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    Kn. 4,09. January 23, 1858.j THE LBADE R...

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    THE ENGLISH VIEW OF THE FRENCH PLOT. Wjs...

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    Bankruptcy Reform. To Any Body Of Men So...

    was professedly created to check and punish . "With what dignity , weight , and authority , can a judge stand up and enlarge upon the virtues of careful expenditure , moderate , discounts , prudent credits , thoughtful provision for the interests of creditors , and all the rare but shining virtues of theoretical and moral trade , in a Court whose charges amount to the old usurious abomination of * sixty per cent . ?'

    When such utterances come from the mouth of a Commissioner , the buzz in and about the Court is a sign of the derision which such hollow virtue excites . A discourse upon honesty is all very well , but we do not take it kindly from men who fatten upon the sacking of bankrupt estates , and who may be merely grumbling that there are not more assets thrown down to be scrambled for . Why should a man—who is not restrained by any higher considerations than mere self-interest—rest contented with the slow profits of

    legitimate trade , when be can realize a large fortune in a few months by abusing his credit —that life-blood of commerce—and escaping with impunity because of the expensive , tardy , and uncertain operation of the Court of Bankruptcy ? How many creditors consent to take what we should call a judicious dividend , even when they see a palpable reservation of property on the part of the respectably fraudulent debtor , because the justice required to punish the robbery costs more than the robbery itself ? Nor should the high moralist , arguing upon abstract grounds , assert that trade will never be purified until the creditor class consent to sacrifices for the sake of

    making examples of the dishonest debtors . The creditor , while he is a creditor in relation to one man , is a debtor in relation to another , and his only duty is the seemingly narrow pne of making the most of a bad debt . He is hot the custodian and preserver of the morality of our national trade , and to ask him to make a sacrifice for the public good , is to ask him to do something that it is the function and duty of the State to perform . How well the State—with all its commissions of inquiry , blue-books , and acts of Parliament —performs that duty , the present condition of the Court of Bankruptcy will bear a melancholy witness . The gross amount which the Court absorbs in salaries , compensations , & c , according to the Beport of the Bankruptcy Commission , 1854 , is shown by this Summary Account , paid out of the Court fees : — Salaries , £ 59 , 759 15 9 Compensations 21 , 565 4 7 Retiring Annuities ... 2 , 900 0 0 Court and other expenses 4 , 4 0 Bank Remuneration ... 1 , 799 17 8 £ 90 , 891 2 0 To this we have to add the diminution of the value of assets under a forced sale , or a very low valuation under which the bankrupt , by the assistance of his friends , frequently becomes again the possessor of his forfeited property . Then come the various charges that depend upon ' per-centage . * First stands the Official Assignee , who claims 8 £ per cent . ; then the Messenger , who takes 6 per cent . ; then the Broker , who withdraws 5 per cent . ; and finally the Trade Assignee and Sundries , absorb another JL £ per cent . Then another _^_ ? Jja ! rSei _ Ji . risin out of the Court and its pecuTiar " organiztt € idn , isntlMrO'f"tl ie ~ Soli ' citor td the estate , who usually gets no less than 26 per cent . Then there are rent and taxes to be paid about 0 £ per cent ., and the bankrupt's allowance and wages , amounting to 4 £ per cent ., so that the balance remaining for the creditors by way of dividend after , all these payments and a considerable lapse of time is about 38 £ per cent , of the whole of the assets taken into , realized , and collected by the

    Of course , no Court can be worked without a certain expense , and it is a question whether much of this expense—such as the salaries of the commissioners , 10 , 000 / . per annum—should not , as in the case of the other law judges , be thrown upon the Consolidated Fund . The amount itself , wherever it may fall , is disgracefully out of proportion to the labour it procures . Close upon it comes an item for registrars of 5750 / ., flanked by a chief registrar with 1200 / . per annum , and supported by a staff of clerks who cost 1479 / . 15 s . 9 d . per annum . The ushers are put down at 830 / . ; a very moderate amount , when we look at the

    Court ! Is it to be wondered at that such a clumsy , expensive , and . tardy piece of legal machinery should have thrown to ifc to be torn to pieces no more than about eight hundred small estates of unreturned value during the whole year ? Is it to be wondered at that bankruptcies , when likely to be profitable to the Court , are regarded aa a godsend by the hungry officials ; and when small and unpromising are sent away , if possible , or taken up with unconcealed signs of disgust ?

    superfluous office of the accountant and his clerks , which inflicts an annual charge of 6710 / . Then there is the taxing master and clerks at 1650 / ., and all this for the dirty , insignificant Court in Basinghall-street . The country commissioners cost 21 , 600 / . ; the registrars , 9600 / . ; and the ushers , 940 / . Amongst the compensations , are the late London commissioners , 1000 / . ; the Clerk of the Hanaper ~ and other officers of the Lord Chancellor , 716 / . 19 s . lid . ; and that wonderful office of Patentee of Bankrupts , which costs each year 7352 / . 14 s . 6 d . ! The late country commissioners wind up this list with 12 , 495 / . 10 s . 2 d .

    Then there are retiring annuities , 2900 / . per annum ; Court and other expenses , rent of country courts , travelling , stationery , & c , 4366 / . 4 s . ; and a sum to the Bank ot England , paid each year as remuneration for keeping the banking account of the Court , 1799 / . 17 s . 8 d . These are some of the details of the expenses of this mercantile Court , which help to explain how it is that any trader who is not too greedy or imprudent to be unwilling or unable to offer five shillingswe say it again , exactly five shillings—in the pound may commit each and all of the crimes that are covered by the protecting shield of trade , and yet escape with impunity from a legal investigation .

    Kn. 4,09. January 23, 1858.J The Lbade R...

    Kn . 4 , 09 . January 23 , 1858 . j THE LBADE R . 85

    The English View Of The French Plot. Wjs...

    THE ENGLISH VIEW OF THE FRENCH PLOT . Wjs can readily understand why the "French Emperor will never learn to tolerate the English principle of asylum . To him it is dangerous and offensive . It affords to the unappeasable enemies of his throne a ground on which they can safely plan their operations . This , perhaps , is an evil ; but it is au evil inseparable from our laws and institutions . We should not onl y injure the exiles , but impair our oven political basis by expelling such refugees as may be named in the requisition of the French Minister . Every man , alien or subject , within the British realm is entitled to his liberty until lie commits an illegal act . In that case only one 'Course ~ is'open-to-the-authoritie 8 ir-rXhey-must indict him and procure his conviction by a jury . Otherwise , he ia independent of the Secretary of State , for , even it the Alien Act were brought into strict operation , it would only compel the exiles to register themselves ana obtain cectiiicates . These , however , they would be necessitated , under a penalty , to give up on quitting the country , bo that foreign governments would , in that case , bo thus far

    informed of their movements . But such . precautions would be practically of little value . Nor can the Emperor , hope to root out the conspiracies radicating in the English soil . As a Trench ruler he can only apply for the extradition of Frenchmen , which would leave the Italian dagger in its Birmingham sheath ; or does the communication to Lord Clabendon include a demand that France may hereafter be empowered to nominate the refugees who are to enjoy British hospitality ? The embarrassment is serious , but it is of Loxris Napoleon's creating .

    Whatever may be said , the worst example is his own . He conspired , and by conspiring gained an empire . What lesson more seductive to the promoters of a republic ? Louis Napoleon plotted in England , prepared his expedition in England , started from England , shot a harmless man at Boulogne , and , after endeavouring to subvert a Government founded on the national will , escaped to England for

    safety . Like his present enemies , he refused to abandon his idea . He became a conspirator , he discharged a shower of grape-shot in Paris ; the prototype of Piebi and Obsint , he slew and wounded many with whom he had no cause of quarrel , and his splendid triumph is , we repeat , a perpetual temptation to conspirators . All declamation on this subject is unnecessary . The facts are known to the world . Louis Napoleon ' s

    Government arose out of a successful plot ; it may be the best Government on the earth , but the record of the plot is indelible . This victorious conspiracy , then , naturally desires to suppress all other conspiracies , finds the task difficult , and is therefore irritated . The irritation is excusable . The French people , in a large degree , have accepted the Empire . It gives them that which they desire—quietude and material

    prosperity . Unhappily , however , the men of thought and intelligence are universally in opposition ; and while this state of things is permitted to exist , the semblance of content will cover a secret agitation , finding occasional vent in a fulmination of grey gunpowder . For the moment , the incident of the Rue Lepelletier may be left out of sight . It was Italian in its origin and character , although the French Emperor selects it aa an excuse for fresh measures to bridle the

    nation of France . We wish to interpret the purely English view of this matter . In Great Britain the principle of assassination is detested . We have not even a Cantillon on our pension list . The attempt to blow Louis Napoleon and the Empress out of their carriage is regarded as an act of reckless brutality , and all classes rejoice not only that the consummation of such a crime was prevented , but that France was saved from the transient period of anarchy rendered inevitable by the

    principles of the Empire . But there are two points in connexion with this affair on which the English people do not concur with Louis Napoleon . They will not surrender the character of their country as one in which every man not a criminal is free ; and they remark with anxiety the departure of the French Government from its habitual tone of reticence and moderation . It ia not for the first time that we witness the brandiahiiiff of a menace against Belgium : we

    have-alr , eadyJ * ea . rjij o £ ^ ing our privilege of asylum ; but it is something new to bo told that after six years of Imperialism , public opinion in France ia formidable , and must therefore be gagged . The Empire unconsciously compares itself with the dyke of Haarlem ; a tepid protest trickles through the columns of two opposition journals ; but that may become a flood , according to M . Billaui / t , and not a moment must be lost in

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 23, 1858, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23011858/page/13/