which provides that when a judgment has been obtained in a county court, and the debtor is unable to pay the amount forthwith, but alleges that his whole indebtedness amounts to a sum not exceeding £50, inclusive of the debt for which the judgment is obtained, the court may make an order for the administration of his estate, and for the payment of his debts by instalments or otherwise, and either in full or to such extent as to the County Court under the circumstances appears practicable, and subject to any conditions as to his future earnings or income which the court may think just. When this order is made. no creditor is to have any remedy against the person or property of the debtor in respect of any debt which the debtor has notified to a County Court, except with the leave of that court, and on such terms as that court may impose; and any County Court, or inferior court, in which proceedings are pending against the debtor in respect of any such debt is, on receiving notice of the order to stay such proceeding. This is followed up by a provision that if the debtor makes default in the payment of any instalment payable in pursuance of any order under this section he shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have had since the date of the order the means to pay the sum, in respect of which he has made default, and to have refused or neglected to pay the same. He will then be liable, as at present, to be committed to prison under the Debtors' Act. These are the principal provisions of the clause, which,

however, contains several others, for which we must refer our readers to the act. It is obvious that the efficiency of the clause, and its smooth working, will, in a great measure, depend on the manner in which it is carried into effect. Upon this we are not at present in a position to say anything, as the procedure will be regulated by the general rules which are to be made under the act. But it may, at any rate, be said that the act furnishes the outlines of a system on which it ought not to be difficult for the courts to do justice between small debtors and their creditors.

Any

Part VIII. of the act is devoted to what are described as "supplemental provisions." Of these the most interesting and important is clause 125, which provides for the administration in bankruptcy of the estate of a person dying insolvent. creditor of the deceased debtor, whose debt would have been sufficient to support a bankruptcy petition against such debtor had he been alive, may present to the court a petition praying for an order for the administration of the estate of the deceased debtor according to the law of bankruptcy. This order may be made, unless the court is satisfied that there is reasonable probability that the estate will be sufficient for the payment of the deceased's debts. But no order of the kind will be made until the expiration of one month from the grant of probate or letters of administration, except with the concurrence of the legal personal representative of the deceased debtor, or unless the petitioner proves that the debtor committed

an act of bankruptcy within three months previous to his decease. Nor is any petition for administration under this section to be presented to the Bankruptcy Court after proceedings have been commenced in any court of justice for the administration of the deceased debtor's estate. The latter court may, however, on proof that the estate is insufficient to pay its debts, transfer the proceedings to the court exercising jurisdiction in bankruptcy, which may thereupon make an order for the administration in bankruptcy. In that case the estate will vest in the official receiver as trustee, and he will deal with it in accordance with the provisions of the Act. He will, however, be bound to pay the proper funeral and testamentary expenses in priority to other claims.

There then follow a number of clauses, which need not detain us here, with reference to general rules, fees, salaries, expenditure and returns; to evidence; to the mode of computation of time for the purposes of the act; to the service of notices; to formal defects; and to exemptions from stamp duty. Clauses 145 and 146 are of more general interest, besides being amongst the novel provisions of the act. The former enacts that when the sheriff sells the goods of a debtor under an execution for a sum exceeding £20 (including legal incidental expenses) the sale must (unless the court from which the process issued otherwise orders) be made by public auction, and not by bill of sale or private contract, and must be publicly advertised by the sheriff on and during three days

next preceding the day of sale. The latter will put a stop to the evasion of the Bankruptcy Act by the device of seizing goods under a writ of elegit. It provides that in future the sheriff shall not, under a writ of elegit, deliver the goods of a debtor, nor shall a writ of elegit extend to goods. No writ of levari facias is hereafter to be issued in any civil proceeding. Clause 150 enacts that, save as herein provided, the provisions of the Act relating to the remedies against the property of a debtor, the priorities of debts, the effect of a composition or scheme of arrangement, and the effect of a discharge, shall bind the Crown. The right of audience which solicitors had before the chief judge in bankruptcy is saved to them in the High Court by clause 151.

A number of clauses, entitled "transitory provisions," deal with the administrative arrangement which it may be necessary to make on the new act coming into operation. By clause 162 unclaimed and undistributed dividends or funds under any bankruptcy, composition, or scheme of arrangement, pursuant to this or previous Bankruptcy Acts, are to be paid by the trustee, in whose hands they remain, into the Bankruptcy Estates Account at the Bank of England. The Board of Trade are armed with powers to secure the carrying out of this provision.

The punishment of fraudulent debtors is then provided for; and it will be seen that the arm of the law is materially strengthened. By clauses 163 and 164, sections 11 and 12 of the Debtors'

Act, 1869, relating to the punishment of fraudulent debtors, and imposing a penalty for absconding with property, are to have effect as if there were substituted therein for the words "if after the presentation of a bankruptcy petition against him" the words "if after the presentation of a bankruptcy petition by or against him." The provisions of the Debtors' Act, 1869, as to offences by bankrupts are to apply to any person, whether a trader or not, in respect of whose estate a receiving order has been made as if the term "bankruptcy" in that act included a person in respect of whose estate a receiving order had been made. And section 16 of the same act is to have effect as if the term " a trustee in any bankruptcy" included the official receiver of a bankrupt's estate, and is to apply to offences under this Act as well as to offences under the Debtors' Act of 1869. The next three clauses are extremely important. By clause 165 the Bankruptcy Court is empowered to commit for trial either the bankrupt's or any other person who has, in the opinion of the court, been guilty of any offence which is by statute made a misdemeanour in cases of bankruptcy. By clause 166 the Public Prosecutor is directed to institute and carry on such prosecutions. And by clause 167, when a debtor has been guilty of any criminal offence, he is not to be exempt from prosecution by reason of the fact that he has obtained his discharge, or that a composition or scheme of arrangement has been accepted or approved.