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An Account exhibiting a Summary View of the Number and State of the Savings Banks in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland respectively, on the 20th of November 1841.

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BANGKOK, the capital of the kingdom of Siam, situated about 20 miles from the sea on both sides the river Menam, but chiefly on its left or eastern bank, in lat. 13° 40′ N., long. 101° 10' E. The Menam opens in the centre nearly of the bottom of the Gulf of Siam. There is a bar at its mouth, consisting, for the most part, of a mud flat 10 miles in depth. The outer edge of this flat, which is little more than 200 yards broad, is sandy and of harder materials than the inner part; which is so soft that when a ship grounds on it during the ebb, she often sinks 5 feet in the mud and clay, which supports her upright, so that she is but little inconvenienced. The highest water on the bar of the Menam, from February to September, is about 13 feet; and in the remaining 4 months, somewhat more than 14 feet, -a difference probably produced by the accumulation of water at the head of the bay after the south-west monsoon, and by the heavy floods of the rainy season. On account of the deficiency of water on the bar, vessels sent to Bangkok had better, perhaps, not exceed 200 or 250 tons burden. In all other respects, the river is extremely safe and commodious. Its mouth is no sooner approached, than it deepens gradually; and at Paknam, two miles up, there are 6 and 7 fathoms water. This depth increases as you ascend, and at Bangkok is not less than 9 fathoms. The only danger is, or rather was, a sand bank off Paknam, bare at low water; but on this a fort or battery has been erected within the last few years, affording at all times a distinct beacon. The channel of the river is so equal, that a ship may range from one side to another, approaching the banks so closely that her yards may literally overhang them. The navigation is said to be equally safe all the way up to the old capital of Yuthia, 80 miles from the mouth of the river.

The city of Bangkok extends along the banks of the Menam to the distance of about 24 miles; but is of no great breadth, probably not exceeding 1 mile. On the left bank there is a long street or row of

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floating houses; each house or shop, for they are in general both, consisting of a distinct vessel, which may be moored any where along the banks. Besides the principal river, which at the city is about a quaiter of a mile broad, the country is intersected by a great number of tributary streams and canals, so that almost all intercourse at Bangkok is by water. The population has been computed at 50,000 or 60,000, half of whom are Chinese settlers.

The total area of the kingdom of Slam has been estimated at 190,000 square miles, and the population at only 2,790,500, principally resident in the rich valley of the Menam. Of the entire population, it is supposed that not less than 440,000 are Chinese. The common necessaries of life at Bangkok are exceedingly cheap. A cwt. of rice may always be had for 2s, and very often for 1s. Other necessaries, such as salt, palm-sugar, spices, vegetables, fish, and even flesh, are proportionally cheap. The price of good pork, for example, is 24d. per lb. A duck may be had for 7d. and a fowl for 3d. The neighbourhood of Bangkok is one of the most productive places in the world for fine fruits; for here are assembled, and to be had in the greatest perfection and abundance, the orange and lichi of China, the mangoe of Hindostan, and the mangostein, durian, and shaddock of the Malay countries.

Monies, Weights, and Measures.- Gold and copper are not used as money in Siam, and the currency consists only of cowrie shells and silver. The denominations are as follow:-200 bia or cowries make I p'hai-nung; 2 p'hai-nungs, I sing-p'hai; 2 sing-p'hais, 1 fuang; 2 fuangs, I salung; 4 salungs, I bat or tical; 80 ticals, 1 cattie; 100 catties, 1 picul.

The standard coin is the bat, which Europeans have called a tical; but there are also coins, though less frequently, of the lower denominations. These are of a rude and peculiar form. They are, in fact, nothing more than small bits of a silver bar bent, and the ends beaten together. They are impressed with two or three small stamps, not covering the whole surface of the coin. The cattie and picul are, of course, only used in speaking of large sums of money. Gold and silver are weighed by small weights, which have the same denominations as the coins. The p'hai-nung, the lowest of these, is in this case subdivided into 32 sagas, or red beans, the Abrus precatorius of botanists.

The bat, or tical, was assayed at the mint of Calcutta; it was found to weigh 236 grains; its standard, however, was uncertain, and the value of different specimens varied from I rupee 3 anas and 3 pice, to 1 rupee 3 anas and 7 pice. The value, therefore, in sterling money, is about 2s. Gd., and it is so considered.

In respect to ordinary measures, the Siamese cattie is double the weight of the Chinese cattie, which, as is well known, is equal to 14 lb. avoirdupois. The picul, however, is of the same weight, consisting in the one case of 50 catties only, and in the other of 100. In weighing rice and salt, a large measure is used, consisting, in respect to the first of 22 piculs, and of the last of 25 piculs. Rice is also measured by the basket, of which 100 go to the large measure above mentioned.

The long measures are as follow: - 12 finger breadths make 1 span; 2 spans, 1 cubit; 4 cubits, 1 fathom; 20 fathoms, I sen; and 100 sen, I yuta, or, as it is more commonly pronounced by the Siamese, yut. The fathom is the measure of most frequent use, and the Siamese have a pole of this length divided into its fractional parts. This, as nearly as can be ascertained, is equal to about 6 feet 6 inches. The sen appears to be also used in the admeasurement of land, and to be the name of a square measure of 20

fathoms to the side.

Port Regulations and Duties. As soon as a European ship reaches the bar of Siam, she must, according to the regulations of the country, communicate with the chief of the village of Paknam, at the mouth of the Menam, and from him obtain a pilot. At Paknam, the rule is to land ammunition, cannon, and small arms; but this regulation is not very rigidly insisted on. The duties and other imposts levied on external trade are somewhat complex, and differ in some degree according to the class of vessels subjected to them, and which consist of junks carrying on trade with China Proper, junks of the island of Hai-nan, junks trading to the Malay islands, and European shipping. The imposts consist of a duty on the measurement or dimensions of the vessel; an ad valorem duty upon imports; and a rated tariff in most cases, with an ad valorem duty in a few, on exports. The first named class of vessels, viz. the large junks trading with the principal ports of China, pay no measurement or import duties, because these are vessels belonging to the king, or to the princes, or courtiers, licensed to engage freely in this branch of trade. The Hai-nan junks pay 40 ticals per Siamese fathom, on the extreme breadth of the vessel. The junks trading to the Malay countries, in lieu of measurement duty, pay 130 ticals each, without regard to size. Neither of these vessels pay import duties. The measurement duties on European vessels are estimated at 118 ticals per fathom, besides an inconsiderable impost in the form of an anchorage fee. The cargoes of these alone pay an import duty, which is reckoned at 8 per cent. ad valorem, levied in kind.

The tariff on exports consists of specific duties, of which the following are specimens : —
Ivory

Stick lac

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per picul 2ticals.

Trade. The foreign trade of Siam is conducted with China, Cochin China, Cambogia, and Tonquin, Java, Singapore, and the other British ports within the Straits of Malacca, with an occasional intercourse with Bombay and Surat, England and America. The most important branch of the foreign trade is that with China, which is wholly carried on in vessels of Chinese form, navigated by Chinese, the greater portion of them being, however, built in Siam. The imports from China are very numerous, consisting of what are called in commercial language "assorted cargoes." The following is a list of the principal commodities:- Coarse earthenware and porcelain, spelter, quicksilver, tea, lacksoy (vermicelli), dried fruits, raw silk, crapes, satins, and other silk fabrics, nankeens, shoes, fans, umbrellas, writing paper, sacrificial paper, incense rods, and many other minor articles. Not the least valuable part of the importations are immigrants.

The exports from Siam are also very various, including among others black pepper, sugar, tin, cardamoms, eagle-wood, sapan-wood, red mangrove bark, rose-wood for furniture and cabinet work, cotton, ivory, stick lac, rice, areca nuts, salt fish ; the hides and skins of oxen, buffaloes, elephants, rhinoceroses, deer, tigers, leopards, otters, civet cats, and pangolins; of snakes, and rays, with the belly-shell of a species of land tortoise; the horns of the buffalo, ox, deer, and rhinoceros; the bones of the ox, buffalo, elephant, rhinoceros, and tiger; dried deer's sinews; the feathers of the pelican, of several species of storks, of the peacock and kingfisher, &c.; and, finally, esculent swallows' nests. The tonnage carrying on the China trade amounts in all to probably about 130 junks in number, a few of which are 1,000 tons burden, and the whole shipping is not short of 35,000 tons.

The trade with the different countries of the Malay Archipelago is, also, very considerable. In this intercourse, the staple exports of Siam are sugar, salt, oil, and rice; to which may be added the minor articles of stick lac, iron pans, coarse earthenware, hogs' lard, &c. The returns are British and Indian piece goods, opium, with a little glass ware, and some British woollens from the European settlements, with commodities suited for the Chinese market, such as pepper, tín, dragon's blood, rattans, biche-demer, esculent swallows' nests, and Malay camphor from the native ports.

The total exports of clayed sugar and black pepper, the staple articles of Siamese export, may be esti❤ mated, the former at about 10,000 tons, and the latter from 3,500 to 4,000 tons. [From the communications of John Crawfurd, Esq., who ascertained the particulars on the spot.] BANKRUPT AND BANKRUPTCY, In the general sense of the term bank

rupt, is equivalent to insolvent, and is applied to designate any individual unable to pay his debts. But in the law of England bankrupts form that particular class of insolvents who are engaged in trade, or who "seek their living by buying and selling," and who are declared, upon the oath of one or more of their creditors, to have committed what the law has defined to be an act of bankruptcy. At present, however, we shall merely lay before the reader a few observations with respect to the principles and leading provisions embodied in the law as to bankruptcy and insolvency; referring the reader to the article INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY, for a detailed statement of these and the other provisions in that law.

"All classes of individuals, even those who have least to do with industrious undertakings, are exposed to vicissitudes and misfortunes, the occurrence of which may render them incapable of making good the engagements into which they have entered, and render them bankrupt or insolvent. But though bankruptcy is most frequently, perhaps, produced by uncontrollable causes, it is frequently also produced by the thoughtlessness of individuals, or by their repugnance to make those retrenchments which the state of their affairs demands; and sometimes also by fraud or bad faith. Hence it is that the laws with respect to bankruptcy occupy a prominent place in the judicial system of every state in which commerce has made any progress, and credit been introduced. They differ exceedingly in different countries and stages of society; and it must be acknowledged that they present very many difficulties, and that it is not possible, perhaps, to suggest any system against which pretty plausible objections may not be made.

"The execrable atrocity of the early Roman laws with respect to bankruptcy is well known. According to the usual interpretation of the law of the twelve tables, which Cicero has so much eulogised, the creditors of an insolvent debtor might, after some preliminary formalities, cut his body to pieces, each of them taking a share proportioned to the amount of his debt; and those who did not choose to resort to this horrible extremity, were authorised to subject the debtor to chains, stripes, and hard labour; or to sell him, his wife, and children, to perpetual foreign slavery trans Tyberim! This law, and the law giving fathers the power of inflicting capital punishments on their children, strikingly illustrate the ferocious and sanguinary character of the early

Romans.

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There is reason to think, from the silence of historians on the subject, that no unfortunate debtor ever actually felt the utmost severity of this barbarous regulation; but the history of the republic is full of accounts of popular commotions, some of which led to very important changes, that were occasioned by the exercise of the power given to creditors of enslaving their debtors, and subjecting them to corporal punishments. The law, however, continued in this state till the year of Rome 427, 120 years after the promulgation of the twelve tables, when it was repealed. It was then enacted, that the persons of debtors should cease to be at the disposal of their creditors, and that the latter should merely be authorised to seize upon the debtor's goods, and sell them by auction in satisfaction of their claims. In the subsequent stages of Roman jurisprudence, further changes were made, which seem generally to have leaned to the side of the debtor; and it was ultimately ruled, that an individual who had become insolvent without having committed any fraud, should upon making a cessio bonorum, or a surrender of his entire property to his creditors, be entitled to an exemption from all personal penalties. —— (Terasson, Histoire de la Jurisprudence Romaine, p. 117.)

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The law of England distinguishes between the insolvency of persons engaged in trade, and that of others. The former can alone be made bankrupts, and are dealt with in a comparatively lenient manner. 'The law,' says Blackstone, is cautious of encouraging prodigality and extravagance by indulgence to debtors; and therefore it allows the benefit of the laws of bankruptcy to none but actual traders, since that set of men are, generally speaking, the only persons liable to accidental losses, and to an inability of paying their debts without any fault of their own. If persons in other situations of life run in debt without the power of payment, they must take the consequences of their own indiscretion, even though they meet with sudden accidents that may reduce their fortunes; for the law holds it to be an unjustifiable practice for any person but a trader to encumber himself with debts of any considerable value. If a gentleman, or one in a liberal profession, at the time of contracting his debts has a sufficient fund to pay them, the delay of payment is a species of dishonesty, and a temporary injustice to his creditors; and if at such time he has no sufficient fund, the dishonesty and injustice are the greater: he cannot, therefore, murmur if he suffer the punishment he has voluntarily drawn upon himself. But in mercantile transactions the case is far otherwise; trade cannot be carried on without mutual credit on both sides: the contracting of debts is here not only justifiable, but necessary; and if, by accidental calamities, as by the loss of a ship in a tempest,

⚫ Fremant omnes, licet! dicam quod sentio; bibliothecas, mehercule, omnium philosophorum unus mihi videtur duodecim tabularum libellus; siquis legum fontes et capita viderit et authoritatis pondere et utilitatis ubertate superare.- De Oratore, lib. i.

the failure of brother traders, or by the nonpayment of persons out of trade, a merchant or trader becomes incapable of discharging his own debts, it is his misfortune and not his fault. To the misfortunes, therefore, of debtors, the law has given a compassionate remedy, but denied it to their faults; since, at the same time that it provides for the security of commerce, by enacting that every considerable trader may be declared a bankrupt, for the benefit of his creditors as well as himself, it is also, to discourage extravagance, declared that no one shall be capable of being made a bankrupt but only a trader, nor capable of receiving the full benefit of the statutes but only an industrious trader.'(Commentaries, book ii. cap. 31.)

"After the various proceedings with respect to bankruptcy have been gone through, the bankrupt may apply for a certificate or discharge liberating his person and any property he may afterwards acquire from the claims of his creditors. The power to grant this certificate was formerly vested in the creditors: but the statute 5 & 6 Vict. c. 122. has enacted that the power to grant certificates shall be vested in the court, which, after hearing such creditors as may be opposed to the allowance of a certificate, shall, on taking all the circumstances into account, refuse or grant it, as may seem most conformable to justice. In the event of the certificate being granted, the bankrupt is entitled to a reasonable allowance out of his effects; which is, however, made to depend partly on the magnitude of his dividend. Thus, if his effects will not pay half his debts, or 10s. in the pound, he is left to the discretion of the court, to have a competent sum allowed him, not exceeding 3 per cent. upon his estate, or 300l. in all; but if his estate pay 108. in the pound, he is to be allowed 5 per cent. provided such allowance do not exceed 4007.; if it pay 12s. 6d., then 7 per cent. under a limitation as before of its not exceeding 5004; and if it pay 15s. in the pound, then the bankrupt shall be allowed 10 per cent. upon his estate, provided it do not exceed 6004.

"According to our present law, when a person not a trader becomes insolvent, he may, after being actually imprisoned at the suit of some of his creditors for fourteen days, present a petition to the court to be relieved; and upon surrendering his entire property, he is, unless something fraudulent be established against him, entitled to a discharge. While, however, the certificate given to the bankrupt relieves him from all future claims on account of debts contracted previously to his bankruptcy, the discharge given to an insolvent only relieves him from imprisonment; in the event of his afterwards accumulating any property, it may be seized in payment of the debts contracted anterior to his insolvency. This principle was recognised in the cessio bonorum of the Romans, of which the insolvent act is nearly a copy.

"It may be questioned, however, notwithstanding what Blackstone has stated, whether there be any good ground for making a distinction between the insolvency of traders and other individuals. There are very few trades so hazardous as that of a farmer, and yet should he become insolvent, he is not entitled to the same privileges he would have enjoyed had he been the keeper of an inn, or a commission agent ! The injustice of this distinction is obvious; but, without dwelling upon it, it seems pretty clear that certificates should be granted indiscriminately to all honest debtors. Being relieved from all concern as to his previous incumbrances, an insolvent who has obtained a certificate is prompted to exert himself vigorously in future, at the same time that his friends are not deterred from coming forward to his assistance. But when an insolvent continues liable to his previous debts, no one, however favourably disposed, can venture to aid him with a loan; and he is discouraged, even if he had means, from attempting to earn any thing more than a bare livelihood; so that, while creditors do not, in one case out of a hundred, gain the smallest sum by this constant liability of the insolvent, his energies and usefulness are for ever paralysed.

"The policy of imprisoning for debt seems also exceedingly questionable. Notwithstanding the deference due to the great authorities who have vindicated this practice, we confess we are unable to discover any thing very cogent in the reasonings advanced in its favour. Provided a person in insolvent circumstances intimate his situation to his creditors, and offer to make a voluntary surrender of his property to them, he has, as it appears to us, done all that should be required of him, and ought not to undergo any imprisonment. If he have deceived his creditors by false representations, or if he conceal or fraudulently convey away any part of his property, he should of course be subjected to the pains and penalties attached to swindling; but when such practices are not alleged, or cannot be proved, sound policy, we apprehend, would dictate that creditors should have no power over the persons of their debtors, and that they should be entitled only to their effects. The maxim, carcer non solvit, is not more trite than true. It is said, that the fear of imprisonment operates as a check to prevent persons from getting into debt, and so no doubt it does. But then it must, on the other hand, be borne in mind, that the power to imprison tempts individuals to trust to its influence to enforce payment of their claims, and makes them less cautious in their inquiries as to the condition and circumstances of those to whom they give credit. The carelessness of tradesmen, and their

extreme earnestness to obtain custom, are, more than any thing else, the great causes of insolvency, and the power of imprisoning merely tends to foster and encourage these habits. If a tradesman trust an individual with a loan of money or goods, which he is unable to pay, he has made a bad speculation. But why should he, because he has done so, be allowed to arrest the debtor's person? If he wished to have perfect security, he either should not have dealt with him at all, or dealt with him only for ready money. Such transactions are, on the part of tradesmen, perfectly voluntary; and if they place undue confidence in a debtor who has not misled them by erroneous representations of his affairs, they have themselves only to blame.

"It would really, therefore, as it appears to us, be for the advantage of creditors, were all penal proceedings against the persons of honest debtors abolished. The dependence placed on their efficacy is deceitful. A tradesman ought rather to trust to his own prudence and sagacity to keep out of scrapes, than to the law for redress: he may deal upon credit with those whom he knows; but he should deal for ready money only with those of whose circumstances and characters he is either ignorant or suspicious. By bringing penal statutes to his aid, he is rendered remiss and negligent. He has the only effectual means of security in his own hands, and it seems highly inexpedient that he should be taught to neglect them, and put his trust in prisons.

"It is pretty evident, too, that the efficacy of imprisonment in deterring individuals from running into debt has been greatly overrated. Insolvents who are honest must have suffered from misfortune, or been disappointed in the hopes they entertained of being able, in one way or other, to discharge their debts. The fear of imprisonment does not greatly influence such persons; for when they contract debts, they have no doubt of their ability to pay them. And though the imprisonment of bona fide insolvents were abolished, it would give no encouragement to the practices of those who endeavour to raise money by false representations; for these are to be regarded as swindlers, and ought as such to be subjected to adequate punishment. (See CREDIT.) "At present, indeed, the law is much too indulgent to this description of persons. Traders, or others, who endeavour to obtain goods or loans of money, whether by concealing or misrepresenting the real state of their affairs, are, in fact, about the very worst species of cheats; and the temptation to resort to such practices, and the facility with which they may be carried into effect, should make them, when detected, be visited with a proportionally increased severity of punishment, on the principle laid down by Cicero, that ea sunt animadvertenda peccata maxime, quæ difficillime præcaventur. But honesty and dishonesty are not to be treated alike; and unless fraud of some sort or other be established, the imprisonment or penal pursuit of debtors appears to be ́alike oppressive and inexpedient. The legislature appears, indeed, to be coming round to this way of thinking; for under a recent act (5 & 6 Vict. c. 116.), all persons not liable to the bankrupt laws, and those liable to them whose debts are under 300l., may, on giving certain notices, and making over all their property, present and future, for the benefit of their creditors, obtain from the Bankruptcy Court a protection against all process whatever, unless fraud, or other offence of that kind, be proved against them.

"We may further observe, that the regulations with respect to bankruptcy and insolvency differ materially in other respects. Until the act 1 & 2 Vict. c. 110., an individual could not be subjected to the insolvent law except by his own act, that is, by his petitioning for relief from actual imprisonment for debt. But under that act, any creditor who may have taken a debtor in execution may, unless his debt be satisfied within 21 days from the date of the debtor's imprisonment, get the latter subjected to the insolvent laws, and procure the vesting of his property in an assignee for the benefit of his creditors, in the same way as if the debtor had himself petitioned for relief. An individual cannot, however, in any case, be made a bankrupt, and subjected to the bankrupt law, except by the act of another, that is, of a petitioning creditor †, as he is called, swearing that the individual in question is indebted to him, and that he believes he has committed what is termed an act of bankruptcy.

"While, however, the law of England has always given the creditor an unnecessary degree of power over the debtor's person, it did not, till very recently, give sufficient power over his property. In this respect, indeed, it was so very defective, that one is almost tempted to think it had been intended to promote the practices of fraudulent debtors. The property of persons subject to the bankrupt and insolvent laws was, it is true, nominally placed at the disposal of assignees or trustees, for the benefit of their creditors; but when a person possessed of property, but not subject to the bankrupt laws, contracted debt, if he went abroad, or lived within the rules of the King's Bench

Oratio pro Sexto Roscio, § 40.

One creditor whose debt is to the amount of 501. or upwards; or two, whose debts amount to 70%., or three whose debts amount to 1007.

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