THE Grey River Argus. TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1870.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 720, 30 August 1870, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1870.

Every person who has read with care the second annual report of the Inspector in Bankruptcy for the Colony, must be forced to the conclusion that some more stringent laws are necessary than are now in force, to put a stop to dishonest and reckless traoting, which has been lately severely animadverted upon by the Judges of the Supreme and District Courts in their addresses from the bench. Every honest trader must feel an interest in any measure which has for its object the repression of this vice, and will hail with pleasure the bill which has, during this session of the Assembly, been introduced by the Government, and is now being rapidly passed through all its stages. The Inspector in Bankruptcy tells us that the number of adjudications made during the year ending 30th Nov., 1869, has been 520, showing an increase in number over the previous year of about 75 per cent. The following is the classifications among the Provinces to which they are applicable :— Auckland, 71 ; Canterbury, 134 ; Nelson and Marlborough, 30 ; Ota<*o and Southland, 130; Wellington and Wangani'i, 48 ; Taranaki and Hawke's Bay, 9 ; Westland (including Greymouth and Weatport), 118. Of these, 360 did not exceed £300 in liabilities. Three-eighths of the bankrupts are drawn from four-classes of the com inanity — hotel-keepers, housekeepers, farmers and miners ; the remainder comprise 112 callings. The bankruptcies of the Province of Auckland have not been common among the producing classes, but have been chiefly comfined to distributors and consumers. Canterbury, on the other hand, includes in her list a large number of farmers and settlers ; while in Otago and Southland the miners ai-e about one-half. In Westland, again, the bankrupts belong almost exclusively to the distributing class. Oa the whole, however, we appear to be possessed more with the spirit of enterprise, orrecklesness, as people may choose to term it, than other countries, as will be seen by the following comparison made between New Zealand and canny Scotland :— " It is, hen-ever, greatly to be regretted that there should be, in a Colony like New Zealand, with a population of under 250,000, a larger number of bankruptcies annually than there is in Scotland, with a population of over 3,000,000." After clue consideration of these iacts it is no wonder that the General Government has introduced a Bill into the Assembly, which has most probably by i this time passed the Lower House, having

for its object the amendment of the pro- 1 sent Bankruptcy Act, by introducing more stringent clauses, so as to render the at present easily accomplished task of "going through the Court" one of some difficulty. In the new Act it is proposed to alter the present form of declaration. Under the new Act the filing of the declaration would be deemed an act of bankruptcy, and the property would immediately vest in trustees. Another new feature is the introduction of a clause from the English Act, which requires a man to pay 10a in the pound before he receives his discharge, only receiving a protection which does not free him altogether from the claims of the creditors. The framing of deeds of arrangement aye also considerably modified and altered under the new Act. In moving the second reading of the Bill, Mr Fox said the Government trusted in another session to be able to consolidate this and the other two Acts on this subject in a manner which would protect the creditor from fraud and tho bankrupt from excessive severity. The introduction of the clause for the compulsory payment of 103 in the pound appeared, to give great satisfaction to the House, and an attempt to have the Bill read that day six months was defeated by a large majority. The new Bill was declared to be very cumbrous and unworkable, but the assurance of Mr Fox was given that it had been introduced to amend and simplify the present law to a great extent, and therefore it was not an .Act .which would be looked upon as cumbering that Act. The Bill had been submitted to the various Chambers of Commerce in the Colony, and from Otago, Canterbury, and Auckland they had received expressions of approval He trusted that honorable members would not defeat the Bill passing through this session,, as the law was urgently required by the representatives of the trading community in all parts of the Colony. The Bill has" since progressed through its various stages, and will, no doubt, become law during the present session, and there is no doubt that it will be hailed as a boon by the honest traders in every community in the Colony.