REPORT OF THE COMPTROLLER IN BANKRUPTCY.

THE following report has just been issued :

The results obtained during the tenth year of the ruptcy Act, 1869, are generally similar to those reported in each successive year since the commencement of the Act, and particularly as regards the large and continuing increase in the number of debtors who avail themselves of facilities offered by the liquidation clauses of the Act.

The system of liquidation arrangements, by which a debtor can free himself from the whole of his debts with the assent of only a part of his creditors, and without any preliminaries before a competent tribunal to obtain some disclosure of the state of his affairs, is, I believe, as peculiar to English bankruptcy law as the continued increase of insolvency, alike through periods of commercial prosperity or depression, is peculiar to England. In Scotland, where there are no arrangements of that character, there is no such increase of insolvency; the number of sequestrations appears to have averaged about 500 per annum during the last twenty-four years, with no greater variation than may be reasonably accounted for by the state of trade, or other temporary circumstances-e.g., the annual number fell during a period of great commercial prosperity from 555 in the year 1870 to about 380 in the years 1872 and 1873, rising again through worse times to 513 in the year 1877, as appears by the last published returns. The same fall and rise occurred as markedly during the same periods in the annual number of English bankruptcies proper on petition of creditors; there were 1,351 bankruptcies in the year 1870, 915 in the year 1873, and 1,156 in the year 1879; but the number of liquidations by arrangement and of compositions with creditors, like the number of trust deeds under the former Act, has rapidly increased in each year since the commencement of the Act, rising through the period of greatest prosperity from 3,651 in the year 1870, to 6.574 in the year 1873, and through worse times to 11,976 in the year 1879.

There were, therefore, altogether last year 13,132 cases of bankruptcy, arrangement, or composition; but of the 1,156 bankruptcies, 79 were annulled on acceptance of composition or scheme of settlement under section 28, and 70 more for various other reasons (see Table V., Appendix), leaving only 1,000 cases, or about seven per cent., to which the more important provisions of the Act for preventing abuses by insolvent debtors and professional agents applied; the other 12,000, or 93 per cent., escaping the provisions of the Act which refer to the examination and discharge of a bankrupt, and to the accounts, charges, and conduct of agents employed.

Section 115 of the Act requires an annual report, judicial and financial, respecting all matters within the Act; but from subsequent provisions the report can offer little better than suggestions or inferences respecting those 12,000, or 93 per cent, of the matters within the Act, and the whole of the increase of insolvency, a most important feature in the working of the Act, occurring in those matters, its character and probable cause can only be shown by somewhat indirect methods.

The debtor having filed a petition for liquidation, and summoned a meeting of his creditors at his own time and

Compositions.

Where the creditors have any confidence in the debtor they would naturally rather at once receive from him, in the shape of composition, whatever he can afford to pay them, than wait for the chance of receiving, at some indefinitely remote period, whatever may remain of that sum after the costs, charges, and incidental expenses of a number of professional agents are satisfied, especially as in thousands of small cases nothing at all remains. Under the former Act there were many more compositions than assignments, and in Scotland, though composition contracts are much the more difficult to carry (requiring to be adopted, and afterwards confirmed, by a very large majority in value of creditors at a second meeting after the examination of the bankrupt), there have been more than ten times as many compositions as arrangements; in fact, there have been, practically, no arrangements as understood in England, for it has been stated, on high authority, that 19 out of 20 another form, and there have been on an average of many Scotch arrangements are, in effect, composition contracts in years only nine "arrangements" out of 500 sequestrations awarded annually.

In England under the present Act there have been, contrary to all experience, many more arrangements than compositions, and still more suggestive, their annual number increased more than twice as rapidly during the period of greatest commercial prosperity, thus:

By the year 1873 the annual number of arrangements had increased by 2,117, or more than doubled, while the annual number of compositions had increased by 806, or about 50 per cent.

Arrangements may be resolved upon by any person who can represent the majority of creditors at the first meeting, while compositions, resembling the Scotch in this one point only, need to be confirmed by resolutions at a second meeting, so that the interests of the creditor have a double chance of being protected; with due allowance for this superiority in compositions, the character of the much greater increase in the annual number of arrangements during a period of prosperity, and of the increase of insolvency generally, may be deduced from the following table, which shows only too clearly the character of the increaso in the annual number of compositions.

The increase of 806 in the annual number of compositions which was attained in the year 1873, was wholly in the very worst classes, 706 being compositions between a few pence and 2s. 6d. in the pound, and 100 just over 2s. 6d. ; beside this there was an increase of 153 in the classes not exceeding 7s. 6d., compensated by a like decrease in the number of the better compositions, exceeding 7s. 6d. in the pound.

There have never been so many of these better com

positions as in the first year of the Act, when probably the fact that smaller compositions would do quite as well was not yet so generally understood; of the worse classes there were in the year 1879 nearly twice as many between 5s. and 7s. 6d. as in the year 1870; nearly three times as many between 2s. 6d. and 5s.; more than six times as many between 1s. and 2s. 6d., and nearly fourteen times as many of the worst of all, viz., of compositions not exceeding 1s. and averaging a few pence in the pound; though

as may be seen by the figures, the annual increase of these nominal compositions was severely checked in the year 1877 by a decision of the London Bankruptcy Court, affirmed on appeal, preventing the registration of resolutions in favour of such compositions when offered without security or any probability of payment, and therefore manifestly in the interest of the debtor, and not of the creditors.

If the character of the increase of liquidation by arrangement through times of prosperity and generally be estimated, as it fairly may be, from the above figures (with due allowance for the superiority of compositions), the result will be, as obtained by a different method in a former report, that the deplorable increase of insolvency under the present Act represents a rapid and continued increase in the number of persons who, without any regard to the state of trade, continue to get rid of their debts by paying little or nothing to their creditors, some compounding for a few pence in the pound, others "liquidating" just enough to satisfy professional charges, without even a few pence in the pound for the creditors.

Having regard to the state of trade during the last ten years, and its apparent effect on bankruptcy proper, on Scotch sequestrations, and on the better class of compositions, there should have been in the year 1873 about 2,700 arrangements and compositions, instead of 6,574; and about 5,000 instead of nearly 12,000 in the year 1879; I am unable to suggest any reasonable causes for the excessive numbers attained, except the tendency of easy liquidation to encourage, at all times, the growth of a too-rapidly growing opinion that it is unnecessary, or even foolish, to pay debts in full, and in times of commercial prosperity a large amount of hazardous speculation and consequent insolvency; whatever the cause, the financial result may be represented as a continually increasing tax on English commerce, averaging during the last five years about twenty millions per annum from losses by bad debts, exclusively in the class of insolvencies which are at present dealt with under the English Bankruptcy Act.

However important such an annual charge may be to English commercial interests, whether directly as an item to be added to the cost of production and distribution, or indirectly as a cause of increased prices to consumers, reacting in increased price of labour to producers, it is probably far more important as indicating an increasing amount of immorality and insecurity in business transactions.

The remarkable preponderance of arrangements over compositions under the present Act is a distinct question, inasmuch as it depends very little on the inclination of debtors; being peculiar to the present Act it is evidently produced by a peculiarity of the Act-namely, that arrangements or compositions are now carried by resolution of a majority of the creditors at meetings, and the majority is commonly represented by proxies held by or in the interest of an agent.

The provisions of paragraph 9 of section 125 of the Act render the position of a trustee who represents the majority of the creditors in a liquidation by arrangement singularly desirable; he can make his own arrangements with the debtor for a discharge, dispose of the funds, vote his own remuneration, tax his solicitor's bill of costs or not as he prefers, audit his own accounts at such time and in such manner, and upon such terms and conditions as he thinks fit, and, finally, grant himself a "release," discharging him from all liability in respect of any act done or default made by him as such trustee.

The Act leaves the creditors to see to these matters; but all experience under the present and former Acts proves that whatever is left to the creditors is, as a rule, left un

66

done, even in bankruptcy proper; for example, nothing could be more important under the present system of electing trustees than that they should give security, and section 11 of the Act provides that the creditors, when they appoint a trustee, shall by resolution declare what security is to be given, and to whom, by the person so appointed before he enters on the office of trustee;" but General Rule 106 explains that "where no security is specified to be given by the trustee, he shall be deemed to be personally responsible, &c.; and in the last 2,500 bankruptcies security was required to be given by six trustees in one county court, twice by one person in another court, and in only six other cases in all the rest of England and Wales; in London it was for some years almost the invariable practice to insert the word "no" in the form (38) of resolution; "that the said

shall give no security;" but latterly the whole resolution has been as often struck out.

It has been asserted, ironically, that dividends are amon the matters referred to in parts 7 and 9 of section 125, as "inapplicable" to liquidation by arrangement, meaning probably that, through the negligence of creditors, such would be the consequence of so many other important provisions of the Act being made inapplicable by part 9. Creditors are usually very uncomplaining, too much accustomed to consider the amount of their debts as so much loss, not worth wasting time or trouble about, and any dividends which may be received as so much unexpected profit; but, notwithstanding the continually repeated answer that the Comptroller has no power to interfere, I have stil frequent complaints about the non-payment of dividends in liquidation.

The only direct evidence respecting dividends in liquidtion is from the advertisements in the London Gazette, froti which it appears that during the first half of the present year not so many as 500 first dividends were declared payabl representing that six out of the seven liquidations pay no dividend at all; it might no doubt be suggested that some trustes pay dividends, though neglecting to advertise them, but it would be difficult to suggest any reason for such neglect, which in many cases would evidently lead to gross abuses. As to taxation of costs in liquidation, which is strictly required by general rules, the returns of the taxing officers prove (as in former years) that the trustees practically ignore the rule as regards their own, and their own solidtors' and other agents' charges.

In the year 1879 there were altogether 8,902 solicitors' bills taxed on account of 11,976 liquidations by arrangement and compositions; supposing even that not more thin 500 bills were taxed in 4,809 compositions, there woul. remain, in round numbers, 8,400 bills taxed in respect of 7,167 arrangements, in each of which arrangements the:would be the small preliminary bill of the debtor's soliciter for the cost of the debtor's potition, leaving only 1,235 bis taxed, out of more than 7,000 large bills of the trustees solicitors that ought to have been taxed. It is probable that where the debtors' solicitor can carry the choice of the trustee, and continue as his solicitor, neither the bill to the choice nor any subsequent bill would be taxed; a lowing for such cases, the 8,400 bills taxed would include fewer of the preliminary bills, and consequently rather more than 1,200 bills of the trustees' solicitors.

The opinions of the London masters, and the returns from the several county courts, support in general the opinions expressed in a memorandum appended to one of those r turns:-"The trustees under liquidations never have their bills taxed; they charge what they like, and do what they like; it is a perfect swindle with them."

Judging by the amount taxed off some liquidation tils that were not intended to be taxed, but were afterwards brought in by unforeseen occurrences, the creditors must lose hundreds of thousands annually by this one item, from their own inefficiency and the untrustworthiness of ther trustees.

It would be impossible to exaggerate the abuses which arise, and which must necessarily arise, under a systeri which altogether depends on the honesty, intellig, nee, ni watchfulness of creditors, from the carelessness with whi proxies are given to unknown persons, enabling them t represent the creditors, not at one meeting and for cɛn specific purpose, but throughout the whole proceedings ani for all the purposes of the Act.

The probability of proxies being often secured by almost any person who applies in time may be shown by the fac that canvassing for proxies in liquidation has, for at least a year, and, I have reason to believe, for a much lenz period, been found sufficiently profitable to be worth it attention of a "long firm" of swindlers who have successfully operated even in the remotest parts of England and Wales, and in manner so barefaced that it would seem 17credible to any one who was not habitually conversant with the state of things which exists under the present bankruptcy system.

It is neither necessary nor desirable to mention details, but I may say that, except that the members of it firm are in the habit of very frequently changing their names and addresses, I am not aware that they have do much more than is often done by professional agents of a certain class under their own names; they entertain, common with other advocates of the right of creditors

to do what they please with the property of debtors, a strong aversion to "officialism" and "official interference, and therefore have consistently avoided bankruptcy proper, limiting their operations exclusively to cases in liquidation, so that on first hearing of them, nearly a year ago, I could only mention (non-officially) what I had heard to the registrars of the several county courts. In the same letter I asked of the learned registrars their general experience of the working of the proxy system; several, in reply, only mentioned their careful precautions to prevent improper persons obtaining the names and addresses of the creditors from the lists filed by the debtors, and I need not point out the sufficiency of that reply as indicating their apprehension of the mischief likely to arise from such persons obtaining proxies by means of that information: but the great majority from all parts of England and Wales expressed their opinions in very practical and sometimes in very forcible terms, such as "a source of scandal and abuse; "a hotbed of mischief and extravagance;" "an organised system of plunder;" "a scandal to law and commerce," &c.

The first object of canvassing is to obtain enough proxies to carry liquidation by arrangement and secure the trusteeship, with the common result that the creditors receive very much less as dividend from the trustee than they might have had as composition from the debtor; but every proxy has its money value, and a single proxy will sell for a considerable sum when needed to carry or to prevent a resolution.

It appears to be the regular practice in some parts of England to hold what are called "Knockouts," or private meetings of touting agents, for the purpose of arranging that the proxies they have collected among them shall be used in the interest of one of their number, but such arrangements are more commonly made at the first meeting of creditors in a liquidation, or before the registration of the resolutions. Stray proxies are bought from the holders, but where two or more agents hold each a sufficient number to prevent the other carrying the resolutions, a joint trusteeship may be agreed upon, though more often one becomes trustee "on the usual terms," an expression which evidently indicates a very usual transaction, and means, I am informed, that the trustee shall pay the other one-third of whatever he can make out of the trusteeship.

Beginning with the sale and barter of proxies, a system of commissions and corruption prevails through every step of proceedings under the Bankruptcy Act; solicitors are paid by the trustees they are able to appoint, either directly or (in liquidation) by the trustee improperly paying their costs without taxation, trustees being in turn paid by the auctioneers they employ, and so on; the whole amount of these commissions necessarily coming in the end out of the pockets of the creditors.

I need not explain that these remarks apply chiefly to the smaller class of insolvencies, and to a class, but unfortunately a very numerous class, of professional agents; the larger insolvencies are generally placed in the hands of respectable solicitors and accountants, but the present system leaves the thousands of smaller cases to be, so to speak, scrambled for, and in such a scramble the most unscrupulous are generally the most successful.

If any evidence were needed of the prevalence of such abuses, or of the strong feeling against them entertained by respectable accountants, it may be found in the fundamental rules of the charter recently obtained by the Institute of Accountants in England and Wales, which at least offers to creditors an opportunity of selecting their trustees, if they will, from persons qualified by experience or education, and amenable to rules of conduct.

The returns of bankruptcy proper during the year 1879 contain nothing that appears to require especial remark, except, perhaps, that the costs in estates closed during that year were much greater, averaging nearly 38 per cent. of assets, than in former years, not so much from the occurrence of a less number of large estates, as from a general increase in the rate of expenses in almost all classes of estates (vide Table 8, Appendix).

While fully admitting the merits of the Scotch bankruptcy system in its bearing on the relations of debtor and creditor, as evidenced by the annual number of insolvencies, I have endeavoured to show in former reports that the Scotch method of administering the property of insolvents was altogether erroneously recommended to the English commercial classes as economical and expeditious, and as

giving greater power to the creditors; the fact that, if in-troduced into England, it would throw the enormous funds annually realized in insolvency into the hands of thousands of professional agents all over England and Wales, seems to suggest the possible origin of its recommendation, and that neither economy nor expedition would be likely to result from its adoption.

In the present English Bankruptcy Act and Rules, we have that method with some amendment, and with some alterations apparently intended to give the creditors, or their nominees, even more liberty than in Scotland; for example, by section 159 of the Scotch Bankruptcy Act the "commissioners" are under the same control, and may be called to account for not faithfully performing the duties required of them by statute rule or otherwise, in same manner as the trustee.

That section is reproduced almost verbatim in the English General Rule 251, but omitting the "commissioners," or committee of inspection, who thereby and by other provisions of the English Act and Rules are made wholly irresponsible; they may be either creditors, or persons holding proxies of creditors, and being selected by the same proxies as the trustee, held commonly by the trustee himself, they more frequently include the partner or clerks of the trustee or of his solicitor, or some other professional agent, than creditors who are likely to be very strict in their supervision; in a majority of cases the committee of inspection, far from being of any use as a check on the trustee's conduct or charges, serves chiefly to prevent official interference with them by sanctioning conduct and charges which would not otherwise be allowed.

I have in former reports called attention to the large balance remaining in the control of trustees in bankruptcy and liquidation; the balance in respect of the comparatively few bankruptcies amounted on 31st December, 1879, to over £500,000, representing probably not much more than one-tenth of the whole balance.

Societies.

LAW ASSOCIATION.

At the usual monthly meeting of the directors, held at the hal! of the Incorporated Law Society, Chancery-lane, on Thursday, August 5, the following being present, viz., Mr. Tylee, chairman, and Messrs. Boodle, Burges, Desborough, Lucas, Sidney Smith, and A. B. Carpenter, secretary, a grant of £50 was made to a member, the thanks of the directors were voted to the late Legal Practitioners' Society for a donation of £18 18s. 10d., and the ordinary general

business was transacted.

Appointments, Etc.

Mr. WILLIAM HENRY LIONEL Cox, barrister, his been appointed a Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of the Mauritius, in succession to Mr. Henry Thomas Wrendfords. ley, who has been appointed Chief Justice of Western Australia. Mr. Cox was called to the bar at the M dile Temple in Hilary Term, 1866, and has been for some time substitute procureur for the Mauritius.

Mr. NICHOLAS HANHART, solicitor (of the firm of Hanhart & Gillman), of 20, Southampton-street, Bloomsbury. square, has been appointed a Commissioner to administer Oaths in the Supreme Court of Judicature.

Mr. A. ALEXANDER THOMAS MACLEAN, of the Bengal Civil Service, has been appointed a Puisne Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Calcutta, in the place of Mr. William Ainslie, resigned.

Mr. WILLIAM WOODFINE MARKS, solicitor, of Wakefield, has been elected Clerk of Prosecutions to the Liverpool Town Council. Mr. Marks is the son of Mr. John Capuer Marks, of Wakefield, and he was admitted a solicitor in

1878.

Companies.

WINDING-UP NOTICES.

JOINT STOCK COMPANIES.

LIMITED IN CHANCERY.

LONGTON HALL HOTEL COMPANY, LIMITED.-The M.R. has, by an order dated Mar 20, appointed Henry Kendrick, Tokenhouse yd, to be official liquidator. Creditors are required, on or before Sept 1, to send their names and addresses, and the particulars of their debts or claims to the above. Oct 26 at 12 is appointed for hearing and adjudicating upon the debts and claims WIVELISCOMBE SLATE COMPANY, LIMITED.-Petition for winding up presented July 27, directed to be heard before V.C. Hall on Nov 5. Newman and Co, Cornhill, solicitors for the petitioners [Gazette, July 30.1

CRAIK'S WAGON WORKS, LIMITED.-Creditors are required, on or before Sept 30, to send their names and addresses and the particulars of their debts and claims, to John Unwin Wing, Prideaux chambers, Sheffield. Oct 27 at 12 is appointed for hearing and adjudicating upon the said debts and claims

IMPERIAL HYDROPATHIC INSTITUTION, LIMITED.-By an order made by the M. R., dated July 21, it was ordered that the institution be wound up. Sykes, St Swithin's lane, for Watson and Dickons, Bradford, solicitors for the petitioner

OAKHAM COLLIERIES COMPANY, LIMITED.-By an order made by the M.R., dated July 24, it was ordered that the company be wound up. Denton and Co, Gray's inn sq, solicitors for the petitioners LONDON WOOD PAVEMENT COMPANY, LIMITED.-By an order made by Bacon, V.C., dated July 21, it was ordered that the company be wound up. Beal and De Soyres, Regent st, solicitors for the petitioner

[Gazette, Aug 3.] COUNTY PALATINE OF LANCASTER. DONALD MACKINTOSH AND COMPANY, LIMITED.-By an order made by the V.C. dated July 26. it was ordered that the above company be wound up. Mather, Liverpool, solicitor for the petitioners [Gazette, July 30.]

FRIENDLY SOCIETIES DISSOLVED. ETTON FEMALE FRIENDLY SOCIETY, National Schoolroom, Etton, York. July 28 FRIENDLY SOCIETY, Blue Bell Inn, Easton-Stamford, Northampton. July 28 [Gazette, July 30.1

and he became well known as a contributor to the Monitor, where he was involved in an active written controversy with Daniel O'Connell. Mr. Coffey was for many years county court judge and chairman of quarter sessions for the county of Londonderry. He was also a magistrate for the county of Leitrim and city of Dublin.

Solicitors' Cases.

HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE.
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION.

(Before COCKBURN, L.C.J., and HAWKINS, J.) July 29.-In the matter of a Solicitor. Murray said in this case the rule had been obtained on behalf of the Incorporated Law Society calling upon the solicitor in question to answer the matters of sa affidavit. A sum of £40 had been given to him by a client for the express purpose of settling ar action on certain terms. In the result the plaintiff in that action had refused to agree to the terms proposed by the defendant, the client of the solicitor in question. Of this the client had not been advised, and he had indeed first become aware of it when judgment had been obtained against him by default acd the sheriff's officer had come to his house to levy for the amount of the debt and costs. When the case came before the court a week ago all attempt to rely upon a lien, which the solicitor alleged he had on the £40 for his costs, was abandoned, and he was ordered to pay the £40 to the client at once. This he had failed to do.

The solicitor, who appeared in person, said he had been unable to pay the money; but assured the court that he would do so if time were given him.

The COURT made an order for its payment within three weeks.-Times.

dren.

IRISH HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE.

CHANCERY DIVISION.

(Before the LORD CHANCELLOR of Ireland.)
In re Hoey.

Robertson applied that Mr. Charles Hoey might be st liberty to present himself for final examination on the 1st of next October, preliminary to his admission on the r 28, notwithstanding that he had only served one out of ve years' apprenticeship under his indentures, dated the 10th of July, 1879. It appeared that in 1867 Mr. Hoey was board by indenture for the usual term of five years to Messrs. David Fitzgerald (now deceased) and Thomas Fitzgerald, of St. Andrew-street, solicitors. After serving four years under these indentures, be, in 1871, left the office of the Messrs. Fi zgerald, and devoted himself entirely to assisting his father in the c duct of his business, whcih was also that of a solicitor. On the death of his father in 1879, desiring to resume and compe his apprenticeship under the original indentures of 1867, 2 application was made on his behalf to Lord Chanceller Ball for liberty to transfer these indentures from David and Thomas Fitzgerald (the former having died in 1870 to Thomas Fitzgerald, who, after the death of his brother Davi continued the business in his sole name. On the occasion that application, the Law Society objected that such transfer could not be made, as the term of service under the indetures had expired in 1872. Lord Chancellor Ball yielded to the objection, but suggested that the proper course f Mr. Hoey to pursue was to enter into new indentures if five years' apprenticeship to Mr. Thomas Fitzgerald, and ai the end of one years' service to apply to the court to rea? the remaining four years, in consideration of his hav served from 1867 to 1871 under the original indentares. This suggestion was acted on, and the one year having pired on the 10th of the present month, the present moti

was made.

There being no opposition to the motion,

The LORD CHANCELLOR, after reading the 40th section the Solicitors Act, made the order sought, observing the clause in question reserved all existing powers with spect to dispensing with any part of the time of service, and that he was acting in the spirit of his predecessor's sugg tion.

were voters.

Election Petitions.

OXFORD.

August 4.-LUSH, J., in delivering judgment, declaring that the respondent, Mr. Hall, was not duly elected, said that the election accounts on both sides, and the evidence of the witnesses who had been examined, led them to the conclusion that the practices which they had had to observe upon at Boston of employing at elections a number of voters under the names of clerks and messengers were largely resorted to, and the same question arose in that case which they had to decide now-namely, in the first place, what object had the respondent's agents in view in employing this large number of persons-was their purpose innocent or corrupt? And, secondly, if it was a corrupt one within the meaning of the statute, then they had to consider whether it was carried on on so large a scale as to justify them in reporting that corrupt practices did extensively prevail, or that they had reason to believe that they did, at the election. The aggregate of persons employed by the respondent, as shown by the returns, was 355; and those employed by the Liberal candidate, 389. How many of these 744 persons who were employed on both sides were voters? Mr. Day asserted in his opening speech that fivesixths of the whole number employed by the respondent Mr. Matthews did not attempt to deny this statement, but justified it on the ground that out of 30,000 inhabitants, of whom 6,166 were on the register, it was difficult to find an adult fit to be employed who was a non-voter, and he stated that both parties did the same, and were for the same reason compelled to do so, and this again passed without contradiction on the other side. They felt, therefore, they were justified in assuming that a number not far short of 600 voters were paid for services, real or fictitious, on the day of the polling, and perhaps many of them for some days previously. The object in employing these men must have been to violate the law in one particular at least, for a paid voter was prohibited from voting; and if these men had been taken bona fide their votes would have been all lost to the party in whose behalf they were employed. They were by no means satisfied that there was not much more corruption than was disclosed by the evidence and the documents, and they felt bound to report that corrupt practices, they had reason to believe, did extensively prevail. The employment of so large a number of voters was, at all events, as to many of them, in their opinion colourable employment, and a mere pretext for paying them for their votes. They had now to declare and report to the Speaker that the respondent was not duly elected on account of bribery by his agents. They must also report that they had reason to believe that corrupt practices had extensively prevailed at the election to which the petition related, and they must report the names of the persons who had been proved before them to have been guilty of these practices. The cost of the petition would follow the result.

MANISTY, J., in concurring, said this case afforded another of the many instances which had of late come before election judges of the consequences which resulted from the vicious system now in common use of conducting elections by means of a large staff of paid messengers, clerks, canvassers, and such like, composed chiefly of voters. It was not only a system fraught with danger to the candidates, but it was one, as had been proved over and over again, by which needy and illiterate voters were demoralized, and elections gained by small majorities. It was in vain for candidates personally to use their best endeavours to gain their election by pure and lawful means so long as this system was allowed to be resorted to. The careful consideration of the evidence which had been laid before them during their present long circuit had led him to the conclusion that while the Ballot Act bad to a great extent done away with what might be called the simple evil of undue influence, it had created a compound evil of a worse kind. Under the old system of open voting a man who took a bribe could scarcely avoid voting according to his promise. Now, speaking from what had come out in evidence before them, many a man who had been bribed, and expressly or impliedly promised a vote for a particular candidate, had in the end broken his promise. He made these observations in the hope that when the subject of corrupt practices at elections

again came before Parliament, as it soon must, some stringent law would be passed to prohibit candidates from canvassing or conducting an election by paid agents, unless it was by a limited number, according to the extent of every constituency, whose names should be sent in to the returning-officer before the election, and who should not be permitted to vote, and for prohibiting the employment by candidates and their agents of any paid voters for any purpose whatever in every election except the agents to whom he had alluded.

Legislation of the Week.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

JULY 29.-BILLS IN COMMITTEE.

Industrial Schools Acts Amendment, Merchant Seamen (Payment of Wages), Wild Birds Protection, Merchant Shipping Act (1854) Amendment (passed through Com-mittee).

BILLS READ A THIRD TIME. PRIVATE BILLS.-Rochester Corporation, Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway, Dagenham and District Farmers (Optional) Sewage Utilization.

South-Western District of London Post-office Turnpike Acts Continuance.

JULY 30.-BILLS READ A SECOND TIME. PRIVATE BILLS.-Glenariff Railway and Pier, SouthEastern Railway, Cathcart District Railway. BILI. IN COMMITTEE. Metropolis Improvement Schemes Modification Pro-visional Order.

BILLS READ A THIRD TIME. PRIVATE BILLS.-Dartford Gas, Industrial Schools Acts Amendment, Merchant Seamen (Payment of Wages, &c.), . Merchant Shipping Act (1854) Amendment.

AUG. 2.-ROYAL COMMISSION.

The Royal assent was given by commission to the following Bills: Statutes (Definition of Time), Great Seal, Universi ties of Oxford and Cambridge (Limited Tenures), Annual Turnpikes Acts Continuance, Births and Deaths Registra-tion (Ireland), Relief of Distress (Ireland), Industrial Schools Acts Amendment, Merchant Seamen (Payment of Wages and Rating), Revenue Offices (Scotland) Holidays, Merchant Shipping Act (1854) Amendment, Regulation (Clent) Provisional Order Confirmation, Land Drainage Provisional Supplemental, Local Government Boards Orders Confirmation (Alnwick Union, &c.), Local Government Boards Provisional Orders Confirmation (Kingston- upon-Hull, &c.), Pier and Harbour Orders Confirmation, Local Government Boards Provisional Orders Confirmation (Aberavon, &c.), Enclosure (Henley Bank) Provisional Order Confirmation, Enclosure (Steventon) Provisional Order Confirmation, Enclosure (Llan

degley Rhos) Provisional Order Confirmation, Enclosure and Regulation (Lazard-common) Provisional Orders Confirmation, Lanark Water Supply Confirmation, Blantyre Water Supply Confirmation, Local Government Boards Provisional Order Confirmation (Poor-Law No. 2), South-Western (of London) District Post-office, Cork Improvement, London Gas-Light, North Metropolitan Tramways, Kent and Sussex Rother Levels, Huddersfield Improvement, Portmadoc Water, Northampton Street Tramways, Yeadon and Guiseley Gas, Great Yarmouth Waterworks, Devon and Cornwall Railway, Ballymena, Cusbendall, and Redbury Railway, Metropolitan District Railway, Romford Canal, Rathmines and Rathgar (Milltown Extersion), Sligo Boroughs Improvement (Revival of Powers), Great Western and Monmouthshire Railway Companies' Amalgamation, Hunt's Patent, Manchester Carriage and Tramways Company, Ackworth, Featherstone, Puleston, and Sharlston Gas, Maidstone Gas, Reading Gas, Dearne Valley Waterworks, Hundred of Hoo Railway (Extension), Preston Improvement, Rochester City Improvement British Gas Light Company (Lin.ited), Staffordshire (Potteries), Williamson's Patent, Dartford Gas, Caledonian Railway (Guaranteed Annuities Stock), Bristol Channel Pilotage (Cardiff), Hull (Corporation) Electric Lighting, Liverpool Tramways, Wigan Improvement, Beverley, and. Burnston Drainage, and Highland, Dingwall, and Skye. Railway Companies Amalgamation.