§ (The Lord Chancellor.)
§ COMMITTEE.
§ Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee, read.
§ LORD HATHERLEYsaid, their Lordships would remember that on the second reading of the Bill he had offered an objection to the provision it contained which enabled a debtor to present a petition for adjudication of himself as bankrupt. Since then he had received a variety of communications in reference to the Bill. He could not say that there was any great unanimity amongst them. Amongst others were letters from the Society of Accountants, from a distinguished County Court Judge, and from the Association for the Protection of the Interests of Creditors in Bankruptcy. Whatever else those communications showed as to other points, they 1250 indicated that the creditors took his view, and disliked those clauses by which a man could make himself bankrupt on his own petition.
THE LORD CHANCELLORsaid, he also had received various representations expressing different views in reference to several of the provisions in the Bill. He was desirous of giving every attention to the opinions of those who took an interest in the subject, at the same time that he wished to avoid leaning too much towards either extreme. He would not detain their Lordships by any arguments on the present occasion, but proposed that their Lordships should go into Committee pro formâ, in order that he might introduce certain Amendments, which might be printed, with a view to having them discussed on recommitment.
House in Committee accordingly.
Bill reported, without Amendment; Amendments made; and Bill to be printed, as amended. (No. 41.)