The Militiaman's Finances The Draft Orders on the financial liabilities
of militiamen have cost the draftsmen sleepless nights and given the Lords a headache. They will give a worse headache to the militiaman, who will be grateful for his moratorium on rent, mortgage payments, hire-purchase and insurance premiums, but remains uncertain whether he will not ultimately be faced by a staggering accumulation of arrears. Lord Munster, who introduced the Orders, assured Lord Stra- bolgi that this would not happen; Lord Strabolgi doubted whether the Orders meant what Lord Munster said they did. In any case, cancellation would merely shift the burden from the militiaman's shoulders to those of his creditors; those shoulders being generally broader, hardship would be minimised, but justice would be hardly better served. Further ambiguity marks the terms of the mora- torium itself. The Orders provide that no step may be taken, over the specified period, for recovery of premises, of rent or mortgage payments, or of hire-purchase dues, except by leave of the Courts; but they lay down no rules to guide the Courts in their unprecedented task, and there is every likelihood of gross anomalies. The plea of urgency may get the Orders through the House of Lords, but they will obviously have to be replaced shortly by a more fully- considered scheme.
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