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    yo.^38, Atjgust 14, 1858,] _Tff E X, E A...

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    Tub Meteokological. Department op the Bo...

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    Legislation.—Cheques Alst) Companies. Th...

    dutwflr however , on other Bpeeies-of commercial paper cheques were recognised as payable to bearer , and th « ri tbe crossing making the cheque , virtually payable to a particular person , was in opposition to legal technicalities When tbe Government put a tax on drafts payable to order , the opposition to the law assumed the appearance of an . evasion of a tax ; and an occasion arising for an appeal to the courts , they ruled that the payment of a cheque drawn to bearer could not be restricted by a crossing to a particular person . Tims , a little unthinking legislation , not So intended , and the ruling of the courts of law , more attached to legal quiddities than useful practises , deprived the cheque of some of the qualities for which it had been invented and for which it was prized .

    It could not be borne that the law should unintentionally destroy such a useful instrument , and an act was hastily passed mconformity with the practice , requiring a banker , on whom a cheque -was drawn and crossed only , to pay it to some other banker . But this law begot a new legal difficulty . As long as the bankers bad only to deal -with their clients tbe two could and did , practically and mutually , make snitable regulations for their own business ; but under this law , a cheque was stolen , the crossing was effaced , the hanker paid it ,

    and was sued for paying a crossed cheque otherwise than through a banker , though the crossing was not perceptible . Another alteration of the law thus made injurious to bankers became necessar } -, and in the late session the Attorney-General introduced a bill , making the crossing of a cheque , wlien issued , a material part of the document , and requiring the banker on whom it is drawn only to pay it to the banker to whom it is crossed , or to o banker if the crossing be not specific arid only to " and—— " ¦ ¦¦ ¦ . . ; ¦

    The legal meaning of the word issued necessarily limits the power of crossing to the drawer . It is im ~ pliedly done before being issued , which again deprives the cheque of some of its useful properties by preventing any one who receives an uncrossed cheque from crossing it . To meet this difficulty tho law further enacts that any lawful possessor of an uncrossed cheque may cross it , and the banker on whom it is drawn must not pay it except to the banker with whose name it is crossed . The law makes it a , felony to obliterate or alter that crossing witli the intent to defraud . To tins part of the act ' tlie' bankers objected while it was yet in the condition of a bill , as giving to the casual holder of

    a cheque , " with , whom the banker has no privity , " the same poorer of crossing it as the drawer has who is connected with him ; and the bankers got a clause inserted , exonerating them from responsibility for the payment of any cheque which on being presented does not plainly appear to be or to have been crossed , unless lie acts with negligence or malajide . So the law , as passed in tlie late session , now stands ; it docs not settle the practice , and it leaves the questions doubtful—What is to be considered negligence on the part of the banker ? and whether he be not bound , as he has the cheques fabricated , to take all kinds of precautions to make it impossible to obliterate or alter a crossing ?

    The distinction between want the banker , in prosecuting his business , may find out nnd do to secure himself against damage from any perversion whatever of the great inducement of his business , is very different from what the law can effect , which is necessarily ignorant of the banker ' s power of invention , lie may be safely trusted to take care of himself , and so may his clients , while the law '¦ which attempts to prescribe his practices can only do mischief , as it has alrendv done whenever it

    has interfered -with them . "We learn , too , from a letter published in the Times , which we can have no hesitation in ascribing to a high authority in LiOmbard-street , that tho law , as now existing , so interferes with practises that H must bo violated . It requires that a cheque crossed to a particular banker shall bo paid onl y to him , so that cheques on a London bunker crossed to a country banker , which arc numerous , cannot bo paid to his London agent ; not but it is tlie practice to pay them , and , in violation of the law , this practice must ba continued .

    The third act concerns joint-stock banking companies , ¦ which were expressly excluded by the " Limited Liability Act" from its provisions , and which may now be included in them on fulfilling certain conditions . Banks issuing notes arc still excluded , and subjected , in respect to sucli issue , to unlimited liability ; for lho whole amount of tho issue , in addition to tho sum for which they would bo liable as shareholders of a limited company registration , must bo eiiected in the terms of the act , and heavy penalties nro imposed on each director of a bank for neglecting to place in tho registered bffico of the company , and correct it twice a year , a statement

    of the number of shareholders , tho liabilities of tho bank , the number of deposits , and nil tlie particulars cf its condition . Such complicated nnd onerous regulations impede enterprise without promoting honesty . They only Btimulate ingonuity to evmle them . Wo arc unablu to understand why persons should not bo as completely at liberty to form joint-stock banking companies aa engage innny other of the multifarious enterprises -which are necessary to feed , clothe , nnd lodga society ; ami wo are every session of Parliament niado thoroughly awaro that all the legislation hitherto attempted on this subject from 182 G to 185 H lias teen unsuccessful . It perpetuall y requires revision , and tho object proposed—n

    satisfactory system of bankings-is never attained . In fact , no part of the essential business of society seems more imperfect and more unsatisfactory , as compared to cotton-spinning or iron-smelting , than banking , which here and abroad has been the special object of legislative care . After much experience to the contrary , it seems still to be supposed that legislation and paternal prosperity are identical , and that it is only necessary to make laws for trade to keep it healthy and ensure its success . The reverse is the truth . Ever since 1822 , when the removal of commercial ' restrictions -was begun , we have gone on removing them one after another with unvarving and unhoped for success , and , nevertheless , every " year like the last . New regulations are made and new restrictions are imposed on trade , as if it would perish were it not hourly taken care of hy Parliament . The Attorney-General , the Solicitor-General , and other professional bill drawers , imagine themselves infinitely wiser than our greatest statesmen . They acknowledge the failure of their predecessors , and propose to remove restrictions from the statute-book because they have become absolute nuisances . Nevertheless , with something like infatuation , they persist year after j-ear in encumbering commerce with new restrictions . It seems to quiet observers as if the professional framers of laws felt themselves affronted by society prospering as restrictions have been removed , and bound to take every opportunity of revenging themselves hy hastily malting new ones whenever some petty evil induces fretful impatient people to demand or to bear them . Or it may be that their professional importance is threatened by society prosperingin spite of them , and they labour continually to keep it within their thrall . As in tlie case of crossed cheques , no sooner is some little evil experienced , though it be caused by their interference with the natural course of trade , than they set to ^ work to correct , and are sure to increase , the evil . Cheques are naturally the instruments of the banker ' s business , as ploughs are of the farmer ' s and axes of the carpenter ' s , and it is for those who us . e them- —bankers and their clients—to settle between them the conditions on which they shall or can be used . For their convenience they are issued crossed or uncrossed , and it is for them to determine how they shall be dealt with . The whole of the plague experienced on this subject during the last two years has clearly been caused by professional bill framers undertaking to direct bankers and their clients how they are to manage their own instruments . When disputes arise , and an appeal to the courts is made , the courts ought to ascertain the practice of bankers and their clients , and judge accordingly , not prescribe the practice . But this humble usefulness does not satisfy tlie lofty aspirations of attorney-generals , judges , and legislators , and they continually cause an immense deal of evil by prescribing regulations for a growing business of which they know nothing . They are ambitious to do good ; hut in making laws for particular branches of business , they do mischief . Commerce is regulated by its own laws , and it is a part of our duty , as free-trade journalists , to remonstrate against all ignorant interference . with them .

    Yo.^38, Atjgust 14, 1858,] _Tff E X, E A...

    yo . ^ 38 , Atjgust 14 , 1858 , ] _ Tff E X , E A J > E B . 821

    Tub Meteokological. Department Op The Bo...

    Tub Meteokological . Department op the Board ok Tkaoe . —A report from the meteorological officer of this department of the Government , Mr . R . Fitzroy , vas published on Friday week . It is dated the 22 nd of June , 1858 . It states that better wind and current charts , for all parts of tlie world , for each month of the year , and for considerably smaller spaces of ocean , are much required . Much information lias been recently collected from various seas , from many foreign stations on land , and from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans . By very numerous trials tlie specific gravity of nearly nil the oceanic surface has been ascertained , nnd it is believed that these results -will render further observations of the kind unnecessary , except in peculiar and limited localities , for some special object . Distilled water being taken as l'OOO , the specific gravity of oceanic water is found to be nearly 1 * 027 . Tho lowest temperature

    hitherto recorded ( between 2 " 300 and 2 'oOQ fathoms below the surface ) has been 35 dcg . in tho North Atlantic , South Atlantic , and Indian ocean ** , and 8 G deg . the highest temperature anywhere at sea cm the surface . The total pressure of the bsirometer varies so little throughout the year within certain limits of latitude near the equator , or rather at about 5 deg . of north latitude in tho Atlantic , that ( allowing forth © six-hourly change ) any ship crossing that part of tho sea may actually compare her barometer with a natural stiinclard , invariable within those email limits of 2-100 tha to S-lOOtha of an inch . Hygrometric inquiries nro steadily , though slowly , proceed ing . Magnetism has not occupied much thought , because it is zealously attended to in other departments of tho Government . The report rather gives a general idea of what is being ; done titan tho actual results of the labours of tho department . —Times ,

    IIicai / th ov London . —Twclvo hundred deaths were registered in London in tho week ending Saturday , August thoTtlu In tlio ten years 1848-57 , the nverngo number of deaths in corresponding weeks was 1172 ; but an tho deaths now returned occurred in n population which has annually increased , they can only bo cotnpured vith the average al ' tor tho latter is raided in

    proportion to the increase , a correction -which -will make ie 1289 . It is necessary , hovrever , to remark that the series of weeks from which the average is drawn comprises two weeks—viz . one in 1849 , another in 1854 , when the cholera was epidemic and caused excessive mortality : and if the comparison is made only with seasons not so distinguished , it will appear that the mortality of last week was not low , but rather exceeded the average . It is satisfactory to observe that the deaths from diarrhoea , which had risen from 127 to 168 in the last week of July , declined again last week to 130 . The corrected average for ten corresponding weeks is 172 ; and , in . the first week of August last year , the number from this complaint rose to 258 . Fifteen deaths

    were reported m the previous return from cholera ; the number now returned is only 5 , two of which arc those of adults , a brewer who died from " ^ English cholera" in Berrnondsey , and a labourer in Woolwich Arsenal , who died of cholera after a few hours' illness . Scarlatina appears to be increasing ; tlie deaths from it in tlie last three weeks were 58 , 7 S , and 86 . Mr . Simpson , the Registrar of St . Giles's North , registered 5 deaths from scarlatina last week ; he states that it is much on the increase in his sub-district , and mentions a house ( 25 , High-street ) -where three fatal cases of the disease havo occurred within a week . —Last week , the births of 795 boys and 758 girls , in all 1-553 children , were registered in London . In the ten corresponding weeks of tho j-oars 1848-57 , the average number was 1505 . —From ( ha Regsitrar-GeneraVs WeeJdy Return .

    Modern Legislation . —A new act is scarcely passed before it becomes necessary to pass another either to explain or amend it . The mass of useless legislation that is thus accumulated is a standing discredit to tlie legal ability which is presumed to be called into operation before an act becomes law . Here we have two amendment acts , on two acts that have hardly come yet fairly into operation . ' The New Divorce Act . —The Act to amend ' . the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act of last se-ssion is nrinted . In the new statute there . ire 23 sections . Thi > printea . in ine new statute there are 23 sections . The

    Judge Ordinary may sit in chambers , and the Treasury is to provide proper chambers . The registrars are to do all acts heretofore done by surrogates . The evidence on which a divorce has been obtained prior to the new Jawmay be used ^ in support of ? a petition under the new law . Some alterations are made with respect to wives . It is provided that wives deserted by their : husbands may apply to the judge for an order to protect property acquired by them with additional powers . The provisions respecting property of a wife are to extend to property vested in her as executrix , & c . The order of protection is to state the time when the desertion occurred-

    Corporations are indemnified for making payments under orders afterwards reversed- The following provision has reference to a -well-known cause , which has been adjourned : — " In all cases now pending , or hereafter to be commenced , in which , on the petition of a husband for a divorce , the alleged adulterer is made a co-respoiirtcnt , or in which , on the petition of . a ' -wife , the person with whom the husband is alleged to have committed adultery is made a respondent , it shall be lawful for the Court , after the close of the evidence on tbe part of the

    petitioner , to direct such co-respondent or respondent to be dismissed from the suit if it shall think there is not suilicient evidence against him or her . " Persons who administer oaths under the 20 th and 21 st of Victoria , cap . 77 , are to administer oaths under the 20 th and 21 st of Victoria , cap . 85 . The bills of proctors and attorneys are to be subject to taxation , and power is given to enforce a decree for costs . Affidavits may now be sworn before different persons . It is declared to be felony for any person to forgo the seal or signature to any document of the Court . The New Probate Act . —The Act to amend tho Probate and Letters of Administration Act of last scs - sion has been issued . There are 38 sections in tlie new statute . The Judge of tbe High Court of Admiralty and the Judge of tho Court of Probate may now sit for

    ench other . Serjeants nnd barristers " shall be entitled from and after the passing of this Act to practise in all causes nnd matters whatsoever in the Court of Trobnte . " The Judge may sit in chambers , and proper chambers aro to be provided . An additional registrar maybe appointed . Articled clerks may be admitted proctors in tho court . Tlie Act provides that -where the personalty is under 2 Q 01 . tho County Courts are to have jurisdiction . All nou contentious business depending in any Ecclesin & lical Court at the time -when tlie Probate Act came into operation is to be transferred . There are clauses with reapect to affidavits aud the duties of executors , as also a provision for the absence of any of the officers of tho court . The Judge of tho court is to have and excrcino over proctors , solicitors , and attorneys practising in tho court , the liko authority and control as are now exercised

    by the judges of any court of equity or common law over persons practising therein . Further , there id n provision in tho Act for the expenses of Indexing , «& c \ , documents required to bo removed under requisition . The present Act ia to bo cited as " Tho Court of Prol . alo Act , 1858 , " nnd the former Act , now amended , as " Tim Court of Probate Act , 1857 . " Tlio Hcnior registrar is to havo 1600 / ., the second 1400 / ., tlie third , 1200 . ' ., »»< l Uio fourth , 1000 / . a year .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 14, 1858, page 29, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14081858/page/29/