§ Mr. Lockhartrose, according to notice, to move for the introduction of a bill to amend the bankrupt laws. He conceived this subject to be one of the highest importance to the honour, the honesty, and the morals of the country, and was sorry it was to be his misfortune to bring it forward in so thin a House. The evil of which he complained, was the multiplication of fraudulent bankruptcies to an extent which threatened the most frightful consequences to the commerce and morals of the country. He was far from meaning that kind of bankruptcy which had been on so many instances of late occasioned by the fluctuations of our currency, or the precarious situation of trade. Neither did he mean, for the prevention of the evil to which he alluded, to propose the formation of any new tribunal, or to throw any onerous burthen on the courts that already existed. His remedy should contain very little of novelty in it. The notorious evil to which he now adverted, was defined in the very first statute passed on the subject of bankruptcy in the reign of Henry 8th. The preamble of that statute spoke of the practice of men obtaining possession of other people's property by fraudulent means, and then fleeing into foreign parts. Notwithstanding the numerous statutes which had passed successively since then, fraudulent practices of this nature were daily on the increase; and this increase he was inclined to ascribe to the mode of examination pursued by the commissioners, which was mainly directed to the point, whether the bankrupt had concealed any part of his property, and only incidentally, if at all, to the arts by which he came into possession of that property, or how he had made away with it. When satisfied on the first of these points, the commissioners generally agreed to sign his certificate; the next part of the process was, for the bankrupt to obtain the signatures of 3-5ths in value of his creditors, and that once obtained, the whole only awaited the fiat of the chancellor. Thus the bankrupt was again let loose on the world, whatever his fraudulent practices might have been; without any distinction of character being made between him and the honest bankrupt, who had failed in his engagements through unavoidable misfortunes. The mode of remedy he meant to propose was, that the commissioners instead of investigating merely whether the bankrupt 245 had fraudulently secreted any part of his property, should also inquire into the means by which it came into his possession, and how he had made away with it: that they should examine into the whole of his transactions, and report on his conduct, which report should be submitted to the lord chancellor before he granted the certificate, together with their opinion whether it was proper that such a person should go free into the world This, he conceived, would be attended with little difficulty or burthen on the commissioners, who now amounted to about 70 in number. If he recollected aright, there had been only two or three persons executed under the act making it felony for a bankrupt to conceal his property: one of these persons, of the name of Clark, said, on his examination by the commissioners, that the fact was, he had spent the property which had come into his hand on wine, women, and other extravagancies; but the commissioners, not believing this account, ascertained the fact of concealment, and on the evidence brought forward he was executed. He meant it, therefore, so to form part of his bill, that the commissioners should inquire into the means by which the bankrupt got the property into his possession, and how he had spent it; and also that a particular day should be set apart for such examination. The bill which he proposed was, in fact, founded on the principle of the insolvent act, which prevented fraudulent persons from taking the benefit of that act, and remanded them back to confinement for a period of five years. This was the penalty he proposed for the punishment of fraudulent bankrupts, and which had this additional recommendation, that it introduced a uniformity into our law in regard to fraudulent debtors. He concluded by moving, for leave to bring in a bill, to snake better provision for the repression of bankruptcy.
§ Leave was given to bring in a bill.