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Leader (1850-1860), 14th February 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 158, Untitled Article

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      the TLtjiijAjso candidate , and -when . UtjtiiAUD speaks North Leicestershire obeysotherwise , how did the Marquis of GaAWBX find himself a representative man , and how , in the names of G-oscote , Fha . iila . nd , and Q-abteee , is Edvaed Uasil Parnsam a member of Parliament ? The Southampton election resembled a battle on Scamander ' s flowery "bank ; but the Greenwich day was aningloriousl ) onnybrook , at which the praise of a Portugal-street Thersites was sung by a Tipperarv Pinbab . Sing , O Seven Dials !

      liow a candidate from far , in a chariot rolled along by four impatient steeds , dispensed large draughts of " joy-in-the-heart-of-maninspiring" beerj and Jiow the bilious minstrels , who , since the pale-eyed morning broke , had been imbibing unconstitutional gin , danced like mad Egyptians round the booth . But , from the Crimea came a warrior ;—lie unseated the taunting charioteer , whom ( politically ) black Death received , and him the white-armed maidens of Kent may mourn—but Codringhon goes into Parliament .

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      AN IDEAL SESSION . Sin Soim " Eahdivk y 'Wii-mot has drawn up i ; ho prospectus of an idoul parliam entary session . * Liko moat ; idoals , it is strongly aiaimped with personal sympathies and antipathies ; it is fcho creed of advanced Whi ^ 'cry , of that delicate and discriminating l . < il > i- r : iLM Letter to Lord / froui / fiam on ( lie Lrijhhttivc hW / nh'Cmcn ( a of ( Iw ( JomhKj K- ** ' t < m . lly Sir J . ' E . ' & > Willow Hart . Longman and Co .

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      often have I besought the Lords , the highest court of judicature , seriously io consider the peculiarity , so discreditable to the law of England , of treating In-each of trust as an excuse ^ to the wrong-doer , while all other systems of jurisprudence regard it as an . aggravation , of his offence . Take tie law of Scotland , for instance . The indictment sets forth that theft is a heinous crime , and severely : punishable by the laws of all well-governed

      realms , more especially if committed in breach of a trust . But in . the Avell-govemed realm of England there can . be no criminal indictment at all , nothing beyond a civil suit , against a trustee wbo robs those for whom he is entrusted ; for by an absurd refinement , which prevents any court except the Court of Chancery from taking notice of the existence of the latter parties , he is not a criminal , but only a debtor , and only a debtor in . what-we are pleased to call equity . "

      Xes , this is the precise state of the case : a fraudulent trustee , who derives his authority and ownership from the Court of Chancery , is held . to be answerable only to that court for his misdeeds > and as the only punishment in the nature of a criminal punishment which the Court- of Chancery administers is for contempt of its authority , the remedy of the cestius que trust , —which is good law-French for the unfortunate persona whom he lias cheated ,- —lies only against his estate . But

      it ; so that ( let us be just ) you . have much of the ^ cares of property , without any of its ad vantages . As at present constituted it t an onerous office , and too often a thankleS 3 one The honest trustee can get little or nothing for hxs labour , and only the roC can reap any profit . It is only fair , then , that if the law is amended so as to bind trustees to their duty more strongly , it should also insist upon their being paid for their wortjSTo man should be expected to give his laboux for nothing , and it is notorious "that the

      under-payment of agents is one great source of embezzlement . It is one thing to undertake the office of trustee when your old friend tells you that his daughter is going to be married , and the wedding-dresses are ordered and the bride-cake is baking , and the favours are being made ready for your button-hole , and it is quite another thing to execute the duties of that office , when the husband is on one

      side , andtlie wife on the other , beseeching you to betray your trust , and to sow the . seeds of a Chancery suit with the children in order that some temporary release from a pressing difficulty may be afforded ; or , more still , when the orphaned children are at your door , asking you what has become of property wasted through your criminal complaisance . ' These are the difficulties which .

      prudent men see in tho distance , and which , prevent them from accepting trusteeships * and thus it is that , the good men refusing to do the work , it necessarily falls into weak or evil-doing hands . The law therefore requires amendment on both sides . The trustee must be liable for his breach of trust to the last shilling of his

      property , and where fraud can "be proved he must be liable to that condign punishment in his . own person which such a vile , criminal peculator deserves- On the ofcliec hand , there should be a regular por-ceufcaige upon the management of trust-estates , fixed with the same certainty as the legacy duty ov any other tax upon property , and payable to the trustee as remuneration for his labour *

      Such a provision would take away the last , indeed the sole excuse that can be-urged iu favour of fraudulent trustees . A _ suggestion has been thrown out in favour of having an official trustee , just as we already have an official assignee ; but we do not well see how that would be practicable- There is an intimacy necessary between the trustee and those for whom , ho stands legal sponsor , which no mere official personage could

      acquire . As it is , the X / ord Chancellor is trustee for all who have none and who require one , and in the caso of orphan wards ho exercises some portion of his duties personally , generally with great advantage to tho wards ; but even here it is found necessary to delegate the details of the post to some other guardian , and then the Keeper of the lloyal Conscience finds it necessary to havo recourse to some old and trusted friend of tho family .

      In proportion as trust is reposed is tho wickedness of its fraudulent betrayal increased . Upon trustees do all the fortune and all tho happiness of a family frequently depend , and if they betray the confidence ) placed in them , they commit a crimo which too often proves to be tantamount to a murder .

      if that is gone , if that is scattered to the winds like the trust-moneys "which have been confided to him , then there is neither remedy to be got nor punishment to be adjudged ; the legal robber is as free as air to go out into the highways and by-ways , foist his name ( if possible ) into another trust-deed , hold an equitable pistol at tlie head of new victims , and bid them stand and deliver fortune , happiness , and hope . From the time when Trusts made their

      ERA . TJDULENT TRUSTEES . Aptee a rather long period of inaction , the veteran reformer is once more up and doing , —Henky Loud Brougham , true to his old vocation , is again "bestirring himself among the dirty holes and corners of the law . His late letters : to the Law Amendment Society , and to Lord Haj > : no : r , are fresh manifestations of the extraordinary activity which has animated this extraordinary man at every part of his eventful career : there is the same

      vigour of thought , the same uncompromising severity of expression , tie same restless activity to amend abuses and sweep away humbugs and evil-doers from the earth . And certainly , if there are two subjects better calculated than any other to rouse the dormant fire , of the old man eloquent , they must be thoBcbo which Lord Brougham : has lately been turning his attention—the Ticket-of-Le&ve Question and the Law respecting Fraudulent Trustees .

      One of these subjects is quite enough fora journalist to grapple with at one time . It may be within the compass of a Beottgham to take them both together and , like Hercules in his cradle , strangle a python with each ; hand . There may also be a kind of latent connexion between the two subjects ; for coon we not draw comparisons between the rough villain who reeks with tobacco and gin and throttles you in his hard grasp , or beats out your brains with a bludgeon that he possess , himself of your loose cash , and the sleek and well-dressed Mr . ' G-ammon who

      relieves you of your money in larger quantities , but by quieter means , and contents himself with ruining your prospects and breaking your heart . But we refrain . We have at all times , a , prudent respect for legal questions . "We TOell know that lawyers ( like all other technical persons ) arc very bigoted about their technicalities , and that an argument , when

      brought to bear upon one of these exclusive subjects , will fail utterly in its purpose if it displays the slightest ' ignorance of any quirk or quiddit connected with tho matter . It appears to us , therefore , that one legal question at a time is quite as much aa we oan undertake to grapple with , and the question shall be the law affecting fraudulent trustees

      . In his letter to Lord Badn-ok , Lord iiitouoiiAM refers to this class of offenders m tho following terms : — " ° ™ ia . another failure , or at least a postponement , tobOBtill raora regretted . Tho law respecting broach of trust is loft in tho . saino stalo as l > ofore , nn < V liable to all tho powfol objections so often urged , hut now strengthened l » y tho noenos of frsmtl , it may bo truly B « d of . plunder , -which h » vo lately been exhibited . How

      first appearance in the English law , they have never been regarded with any great favour by the untechnieal ; yet the scientific lawyers have always regarded them with affection ; and we can scarcely wonder at this when we recognise in them the fruitful and inexhaustible source of three-fourths of the legal chains which now enslave the soil of England , and nino-tenfchs of the litigation which has drained that soil to the enrichment of the lawyers . To borrow a simile from the turf , they were got by Priestcraft out of Chicane . To what monkish brain we

      are indebted for this subtle invention we know not ; but it is certain- ¦ th at it is from the casuists of the Church that this scheme for hiding the real ownership of the land originally emanated . It was part of the great system of ^ pedients and dodges with which the most holy Catholic Church endeavoured to support that enormous scheme of a '

      ggrandizement whereby she hoped to absorb within herself not only all the power but all the wealth of Europe . " When tho law against Mortmain interfered between tho dying and penitent owner of lands and the crafty priest who made the cession of his property and the spoliation of his hoirs the sole condition of forgiveness and salvation , some astute ecclesiastical brain discovered that there was a

      means of evading tho law , by conveying or devising the property to a layman to be held in trust for the Church . This was the origin of trusteeships , and although wo aro far from denying that it has afforded some protection to women and children , and has ovon protected spendthrifts against themselves , it must be confessed that this systom has not a very creditable parentage . Aa there aro low men who have not in

      some form or other been , induced , at some poriod of their lives , to look into tho dutios of trusteoship , with a view to making up their own minds as to whether or not they shall undertake thorn , wo do not think it necessary to enlarge upon , this branch of tho question . Everybody knows that a trusteeship is a very peculiar and anomalous ollice . You have tho entire control of the property , and aro cxpectod not to touch a shilling oi

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      158 . . EBBIiEABEB . fNo . 360 . SU ™ t ™ ,. t .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 14, 1857, page 158, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2180/page/14/