Court Of Chancery, Tuesda...
LAW REPORT. - .S -VfA SU.. 41-v -UI Iu15 ISS -.-, ou.4LLS, * think I may now say that I liave read throughout all the bankrupt petitions which stand for my judgmevnt; and I wish it to be under- stood, that on Thursday next I shaUl appoint a day for giving my judgment upou them." IN THE OMATT ER OF LATHAMf, A BANKRUPT. Mr. SHADWE1.L applied to the Lord Chancellor for his Lordship's allowance of a certificate under the act passed in the last session of Parliament for consolidating and amending the bankrupt laws. By thelaw asit stood before the passingef this act.the refusal of the specd- fied proportion of creditors to sign a certificatewoulil prevent a bank- rupt from ever being relieved from his engagements, and no power et.nsted b vwhicb thecredit(rs could be compelled to sigi or the certifS. catebeallowed. By-the new act, an alteration is made in this rtspeLt which isaot among theleast imnportant of its enactments. In sec. cxx. it is provided, " that after 18 calendar monrths fro-) the lastexamination of aniy bankrupt under a commission issued, either previously to or after the passing of this ar,, if three-fifths in number and value of sucir creditors, 'with the exception of one, whose signature is neces- sarv to make up that proportion, shaU have signed the certificate, ' the commissioners maY sign the sarme, and the bankrupt may there-; upon petition the Lord Chancellor for the allowance thereof, having first caused every creditor who shall not hare signed and whose: signatllre shall be so necessarv as aforesaid, to be serveA with a copv of such petition, who mav be heard against such allowance; and every such certificate, if allowed by the Lord Chancellor, shall be a valid discharge." The provisions relating tO tie certificates of bank- raptes bepai to operate on the passingi of the act; all the other parts of it are not to alke effect urntil the Ist of May, 182.5. The present petition was the first which b.ad been presented order the ner act. Mr. Shadwell went on to state, that 1ir. Latham had been in the year 18309 in business as a' merchant with a Alr. Parry ; that in the cuurse of their business thev hati manv trans- actions, to a very large amount, with AMr. Ferinii De Taster, also a 1merchant, and of considerable nGte; that the whole of these trans. actions were conducted by Mr. Ptrry, and without Mr. Latharn's interfererce or knowing any thing of their exact nature ; that Mr. Parry committed very extensive frauds by means of forgeries., and that *Ur. De Tastet became a creditor to a very large amoaunt under a commission of bankruptcy, issued against the petitioner and Parry in the year 1813. Purry absconded, to avoid the consequence of his trantis; and the petitioner hiad in asl respects conformed himself to the provisiotis of the bankruptlaws, undergone all the usual exami- nations, delivered up the whole of his property, and obtained the conssent of all hia creditors to liis certificate, with the exception of Air. De Tastet, who had proved to the amount of upsvards of 60,0001., anti claimed a much larger sum to be due to hitn. AMr. De Taster hati refused, ever since, the commission issued, *n,! still refused, to aign thc certificate it appeared by ain affi- davit filed by the petitioner yesterday, that the reas,on assigned by that gentleman for his refusal vas alleged bv him to be., that bv granting the certificate, this petitioner would become a witness against his (AIr. De Tastet's) interestins litigation which had grown out of this bankruptcy. Under the circumstances of this caSe, the learned counsel prayed the allowance of the ccrtificate, and argued that as Air. Lathaml had been noparty to the fr.uds of Parrv, but, on the contrary, had lost the wbole of hisown fortunein consequence of them, he waKs fully enrtitled to the benefit of the law as altered. Mr. IONTAGoU was beard on the same side, The SO.tCtTOH-GJENERAT., for Mr. De Tastet, showeti causc against the petition. He said it appearcd from the affidavits filed in the course of this pzoceeding, tbat Mr. De Tastet employed the netitioner and his partner in the pur.hase of large quantities of rum. He knew that the petitioner's nane stood fair in thecity; he knew also an Amsterdam merchantwith who,,, thepetitioner had been engaged in cnmmercial transactions, and who had vouched for the respectabifixy of his character. This it was that induted Air. De Tas'et to trust very large sumsin the handsof the firm. Of'Mtr. Parry he knew nothing, but that he was the right-hand agent of :lr. Latham, whom he had never seen, bitt whose name was well lnown tohim. Hehad for mans years done business with thenm in discounting bills whic, thev were in the habit of procuring for him, and in which he employed a parr ot the [very large capital which he al%ays had in his hands. ln all these transactions lie had no rcason to doubt the punctuality of the firn, and this led to the confidence which he placed in them, and whica occasioned the great loss he had sustained. MI r. Pirry represented to hint that he cotuld realize very large profits by the purchase of rums; but lie told him besides. that to ensure the succecs ofr ]i 'ar- gains, his (Mr. De Tastet's) name must not appear, as the fact of liis being a purchaser wvould, if it were knowrn, be sufficient to effect a rise in the markets. Air. De Taster gave into this represen- tation, ani furnished frnm time it tirme very large sums ot monet' to Parry for the purchiase of spirits. Parry. in point of fact, tiever boughit the mereltanclise for which he received Mr. De Tastet's iioney, bitt he fabrica'ed what are c alled " bought tickets," and whicht be pitt into Mr. De Tastet's iatridc, to. gether with the orders for the delivery of the goods from the docks, where they were supposed to be. In ortler to avoid the detcction of this cheat, Pairy was in the habit of pretending again to sell the irms. for AIr. De Tastet. at a large profit, and he paid him over the amount of these supposed re-sales, by bills accepted, in the namesi of substantial houses, and which bills were all ef them forgeries. It was of course necessary to take up these bills, and this was elfected by means of other torgeries, or t.ometimner by IMr. De Tastet's own inonev, the produce of the preceding frauds. Of all thcse transactions the petitioner asserted that lie waas whully ig- noratit, and that he was as much a victim of them as Air. De Tastet. The latter getitlemaii dlid not believe this representation, and tpots this grotiund it was that lie had Tefused Co sign the certifi- IClate. If it could be believed that the facts were its stated by the petitioner, it wa, clear at least thail he had been guilty ,f very culipable negligence, and such as precluded hint iroim, the ad. vantage which he claimed under the new act. The LORI CH.ANCELT.Oit in vne pirt oti the statemient said, |The difficulty aitl the responsibility which this enactment throws upon the person holding thiegreat seal are very numerous and heavv; b but if a ea.se is made oar before me, in which it appears that one partner in a firm commits frauds to a lare extent by which t3e Iotier parttert are benefited. and aii-b which they ought to be atc- I q'iat.odb .I.h-Ii I hc called ur1on to allow the rertiflcare of. such per. | aisver will." - ' ~ n., frave sgne I sI ny I This sentence was uttered withi cotisiderable emphasi-, and its pro. bable application Loa eale wvhich note occupies a large rti5ttoii of the puiblic attention seemed to be perfectly understood. The counsel went on to argue the case aeainst th. petittuti. It had beeti said that MIr. De Tastet washiimself opten to thecharge of ne_igetice in trus,ing atmis to the ainoxunt (if ltiO.Ohl. and upwards In arry's hands, but the reply which that genleniain made upon his examtnatmion before the Commissioners was at once the niost obyious and the moSt tocibir. Ile said taiLt ,-onfidence is the very soul of cunanerce, *nd the only pro?ection; swhich niierchanits loave against the rraudc ti, wehich tlev are aceesantlh txIt..eid i, it the I punishnient wbich tite laws have provitdedi for i ltose frauds. If melt wvill commit fbrgerits by which they forieit their own lives. it is im. possible fbr any care and cautioo winch may be consistent witl thle practice of >nerchants to guard against them. Air. IlrALD and Mr. Pgs.ys were heati agAinst tiht petitian. aind the latter gentlemats was still speaking when the Clourt rose The LOR11 GlIAxtCE1.t1ot promised to continue it on 1rridae. next COURT OF CHANCERY, TuEsDAY, 'Nov. 2. _