THE EXAMINATION CHRONICLE. EDITED BY WILLIAM HEMINGS, Esq., Barrister-at-Law. EXAMINATION CHRONICLE OFFICE, 5,WESTBOURNE-ROAD, ARUNDEL-SQUARE, BARNSBURY, N. (WHERE ALL ORDERS AND COMMUNICATIONS MUST BE SENT.) Post-Office Orders to be payable at Chancery-lane Post Office to John Lane, of No. 5, Westbourne-road, Arundel-square, Barnsbury, London, N. S. TAYLOR, PRINTER, GRAYSTOKE PLACE, FETTER LANE, LONDON E.Q. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. **All communications (strictly Editorial) may be addressed to the Editor, W. HEMINGS, ESQ. Barrister-at-law, 6, Symonds' Inn, Chancery-lane, London, W.C. Every other Communication to be addressed to the EXAMINATION CHRONICLE Office. BOOKS FOR INTERMEDIATE EXAMINATION.-We have had several inquiries as to what books are appointed by the examiners for the Intermediate Examination in 1869, and we have endeavoured to obtain the information, but hitherto we have not been successful, as we are informed the examiners have not yet made up their minds. Possibly we may yet get the information in time to add to this number, and if so we will give it. If not, we may state that it is almost certain that the examiner will select the same works as those for the present year. BOOK-KEEPING.-The two best and most used works for the Intermediate Examination are Isbister's on "Book-keeping" (1862) price 9d., published by Longmans and Co; and Mr. Inglis's work on "Book-keeping by Single Entry" (Chambers's series), price 1s.: Chambers and Co., Paternoster-row. Some persons use both works, but one is sufficient; and of the two we think Mr. Isbister's is the preferable one. LAW PUBLISHERS.-The statement in a legal contemporary as to the dulness of the law bookselling and publishing business is said to be incorrect. NEW REGULATIONS AT THE JUDGES' CHAMBERS. Mr. Justice Blackburn, sitting at Chambers, has carried out some new regulations, one of which is that all matters that could be heard by the masters should not come before him. Mr. Justice Hannen will be the long vacation judge. ... TIPSY JURYMAN.-A curious difficulty arose at a recent quarter sessions. The foreman of a jury which had been occupied in trying a case handed in a verdict, explaining that eleven of the jury concurred in it, and that the twelfth juryman was too drunk to concur in anything, save in a desire for more liquor. The assistant chairman immediately ordered the tipsy juryman into custody, where he was detained until the rising of the court on Wednesday. LAW STUDENTS' DEBATING SOCIETY.-At the Law Institution the following question was discussed:-A. mortgages Whiteacre to B. and Blackacre to C. A. then sells his equity of redemption in Whiteacre to D. Subsequently C. takes an assignment of B.'s mortgage. Can D. redeem Whiteacre without also redeeming Blackacre (Beevor v. Luck, 15 W. R. 1221; White v. Hillacre, 3 Y. & C. Ex. 597.) The debate was opened in the affirmative by Mr. Munton, but on a division the question was carried in the negative by a considerable majority. LAW STUDENTS' DEBATING SOCIETY. THE annual meeting of this society was held at the Law Institution on the 7th July, 1868, Mr. G. Sangster Green in the chair. Mr. Widdows retired from the office of honorary treasurer, and Mr. Edgar Harvie was selected in his stead. Mr. W. H. Herbert was elected to the office of honorary secretary in the place of Harvie. Messrs. Austin, Hunter, Montagu, Warmington, and Widdows were appointed the committee, and Messrs. Galloway and Byrne, auditors, for the ensuing year. Votes of thanks were accorded to Mr. G. Sangster Green and Mr. W. H. Lloyd, on their retirement from office, for their long and valuable services. The society then adjourned to the 27th of October next. The following is an extract from the committee's report of the proceedings of the society during the past year : "The session has comprised thirty-three meetings, at which sixteen legal and ten jurisprudential questions have been discussed, the debate on the Irish Church question having occupied two evenings. The remaining evenings have been devoted to the consideration of subjects relative to the practical working of the society. "Thirty-one new members have been elected during the session, and your committee have much pleasure in referring to the fact that this number is considerably in excess of the number elected during the last two sessions, which were respectively nineteen and seventeen. Eleven members having resigned during the session, there are now 150 members on the roll of the society, a larger number than has ever been recorded. "The average number of members attending the meetings h been twenty seven-the highest thirty-seven, and the lowest thirteen. The average number of speakers has been ten, and of voters fourteen, of whom ten voted in person and four by the register book. "The average length of the debates has been about two hours. "Your committee have held nine meetings during the session, and have carefully considered forty-five legal questions, of which seventeen have been approved for debate. "The following alterations have been made in the society's rules during the session. The 6th rule has been amended to the effect that members of three years' standing may now at any time pay the sum of £2 2s. in lieu of future annual subscriptions. By the 8th rule as amended the term at the expiration of which members who failed to pay their fines and subscriptions, after written application, would cease to be members unless satisfactory cause were shown at the following quarterly meeting, has been extented to the first meeting in January next following the application. "By the 15th and 16th rules, as amended, the annual statement of receipts and expenditure is to be balanced, audited, and printed for distribution at the annual meeting. In pursuance of this amendment, the statement of account for the current year has been printed, and is laid before you at this meeting." COUNTY COURTS.-A solicitor writes to a newspaper respecting the county courts in the following terms :-The business in the county courts has increased but slightly, and that not in the right direction -of average tradesmen's accounts brought there for disposal; but mostly as to the number of cases above £20 sent from the superior courts. Not quite so many writs have been issued, it is true, but the almost unprecended number of some sixty causes made remanets from last term in Middlesex, in the Queen's Bench, shows there is still plenty of work in that quarter. Why is this? How comes it that although Parliament is always trying to force business into the county courts, it never gets there, and the whole of that great system is a most ruinous failure? I think that the only answer to be given to this question is that the court fees are excessively high. The county courts have now been established twenty years, so there has been plenty of time and opportunity for their being successful. They are constructed so as to give justice to the poor at a cheap rate, and on the whole their construction of itself leaves nothing to be desired. It, therefore, appears to me that continued failure can only arise from some radical defect in the original plan, and that defect is, in my opinion, the high rate of fees. Coming down to later times, Parliament has twice during the last three years tried to patch up the failure by attempts to force business into their hands, and it has in both instances been signally unsuccessful. The Act of 1865 was to make them Courts of Chancery on a small scale, and save many poor people from the clutches of that legendary ogre in Lincoln's-inn. The result was, that in the published return for 1866, we find an average of two equity cases for each county court per annum. Finding this was not a success, the Legislature, in 1867, passed another Act, and said, with reference to equity, that, upon an application, the ViceChancellor might transfer a case from the Court of Chancery to a county court in which it might have been commenced. How this will work is clear from what happened a few days ago, when an application of this kind was made to Vice-Chancellor Stuart by the defendant in a cause for specific performance of a contract under £250, and which his Honour refused on the sole ground that he had inquired and ascertained that the costs in Chancery were less than in the county courts. I need say nothing more on this point to account for the failure of these courts to attract equity business, or even to get it sent to them. Then, as to the common law side of the question, the average trade accounts of £10 to £12, for the collection of which these local tribunals are undoubtedly the proper place, have not yet got there. It was but a few days ago that, being in a county court for a large country district, I found but one case over £10 in a list of 160. When considering this question a remedy has often occurred to me, namely, that the fee on a summons should be reduced to a maximum of 5s. (the same as for an ordinary writ), instead of 21s., as at present; and that the charges for hearing and judgment should be proportionately lowered: this, it seems to me, would meet the difficulty by leaving the present scale for small business, and encouraging cases of a larger amount. THE EXAMINATION CHRONICLE. EDITED BY WILLIAM HEMINGS, Esq., Barrister-at-Law. EXAMINATION CHRONICLE OFFICE, 5,WESTBOURNE-ROAD, ARUNDEL-SQUARE, BARNSBURY, N. (WHERE ALL ORDERS AND COMMUNICATIONS MUST BE SENT.) Post-Office Orders to be payable at Chancery-lane Post Office to John Lane, of No. 5, Westbourne-road, Arundel-square, Barnsbury, London, N. 8. TAYLOR, PRINTER, GRAYSTOKE PLACE, FETTER LANE, LONDON E.C. |