§ MR. HODGKINSONsaid, he rose to call the attention of the House to the serious inconvenience caused by the indiscriminate registration of all obligations to the Crown. As the representative of a constituency (Newark) which was particularly interested in this matter, he wished to explain to the House that all persons who were engaged in occupations that rendered them liable to pay customs or excise duties were required to find two sureties for the due payment of such duties, Those securities were registered, and the effect of such registration was, that they became a charge upon not only the property which the surety had in possession at the time of signing the bond, but also all freehold property which he might subsequently acquire. The persons who became securities were unaware of the extent of the obligation they were incurring, for there was nothing in the document they signed to warn them; but if they wished to part with or deal in any way with their freehold property during their continuance of their suretyship they found they could not do so without obtaining a certificate from the Treasury. He knew of one instance in which a gentleman was obliged to part with land compulsorily to a railway company, but was unable to realize the purchase money fur some months on account of his having become surety for a distributor of stamps. As another illustration, he might mention that there were twenty maltsters in Newark, each of whom had to find two sureties for the due payment of the malt duties, so that no less than sixty persons were affected by the grievance, and in many instances the most serious inconvenience had arisen. He could not see why registration should be enforced, nor indeed why the Crown should have priority of payment over other creditors. He wished to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the registration of obligations to the Crown might not, without injury to the public service, be dispensed with, except in cases of default on the part of the obligors.
§ MR. HADFIELDsaid, he would suggest that these Crown debts as well as judgments should be unavailable as to real estate until they were put into execution.
§ MR. MALINSsaid, there was a Bill in- 870 troduced into the last Parliament by Lord St. Leonards, which went far to remedy the evil complained of; that Bill had, he believed, been again introduced, and one of its clauses was calculated to remove the evil complained of by the hon. Gentleman. The existing law acted as a great restraint upon the alienation of property, while little advantage was given by it to the Crown. By the insertion of a few words the clause to which he had alluded might be extended to Crown debts.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, he was very sensible of the difficulty of this question, but he was afraid that it deserved ampler discussion than could possibly be given to it on that occasion. No doubt it involved topics of general policy, but with respect to legislation he could not move a step without calling in the advice of the law officers of the Crown. He should not express any opinion on the policy of the law which prevailed at the present time, which in substance had existed from time immemorial, and which gave a preference to the debts of the Crown; but he would confine himself strictly to the point raised by the question of his hon. Friend. His hon. Friend was not correct in saying that the obligations of the Crown were indiscriminately registered. That was far from being the case. There was a Treasury minute on the subject dated as far back as September, 1852, in which it was stated that it was not expedient to register any bonds in the office of the Common Pleas, except those of a permanent character, where the responsibility amounted to the sum of £1,000 or more for each party to the bond; and then it went on to say that in special cases the legal adviser of any department might, if he thought fit, require registration on his own responsibility, even though the particular bond might be for a less amount than £1,000, though given for a temporary purpose only. That was the basis of the general practice that had prevailed from that time to the present in the departments of the Customs, Excise, Stamps and Taxes, Woods and Works, Paymaster-General, National Debt-office, the War-office, and the Ordnance office, and the effect of it had been a very great reduction indeed in the practice of registration, which undoubtedly was attended with inconvenience. He could give his hon. Friend details for the purpose of showing to what a great degree this evil had been lessened. The total number of Crown bonds regis- 871 tered since 1856 on the part of the Customhouse officer, who used to have to register enormous numbers, was only thirty. He mentioned that for the purpose of showing that the attention of the heads of departments had been called to the subject, and that a great reduction of the inconvenience had been effected. With regard to the other part of the question —namely, whether registration might not be dispensed with, except in cases of default or expectation of default on the part of the obligor—again, without giving an opinion on the policy of the law, he was afraid he must answer the question in the negative. To register a bond in case of actual default would obviously be out of place. The only proceeding that could rationally be taken in case of actual default would be to put the bond in suit, and then the lands and goods of the debtor would be taken in execution. With regard to registration in expectation of default it was quite obvious that that would be a dangerous and speculative ground to go upon. If it meant that they were to register in cases where it seemed likely that the bond would have to be resorted to, it was substantially the same as the present practice, and he was afraid that they could not effect any change in the present practice. They could not change the practice by adopting any absolute rule so long as the law remained on its present basis. It was, he admitted, a serious question, and. in case the hon. Member, or any other hon. Member, should bring it before the attention of the House, he hoped it would receive full consideration, and he could only add that he would be very happy to afford any information which might be required from the various departments concerned in the registration of these bonds.
MR. WHITESIDEobserved that in the late Parliament he introduced a Bill as to judgments in Ireland, which were a great impediment to the transfer of land in that country. He had given notice of re-introducing the Bill, which was now in an amended shape, and he hoped he should have the support of those hon. Gentlemen who took an interest in this question.