Show CALL A HALT The bill to regulate voluntary assignments as-signments which has passed the Council Coun-cil of the Legislative Assembly uht to be entitled An act to precipitate insolvency The intent of its promoters promo-ters we believe to be good the effects ot the billlf it should pass we believe be-lieve would be exceedingly bad At first sight it would seem that when a business man fails owing a number of creditors they should all have an equal chance to recover their respective claims or receive their proportion pro-portion of the assets The presents present-s stem of preferred creditors may open the path to injustice in this particular and make way for collusion and fraud But no matter what laws may be passed while there are trick bankrupts bank-rupts and dishonest debtors Men iu business frequently find themselves after years of success in meeting their regular bills suddenly cramped for money To tide them over and pay the firms from which they make their purchases so as to keep their credit good they have to make overdrafts or obtain ob-tain loans from banks or accomodat hiS friends Unless these were assured as-sured of being protected in case of a collapse that money would not be advanced ad-vanced and the consequence would perhaps be a forced assignment Many a merchant has been saved from such a smash in this way Is it not right under such circumstances circum-stances when an assignment is forced to prefer those creditors who have thus come to the aid of the assignor Should not our home banks which help business men often to maintain their credit and which thus save many from bankruptcy when suddenly squeezed by a grasping foreign creditor credi-tor be protected by the preference which this proposed law would abolish abol-ish 4 The principle on which preferred C gditors are allowed to be named by a person making an assignment is this If he sold his goods and property to pay his debts he would settle with I just such creditors as he chose and II in the order of his own selection He does exactly the same in making an I assignment And the idea is that he ought to have the same privilege in both cases There will bi people who will take i advantage of this to do wrong So I there will under any bankrupt law that can be devised The majority however will do right The minority will liave to be deleqted and punished as far as the lawCan reach them It is the same under every law There will be criminals no matter what enactments enact-ments hay be made They are the exceptions and must be treated accordingly accord-ingly inglyWe We believe if this bill which has gone to the House becomes a law it will add to the prevailing jnsecurity cause bankers and capitalists to hold 1 closer to their money force a number of solvent rncn who may be in debt but have goods and property enough to pay everything if they could dispose dis-pose of it to go into bankruptcy and thus into financial ruin There is too much of a disposifidn to tinker with financial affairs lit our Legislative Asppmlilv and We hope the House will alt and put a 5 T A 0 s quietus on this measure to 4riv business 1 ness men to the wall |