Lords Sitting of 21 December 1830

MINUTES.
Bills. The Consolidated Fund Bill was brought up from the Commons. The Patents' Continuation Bill went through a Committee.
Lord TEYNHAM gave notice, that he would, on February 15th, bring in a Bill to authorise a Commutation of the Tithe on Hops.
Petitions presented. By Earl GREY, from Taunton, against the Assessed Taxes; from Rathdown, in Ireland, against the Grants to the Kildare-street Society; from Kingbridge, against the Duty on Coals carried Coastwise; from several places in Scotland, against the system of Burgh Election; and from an individual named Michael Sellers, against the Irish Bankrupt Laws. By the Karl of ROSSLYN, from Cupar, against Colonial Slavery. By Lord MELBOURNE, from George Cunning, praying for the abolition of the Poor-laws; and from Poole, praying for Parliamentary Reform. By Lord FARNHAM, from Alexander Barrett, for a Duty on imported Cotton; and from Sligo, against Colonial Slavery. By Earl STANHOPE, from Spalding, in Lincolnshire, for a repeal of the Duty upon Coals carried Coastwise; and from the journeymen Paper-makers of Somerset, praying that Machinery used in the; business of making paper, might be subjected to a Tax. By the Marquis of LANSDOWN, from Dysart, from the Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen, from the Inhabitants of Glasgow, from the Town Council of Glasgow, from the Incorporated Trades of Craig, from Stirling, and from other places in Scotland, in favour of Reform; from St. Nicholas, Galway, and from Kilkenny, against the Grants to the Kildare-street Society; and from the Jews of Liverpool, praying for a removal of the Disabilities affecting them; from Ardagh, praying for Employment at Public Works; and several Petitions from Scotland, against Slavery.

FRAUDS UPON CREDITORS BILL.
Lord Wynfordsaid, that he should preface the Bill he was about to introduce,
2
by a very few observations. It was a Bill for the better prevention of Frauds by Debtors lying in prison or absconding. He always thought, that it was poor satisfaction to a creditor, to imprison the person of his debtor; but as it was still resorted to, and as the practice still remained part of the law of the land, it only remained for him to suggest the best modification of it that circumstances permitted. The late Sir's Romilly made a great effort to rid the country, of a piece of legislation which reflected no credit upon the country. That distinguished individual failed in his attempt at improvement, and after such a failure, he (Lord W.) could scarcely hope for success, if he attempted to carry a measure similar to that which he introduced. Sir Samuel Romilly proposed to extend writs of execution, which might embrace real property, as well as other descriptions of property; but he thought that the same object might be attained by a different process. In the prisons of the King's Bench and Fleet, persons confined for debt, if they gave security to the proper officers, were, it was well known, allowed to reside within what were called the "Rules," in which they could be supplied with every luxury, and from which they might wander with impunity; for an action to recover of the

3
Marshal could not lie, if the prisoner should return into the Rules during a certain progress of the proceedings. Hence it was the practice of prisoners to leave the Rules after the offices were shut, and having enjoyed the amusements of London, they returned before the offices were open the next day. When he had had the honour of being Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, an action had been tried, which had arisen out of the fraud of four persons taking as many houses in different parts of London, and procuring goods, by giving references to each other; and whilst this fraud was in practice, each of the parties was a prisoner within the rules of the King's Bench prison. In the reign of George 2nd, an Act had been passed, to compel debtors to give up their property to creditors, and allowing Courts to extend their inquiries into the property of debtors; but this Act extended only to debts of 100 l., and he would now wish to apply the provisions of that Act to debts of any amount. By this means be believed that the prisons would be relieved of a great number of persons who lived in them in a state of idleness and luxury, whilst their creditors were suffering distress. Other debtors escaped the just settlement of their bills by going abroad, until there was a sort of an English colony of debtors upon the other side of the Channel. He did not think this creditable to England, but there was no way of getting at these persons, and thus they might enjoy out of England an income of which they had deprived others. If a Writ of Outlawry were issued against them, it was only necessary to declare that they were out of the kingdom, and the writ was reversed. He knew that before the reversal of the outlawry actually took place, the Judge was empowered to require bail for the appearance of the debtor. It was provided by an Act of Elizabeth, in whose reign many good laws were passed, that, in order to perfect an outlawry, there must be a proclamation if it were defective, in order that the debtor might apply to set aside the debt; but in those cases where the outlawry was complete, the debtor ought to be compelled to give bail for the full satisfaction of the debt and costs, or else be subjected to all the pains and penalties necessarily attendant upon a proceeding of outlawry. He would apply the Statute of Elizabeth to the cases he had alluded to, and one of the alterations which he meant to introduce was, to
4
deprive debtors of the power of coming in to reverse their outlawries, on the ground of their not having been within the four seas at the time of such Writs of Outlawry being issued. In the next case, he would deprive all debtors of their real property during their lives, and in case of outlawry, their tenants should be made to pay their rents into Court, so that the Judges might distribute them among the creditors who had established their claims. He did not mean to propose in cases of outlawry that real property should be forfeited, but personal property, as was at present the case in an outlawry for a civil action. While it was quite right that those who had got into debt should suffer, he did not mean to extend the law so as to affect their heirs. He admitted the expediency of reaching life interests, but he saw no reason why inheritances should be made more subject, to creditors than at present: ail that he thought the interest of the creditors demanded was, that the property of the debtor during his life should be made available for the purposes of justice. At present debtors were not reached by the law. He happened to know, that the town of Boulogne, for instance, was filled by debtors, who were living in an expensive style, by having their rents sent over to them, notwithstanding the claims of their creditors. These were the principal objects of his Bill, and he should now move for leave to bring in a Bill for the better preventing of frauds upon creditors by persons living in prisons or absconding.— The Bill read a first time.