Already the catalogue of Ministerial measures for next session begins
to assume considerable importance. We allude not only to the Parliamentary measures which have to be submitted for the approval of the two Houses, but to measures more within the authority of the Executive, though undoubtedly the House of Commons will be invited to give them its practical sanction. It has been determined that Woolwich shall no longer be the sole arsenal of this country. Quite independently of any imme- diate discussions as to the exposure of that site, the highest military authorities have long been of opinion that the national depository of arms and ammunition should have been placed at a different part of the island ; and in a separate paper we have discussed the site which now -becomes the successful rival of Woolwich.
The Parliamentary measure announced this week is a bill to consolidate and improve the bankruptcy laws. Its author is Sir Richard Bethell. It will be remembered that last session Lord John Russell, acting as the amateur representative of the Sociological Society and the commercial public, introduced a bill that had been virtually framed by prominent leaders in the re- form of commercial law. There were several points in that.bill which demanded reconsideration, and there is a general disposi- tion on the part of the mercantile community at present to wish for the restoration of a strictness which had been to a great ex- tent removed from our bankruptcy law on the last extensive re- form. Perhaps the present disposition is even somewhat ex- aggerated, both in its motives and in its conclusions, but there are some evils in the present system that unquestionably demand correction,—the want of local jurisdiction in many districts, the obstructions which prevent the convenient and ready disposal of the bankrupt's assets, the large proportionate expense, the use- less distinction between traders and non-traders, and the very imperfect treatment of fraud. The bill, however, of next session, instead of being framed outside, will have for its responsible author, Sir Richard Bethell, probably the very best man in the country that could have been selected for the function.
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