The Evening Star FRIDAY, JULY 14, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4175, 14 July 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star FRIDAY, JULY 14, 1876.

There has been an immense quantity of experimental legislation in New Zealand, Almost every newly-fledged senator has signalised his advent to the Colonial Parliament by the product ion of some “ Rill” embodying a new principle in the legislation of the country, whose acceptance he has urged with a pertinacity born of the sublime hope of creating for himself mommmifm wc perennw and too often, wearied with bis importunity, the Assembly has consented to give his crude project a trial, the public at large being thus made vile body ” for budding legislative genius to try its wit upon. Older members of the Assembly frequently manifest n similar love of change and a iirm belief lit the supreme excellence of the last new thing in legislative fashions; and since the blundering way in which many of the Bills which attain the force of law are framed necessitates numerous amendment Acta, opportunities are con stantly presented for the introduction of fresh principles. These senatorial amusements are pretty costly. It is not alone the expense entailed by the sittings of the Assem bly being needlessly lengthened, although that is no trifle, but when the Act comes into operation the persons immediately affected by its working ere likewise made to suffer in their pockets in a manner from which they would be exempted in a proper state of the law. Tho Debtors’ arid Crecfitors’ Act of 1875 is au instance in point. Its birth was heralded by a flourish of trumpets. The great “ bankrupt ” problem was to be solved by it and sot free from doubt for ever. And the theory upon which it was framed was, it must bo conceded, not without its merito. The heavy machinery of the Ruprcmo Court, which, under the old Bankruptcy Acts, ivas sot in motion at every turn, lyaa only to be used on

extraordinary occasions ; and the creditors and the debtors were to arrange their own amurs, as they pleased, while, above all, the lawyers were to be rigidly excluded rrom all share in the administration of insolvent states. But while the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak. The designer wTi i° give hia . ideas practical application. What happened is notorious. The original inconsistencies and mistakes of the Act were aggravated by an ill-devised code of rules • the creditors did not look after the estates • insolvents found themselves in a quandary through their property being hung up between wind and water; and the lawyers reaped larger profits than ever. The Act has oeen publicly condemned from the Bench, it is ridiculed by the Bar, and the newspapers from one end of the Colony to the other have had a fling at it. We do not remember a New Zealand Statute ever having been more generally condemned ; and since its amendment was imperative the Minister of Justice acted prudently in introducing a repealing and re-enacting Bill, for it Would scarcely have been possible to patch up the present Statute in a satisfac* tory way. The new Bill reverts, to a great extent, to a ® P n . nci Ples of the Act of 1867 and its Amendment Acts, and we must say that we think it is a pity these principles wero syg r departed from, and that, instead of an entirely fresh measure, a Consolidation KU was not introduced. The courts and the public had got used to the Act of 1867, and while it needed revision, it could have been trimmed into a very useful measure. Under the present Bill, the proceedings will commence either by the debtor filing a declaration of insolvency, or by a creditor or creditors to the amount of £SO presenting a petition for adjudication, which, however, can only be done after an Tin, a has been committed. When the first step is taken by the debtor, formal adjudication by the Court is not rejs. , a me< r tin g of the creditors is sailed for the election of a trustee, and it is not given the option, as under the existing [statute, of deciding whether the estate shall be liquidated or not. The debtor, as of old, possesses the right of mi king himself bankrupt. In the event, which is common enough in the case of small estates, ot the creditors failing to appoint a trustee, the Registrar is directed to do so; and should no person be found willing to act, the estate remains vested in the Registrar, in whom it became vested upon the filing of the declaranon of insolvency, and that officer is entrus ed with the duty of realising the estate. Having done so, he wifi be required to pay the money into ni« Bank to the credit of the Colonial Treasurer, and after the lapse of twelve months it will be paid over to the bankrupt, unless, in the meantime, the creditors obtain an order of the Court for its disposal otherwise. Tho creditors are thus made to suffer for their own to re-create Provisional Trustees, the Eegistrar seems a proper person to realise the estate; but this duty, as Well as other duties imposed upon him by the Bill, conflicts with the large powers of acting in place of the Judge with which ho is invested, ihese powers are, in many respects, objectionable, while their exercise by the Registrar is not likely to cause any material saving m the time of the Judges. At all events, the Bill requires to be amended in one direction or the other; or else it may happen that an appeal will lie from Ossae unto Obsar. The awkward provisions of the Act of 1875 by which a debtor is, in the first instance, sad5 ad to ask his creditors for an order to arge, reappear in the new Bill in a more objectionable form. The trustee is to summon a meeting of the creditors, which is empowered to pass a resolution either for his immediate discharge, or for the suspension of his discharge, for a period not exceeding three years, and to grant a certificate to that effect. The certificate having been granted, the next step will be for the debtor to apply to the Court for an order of discharge, which the Court may grant or suspend at its pleasure, without regard to the creditors’ certificate ; while further, any creditor may, notwithstanding the resolution, oppose the application in Court. The only use of the resolution, therefore, is as an expression of opinion on the part of the creditors. If that opinion be favorable to the debtor, silence might, as it used to do, he taken to imply consent; while, if opposition he intended, it would seem to be decidedly better that it should be made in open Court, so as to enable the Court to judge how far it is justifiable, rather than by a resolution which offers no opening for examination. In the very probable contingency of the creditors refusing to waste their time by attending a meeting having for its sole object the pass iug of a resolution relating to the discharge of the bankrupt, the unfortunate man is precluded from applying to the Court for his discharge for twelve months, even though his sole fault be the inability to get his creditors together. This is a decided defect in the Bill, which it is to be hoped will not be overlooked when it is in committee. - The Bill, as before stated, embodies many of the principles of the old Acts, among them being deeds of arrange meut, about the merits of which there is certainly a difference of opinion. The Bill, taking it altogether, is an improvement upon the present law, although its construction shows marks of haste which ought not to be visible in an important measure of this kind.