§ MR. COLERIDGE KENNARDasked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether his attention has been called to a statement of Mr. Daniel, Q.C., Judge of the Leeds County Court, that the alle- 1133 gation of the Right honourable Gentleman, that "the great majority of bankruptcy trustees appointed heretofore were little better than swindlers" was "a calumnious libel," so far at least as the three important courts over which that judge presides are concerned; and, whether, in view of such a statement from the Bench, he will offer any explanation of his severe strictures upon bankruptcy trustees?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINMy attention has been called to the statement made by the Judge of the County Court of Leeds; and I must express my regret that any person occupying a judicial capacity should have thought it his duty to use such very strong language on the faith of a report which he had not taken the trouble to verify. The only explanation I have to give is that the report is altogether inaccurate, and that I said nothing of the kind. What I have said, both in the Committee and elsewhere, is that the Reports of the Controller General in Bankruptcy show that many of the persons who accept the office of trustee in Bankruptcy have been little better than swindlers, and that if they were called upon to pay up they would probably have to leave the country. That is a statement which I have made on the authority of the Controller General in Bankruptcy; and that is a statement which anybody who knows anything of the subject can easily confirm.