30 Metropolitan and Provincial Law Association. cess analogous to the foreign attachment of the city of London, to the arrestment of Scotland, and to the attachment of the United States, should be issuable at the instance of an English creditor, under safeguards to prevent An application was then made for leave to amend for the same purpose, on the ground that under the 15 & 16 Vict. c. 86, s. 53, facts or circumstances occurring after the institution of a suit may be introduced by way of amend-abuse. ment. The Vice-Chancellor granted the application. Tudway v. Jones, 1 Kay & J. 691. METROPOLITAN AND PROVINCIAL LAW ASSOCIATION. HAVING in our last Number fully reported the proceedings at the meeting of the Society at Birmingham on the 22nd October, so far as they related to the immediate interests of the Association and its members, we now submit to our readers the papers which were read, and the observations which were made at the several meetings on the 22nd and 23rd October, regarding the proposed amendment or reform of the law, wherein both the Public and the Profession are equally concerned. THE LAW OF DEBTOR AND CREDITOR. Another defect in the Law of Debtor and Creditor arose from the facility with which judgment could now be obtained in ordinary cases of debt, which led to the registration of a greater number of judgments; and as these became incumbrances affecting the title to real property, it was an object worthy of consideration whether, without injury to the judgment creditor, purchasers could not be relieved, by a summary and inexpensive method, from the entanglement of several mortgages and of several judgments. This he considered could be safely and readily accomplished by means of the machinery of the Court of Chancery. The writer referred to the Bankruptcy Act of 1849, as the master grievance of the Law of Debtor and Creditor. He trusted that the meeting would not separate without agreeing upon a memorial to the Lord Chancellor, praying his lordship to have the Bankrupt Act of 1849 submitted to the three gentlemen whom his lordship had appointed to revise and consolidate the Statutes on the important branches of the law, as being one requiring revision "Defects in the Law of Debtor and Credi- more urgently than any other, with instructor practically considered, in order to their tions to prepare a new Bill, in which matters Legislative Amendment," was the title of the should be expressed in plain and intelligible paper read by Mr. Lowndes, of Liverpool. The and not in incoherent and contradictory terms, writer commenced by referring to the import-like many portions of the Act of 1849, and ant changes which had been made of late years particularly the clauses as to arrangement by in this country in the proceedings for the re- deed. covery of debt. Notwithstanding what had been done, he thought that all had not been done for the creditor which in reason and justice ought to be accorded to him. He had known a person absconding by one vessel, and valuable goods he was removing from this country shipped by a subsequent one, the creditor arriving too late to arrest the debtor, but in sufficient time to identify goods in the course of shipment on the debtor's account, but unable to take any step to detain them. It might be said that the Act for the Amendment of the Law, 1852, had facilitated the remedy where the debtor went to reside abroad by permitting the creditor to issue process and to serve his debtor abroad. This was no doubt the intention of the Act, but it was so fenced round with forms, and its operation attended with so many difficulties, that it could be seldom made practically available. Besides, a debtor residing abroad might owe money in England, and his creditor might find goods or property which ought to be available for the payment of his debts, and yet he might not be able to make him bankrupt either from want of proof of trading or of an act of bankruptcy, so that, without an alteration of the law, such goods or property must remain unmolested. As a remedy for this defect, he suggested that when the goods or property of a debtor nonresident in England could be found, some pro The writer pointed out at great length the difficulties in the carrying out of these and other clauses of the Bankrupt Act; and concluded by some remarks on the injurious consequences to the community from the abolition of the Usury Laws, instances having come to his knowledge in which persons had obtained loans from loan societies at a most exorbitant rate of interest, to the injury of their lawful creditors. Mr. Ryland asked if any gentleman present had any experience of the manner in which loan societies were conducted? He had had but little, but they appeared to him to be institutions the object of which was good. As he understood them, he believed they were societies the object of which was to place the means of capital within the reach of persons engaged in business on a very small scale, and he had known loans obtained from them with a very beneficial result. With reference to the great number of actions instituted in Liverpool by loan societies, as mentioned by Mr. Lowndes, he did not see in the statement more than a proof that the societies were doing an immense amount of business, and he thought they might fairly assume that all the debts incurred in connection with them would not have to be recovered by process of law, but that if there were so many hundreds to be sued, there were many more who were not so Metropolitan and Provincial Law Association. dealt with. He should not like it to go forth that the body who met there that day were condemning loan societies unless the experience of those present went to support such a suggestion. Mr. Birch, of Lichfield, asked if the societies mentioned by Mr. Ryland were not of a different class from those referred to by Mr. Lowndes -whether the former did not speak of clubs in which persons joined together to lend money to those of their own number who required it, and who repaid it by instalments, while the latter referred to societies got up for lending money to those who did not belong to them? Mr. Lowndes said, the last-mentioned society was the kind to which he alluded. Mr. Ryland said the societies to which he referred did not confine their operations to members. He would mention one case which lately came under his observation. A man in a small way wished to increase his business, and to do so had recourse to a loan. It was too small a sum for any solicitor to negotiate, and he (Mr. Ryland) asked a banker in the town whether the person might be sent to a loan society. The banker's reply was, "I can only tell you that some of them are very respectable, and that I am a director of one of them." The man applied to the society for a loan; the only thing he had to do was to find two persons willing to become sureties for the repayment of the sum; and the money being at once obtained, great good was the result. Mr. Avison, of Liverpool, said, the chief evil in connection with loan societies which had come under his notice arose from the fact that parties became securities without sufficiently knowing what they were doing. Mr. Ryland said, that before these societies received the sanction of Parliament, there were loan clubs in existence at public-houses, got up by the landlords with the view of inducing persons to come there and drink. Though he knew little of the organisation of the new societies, he had always regarded them as an improvement upon the old system. Mr. Burton thought, that the society of which Mr. Lowndes spoke was similar to those which were regarded as great pests in London, and which, managed by three or four broker's men, lent money to the poorer classes at a wicked rate of interest. The discussion reminded him of the fact, however, that the strongest point urged in support of the abolition of the Birmingham Borough Court, before the Privy Council, consisted in the allegation that its great suitor was a loan society in this town. The Chairman remarked, that they doubtless owed their origin to the repeal of the Usury Laws. Mr. Benham said, he hoped the Association would not lose sight of the suggestion made by Mr. Lowndes, for the amendment of the Law of Debtor and Creditor. There was one point which had not been touched upon, though it had always appeared to him that it might be reformed with great advantage, and that was the non-necessity of keeping up distinctions 31 It had between traders and non-traders. always appeared to him that if an individual became indebted beyond his means of payment, the fact of whether he was a trader or otherwise, ought not to constitute a reason for putting into operation a different machinery for distributing his estate among the creditors. He therefore thought it worthy of consideration, whether in the event of an alteration in the Bankruptcy Laws, some attempt ought not to be made to make their machinery apply to all classes of debtors. One other point had reference to that provision of the Common Law Procedure Act, which enabled them to recover from persons resident abroad, debts which, until that Act passed, were absolutely lost. He had been able in several instances to obtain payment from debtors in New Zealand, Australia, and at the Cape of Good Hope, of sums which must otherwise have been altogether lost to his clients. So far the Act had done good; but the draughtsman who drew it up had so burdened it with forms that he doubted whether, if a debtor chose to defend himself, any professional man could recover the amount of the debt. In the first place the writ was to be served within six months, whereas it was impossible for a creditor in this country to say at the end of six months whether it had been served in Australia, as it was a matter of doubt whether it really could be served in that time. Solicitors were also now compelled to issue two writs, one to keep in town and the other to go abroad, and of course this increased the expense to the creditor, whose debt was already risked; but one inconvenience of the Act was, that no one could tell them how they were to renew the writs. They were told they might have concurrent writs, and that if they could not make use of a writ within a certain time, then it might be renewed. But to get it renewed they were bound to obtain the seal of the Court to it, and how could they do this when the writ was in Australia. He now took the precaution of getting two writs, calling the one a concurrent writ, and renewing it from time to time as was required, but this was simply a plan for overcoming an evil that ought not to exist. With regard to the loan societies, his experience was very small, but certainly the worst case that had ever came under his notice arose in connection with what was called a mutual loan society. In winding up a person's estate for trustees, he found that this person was about to obtain a loan of 500l., and the sum he was to pay for the accommodation, besides a great deal for the preliminary expenses, would have amounted to 150l. a year for five years, the security for the repayment of the sum at the end of the time being a life assurance policy which would alone cost him 51. a month, as he was somewhat advanced in life. Mr. Avison expressed a hope that in any alteration that might take place in the Laws of Bankruptcy, a leaf might be borrowed from the Scotch Law. In Scotland, when a person died deeply in debt, his estate was sequestrated and administered on the creditor's behalf in a 32 Metropolitan and Provincial Law Association. comparatively short time. In this country it was not so, as it often happened that there was no remedy applicable to such cases except that of entering into a Chancery suit, which might extend over a number of years, during the whole of which time a creditor might be kept out of his debt. He (Mr. Avison) was at that time interested in a case which made him feel the anomalous position of the law in this country on that point, and he thought it would be wise if they could adopt something of the same nature as existed in Scotland. Mr. Burton mentioned, that to meet the case just referred to, there was the process of claims in the Court of Chancery which cost a few pounds, and occupied as many weeks in being gone through. He scarcely thought that was a boon to the Profession. Mr. Keary said, that if they went into this matter there was one thing against which they must protest, and that was the enormous amount of the fees paid in bankruptcy, which swallowed up a large portion of an estate in a way that was perfectly unnecessary. The case of Hammersley was one in point. Mr. Ryland said, that undoubtedly the process mentioned by Mr. Burton was a great improvement as compared with the old system, but still it was an expensive one, and the right way to judge of the two would be to compare the mode of proceeding by claim and the mode of proceeding in district Courts. It constantly came within the knowledge of solicitors that when a man died, if it was a small estate, they advised their client not to proceed against the administrators, as the Court fees would swallow up the whole; but if they could file a petition, and say to the Bankruptcy Commissioner, “ A. B. is dead; we require you to file an account here;" and if the assignees' costs were revised so as to make them no more than an equivalent for the work done, then they would find that a proceeding in the Bankruptcy Court in the matter of a dead insolvent was very superior to that of proceeding by claims. He hoped this point would be pressed, in the event of any alteration being proposed, especially as it had already been before Parliament. 66 man was dead or alive, but that the test must be the nature of the estate, whether solvent or insolvent. In all cases of solvent estates it might be that the Court of Chancery was best, but in cases of insolvent estates it was clear that the Court of Bankruptcy was of necessity the best. Mr. Birch reminded them of the additional fact in favour of the views just urged, that special creditors had no preference in the Court of Bankruptcy. Mr. Bulmer said, he knew of a case in which a bill was filed by a 301. creditor. In the course of a year the proceeding cost 9657., and even then the special creditors swept away everything, so that the rest of the creditors had nothing. Mr. Ryland said, there was a simple way of getting over the difficulty in regard to small estates-that of getting the Bankruptcy Commissioner to state a case for the opinion of the Court above, upon the application of the parties. The accounts could be better taken in a County Court than in the Master's office, but in the event of a point of law arising, let the method he suggested be followed. They would thus have the law of the Court above, and the simplicity and economy of the place where the creditors live, and where they would be free from the costs attaching to a proceeding in the Superior Courts. Mr. Burton admitted that if the Court of Bankruptcy were put on a proper footing, and the official assignees paid in another way, it would be infinitely the better place to which to send such cases. Mr. Lowndes.-But the Court must be maintained. Mr. Benham.-Yes, but they should be paid by salaries instead of by fees. It is owing to our paying them by commission in the way we do that all the great bankruptcies are kept out of Court as much as possible. If the assignees had a fixed salary, that would not be the case. The Chairman. The great object of giving a commission was to induce them to make dividends, as until this was done they had no costs. Mr. Lowndes. That end might be accomplished by giving them a salary and also a commission on the payment of dividends. A formal request having been made to Mr. Lowndes to prepare a memorial for presentation to the Lord Chancellor, praying a revision, amendment, and consolidation of the Bankruptcy Statutes, the meeting separated for the day. Mr. W. Shaen said, that as mention had been made of the case of Hammersley, he might remark that taking advantage of it, the committee in London presented a petition to Parliament drawing attention to this very point. One strong point was with regard to the necessity for stamping powers of attorney in receiving dividends on the estate. He ascertained at the Chancery office that the amount paid to Government in respect of such stamps was within a few pounds of the total amount of The Association reassembled on Tuesday taxed costs in the whole proceeding. In the morning at 10 o'clock, when Mr. Lowndes Court of Bankruptcy the whole of that would submitted and read a memorial for presentabe saved, as all that was required to enable one tion to the Lord Chancellor, and then moved, person to receive money for another was the "That the draft memorial just read be referred written order of the creditor. With regard to to the Council of the Metropolitan Association, the dead men's clauses, as they were called, with full power to modify and alter the same the committee had likewise pressed them upon as they think proper." the attention of Parliament, and it had pointed out that the true test could not be whether a Mr. Shaw, of Leeds, in seconding the motion, remarked that the only part which seemed to Matropolitan and Provincial Law Association. require the special consideration of the committee was the passage suggesting that the commission of inquiry should be composed of members of the Bar. The resolution was adopted nem. con. CONSOLIDATION OF THE STATUTES. 33 amendments included in their proper place in the law. 2. In every case of re-enactment to repeal by explicit reference so much of the previous law as is thus re-enacted. 3. To keep in distinct clauses the permanent matter, the transitory matter, and the repeals." The third recommendation was not an essential The first paper read this morning was by part of the plan Mr. Ryland desired to advoMr. A. Ryland, and was entitled " Sugges- cate. After referring at some length to the tions connected with the Consolidation of the details of the plan proposed by Mr. Coode, Statutes." To have only one Statute on each and to the labours of the various Commissions subject of legislation was a consummation, the for consolidating the Statutes, the writer obwriter remarked, so devoutly to be wished, and served that if they agreed with him that Mr. its importance, nay, almost its necessity, was Coode's plan ought to be urged on the attennow so generally acknowledged, that any plan tion of Parliament and not remain a dead which proposed to accelerate its accomplish letter in a Blue Book, now was the fit time to ment would, he thought, receive a patient and press it, because Parliament had so recently indulgent hearing. His attention was first di- received a recommendation in the report of rected to the subject by finding, in the course the Commission to form a Board to revise all of his labours in preparing for the press a work Parliamentary Bills; for such a Board was on the Assay Laws, in 1851, more than fifty essential to the good working of the plan he Statutes upon this simple subject, presenting recommended, and because the adoption of the many incongruities, and occasioning much dif- proposal would greatly facilitate a systematic ficulty to the trades affected by them. The consolidation of the Statutes, or a codification remedy for this evil he considered would be of the law, if either the one or the other should attained by Parliament adopting the plan of be deemed desirable. He was aware that the not permitting any Bill to be passed unless it adoption of the plan would be open to the obrepealed all pre-existing Acts on the subject to jection, if it were one, that it would be a hinwhich it related, re-enacting so much of the old drance to legislation, requiring much more law as it may be intended to retain, with the labour, time, and skill in the preparation of additions or variations which it might be the Bills, and creating more hesitation in Parliaobject of the new Bill to effect. By the adop- ment in adopting them. Granting that such tion of such a ruie, a consolidation of the pre- would be the result, he questioned if it could sent Statutes would be accomplished in the be an objection. He entertained the opinion course of a reasonably short period, and by a that the obtaining a public Act of Parliament mode simple, inexpensive, and, what was most was much too easy a matter, and that one of important, self-adapting to growing legislation. the great evils of the day was over-legislation. On the appearance of the report of the Com- He feared that it was a growing evil;-too missioners for Consolidating the Statute Law, much care, too much skill, or too much knowin July last, he was surprised that no provision ledge, could not be bestowed upon the making was suggested for the prevention of a multipli- of laws. It was a great responsibility, a high cation of Statutes in future legislation. The trust, and was not sufficiently esteemed. Much recommendations of the Commissioners em- of the mischief they had to deplore, the great brace only a consolidation of the existing evils which had rendered consolidation of the Statutes, and concluded by recommending Statutes necessary, had been occasioned by that a Board should be appointed, whose duty the ignorance, carelessness, and want of skill it should be either to prepare, or revise and with which Acts of Parliament had been prereport upon, all Bills before they were brought pared, and therefore he esteemed the increased into Parliament, and to watch them during knowledge and skill which would be rendered their progress. On reading this report, he necessary by the scheme, a great recommenda(Mr. Kyland determined to make the plan he tion of it rather than an objection to it. Mr. bad mentioned the subject of a paper for this Ryland, in conclusion, earnestly directed the meeting, and with this view took up the Blue attention of the society to the subject, believing Books on the subject of consolidation, which that the adoption of a rule by the two Houses had been printed previously to the report to of Parliament, not to pass any bill unless it which he had referred, and he then found the contained the whole of the Statute Law on the plan he desired to see adopted most clearly subject to which it related, would be producstated and ably supported in Mr. Coode's tive of incalculable good to all classes-to Parpapers appended to Mr. Bellenden Ker's Re- liament itself, in enabling it the better to disport, dated August, 1853, and printed in 1854. charge the high duties entrusted to it; to the Mr. Coode introduced the subject by some Judges and magistrates in the administration observations justifying his view in dealing of the law; to the practitioners, in advising with current and future legislation, and giving upon it; and to every member of the commuhis reasons for preferring consolidation to co- nity who was bound to know and obey it. dification. The course he recommended was : Mr. C. M. Ingleby thought that if, in passing -". Never to amend the law by distinct and isolated amendments, but always to re-enact whatever law is to be amended, with the a law, the Legislature were to be called on to re-enact all the Statutes relating to it, the result would be that they should have, not a con 34 Metropolitan and Provincial Law Association. solidation of the law, but a mere aggregation | fication of the evils of the present system, of the preceding laws. Betwixt the two things there was a great distinction. If they wished to aggregate the Statutes, they might bind them together in a volume, and he could not see that anything was gained by such a consolidation. namely, that at present the entire body of the Law relating to Building Societies existed solely in repealed Statutes. It seemed to him that the absurdity of legislation could no farther go. It happened in this way. When these societies had forced themselves upon the Mr. W. Shaen said, that if he understood attention of the Legislature, a very short Act Mr. Ryland aright, his proposal was, that each was passed, called the Building Societies Act, Statute should express fully the whole Statute but it incorporated in it the whole of the proLaw on the subject to which it referred. Mr. visions of the Friendly Societies Acts, so far as Ingleby's objection really amounted to this, they were applicable to building societies. The that we cannot have a consolidation of the Sta-effect of that has been that the Law of Building tute Law without going through the necessary Societies is a very difficult thing to find out, as labour; but it would be readily seen that any it has had to be selected out of a considerable plan would involve a considerable amount of number of Statutes, "so far as they are applilabour; and the question would therefore seem cable," though there is no test by which they to be, in what way can we best apply that can determine where they are applicable. Dulabour so as to make it immediately useful, and ring the last Session a fresh Act was passed for avoid its repetition ten years hence. It was Friendly Societies, and the whole of the old clear that according to the plan suggested by laws were repealed without the exception, makMr. Ryland, every time the law was altered by ing some of the clauses applicable to building Parliament the labour of consolidating the law societies, being stated. The consequence is, on that subject would have to be gone through. that at the present moment building societies But this, to his (Mr. W. Shaen's) mind was no would have been outlawed altogether if it had objection, because if ever they were to have the not been that these repealed laws have a sort law consolidated, the labour must be gone of semi-life, by having been incorporated, “so through. Mr. Ryland's plan seemed to say far as they are applicable," in the Building this, that the subject on which legislation is Societies Act. He then called particular atneeded shall be the subject to which the labour tention to the printed return moved for by Mr. of consolidation for the time being shall be de- Locke King, and referred to by Mr. Ryland, voted; whereas the two faults of the scheme which contained the minutes of the Board of mentioned by Mr. Bellenden Ker are, first, that 1853, as showing such a disgraceful waste of the law selected for consolidation does not de- the public money as could not be too strongly pend upon the question whether or no legisla- reprobated; and concluded by making some tion is needed, but whether or no the individual remarks on the mischief arising from overselected as assistant Commissioner has a fancy legislation. for a particular subject; and secondly, that the whole labour will be rendered comparatively useless by an accumulation of subsequent Statutes. The labour once gone through on Mr. Ryland's plan, any subsequent alteration would be an easy matter. It would involve a considerable amount of printing, as instead of having hundreds of very small laws, they would have a good thick law on every subject, and every time any change took place the whole would have to be reprinted. This seemed to be the objection. But it ought not to prevail, as it was absolutely essential to carry out the principle if it was worth anything, while those only who had been in the habit of watching the printing of Bills in Parliament could have any idea of the enormous waste of printing which now took place. He felt sure that in a short time the process of absolutely reprinting the whole body of law would prove less expensive than now, when any member of Parliament, provided the proposal was not absolutely distasteful to Government, could so easily obtain leave to bring in a Bill and have it printed. It constantly happened that the same Acts were printed over and over again. The Bankrupt Law Consolidation Act was printed no fewer than five times, and having to obtain fifty on each occasion for the use of the society, the consequence was that he had a cart load of this alone. He could furnish one striking exempli The Chairman commented on the advantage which had followed the consolidation of the Custom Laws, begun when Sir Robert Peel was Secretary of State, 465 Acts of Parliament having in this instance been condensed into one. The chief difficulty in the way of the adoption of Mr. Ryland's plan, or indeed of any scheme of consolidation, was to be found in the fact that if a Bill with 500 clauses was introduced, 400 of these might be altered in its passage through Parliament, thus running the risk of enacting a mass of incongruities after all the old laws had been repealed. Mr. Leonard thought conveyancers would find a consolidation of the law somewhat troublesome, inasmuch as they were often called on to go through 60 years' titles and had to ascertain that in any given year during that period, the stamps and other formalities were in accordance with the existing law. But the Stamp Statute, for instance, when consolidated, would only show the present law, and 20 ponderous volumes might have to be taken into Court to support a case, instead of the short Acts that might now be used. The same remark applied to the Law of Evidence, in which alterations were continually taking place. Mr. Ryland said, that by consolidation he meant the aggregation into one Act of all the existing Statute Laws, and he proposed that each department of law should be dealt with |