The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1867.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 1930, 25 February 1867, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1867.

Few subjects of domestic legislation have been more talked of in.England or have received more attention- of late years than the bankruptcy laws and practice... A select committee of the House of Commons has been engaged for a considerable period in the vestigation of existing laws on the subject, and ■ the' evidence obtained has beeuvpublisbed in the usual form .of a Blue Book accompanied by a report. In New Zealand 1 we have had several legislative enactments, oh tlie : subject, regarding which it is not to say that none:of them'havegiven satisfaction. Admittedly theseenactments have'been only- temporary; the Government considering, it wiser, to wait the rMlt of the inquiry which has been going pn : in England, That inquiry as we have just remarked, is concluded, and the result made- public. We may therefore expect that arioth er attempt will be made .-■ to place the bankruptey law ; and-practice of New Zealand oh a .. more! satisfactory footing. . . /"',""..': A pamphlet, entitled ".Notes on " Scotch Bankruptcy Law and Practice, with reference.to the proposed " amendment of the Bankruptcy Law " of England" Has beeh handed to us.

The writer of tins pamphlet is; Mr; Auldjb EsßOii, who has Had ten : years' experience, as Accountant in Bank-, ruptcy.of the. operation of the ekistingisystem of Scotland. He was, as a Scotch newspaper informs ixs, -a gentleman; of ripe faculty and ; in oxtenr sive business previous to his appoint- . merit; and lie lias.had abundant! opportunity during his tenure of office of observing the excellences and defects of the machinery it is his duty to supervise, With all these; concurrent qualifications.it maybe, fairly; expected ; that Mr Esson's pamphlet, is worthy :;the. attention' of; those"who;may .'.be called on to take part in future legislation in this colony.. In a preface to the edition of the pamphlet before us Mr Ess.ori states that it "has been " called forthrough the liberality, land. *'public spirit of .a gentleman who; '■■ intends to circulate it in New Zea-.; '■ land in ine;belief tbatitis oalculated; "to promote the enactment.of sample " and 'useful' bankruptcy lawnntho; "colony,'" It is : irio;breach,pf ; .cohfi-; dence to add to this that, the gentleman referred to is a Canterbury; colonist,-who-has taken and. takes.a great interest in .. the -. subject with which the .. pamphlet .deals. It is impossible, with the : limited space at our disposalj to do more than glance at the contents of this valuable ■ pamphlet; and: to indicate to those who may be inclined to, study the-subject■ the: nature and extent of theinforma-| tion which it supplies; In a short introduction Mr Esson gives a rapid but very clear sketch of the history of bankruptcy laws in Scotland, from which we gather that the administration and. (management of bankrupt estates in that country. have for a long period been conducted by trustees: elected by the creditors. In this trustee is vested the whole estate of .the bankrupt, and it is his duty to act; ;atonceas manager of the estate;and; arbiter of the rights of the, creditors. Later it was found expedient to introduce what: were bailed commissioners, who were in reality: a com? mittee of three creditors or re-: presentatives of creditors.. These ia'cfc as assessors to the trustee, /direct generally his management ofthe estate, audit his accounts, and fix. his payment, In 1856 a new.bankV rup.tcy act : for Scotland was passed,, in which .provision was .made for, the pffi-; cial control of both trustees arid commissioners, by the appointment of what is termed an Accountant in; Bankruptcy. The. various 1 chapters; into '.which the pamphlet are divided explain and illustrate how, by, means of. the machinery provided, bankrupt, estates are managed. .

: It appears that the select commit-, tee of the House of Commons, to which; reference has already-been made, recommend the abolition of the law of imprisonment for debt. They say, " that imprisonment of debtors at the "suit of the subject;to compel the " payment of/money under anyjudg- " .ment, decree, or. order of anpeouri "should be. abolished.". Thia.recom-. mendation, as Mr Esson remarks, is of great social and: public interest, and it is matter of serious inquiry whethier it is well founded; and ought;tb>be ; adopted. There is no. doubt, that' the tendency of modern .legislation is to temper the severity, df.the. laws passed; in an earlier; and less' enlightened age;; and the resolution, arrived '.at by the' select committee may fairly he cited; as an instance of this spirit. But it would require a great, deal of evidence to establish the propriety, of annulling;; a' law of this character. Mr Esson; says, in connection with the subject " It is generally., admitted that the " system of credit which prevails in.; " Scotland has added materially.to the " prosperity of the country, ■Large.' : " sums are advanced by batiks mi " other money-lending companies, ex-: ■' clusively oni the personal obligations " of the borrowers and their sureties, " and credit is.-given: among all classes: "of the community to the general, "advantage. It is believed that the " maintenance of this system of credit " has,been fostered by the laws of the " country, which. regulate the rela- ; " tions between debtor and creditor,, "and in no small degree by the law "of imprisonment for Mr Essson has gone to soine trouble before arriving at a conclusion bri ; the subject, but his. mind is made Up and. he speaks distinctly against the abolition of the law. "So far at least " as Scotland is ■concerned", he saiys, " no grounds exist sufficient/to ■justify "the abolition : of the law; on the. "contrary its abolition would give a " shock: to the whole system of credit, " and derange, the relations between. " debtor and creditor which have sub) " sisted for many centuries to the aatis:. " faction of the Community generally. ■' With regard to its abolition in England Mr Esson is of opinion that the presen't is not the proper time to try the experiment, seeing that the bankruptcy law is in a state of transition and undergoing amendment;. "Were the law firmly established and working well, it might then be possible with greater safety to effect such a fundamental change. . The next, chapter in Mr Esson's ■ pamphlet relates to the persons whose estates are subject :to ,the, operation of the bankruptcy laws. Into: this we need not enter further than by remarking that ..Mr Esson endeavours to .. shew that, it is: possible : to have a bankruptcy law.ivhich.iß. capable of reaching .bankrupts and.insolvents of all degrees, and classes, :and which shall at the same time contain; a workable provision by which .poor, insolvents may be released;from ; prison oh certain, conditions without,, haying the form gone through ~of :■ applying to them the comparatively expensive/process of.adjudicatjomof bankruptcy. V

: In the third 'section- of his' tractate Mr Essdn deals' with;thejeourts of ;adjudicatioh in bankruptcy and tMr explaining very clearly what the former are and tracing: the'procedure, of.the latter with, great .precision and distinctness. IJnder this head vve may quote the. resolutions adopted, by.: the ; select committee in England on. the .subject; of jusisdiction in They are asfollows:—"That adjudicatioaitt

."bankruptcy should he made by. a '"court in the metropolis or by a ■'county court." "That there should "be established a court of bank"ruptcy in the metropolis; and that "the Judges of the superior courts of " equity and common law should sit "as Judges in that court." "That "there should he an appeal to the "court of bankruptcy from all orders ."of a couuty court, or of a single :" Judge in the metropolis, relating to "matters above the value of £2O; and "from all other orders when the "court or Judge shall allow "a, special case for appeal." " That "the present metropolitan and dis- " trict courts of bankruptcy should "be abolished as soon as practicable." Mr.. Esson points out in what respects these resolutions agree with, and in what they differ from the Scotch practice, and offers same valuable sugr gestions whereby the benefits of the two systems may be combined. It is not necessary, even if we could afford the space, to follow Mr. Esson the remaining portions of his pamphlet. Enough has been done to ;recOmmend it to those for whose use .more particularly it is designed, and ;itp secure for it the consideration to iwhich its own solid merits entitle it. Although Mr Esson's pamphlet is, of course, written primarily for a certain class his language is so clear and simple, and so devoid of technicalities that the general reader cannot fail to understand the explanations which he gives, the comparisons he institutes, or the recommendations he makes.