THE Wellington Independent. " Nothing extenuate; Nor set down aught in malice." SATURDAY MORNING, 23rd MAY. THE DEBTORS AND CREDITORS ACT.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 1872, 23 May 1863, Page 2

THE Wellington Independent. " Nothing extenuate ; Nor set down aught in malice." SATURDAY MORNING, 23rd MAY. THE DEBTORS AND CREDITORS ACT.

A good deal of interest bas been evinced by the commercial community of the south, relative to the Debtors and Creditors Act, and a strong desire recently expressed that it should become law. We observe by a Government Gazette, of May 6tb, that his Excellency has issued the necessary proclamatioa in virtue of which the Act will come into operation on and after the lst of June, 1863. The rules of preceedure, lately agreed upon at a conference of theJndges, have also been published, but they do not seem to alter the act itself materially, Tbeir chief provisions are as foUows, viz. : —That all proceedings under the Act, for which no specific provision is made to the contrary, shall be subject to tbe general rules of the Supreme Court- Creditors under £10 shall not be allowed to vote at the meetings. All creditors wishing to vote must prove tbeir debts by affidavit, and no resolution can be adopted at any of the meetings, unless the same shall have been carried by the votes of onefourth in number or value of the creditors, who shall have so proved tbeir debts. The number of votes to be assigned to, aud exercised by each creditor shall be according to the following scale: — In respect of a proved claim, Exceeding £10, and not amounting to £50,1 vote Amounting to £50, " £100,2 votes « £100, •« £200, 3 votes " £200, four votes, • and so on, al the rate of one additional vote for every complete sum of £100 over and above the first £100: Provided that no creditor shall be entitled to more than twelve votes in the whole. No creditors having a mortgage or lease on any property ofthe debtor, will be entitled to vote vor take any part in the sequestration proceedings, unless such lease, mortgage, or security is given up for the general benefit of the other creditors. The fees for the various proceedings are to be the same as those charged in tbe Supreme Court for proceedings of a similar cha- j racier. The filing of a. petition for sequestra- j tion is to cost £1. i We bave on a previous occasion fully alluded to the provisions of this Act, which though passed some eight months ago, is now after repeated delays at last to come into operation, in almost a s crude and imperfect a shape as ever. From certain grave defects in tbe Act itself, such as tbe unsatisfactory character of the provisions relative to the assignment of the estate and the fact that no special officials are appointed to ca rry it out, (except Besident Magistrates, Barristers aud Solicitors who may have power delegated to them, to exercise the functions and and jurisdiction of the Supreme Court,) we venture an opinion that it will be found to be useless in practice. It is surely time that the commercial community of New Zealand should turn tbeir attention to tbis important subject, and secure the construction of a sound and comprehensive code of bankruptcy law.