nistration is provided for: (1) by fees charged
to bankrupt estates, (2) by interest on balances at the credit of such
estates with the bankruptcy estates account, and (3) by interest on
unclaimed funds at the credit of estates under former Bankruptcy Acts.

Out of this are paid the salaries of all the officers of the department,
including the official receivers; the remuneration due in respect of
bankruptcy services to the county court registrars; pensions, &c., payable
to retired officers under the present and previous Bankruptcy Acts; cost of
bankruptcy prosecutions; and rents, stationery, travelling and other
incidental expenses. The system is self-supporting and involves no charge
upon the tax-payers of the country. It has been objected that inasmuch as
the act professes to be based on the principle of enforcing commercial
morality in the interests of the general community, the cost of
administering it should not be charged entirely to the bankruptcy estates
concerned. But when it is considered that a large part of the revenue of
the department is derived from funds to which estates administered under
the present act have contributed nothing, this objection does not appear to
be well founded.

[Sidenote: Summary of procedure.]

For the convenience of readers who may require more detailed information,
the accompanying summary of some of the more important provisions of the
law relating to bankruptcy procedure is submitted. It must be borne in
mind, however, that the subject is in some of its branches extremely
intricate, and that both the law and the procedure are being constantly
affected by a considerable body of judicial interpretation, while the acts
also contain detailed provisions with regard to many questions incident to
the administration of bankruptcy. A reference to the latest textbooks or
competent professional advice will always be advisable for those who have
the misfortune to be practically interested either as debtors or as
creditors in bankruptcy proceedings.

[Sidenote: Deeds of arrangement.]

The Deeds of Arrangement Act 1887, although not falling strictly within the
scope of the bankruptcy law, may also, in consequence of its important
bearing upon the question of insolvency in England and Wales, be here
noticed. It has been pointed out that, under the Bankruptcy Acts of 1849
and 1861, non-official arrangements by deed between a debtor and the
general body of his creditors were not only offici