, we have $3.50 more
to divide between these fortunate four.
The Clerk and the Marshal are provided
with a very comfortable living from the
regular business Of the court, and this
small count of thousands Ia bankruptcy
just falls in to supply them with pocket
money. ....
The Judge, the most important officer Of
The whole court, receives a salary of $4,000,
and if the Regislrars, the Clerk and the
Marshal were salaried in proportion, $500
or $4,000 would be ample remuneration for
their services. II, as is proposed the bank
rupt act is indefinitely continued, Congress
should establish separate bankrupt courts
with fixed and reasonable salaries for all
the officers. In fact il would be measire
of wise economy to abolish all fees in gov
eminent offices of every kind, and suhsti
tute fixed salaries. If officers were TO re-
ceive only reasonable salaries out of the
fees, and the balance be applied to the ma
iional debt, it would not take long 10 re-
move the circumference.