The Daily Southern Cross.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIII, Issue 3119, 16 July 1867, Page 3

The Daily Southern Cross.

LTJOBO, NON TIRO. If I hart ben •xtlngaiihta. yet tli«w tim A thOTumd beaconi from the ipuk I boit.

TUESDAY, JULY 16.

We have sometimes pondered as to what was the real intent of those jurists who derised, , from time to time, the laws of England, with their subtleties, their prolixities, and their costliness. If the sound principles of the social rights and obligations of the community were once agreed upon, surely then the next duty of the lawgiver was to give them effect in the most direct and simple mode. The law of England is oertainly not so cumbrous a system of jurisprudence as it used to be, thanks to the improvements that have been made in the law of real property, the law of marriage, the law of evidence, the criminal law, and the law concerning probates and administration, and the improvements that have been introduced in the practice of the Courts of Common Law. The law of bankruptcy remains, however, a standing grievance. In our issue of the 31st May last, we suggested several improvements in this branch of legislation.. We pointed out the en.ds, the attainment of which is sought by all modern bankruptcy law, th,e protection of the unfortunate, but honest debtor, and the security of the creditors of an insolvent from injustice and fraud. Regarding the subject from a creditor's point of view, there are two objects which should be attained by all bankruptcy laws— lst, the economical realization of the funds of a bankrupt; 2nd, their fair and equal application, to as great an amount as possible, to the payment of his debts. Have those ends been compassed by the bankruptcy law of New .Zealand? Is it, or is it not, the case that the estate of a debtor, nominally and morally the property of his creditors, is almost confiscated in the course of carrying it through 'the Bankruptcy Court? Can any bankruptcy law be of the least' value which does not reduce these costs, and which does not proportionately enhance the dividend accrujing to the creditors? Has our law the i effect of advancing the interests of unfortunate creditors, or does it only benefit the fortunate lawyers and officials, who seem to thrive on the spoil ? Do the Inspectors m Bankruptcy, whose fees are a heavy charge 6n the estates which come under their paternal supervision, advance in any way the interests of the creditors ? Are not ihese officials, quasi judicial personages as they are, an encumbrance and a nuisance ? Is] it, or is it not, the fact that in many instances the Inspectors in Bankruptcy are themselves assignees of insolvent estates, and so the overseers, censors, and auditors of their own acts, conduct, and expenditure ? Is it, or is not, the case that iii consequence of the extreme and wellfpunded dislike which both debtors and creditors have to the Bankruptcy Court, a species of private bankruptcy has been frequently had recourse to, by means of deeds of composition, inspection, and of trust ? And, lastly, is it not also true that this species of private bankruptcy, though possessing some advantages, has been the medium by which many persons have perpetrated some very gross and scandalous frauds in this colony ? There is no need for us to reply to these questions. There are hundreds of our fellow-citizens who can answer tliem only too readily. The bankruptcy law of England may be bad ; but the bankruptcy law of New Zealand is infinitely worse. The bankruptcy law of New Zealand is as bad as bad can be ; and we did not say too much when, in our issue of the 31st of' May, we 1 declared that it was a monument to the imbecility of our legislators. The Attorney-G-eneral of England has just introduced into the House of Commons a measure for the reform of the law of bankruptcy. The main features of his scheme are such as should, we think, cojnmend it to the cordial acceptance of commercial men. In a remarkable degree, it appears to unite simplicity with economy ;— -to provide for the relief of the honest and Unfortunate, and to interpose difficulties in the way of the knavish and unprincipled. Unlike most plans of the kind it creates no new places, and it burdens the country with no additional compensations. The salient points of the Attorney-General's bill are— his proposition to abolish imprisonment for debt, and the agency by which he suggests that, the estate should be collected

and divided. With regard to the first of these points, the Times says, (and it is an opinion whioh, in substance, we have often heard Sir George Arney promulgate from the Bench,), that there are only two reasons why Courts or creditors should be troubled with the affairs of a debtor. The one is to preserve his person from imprisonment ; the other to preserve his estate from loss, mismanagement, or unfair distribution. "Where there is no estate, as is almost uniformly the case with insolvents who are not traders, and no imprisonment, there is no occasion for anybody to trouble himself about the debtor. Subsequently, the Times goes on to say (and we ourselves entirely agree with the sentiments expressed by it) :— " We regret, however, to see that the "Attorney-General proposes to retain im- " prisonment for debt in cases of fraud, or u other outrage, as he expresses it. This seems "to us to spring 'from a confusion of ideas. " When we have got rid of the idea of taking " a man's body in satisfaction of his debt, we " have no pretext for taking him as a debtor "at all. Imprisonment for fraud should be " the result of criminal prosecution, and not "under an obsolete and barbarous process, "which considered that the creditor was satis"fied by taking a man's body for his debt, "just in the same way as he was satisfied by "taking his goods." In the second place, the English Attorney-G-eneral suggests that the proper persons to collect and manage the estate belonging to the creditors are the creditors themselves, acting by a professional agent, appointed and paid by them on each separate occasion, and thus having the strongest interest to acquit himself creditably and satisfactorily to his employers. The Attorney-G-eneral thinks, and we agree with him, that the Bankruptcy Court, though a good means of inquiring into the conduct of the bankrupt, would be an expensive and inefficient administrator of his estate. Surely the members of the G-eneral Assembly could contrive to afford themselves leisure, during this ensuing session, to devote a small portion of their time to this important matter. We are perfectly well aware that the subject is a dry one, and that the discussion of' it is not likely to be nearly so entrancing a performance as the discussion of curious wines and other liquors at Bellamy's. Our bankruptcy law is, however, so important a branch of legislation, and one that cries so loudly for amendment, that we are sure any member of the General Assembly who would condescend to turn his attention seriously to improving it, would merit and receive the thanks of the colony. Surely, with the bill of the English Attorney- General before his eyes, as a scaffolding whereon to build, it ought not to be so difficult a task for one of our New Zealand lawyers, if he availed himself of the aid of sound commerial advice, to draft a Bankruptcy Act, which would consolidate the various Insolvent Acts now in existence, and contain a body of law, concise, intelligible, workable, economical, and just. _

A meeting of the shareholders in the Devonport Public Hall Company was held at the Masonic Hotel, North Shore, yesterday. A site was selected for the Hall on a piece of land belonging to Mr. Duder, near Mr. Beddoea's ship-building yard. A meeting will be held next Monday, at which directors will be appointed. We are informed that it is the intention of Government to make the necessary provision for the distribution of rationa to the destitute poor of Howick, Panmure, and Otahuhu, at thosa settlements, in lieu of in Auckland, as heretofore. There was a Bitting of the District Court yesterday, h\ which judgment was given in several cases heard on previous d*ys. The only two cases set down for hewing were Fugate v. Smith and Moffifc v. Kean, both of which were adjourned till next Court-day. There were only a few trifling charges before the Police Court yesterday. A charge of larceny against a man named Galbraith was ordered to stand over till to-day, in order to make inquiries into the truth : a statement made by the prisoner. Information was furnished to the Police office, yesterday, to the effect that a person named Joseph 7 urner, late of the 58th Regiment, had left Big Muddy Creek, on Sunday, the 7th mst., for the tfae purpose of proceeding to Onehunga ; but beyond learning the fact of his having had dinner at Mr. Fierce'!, of Little Muddy Creek, nothing had since been heard of him. Turner is thus described :— Age, about 40 ; dark brown hair, and dark eyea j dressed in dark monkey jacket, white moleskin trousers, and white wide-awake hat. A lecture will be delivered this evening, at halfpast seven o'clock, at the Phrenological Hall, on the subject " The Life of Kobert Burns." The annual Boiree of the Catholic Institute, Wellington-street, will be held this evening, tea being placed on the tables at half-past six o'clock. Arrangements have been made for the delivery of a number of addresses and recitations, and for the performance of a choice selection of music The new General Post-office in Melbourne, which has been so many years in course of building, has at length been brought nearly to completion, and was to have been opened on the 2nd instant. The revision of the tariff and the system of taxation are so intimately connected that they cannot be separated. It was very fully understood last session that the obnoxious stamp tax was only to be tolerated because it would lead to a reduction of the tariff. In that direction any revision musb take place, and especially in respect to the necessaries of life. An indirect promise to this effect was given by the Treasurer last year, and the country has a right to expect him to keep that promise.— Wellington Advertiser. From the French papers it would appear that his Imperial Majesty's frigates, the 'W and the 'Sybille,' are about to convey forgats from Toulon to New Caledonia. It is stated that the 'Isis' will come out to this part of the world with 150 convicts, and the • Sybille' with 200. Afire has occurred at Sydnoy in the premises of Messrs. Thompson and Giles. The stock, consisting of clothing and drapery, * as d e3 troyed. ™ c damage is estimated at between £5,000 and £10,000. A person named Robert A. Browne waß taken into custody last evening by Sergeant Murpby, on the ground of lunacy, and as undt to be at large. A meeting of the parishioners of All Saints' Church' is advertised to take place this evening, at 7 o clock, in the church, when a statement of accounts and other important matters will be laid before the meeting. The World Circus was largely attended last evening, to witness the new and effective spectacle | of " The Battle of Waterloo," in the representation of which the Volunteers and the Drum and Fife Band give their services. The entertainment will be repeated this evening, and to-morrow evening a prize will be given for the best original conundrum £urnuhed by the audience. We don't want Imperial troops at all, because, should another war break out, they are not adapted for the particulw kind of fighting required m the bush when dealing with Maoris. As a garrison force for the towns, the troops would be more ornamental than useful. What the colony requires is a small well-disciplined force of picked men trained to move quickly, and accustomed to Maon tactics. Such men can readily be found, because we have had them already under Yon Tempsky, McDonnell, Biggs, and Httssev; and, should the occasion ariae, we could get sonic of them again. At all events the colonists Ho'not want the Imperial troops, and they will not pay for them. As to spending £50,000 a year on the natives, we will not spend a single shilling that we can possibly help. If Sir George Grey chooses to locnte a regiment at Taupo, he c^n do so, but the colony is not bound to spend money og the natives, because he does what they cannot prevent. As a matter of .opinion, we think it highly probable that the presence of a regiment in the heart of Maondom would exasperate , the, natives, and end in a renewal, ofliosmitieS.— Wellington Independent.

The Provincial Council of Canterbury has been occupied mainly tbrou jhout the week }a d^Qussing, in one form or other, tfje estimated revenue and expenditure. On Tuesday night the House went into Committee of Ways and Means, when Mr. Stewart delivered a supplementary budget speech. In its main features it does not differ much from the statement formerly made by him. Mr. Travers made a long speeoh in committee, impugning the estimated revenue, more particularly as regards land sales and Customs. The result of the debute in Ways and Means, sofar as the estimates are concerned, may be very briefly stated. The estimated revenue from land sales for the nine months ending March 31, 1868, wasrednoed from £110,000 to £94,000. No other deductions were nude. The revenue to be derived from the Timaru landing service was increased from £1,500 to £3,000. It will be «een, from the very fullreport which' we give in our pages, that the Council has been principally engaged in Committee of Supply.— Lyttelton Times, July 6. The following remarks on the bankruptcy law were made by Mr. Macfarlan, the member for Lyttelton, in an, address to his constituents :—: — " Witt, respect to the bankruptcy law, he knew something of the practical working of this law, land he was sure, from his own experience, that a more miserable failure in the way of law-making never existed. Only that morning, his partner, in applying for an allowance in a case in which he was concerned, was told by the Judge that he and his brother Judges had come to the conclusion that thei law was utterly unworkable. The law had been tinkered up several times, and he thought that the last amendment had made it worse than it was before. He considered that imprisonment for debt ought to be abolished, as a relic of barbarism; cases of fraud ought to be investigated by the Inspector in Bankruptcy, and dealt with as a criminal offence in the Supreme Court. The fees ought also to be reduced, and the whole of the machinery simplified. If elected, he should be glad to give his beat assistance towards drafting a fair and equitable bankruptcy law." The Wairoa correspondent of the Hawkers Say Herald writes!— " There is one thing worthy of notice ; that is, the admirable working of the Resident Magistrate's Court with the Maoris in this distriot. It really is extremely gratifying to see the unanimity that exists among them in furthering the ends of justice in every case where they are concerned. The cutter 'Grayling,' which left here a few days ago, took from this place three natives who are committed to the Napier gaol for larceny. One of the culprits is a rather notorious character, a late Hauhau, -who, from the fact of his haying been a *tohunga or native priest, had acquired a good deal of influence amongst them, — professing to cure all diseases, and being,- in fact, a 'wise man.' He had been guilty of purloining a large piece of greenstone from some of his own people, and, being in dread of apprehension, absconded to Nukutaurua (a place about forty milea down the coast eastward). An information was laid before the Eesident Magistrate, and a policeman was sent at once to take the vagabond into custody, with instructions, I believe, to follow Tiim up to Turanga if necessary. He waa, however, found at Nukutaurua, and quietly brought ,back a prisoner, much to Us disgust and very much to the gratification of the other natives, who were unanimous in their opinion in the matter, which was ' kai toa,' served him right. I have merely related this little circumstance to show that, whatever might have been said or done in the olden times, we cannot complain that justice is not now administered alike to both races, without fear, favour, or affection." Messrs. C. Arthur and Son will offer for sale, by public auction, to-day, at 12 o'clock, at the stores of Mr. M. Somerrille, Queen-street, oats, candles, sugar, pork, chicory, pickles, coffee, sherry wine, &c. Mr. Henry Ridings will sell to-day, by order of the consignee, at 12 o'clock, at Mr. Beaton's briokyard, near Cox's Ceeek, pug mills, bricks, tanks, furniture, horses, carts, harness, &c, &c. Messrs. S. Cochrane and Son will positively sell today, at 11 o'clock, at their Land Matt, Fort-street, the Greenwich Park estate and hotel. Mr. C. Stichbury has received instructions to sell to-day, at 11 o'clock, at the Red Star, the stock of drapery, haberdashery, hats, caps, &o. Mr L. W. Eaton advertises that he will sell by auction, to-day, at 11 o'olocte, at the stores of Messrs. Eaton and Dewolf, apples, jums, onions, potatoes, bacon, butter, &c. Messrs. Bright and Co. have received instructions to sell to-day, at 11 o'clock, at their mart, a large assortment of drapery goods, in lots suitable for families, hotel-keepers, and storekeepers. Mr. Alfred Buckland announces'thathewillsellto" day, by public auction, at 12 o'clock, at Macky's timber wharf, Otahuhu, about 15,000 feet timber ; also, at 2 o'cleok, at the Triangle, 100 long-woolled wether hoggets.