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Bankruptcy. Hardly a week passes without some unavoidable post- -ponement of this work: and in the case of Chambers especially, this is apt to lead to delays which are most prejudicial to suit- -ors, tending as they must to the postconement of the ultimate hearing or settlement of cases, to give one example of what is almost a weekly occurrence, in order to illustrate how the time of the Court is locked up. An important action brought by one of
the Banks could not be finished within the time allotted to it.
The last hearing was on March 7th.: one more day was necessary,
and it has not been possible to find it till May 16th.
6.
I have already addressed Your Excellency on
the great inconvenience which results from holding criminal sessions every month. Although I do not desire to re-open this matter, it has so important a bearing on the present question that I am compelled to allude to it. The consequence of having a monthly Assize is that practically a whole week every month has to be deducted from the time available for civil business, be- -cause we never know until three or four days before the session how many criminal cases will be ripe for trial, nor how long they will last. The hearing-list is always so full that cases have to be fixed 6 weeks or 2 months ahead. The Assize begins on 18th. of each month. It is not safe therefore to fix a date for hearing a civil case between 18th. and 25th. of any month. This is however only the patent inconvenience: the latent inconvenience reveals a still more serious blot in the present system. It may bappen that when the Assize comes on the Calendar is a light one, and may be disposed of in one or two days. It is impossible to advance the hearing of civil cases becauses arrangements have been made by all the parties concera- -ed, and the witnesses, more especially, are not available. The result often is that the Court does not sit at all for the
remainder