The Dunstan Times. CLYDE: FRIDAY, NOV. 19, 1897.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1843, 19 November 1897, Page 4

The Dunstan Times. CLYDE: FRIDAY, NOV. 19, 1897.

It would be interesting to know exactly why the Ministry should have bethought debts recovery them to introlimitation act, duce this extras iso?, ordinary mea* sure: It is one that, instead of benefiting, would injure both sellers and buyers, storekeepers and public; would lead to continuous litigation; and would result in much injustice. As the present Ministry is apparently unable to get an Attorney-General fit for his position, the Cabinet has to proceed as best it can with the assist* ance of the paid law draughtsmen of the Crown, and it is thus no wonder that it often stumbles into strange measures, which probably no Minister understands, and which in truth no Minister desires to pass. This characteristic Bill provides, first, that all actions must be brought within two years of the cause of action arising ; and, in the second place, that no debt in respect of goods sold and delivered shall be recovered unless the price of the goods exceeds £2O. It would appear as though the Bill were intended to prevent poor men getting credit altogether. The clumsy methods of the proposed law can bnly provoke laughter. The tradesman to protect himself would have to go cn giving credit up to £2O to be enabled to sue, or else would make over his debt to another, so that the joint debts would amount to the prescribed amount. Again, the giving of tin e to miners or farmers who have had a bad season would become altogether impossible. The storekeeper under this ridiculous law would have to see th ,j t he sued within two'yejars. prhe would lose his money, unless the debt were kept alive by some of the other methods under the Statute of Limitations. Thfs P5f.1l is only a sample of many other ridiculous proposals which in the past ftaye been getting introduced into the Lower fJowsp. Until this session the Upper Housoi however, has been always relied on to throw out these crude and most undesirable Bills. A great change in the L>per Bouse, however, has taken place in recem years. Within the lass five yews the (jeverameat

has appointed to it no less than nineteen members, many of them unknown nonentities or politicians defeated at the polls, and men quite unfit for the work of a revising chamber. The Bill we refer to—‘The Debts Recovery Limitation Bill—was introduced into the Upper House by the Hon. W. C. Walker, and when it came up for its second reading it was carried by 15 to 14. Later on the 1 Statutes Revision Committee reported against the Bill, but the House refused to accept the res port. When the House went into committee, however, the minority rallied, and a motion that the chairman leave the chair was carried by 17 to 14. This strangled the bill. Thus ended lor 1897 the history of this strange measure. Several things, however, have been made manifest by the facts we have related. One is that there seems no limit, to the legislative thirst of the promoters of Undesirable Bills. Another is that there is now very little to protect the country against the imposition of unjust or dishonest laws which no one wants. The Upper House has been stuffed with nominees, but is probably weaker now than ever before in the history of the Colony, it is comforting to know that although it passed the second reading, members are able to prevent a bantling like this proceeding so far as to become law; but had a little pretended enthusiasm for the Bill been worked up by just a few interested parties, it is easy to understand that our tradesmen; merchants, and miners might have suddenly wakened up at the end of this session to find that a law had been slipped through, which entirely altered their rights, and took away their right of either giving or getting credit.