NEWS OF THE WEEK.
Loan STANLEY'S proposal for an Indian loan has been received with equal satisfaction in the House and out of doors, accom- panied as*it has been by an explanation of Indian finance which shows how truly that country has made progress under British dominion, with the further certainty that the progress hencefor- ward must be even more considerable. Tried by every test, of land revenue, opium revenue, customs, imports and exports, ship- ping, cotton, and production India has continually advanced. since the commencement of the century. Even the annual de- ficit disappears, when we discover that it is, more than counter- balanced. by Government outlay on improvements. Lord Stanley announced-a peace policy in India, divested of the " annexation " tendency ; and he ascribed the whole of the debt to the wars which that policy instigated ; points which we have discussed in a separate paper. But what Lord Stanley did show beyond mis- -„fteke is, that the resources of British India far exceed any pro- hale drain upon them, and that they are henceforward to ex- pand far more profitably. Opposition Members raised some ques-. tion as to the accuracy of his figures, but there was not an at- tempt either to oast doubt upon his general view or to refuse the loan. The statement on Indian finance had a very favourable effect in the City—a favourable effect produced by tbe announce- ment of a loan ! The fact might be instructive to Austria, who plays the beggar to so little purpose. Ministers have been. put to the trial of a debate on the right of search ; Lord Wodehouse moving for copies, of the corre- spondence between her Majesty's Government and that of the United States. We have already had these papers through the American Government, which does not maintain such a veil of secrecy over its proceedings. Lord Aberdeen made a particular atand in favour of a right which Ministers are said to have yielded, but which in truth has never existed at all—teste Lord Pal- merston. If, indeed, the commander of a war-ship has reason to suppose that any vessel which he encounters is actually engaged in piracy, he may board the ship in order to ascertain its nationality, and the fact of its criminality or innocence ; but he does so at his peril. Should he be acting upon sufficient ground, he would most unquestionably obtain indemnity from the Government of the nation to which the ship belongs ; but he must be quite clear. that there is prima facie evidence against the vessel. On no other warrant can he visit it ; and in the absence of positive, distinct, and readily adduced evidence, his boarding any vessel tinder a foreign flag is a trespass which can in no manner be defended. When Lord Aberdeen quotes to the contrary his' awn despatch of October 1841, he only proves that at a former date he took up an untenable position, which his successors have not been allowed to maintain.
Lord John Russell has introduced a bill to amend the law of bankruptcy, confessedly as Member for the city of London, and still more as the coadjutor and representative of the Biriningham conference on the subject. His bill apparently embodies the views of the mercantile public. It differs materially from that of the Lord Chancellor, although, like that, uniting the courts and jurisdictions of insolvency and bankruptcy. Lord John, for example, although, like Lord Chelmsford, abolishing distinctions between the various kinds of certificate, would retain to the Judge the power of suspending the certificate altogether, which would continue the liability of the debtor indefinitely. He would give a power of sending any case of fraud before a judge and jury in a penal court. He retains the country courts of bankruptcy, and confers upon the County Courts a concurrent jurisdiction. He abolishes the official assignee, authorizes the appointment of an assignee for the creditors, and make various changes in the official organization of the Court designed to pro- mote economy. A preponderant regard to the creditor, increased severity, and a mercantile rather than a legal view of the work- ing, are the characteristics of Lord John's bill. Although it is very improbable that it will be endorsed by the House of Com- mons, and it is almost impossible that it should be accepted by the -House of Lords, the getting-up of the measure has bery by no means labour thrown away ; nor do we regret that it has been put in the form of a bill—the only form in which men can be made to attend to a subject : the pamphlet, the report of a committee, the proposal of a society—each one of these has be- come such a drug in the market that it is printed only to become waste paper.
Mr. Locke Kin s Real Estates Bill would be the sharp point of the wedge fo abolishing primogeniture. In the case of per- sons who happ to die intestate real property would be divisible, whereas now t goes as a matter of course to the eldest son. At present it ds intention of the father to distribute, under the bill it w ld need the intention of the father to keep the estate together. Many arguments may be advanced for such a mea- sure ; but it would require immense deliberation with an eye to its ulterior social and political consequences, and neither Peers nor gentlemen of England will pass it yet.
Lord Bury's annual debate on the Marriage Law Amendment Bill, sanctioning marriage with a deceased wife's sister, has this year been signalized by a new step in advance. Lord John be- came the advocate of the bill, with an argument powerful in itself, popular in its bearing. He paid the utmost deference to religious punctilio, but showed that the principles of those who opposed the bill convict the Lords who passed Lord Lyndhurst's Aot in 1835 of having sanctioned crime ; while they also cast a stain upon the birth of Peers now sitting in the House of Lords by virtue of the same act. The adhesion of Lord John is an aug- mentation of strength which makes it probable that the Peers Will,
now see the policy of yielding. cur Amongst proposed reforms introduced by Ministers and private Members, Mr. Ayrton's bill to weed the statute book of obsolete and mischievous restrictions on the press is creditable to the ac- tive zeal of its author, and enjoys a prospect of at least partial favour from the law-officers of the Crown.
