South Canterbury Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1880.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2269, 25 June 1880, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1880.

The questions submitted by the Legislature to the Chambers of Commerce in reference to the bankruptcy laws of the colony have elicited at the bands of our local institution several suggestions that arc eminently practical and extremely valuable. Probably the most important query in the list is No. 4—“ Whether any, and if so, what alteration should be made in the law relating to bills of sale ? ” The answer of the Timaru Chamber will commend itself to every mercantile mind. The members recommend—“ That no bill of sale or mort- “ gage of stock or agricultural lien shall “ be legal until it has been gazetted and “ advertised in the local papers thirty “ clear days from execution.” A suggestion more eminently practical or valuable than this could scarcely be thrown out. It aims at the root of an evil what has done more than anything else in this colony to keep the Bankruptcy Courts in full swing. Tire advertising of liens and mortgagees in the manner proposed, is calculated to have a deterrent effect. People who are apt to be induced, by the baits of money lenders, to speculate rashly, will hesitate when they find that their operations must be exposed to the full glare of publicity. Much of the commercial depression from which New Zealand has lately been suffering has been due to the extraordinary facilities afforded for fraudulent speculation. The terra “fraudulent” may seem a harsh one, but it is we submit the only terra that can properly describe the preferential creditor system which is enabled to thrive and flourish through the agency of liens and mortgages. By the agency of these instruments, the more enterprising and thrifty of the industrial population have been induced to forfeit the position of independence, which ordinary prudence would have assigned them, and they have involved themselves in unnecessary difficulties. Through the same means, the unscrupulous, keen, and rapacious creditor has been enabled to get to the windward of the more considerate and less dishonest. Liens and mortgages are responsible, wo believe, for the great majority of the bankruptcies that have lately taken place in New Zealand, and they arc Undoubtedly responsible for the want of confidence which operates so injuriously on business circles. So long as they are surrounded with, a certain amount of secrec3 r , no tradesman is safe. Under the present condition of affairs, it is impossible for any mercantile firm to arrive at even an approximate estimate of the value of their assets. This is most unsatisfactory. It is a state of things that cannot fail to prove increasingly disastrous to commerce. We have no doubt that if the suggestion of the Chamber of Commerce is carried into effect the liens and mortgages which have ensnared and ruined so many industrious property holders, and which have victimised so many tradesmen and shopkeepers will he materially diminished in number. During the past 12 months the number of Hens registered at Christchurch -has been something appalling. Hundreds of farmers on the Canterbury plains have been subjected to coercion and extortion at the hands of merciless usurers through appending their names to these documents. The pernicious traffic has been

carried on to a largo extent by country storekeepers, and it jj-tis proved the ruin of many a settler who ought now to be comfortable and prosperous. When liens over growing crops are given for such paltry sums as £7 and £lO, it is time that attention was called to this matter, and we are glad to see that it is being taken up by the proper authorities. The members of the Chamber of Commerce must be complimented on their action, and wc trust their suggestion will be generally endorsed by similar bodies all over the colony.