amount influence which it is calculated to exert upon society, furnish us with an ample apology.

The commercial bearings of this great reform are quite important. If the mercantile class wield the bulk of the wealth of the State, it certainly is of the highest importance to them that the laws directing all legal proceedings in relation to their immense rights, should be in the most simple and intelligible language, and free from all technicalities, or antiquated phrases. In this respect the code is perfect. For it is believed that the practice of the courts is therein set forth in such a manner that no person need have occasion to witness a legal proceeding, or render a verdict, the meaning of which he does not comprehend.

In cases of commercial paper the civil code provides a summary remedy. It is somewhat similar to the summary proceedings in the commercial tribunals of continental Europe. These provisions of the code appear to have been framed upon the idea that there is a certain class of obligations admitting of a more summary remedy than the ordinary cases. They are those where the demands have either been liquidated by the parties or settled by the decision of a judicial tribunal; where the defenses possible to be made are few; where the securities are chiefly commercial, and credit requires that the remedy should be speedy.

These summary proceedings may be taken for a sum of money actually due, upon a bond conditioned for the payment of money only; upon a negotiable promissory note against the maker, endorser, or guarantor, and in favor of the holder; upon a negotiable draft or bill of exchange, against the drawer, endorser, acceptor, or guarantor, and in favor of the holder; upon a judgment of a sister State, against the judgment debtor, and in favor of the judgment creditor. They consist in the service upon the defendant of a complaint by a sheriff, with a notice that at a specified time (not less than forty-eight hours) the complaint, &c., will be presented to the county judge, who will endorse on it an order that judgment be extended, unless a sufficient answer be made by the defendent. If no answer is made, the judgment is recorded in three days: if an answer is made, it can be tried in five days, if the court is in session. Notwithstanding such answer, the plaintiff can have an immediate attachment against the property of the defendant upon giving security to pay all damages if he fails to make out his case; and the defendant can avoid the attachment process only by giving security to pay the amount of any judgment that may be obtained against him.

The proceedings in the case of insolvency which are directed by the code are of such an important character, and may possess an interest to our commercial readers, independent of their peculiar nature, that we are induced to take notice of them at some length. These proceedings are divided into three chapters. The first relates to the course to be pursued by the insolvent to discharge himself from an imprisonment in execution; the second relates to the proceedings of an insolvent to discharge himself from his debts; and the third comprises the proceedings of a creditor to close the affairs of an insolvent.

The course to be pursued by an insolvent who has been imprisoned on execution for thirty days, to discharge himself is as follows:

"He must present to the county court of the county where he is imprisoned, on application in writing, verified by his oath, setting forth the fact of his impris onment, the amount, kind, and particulars of his property, and the amount, nature, and particulars of his debts, with the names and residence of the creditors,

so far as they are known and can be ascertained by him, and asking for his discharge from the imprisonment.

"He must, at the same time, prove, by affidavit or admission in writing, that a copy of the application, with notice of presenting the same at a specified time and place, has been served on the judgment creditor, upon whose execution the insolvent is imprisoned, at least ten days before the application.

"The application is to be heard in the same manner as any other motion; and if it be shown to the satisfaction of the court that the allegations of the application are true, that the applicant is insolvent, that he does not conceal any of his property, and that he has not, after knowing his insolvency, and within six months before his application given a preference to a creditor for an antecedent debt, by any payment or disposition of his property, the court may make an order, declaring that the applicant is an insolvent debtor, and appointing a receiver of his property.

"Upon a certificate of the receiver, upon a copy of the inventory, that the insolvent has transferred and delivered to him all the property specified therein, excepting property exempt from execution, to be therein specified, with all books, instruments, and papers relating thereto, and after due notice to the judgment creditor, the court may make an order, discharging the insolvent from his imprisonment; but such discharge shall not affect the judgment, nor any other remedy for the collection thereof, other than against the person of the insolvent."

"The receiver must proceed in the conversion of the property into money, and the distribution thereof among the creditors existing at the time of the application, whether their demands are due or not, according to their several rights, giving no preference, except where a preference is required by the statutes of this State, or of the United States, and must deliver the surplus to the insolvent under the direction of the court. The receiver is at all times subject to the control of the court until his final discharge by its order. If other property of the insolvent, not stated in the inventory, be discovered by the receiver, it must be deemed a part of the property assigned, and the receiver must collect the same and account therefor."

The proceedings on the part of an insolvent to discharge himself from debt are as follows:

"Any insolvent who, at the time of his application, has resided in the State five years, may present to the county court of the county where he resides an application in writing, verified by his oath, setting forth the fact of his insolvency, the amount, kind, and particulars of his property, and the amount nature, and particulars of his debts, specifying the residence of his creditors, so far as they are known or can be ascertained by him, alleging that he has not given a preference, and asking a discharge from his debts.

"Upon receiving the application the court may make an order, requiring the creditors of the insolvent to show cause, if they have any, before the court, at a specified time and place, not less than three months thereafter, why the application should not be granted, and directing the publication once a week, for ten weeks, of the application, or a condensed statement thereof, and of the order, in the State paper, and in two other newspapers which the court may designate as most likely to give notice to the creditors.

"At a time and place specified upon proof of the publication in conformity with the order, and also that a copy of one of the papers containing the application or statement and order, was deposited in the post-office at least nine weeks previously, directed to each creditor within the United States, at his residence, when such residence is stated in the application, the court may proceed to hear the application.

"If a creditor appear and deny any of the material allegations of the applica tion, or allege that the applicant has fraudulently contracted the debt to such creditor; or that such a debt arose from a fraudulent misapplication by the applicant of the property of another; or that since it was contracted, the applicant, if a merchant, has not kept proper books of account, the court may either try the question of fact, or may order it to be tried by a jury, or by referees.

"If such demand or allegation be not made, or if made, be found on the trial to be untrue, the court may make an order declaring that the applicant is an insolvent debtor, and appoint a receiver of his property, not exempt from execution; the receiver must give the certificate, and has the power, and is subject to the responsibilities above-mentioned.

"Upon the final report of the receiver, showing the collection and conversion into available assets of all the property of the insolvent not exempt from execution, and the proper application and payment thereof, if it appear that at least 25 per cent of each of the insolvent's debts contracted before his application, has been paid, or a dividend to that extent offered and set apart thereon, the court may order that the insolvent be discharged from all such debts of the following kinds :

"Debts due to persons who were residents of the State at the time of the application.

"Debts contracted in this State.

"Debts due to creditors who have received a dividend from the receiver.

"But such order in no case discharges a debt arising out of the fraudulent misapplication of the property of another, nor does it affect the liability of another person, who is liable jointly with the insolvent."

The proceedings which are to be taken by a creditor to close the affairs of an insolvent, are as follows:

Any creditor residing in this State, having a claim arising on contract, and already due, to the amount of five hundred dollars, against a debtor residing in this State, may apply to the county court of the county where the debtor resides, to declare him insolvent, and close his affairs, in any of the following cases:"When he has fraudulently contracted the debt to such creditor.

"When he has concealed, removed, or disposed of some part of his property, or is about to do so, with intent to defraud his creditors.

"When an execution against his property has been returned unsatisfied, in whole or in part; or

"When a promissory note made by him, or a bill of exchange accepted by him, while engaged in the business of a merchant, broker, factor, or banker, and owned by the creditor, has fallen due, and has remained unpaid, and under protest, for at least ten days before the application, without notice from the debtor, that he has a valid defense to such note or bill, accompanied by an offer of good security for the payment of any judgment that may be recovered thereon.

"The application must be in writing, verified by the affidavit of the creditor, or another person, and showing that the case is within the last section, and asking that a receiver of the property of the usual rent, may be appointed, and his affairs closed.

"Upon receiving such application, the court may make an order requiring the defendant to show cause, at a specified time and place, why the application should not be appointed; and if then, or at any time afterwards, there appear to be danger of the defendant's disposing of property, to the prejudice of the application, the court may grant an injunction against any disposition thereof.

"At the time and place specified, upon proof of the personal service of the order to show cause, the court may proceed to hear the application.

"If the defendant appear and deny any of the material allegations of the application, the court must order the question of fact to be tried by a jury; or if the defendant waive a trial by jury, may itself try the question, or may order a trial thereof by referees.

"If such denial be not made, or, if made, be found in the trial to be untrue, the court may make an order, declaring that the defendant is an insolvent debtor, and appoint a receiver of his property.

"The receiver must immediately publish notice of this appointment in the State paper, and in two other newspapers designated by the court, for such time as the court may direct; and from the time of his appointment he is vested with all the property of the insolvent debtor, not exempt from execution. The court may compel the transfer and delivering by the insolvent debtor of any of his property."

Such is the law of the State as prescribed by this code in relation to cases of insolvency. Its operation is rapid and effectual, and well adapted to the circumstances of an enterprising and commercial State like New York.

We shall, in the present article, allude only to one more instance in which the provisions of the code have a direct and beneficial influence upon the commercial interests of the people. It is in that provision which relates to evidence, wherein the parties to a suit are authorized to be witnesses, notwithstanding their interest. The fundamental difference between this system of evidence and that in common use, is, that the former goes upon the principle of admission, the latter upon the system of exclusion. Let in all the light possible. Not so, says the common law; exclude the light lest i may deceive you, unmindful that poor light is better than none. The advantages of this provision have already begun to be realized by the mercantile community. Already have we reported in these pages some cases in which the secrets of partnership transactions have been brought to light by placing one of the interested parties in the witness' stand.

In closing these remarks, we cannot withhold the reflection that this great and important movement is as yet in its infancy. The benign influences which it is destined to yield, can, as yet, be only imperfectly realized. Already, however, we have seen it substantially adopted by the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, and the legal publications of England are commending it with high favor.

Art. VIII.-"FREE TRADE vs. PROTECTIVE TARIFFS."

MR. FREEMAN HUNT, Editor of the Merchants' Magazine, etc.

DEAR SIR-I feel somewhat sorry to trouble you with the present communication, believing that it is paying the readers of your excellent Magazine but a poor compliment to suppose it necessary to make any comment upon the petulent and disingenuous attack of G. B. in the June number, upon the article upon "Free Trade and Protective Tariffs," which appeared in the number for April. I should not therefore have taken any notice of the review of your correspondent if I had not hoped still further to subserve the cause of truth-that being so important at the present time-and further, I was afraid that G. B. would be so elated at his success in silencing an advocate of free trade, that like the frog in the fable, he might swell out so far beyond his proper dimensions that some dreadful catastrophe would happen to him. But to the subject: The review appears to me to be anything but a review. Your correspondent does not profess to discuss the important subject contained in my former article, but merely the style in which it is advocated, as though truth was less truth because put forth in a free and independent style rather than in a canting whining tone, under the hypocritical pretense, that though the author believing his own views to be correct still defers to the opinions and judgments of others. Not content however with attacking the style of my article he has gone out of his way to vent his spleen upon all other advocates of free trade, assuming also that I belong to the Manchester School of political economists. Now if your correspondent will take the trouble to refer to your April number, for 1849, he will there find unmistakable evidence that he is wrong. He will perceive that I have

even had the temerity to set-up school for myself. I hope, however, that that is no great crime, seeing that society could not progress upon any other principle but that of free thought and free discussion. Your correspondent says that the subject of free trade has "for the last twenty years occupied the attention and employed the pens of the first minds in Europe and America, assuming, therefore, that an humble individual like myself is not qualified to judge of this abstruse question. This, however, I must leave to others, still claiming my right to exercise both public and private judgment, without deference to the errors of great names. G. B. appears to be particularly offended at what he calls my egotism, and the egotism of the Manchester School of philosophers in general, and says they have not been able to do much more than to disparage the honesty and capacity of the advocates of "protection." This of course is mere assertion. The abolishing of the British Corn-Law against all the power of the aristocracy, who believed themselves interested in its continuance-the remodeling of the tariff and abolition of Navigation-Laws in England, and in America the repeal of the tariff of 1842-these are some of the achievements of the advocates of free trade. Let us now examine into the subject of my egotism. Probably I had better plead guilty to this charge; most writers have a little, and of course I have my share; but we may find in the end that very few have more than G. B. A very ancient and venerable authority says, "wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things." Nevertheless, a little egotism may be excused, when the party has the truth on his side, but when it is otherwise it appears foolish and offensive. The egotism of G. B., or some other quality of his mind equally offensive to propriety, has led him to misquote my language, and to draw disingenuous conclusions from it; some of which I will notice. He makes a quotation in the following words:-"this is precisely the question which no sane individual would have thought of asking," and then goes on to show that I assumed that the Secretary of the Treasury was insane, &c. Let us now quote the sentence as it stands in the original, "Now this is precisely the question which no sane individual in the Union would have thought of asking, unless he had had a purpose to serve in answering it, and this of course was the case with the Secretary." If it can be logically proved from this, that I inferred, or ever wished others to infer that the Secretary of the Treasury was insane, then I must confess that I did not understand what I was writing; but further comment is unnecessary. The next mal-quotation occurs in the following words:-"The governments of the day believe the protective system to be a gross humbug, having tried it from time immemorial, and are now legislating in the opposite direction." This quotation is not to be found entire in any part of my article, but is a mere collection of words, taken here and there, from more than three times the number of lines which contain them, and would in nowise bear the sweeping construction put upon them by the author of the very candid review under consideration, I still believe that the tendency of the age is to abolish the miscalled protective system, in spite of the assertion of G. B., that "all the rest of Europe (besides England) and all America, except the United States for a short period, still adhere to the syetem of protection. It is true I did not think of all America at the time I wrote the sentence objected to; I had quite forgotten the powerful, influential, and civilized States beyond the isthmus. There is however the United States; and Canada is also ready, and has been for some time to act upon the principle of reciprocity. Holland has lately abolished her Navigation