New-York tribune., 1882-04-06
BANKRUPTCY LEGISLATION.
A REPORT TO THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

A REPORT TO THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
THE LOWELL BILL AND THE SENATE BILL COMPARED
THE LATTER DESERVING OF TRIAL
The special committee appointed to consider the
subject of bankruptcy laws will present to the
Chamber of Commerce at the meeting to-day re-
of the Lowell bill and the Bankruptcy bl recently
reported by the subcommittee OF the Senate
Judiciary Committee of the ,prcSentCongress. The
latter the report says is called the bill because
il isa now departure in bankruptcy legislation. "The
new bill," .he report continues, deserves careful
consideration, because 1t is the outcome of one of
the most able Judiciary Committees the Gov
ernment has ever had, and it is the result of
of n careful study of the situation, and very eX
teusive correspondence with all sections of the
country. The new bill may be regarded as
perlmental or tentative measure, in which our own
past experience or failures under the acts of 1S41
and 1867 and British experience, have been consd-
cred while regard has been maintained for the Fed
eral Constitution which requires expressly that all
laws i'll relation TO bankruptcy shall be uniform not
withstanding that the requirements OF the country
ut large and OF our commercial centres are very di
erent." -
circular issued by committee of the Board Of
r. ade and Transportation Iii which the Senate bill
is unfavorably contrased with the Lowell bill.
The criticisms on the Senate bill are answered, and
The foweI bill is carefully prepared bin As out
line the distribution OF assets IL has great
merits It's defects consist in the fact that II Ignores in
the Of bankruptcy all moral Obligations in trade
Judicial investigation OF the causes OF bankruptcy aud
judicial disposition of the bankrupt IL sets entirely aside
In this last regard is the most deficient
prOpOeed,
10 encourage nsolyencyas all the provisions OF the Brit
ish code OF which the bill Is Int copy IN regard 10 this
subject are pIrposely omitted
After citing an instance In which were apparent
the defects of the act of 1867 which, II Is asserted
are repeated III the Lowell bill, the report con-
cludeS:
Your committee regret that able legal committee
the judiciary Committee of the Senate have decided
that for the present at least we cannot adapt our egs
laton the different requirements Of the commercial
and the country al large, because OF the neas
ticity OF institutions; and they congratulate the
country that mischlevous measure as the Lowell
bill, without amendment must surely prove, has been
laid aside The two principal SUBJECTS TO be considered
in bankruptcy legislation are the distribution OF tue
main question is shall the procedure be " Official
or official or shall the distribution of the and
the discharge of the bankrupt be under the control of
the court, Of majority OF the creditors Throughout
Continental Europe and until comparatively recent
have been official, under control Of At the
present time, the British system is modified one, mas
assets while discharge of the bankrupt is under
troll Of court the distribution Of the assets being
sidered to be a personal matter while the matter of
bankruptcy is matter Of public as well as private con
Onr past bankruptcy laws have all been commercial
nonotcla measures, and hence their failures The
Low hi nronoses continuance OF the same system
In oded procedure In which the court has discre
ton without the code III regard 10 either the distribution
the asset. the discharge OF the bankrupt The
sibe question Shall recnact and place trial
system that has always failed in our own country well
as i'm Great Britain Tie new bankruptcy bin of the judi
ciary Committee of the complete return TO
the old practice, justified by experience and
quired by the necessities of our federal system
as well the varying requirements of an extended coun
try The Lowell bill makes allusion state eXcmp
Ons, while the bill does as II may, because state
exemptions only be limited by an amendment to the
Federal Constitutions and an amendment III this direo
On rs regarded impossible long any sovereignty
il retained by ts states, because such All amendment
fmuea the overthrow OF our whole system govern
We submit, then, that complaint against the
bill because ii recognizes this right recommendation
the Lowell Dl because II fails to recognize this right
is out of place as rghtfu sovereignty should always be
accepted
Your committee regard the acceptance OF the Lowell
bill il present form by the country at i'm
possibility, and hence believe that come bill in the line
recognize the duty of the Government to provde bank
rupt law and It may be amended aud extended in the
future. Its provisions only be by trial Court
the discharge OF the bankrupt should
creditors cOnfscate the property OF minority, with
out proper cause, determined III open court and
by impartial tribunal Is InOnsrOus An important
difference between the Lowell blI anu the senate
bill and the English law should also De noted Neither
the Lowell bill the bill contains any disciplinary
provisions In the English law q discharge be with
held for longer or shorter period, and the future liz
come of the bankrupt can be directed. At the same
time the bill differs from the Lowell bill IN the fact,
that, while the Lowell bill the court has discretion
over the discharge OF the bankrupt beyond few tech
period six months, the bill places unlimited dis
creon In the court III Of fraud and IL shOuld be
observed that this term OF fraud Is susccpii-
Dle VI wide interpretation. The new bill,
with its nine sections, Is the OUTCOME
Of much labor and research than the Lowell bill,
with It's l07 sections To coliate bill from past enact
ments TO the easy discharge wants OF few dealers
In large commercial centres. few IN number but
OF our principal citles whose members generally
gagged In hazardous enterprises IN stocks produce etc,
Is easy matter while 10 provide uniform law TO meet
the oxigencies Of the suaOn and to promote the inter
OF the whole country Is more difficult The bill
Is tentative measure AID IL deserves trial