a certificate of the court to the like effect in the case of a bank. ruptcy. (7.) The trustee under a liquidation shall have the same powers and perform the same duties as a trustee under a bankruptcy, and the property of the debtor shall be distributed in the same manner as in a bankruptcy; and with the modification hereinafter mentioned, all the provisions of this act shall, so far as the same are applicable, apply to the case of a liquidation by arrangement in the same manner as if the word "bankrupt included a debtor whose affairs are under liquidation, and the word "bankruptcy" included liquidation by arrangement; and in construing such provisions the appointment of a trustee under a liquidation shall, according to circumstances, be deemed to be equivalent to and a substitute for the presentation of a petition in bankruptcy, or the service of such petition or an order of adjudication in bankruptcy. (8.) The creditors, at their first or any general meeting, may prescribe the bank into which the trustee is to pay any moneys received by him, and the sum which he may retain in his hands. (9.) The provisions of this act with respect to the close of the bankruptcy, discharge of a bankrupt, to the release of the trustee, and to the audit of accounts by the comptroller, shall not apply in the case of a debtor whose affairs are under liquidation by arrangement; but the close of the liquidation may be fixed, and the discharge of the debtor and the release of the trustee may be granted by a special resolution of the creditors in general meeting, and the accounts may be audited in pursuance of such resolation, at such time, and in such manner, and upon such terms and conditions as the creditor think fit. (10.) The trustee shall report to the registrar the discharge of the debtor, and a certificate of such discharge given by the registrar shall have the same effect as an order of discharge given to a bankrupt under this act. (11.) Rules of court may be made in relation to proceedings on the occasion of liquidation by arrangement, in the same manner and to the same extent and of the same authority as in respect of proceedings in bankruptcy. (12.) If it appear to the court on satisfactory evidence that the liquidation by arrangement cannot, in consequence of legal difficulties, or of there being no trustee for the time being. or for any sufficient cause, proceed without injustice or undue delay to the creditors or to the debtor, the court may adjudge the debtor a bankrupt, and proceedings may be had accordingly. (13.) Where no committee of inspection is appointed, the trustee may act on his own discretion in cases where he would otherwise have been bound to refer to such committee. (14.) In calculating a majority on a special resolution for the purposes of this section, creditors whose debts amount to sums not exceeding £10 shall be reckoned in the majority in value, but not in the majority in number.

Composition with Creditors.

REGULATIONS.

126. The creditors of a debtor unable to pay his debts may, without any proceedings in bankruptcy, by an extraordinary resolution, resolve that a composition shall be accepted in satisfaction of the debts due to them from the debtor. An extraordinary resolution of creditors shall be a resolution which has been passed by a majority in number and three-fourths in value of the creditors of the debtor, assembled at a general meeting to be held in the manner prescribed, of which notice had been given in the prescribed manner, and has been confirmed by a majority in number and value of the creditors assembled at a subsequent general meeting, of which notice had been given in the prescribed manner, and held at an interval of not less than seven days nor more than fourteen days from the date of the meeting at which such resolution was first passed. In calculating a majority for the purposes of a composition under this section, creditors whose debts amount to sums not exceeding £10 shall be reckoned in the majority in value, but not in the majority in number, and the value of the debts of secured creditors shall, as nearly as circumstances admit, be estimated in the same way, and the same description of creditors shall be entitled to vote at such general meetings as in bankruptcy. The debtor, unless prevented by sickness or other cause satisfactory to such meetings, shall be present at both the meetings at which the extraordinary resolution is passed, and shall answer any inquiries made of him, and he, or if he is so prevented from being at such meetings, some one on his behalf, shall produce to the meetings a statement showing the whole of his assets and debts, and the names and addresses of the creditors to whom such debts respectively are. due. The extraordinary resolution, together with the statement of the debtor as to his assets and debts, shall be presented to the registrar, and it shall be his duty to inquire whether such resolution has been passed in manner directed by this section, and if satisfied that it has been so passed, he shall forthwith register the resolution and statement of assets and debts, but until such registration has taken place, such resolution shall be of no validity; and any creditor of the debtor may inspect such statement at prescribed times, and on payment of such fee, if any, as may be prescribed. The creditors may, by an extraordinary resolution, add to or vary the provisions of any composition previously accepted by them, without prejudice to any persons taking interests under such provisions who do not assent to such addition or variation; and any such extraordinary resolution shall be presented to the registrar in the same manner and with the same consequences as the extra

ordinary resolution by which the composition was accepted in the first instance. The provisions of a composition accepted by an extraordinary resolution in pursuance of this section shall be binding on all the creditors whose names and addresses, and the amount of debts due to whom, are shown in the statement of the debtor, produced to the meetings at which the resolution has passed, and shall not affect or prejudice the rights of any other creditors. Where a debt arises on a bill of exchange or promissory-note, if the debtor is ignorant of the holder of any such bill of exchange or promissory-note, he shall be required to state the amount of such bill or note, the date on which it falls due, the name of the acceptor or person to whom it is payable, and any other particulars within his knowledge respecting the same, and the insertion of such particulars shall be deemed a sufficient description of the creditor of the debtor in respect of such debt, and any mistake made inadvertently by a debtor in the statement of his debts may be corrected after the prescribed notice has been given, with the consent of a general meeting of his creditors. The provisions of any composition made in pursuance of this section may be enforced by the court on a motion made in a summary manner by any person interested, and any disobedience of the order of the court made on such motion shall be deemed to be a contempt of court. Rules of court may be made in relation to proceedings on the occasion of the acceptance of a composition by an extraordinary resolution of creditors, in the same manner and to the same extent and of the same authority as in respect of proceedings in bankruptcy. If it appear to the court on satisfactory evidence that a composition under this section cannot, in consequence of legal difficulties, or for any sufficient cause, proceed without injustice or undue delay to the creditors, or to the debtor, the court may adjudge the debtor a bankrupt, and proceedings may be had accordingly.

Rules of court have been made under the authority of this act, prescribing the manner in which the act is to be carried into execution.

The Absconding Debtors Act, 1870, extends the provisions made by the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, for the arrest and safe keeping of absconding debtors.

By section 24 of the Judicature Act, 1873, in the administration of the estate of deceased insolvents, the same rules are to be observed as to the respective rights of secured and unsecured creditors, as may, for the time being, be in force with respect to bankrupts estates.

CHAPTER XVII.

The Revenue.

THE revenue, formerly under the control of the lord treasurer, is now under that of the lords commissioners of the Treasury. It

has always, however, been more immediately under the management of one of the divisions of the Exchequer, which consists of the office of the receipt of the exchequer for collection of royal revenue. This office has been reconstituted by 4 & 5 W. 4, c. 15, and more recently by 29 & 30 V. c. 39, which consolidates the exchequer and audit departments under a comptroller and auditorgeneral and an assistant appointed by the crown. The ordinary revenue is such as has either subsisted time out of mind in the crown, or has been granted by parliament in exchange for some of the hereditary crown revenues. A great part of the old revenue of the crown is in the hands of subjects, to whom it has been granted from time to time. This ordinary revenue consists of different heads. The first to be noticed is of an ecclesiastical kind, namely, the custody of the temporalities of bishops during vacancy, and the first-fruits and tenths of all spiritual preferments in the kingdom; but the latter one has now, for the purposes of revenue, been destroyed, as all the revenue of first-fruits and tenths is vested in trustees for ever by Queen Anne (confirmed by 2 & 3 A. c. 11), to form a perpetual fund for the augmentation of poor livings, called Queen Anne's bounty, and the custody of the temporalities of bishops now forms a very inconsiderable portion of the revenue, as by custom every new bishop received the restitution of his temporalities untouched by the crown. Another branch of the royal revenue is the rents and profits of the demesne lands of the crown, but most of these have been granted away to subjects, and now the superintendence of the royal demesnes is vested in the commissioners of woods and forests. The rights and interests in the fore-shore also is enjoyed by the crown, but these have been by 29 & 30 V. c. 62, transferred to the board of trade in aid of the reduction of the national debt. The profits from the ordinary courts of justice make another branch of the royal revenue, but these have been considerably reduced and are now, in great measure, paid by stamps (see post). The crown has also a right to royal fish, such as the whale and sturgeon, and to wrecks, treasure trove, waifs, and estrays; but by different acts it is provided that the board of trade shall have the general superintendence of all matters relating to wreck, and it can, with the consent of the Treasury, appoint receivers of wreck in different districts.

We have now considered the most important portions of the ordinary revenue or proper patrimony of the crown. There are some other heads, such as the right to certain mines, the forfeiture of lands and goods for offences, and the revenue which arises from escheats and from the custody of idiots, which cannot be mentioned more particularly here. This ordinary revenue was formerly very large, but has been gradually reduced. The crown does not, however, suffer by such reduction, for the ordinary revenue has never been sufficient to meet the wants of the state, and has had to be supplemented by private contributions from subjects. These gra

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dually swelled into the modern system of taxation, by which all the public service, including the service of the crown, is now maintained. These contributions by way of taxation are granted by the Commons of Great Britain and Ireland in parliament assembled. The taxes now imposed are the following:-(1) the land-tax, (2) the customs, (3) the excise, (4) the Post-Office duties, (5) the stamp duties, (6) the assessed taxes, (7) income-tax.

I. LAND-TAX.

The land-tax is a territorial impost, anciently levied under the name of actuage, hydage, and talliage. It was introduced in its present form in the reign of William III., when a new assessment or valuation of estates was made throughout the kingdom; which, though by no means a fair one, had the effect of raising a supply of £500,000, by an assessment of 1s. in the pound on the value of the estates given in. The method of raising it is by charging a particular sum on each county, according to the valuation of 1692, and this sum is assessed and raised on individuals by commissioners appointed in the act, being the principal landholders in the county, and their officers. Up to the year 1798, the land-tax was an annual tax; at that period, with the view of supporting public credit, and augmenting the national resources, it was made perpetual. The last annual act was the 38 G. 3, which imposed the tax for the year at the rate of 48. in the pound; and it was made perpetual, at that rate, by a statute passed in the same year, the 38 G. 3, c. 60, which has been modified and amended by subsequent statutes. At the same time, the land-tax was made subject to redemption by the owner of the land on which it was laid. The sums paid in either case are applied to the reduction of the national debt; and the price is regulated by the price of the funds at the time, being now, by the combined effect of 42 G. 4, c. 116, s. 22, and 16 & 17 V. c. 74, so much stock in the 3 per cent. Consols, or 3 per cent. Reduced, as will be less by the amount of £7 10s. per cent than so much stock as would yield a dividend equalling the land-tax redeemed. By 46 G. 3, c. 133, the commissioners may exonerate small livings and charitable institutions, the income of which is under £150, from the land-tax without any consideration, provided the annual amount in the whole does not exceed £6,000. Under 1 & 2 W. 4, c. 21, lands remaining subject to the double land-tax assessment, imposed, in the reign of William III., on the estate of Roman Catholics, were relieved on complaint to the commissioners of land-tax.

II. THE CUSTOMS.

The customs are duties levied on commodities exported or im. ported. They were first authorized by statute in the 3 Edw. 1, and the mode long employed in t etion was to fix a certain