CONFERENCE ON COMMERCIAL. LAW.
This movement is indeed an epoch in the history of Law Re- form. It is at once more popular, more widely, spread through general society than any that has preceded, and more aided by persons possessed of detailed technical knowledge. The manu- facturer, merchant, banker, and shipowner, walk hand in hand with the professional lawyer, and aim at the same objects. The men of. business, who in their eagerness to protect or acquire pro- perty are apt to undervalue or kick against the technical forms of law, and the lawyers, who are apt to push their veneration of these forms to a superstitious excess, have coalesced to devise measures of law amendment by which the proceedings in the courts may be kept rigidly accurate without checking the free play of mercantile enterprise. The differences which exist between the laws affecting the mer- cantile classes in England and Ireland, and those relating to the same classes in 'Scotland, are indeed great enough to introduce a dangerous element of precariousness and uncertainty into the transactions of traders. Such differences are to be found both in the maxims and the forms of law regarding evidence, the negotiation of bills, the constitution of contracts of sale, the fiirmation of liens, the contraction of the rights and liabilities of partnership, the winding up of the affairs of bankrupts, &c. &o. In England and Ireland, parties to a suit may in almost all eases be examined as witnesses : in Scotland, only if they have a " substantial interest" in the suit. In England and Ireland, immediate notice must be given to drawers and indorsers of the dishonour of bills and pro- missory notes : in Scotland, such notice may be given fourteen days after the protest. In England and Ireland, the mere contract of sale transfers the property in the thing sold to the pur- chaser : in Scotland, the property is not vested in the purchaser till delivery. In England and Ireland, a lien upon the pro- perty of a debtor can only be claimed by custom or express agreement : in Scotland, a creditor may retain possession of any property of his debtor that comes into his hands, although the debt has no relation to it. In England and Ireland, no mercantile partnership can be sued in the corporate name un- less incorporated or quasi-incorporated by registration : in Scot- land, every partnership is held to be a species of corporation, and as such may be sued in the partnership name. In England and Ireland, the official assignee takes immediate possession of the bankrupt's property; the property. is then vested in the official assignee and the trade assignees jointly, and all their proceedings are public and under the control of the court : in Scotland, the bankrupt is left in possession for a fortnight after " sequestra- tion," the trustee is elected by a majority of votes of the creditors, anethough he may himself be a creditor his proceedings are secret. It would be easy to extend this list of contradictory principles and practice tice sanctioned by law in Scotland and in England and Ire- land. Enough has been said to show that if the law relating to certain mercantile transactions is equitable in one part of the 'United Kingdoms, it must be unjust in another ; and that Scotch merchants dealing in England and Ireland, or Irish or English merchants dealing in Scotland, are liable to loss and annoyance from their necessary ignorance of the law. Almost every one of these local discrepancies, however, had its origin in some reasonable cause ; and all of them have become so intimately associated with the local modes of transacting business, that caution is requisite in altering or modifying them. Some may be traced to mercantile customs whioh spring from the necessities of the society among whom they prevail; others, to peculiarities in the business forms of local law-courts. The reform required by the interests of merchants may sometimes be attained without the introduction of absolute uniformity. Simplification of the forms of court ; precise enunciation of the legal effects of judicial or extra-judicial proceedings ; publicity given to the actual state of the law,—by these means merchants at a distance may be pro- tected from the consequences of ignorance of local laws and cus- toms, and the routine of local business transactions left undis- turbed by perplexing innovations. Entire uniformitzght to be kept in view as the ultimate aim ; but there may be r in hur- rying too rapidly to its attainment. For such a prudent course of action the association of traders from remote localities, and of lawyers trained in the routine of different legal systems, affords 'a good guarantee. The risk as well as the promised benefits of every "proposed innovation will be seen and canvassed. The common in- terest of all the parties impressing a solution of the difficulties will prevent hesitation from being pushed to inaction. Habitual association will introduce similarity into the views of those who by remoteness and local influences have been accustomed-to enter- tain irreconcileable opinions. The conference of Mercantile Law Reformers, about to be held in the Metropolis, will not only serve as a stiiulud to the Legis- lature, but will iiisb discharge a missionary function and dissemi- nate the prineiplg Of4lawjeforin.through the whole of society. It is only by such a preparation `of public opinion that legislative ac- tion can be effectually accelerated, in a country where the legisla- tors, being chosen at comparatively. brief periodical intervals by the people, are necessarily but a reflex of the wishes and opinions which prevail among the general public. The commercial law constitutes fully one half of the distributive law of a nation : a conference similar to that which is about to be held for the purpose of promoting improvement in the laws relating to Real Property would embrace almost all that remains. A disposition was evinced by some leading members of the landed interest to take part in such a movement, about the time when the report of the Lords Committee on the Burdens which peculiarly affect Land was pub- lished. Could we but see a conference of parties interested in the laws relating to land, working parallel to that which has charged itself with the amelioration of the law-merchant, we should deem the first great step towards a satisfactory codification of our dis- tributive law taken. All that would remain to be done would be to organize some analogous conference for the improvement of the Penal Law.
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