accepting bills of exchange drawn upon him by them, and received half the net profits of the sales. For three years A. accepted bills from time to time, and the firm sent him accounts of purchases and sales of cotton alleged to have been made in pursuance of the agreement. The two partners, of which the firm consisted, were then adjudicated bankrupts, and A. discovered that the alleged purchases and sales of cotton were for the most part purely fictitious. He was compelled to pay a large sum in respect of his acceptances, and he proved against the joint estate for that amount, and received dividends. Afterwards A. ascertained that the dividend on the separate estate would be larger than that on the joint estate, and he tendered proofs against the separate estate, offering to withdraw his proof against the joint estate, and to refund the dividends received. Held, first, that as A. did not know at the time he proved against the joint estate that he had the right of electing between the joint and separate estates, his proofs and receipt of dividends did not estop him from afterwards proving against the separate estates, on refunding the dividends received from the joint estate with interest. Held, secondly (Bramwell, L. J. dissenting), that A.'s claim was provable in bankruptcy, it being not a claim in respect of a fraud or tort, but an equitable liability in respect of which a court of equity always granted relief. Held, by Bramwell, L. J., that A.'s claim was for liquidated damages, founded on a tort or fraud in respect of which a judgment had not been obtained, and therefore was not a debt provable in bankruptcy within the meaning of the 31st section of the Bankruptcy Act 1869. Per James, L. J.: Nobody ought to be estopped fom averring the truth or asserting a just demand, unless by his acts or words or neglect his now averring the truth or asserting a demand would work some wrong to some other person, who has been induced to do something, or to abstain from doing something by reason of what he has said or done, or omitted to say or do. In bankruptcy, a creditor who does not come in and make the proof he is entitled to, runs this risk, and incurs this penalty-that he cannot undo what has been done. The other creditors retain any dividend that has been declared, and he can only go against the assets that may chance to remain; so no harm is done. But the appellant has gone against the joint estate and taken the dividends. What harm is that to the separate creditors? They would be entitled to any possible surplus of the joint estate, but, as the dividends are to be paid back, even that contingent and imaginary right is restored to them as fully and beneficially as if the dividends had not been taken : (Ex parte Adamson; Re Collie, 38 L. T. Rep. N. S. 919.) (To be continued). LEEDS BANKRUPTCY COURT. (Before W. T. S. DANIEL, Esq., Q.C., Judge.) cross motions brought for the purpose of deciding in effect whether certain machinery of the debtors, upon their premises at Larkfield Mills, Rawdon, should go to the landlord or to the general body of creditors. The debtors held a lease of the premises, and the machinery in question had been fixed by the tenants to the freehold for the purpose of working. It remained so fixed at the time of the filing of the petition for liquidation, but was severed at the instance of the debtors and Mr. J. W. Close, the receiver, prior to any resolution for liquidation being come to, the first meeting of creditors having been twice adjourned to allow of this being done, and a special order of the court having been obtained, authorising the severance. West (instructed by Bond and Barwick) appeared for the landlord; and Walker (solicitor), for the trustee in liquidation. His HONOUR, in giving judgment, said he had come to the conclusion that, as he viewed the matter, the case was really free from all substantial difficulty. The real question in dispute was whether or not the landlord, Mr. Thompson, was entitled, under the arrangements that had been made for a new tenancy, to treat as belonging to him the machinery which had been and was at the time the petition for liquidation was presented affixed to the freehold-whether he could claim the value of the machinery as his property as being part of his freehold. The fixtures in question consisted of machinery, which were admittedly trade fixtures. The lease was of the usual description, which was quite familar in this district, and he might say throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire. The lease was for room and power, and the rent, which was reserved, was for room and power. The landlord found the room, and he and the order was made ex parte. Complaint had been made that the order was made ex parte. He did not know how else the order could be made. Nobody else had to do with the question but the court and the creditors, acting through the receiver and the tenant. The landlord had no right to say, "You shan't disannex," therefore it seemed to him that the order was properly made ex parte. It was complained that the order was made against good faith. He had looked carefully through the affidavits, and could not make out that there was anything to prevent the receiver taking the step without communicating with the landlord. As regarded the landlord and the receiver, they were at arm's length, and the receiver was fully entitled to apply to this court for the order, and the order was framed as carefully as it could be. It contained an order that the machinery should not be removed from the premises, and was without prejudice to the rights of the landlord. He was asked to discharge that order, but he had no jurisdiction in the matter. It was an order by the registrar acting for him, and any appeal must be to the Chief Judge in bankruptcy. He was of opinion that in this case the disannexing of the machinery took place and was completed before the trustee was appointed, and that the transactions which had taken place since had amounted to a re-letting by the landlord with the consent of the trustee, which amounted in law to a surrender of the former interest of the tenant, and that the rights of the tenant up to the time of the trustee assenting to the new arrangement would not be in any manner prejudiced by the arrangements that had been come to. He dismissed the landlord's declared that the sum of £488, the agreed value motion, and with regard to the trustee's motion of the trade fixtures, formed part of the estate of the debtor. Costs were given on one motion. COUNTY COURTS. ROSS COUNTY COURT. River Pollution-Damage resulting from escape of His HONOUR.-Then they were left as they were, and of course, not being distrained, the lessee's right to disannex his trade machinery would not have interfered with the landlord's distress when exercised. It was clear ever since Poole's case in the reign of Queen Anne, that under an execution the sheriff could enter and seize and sell trade fixtures, so that in this case, if a creditor had issued an execution, he could have had the benefit of these trade machines, although fixed to the freehold. The question he had to consider and decide was this: Does the presentation of a petition for liquidation in any manner diminish the rights which the lessee would have as against the landlord to disannex? The petition for liquidation did not, according to his view, dispossess HIS HONOUR delivered judgment as follows:the tenant of his right under the lease. He still This action was brought to recover compensation remained possessed of the leasehold interest, and for damage to the plaintiff's fishery at Sellack, the only effect of his presenting his petition for caused by the defendants' servants at the Barton liquidation, and thereby committing an act of bank- station, at Hereford, in permitting the escape of a ruptcy, was that he was restrained from disposing large quantity of creosote from the station into of his estate in any manner prejudicial to the the sewers, and thence into the Wye, whereby the interests of his creditors. What was done in this fish taken at the plaintiff's fishery were rendered case was that a receiver was appointed. The unmarketable. On the morning of the 19th July effect of appointing a receiver was that he took last, at 4.35, a goods train arrived at the Barton possession of the property of the debtor, but for station from Worcester, bringing a truck-tank, what purpose? For the purpose of protecting the which, when full, contained 1000 gallons of creoproperty against any misapplication of that pro- sote. The creosote was consigned to Railton, of perty to the prejudice of the creditors; but he did Newport, and the tank which contained it belonged not take possession of the property for the pur- to the merchant. The tank was of iron, and was pose of defeating any right which the tenant would affixed to a wooden framing, which rested on be entitled to exercise for the benefit of his wheels like an ordinary goods truck. Round the creditors as against the landlord. It was not exit-pipe, which was near the centre of the tank's interests of the landlord and against the in-bottom' by bolts, with nuts on the inside, there intended that the receiver was to act in the bottom, was an iron flange, which was fixed to the creditors, instead of coming to any resolution, the and the tank. When the train arrived opposite terests of the creditors. At the first meeting of being a packing of indiarubber between the flange meeting was adjourned in order to enable the tenant to disannex the machinery. The distress was on the other property, but the trade fixtures had not been distrained. The tenant, acting with the concurrence of the receiver, as the cattle stalls at the north end of the station the tank was observed to leak in a stream about the size of a straw. The train was detained in that position for about nine minutes by another train which was taking in water ahead, and it then proceeded to the water column, where it stopped thirteen minutes for the engine to take in water. The train was then moved on to the points, and the tank was detached and backed into a back siding on the east side of the station, which is used chiefly for the standing of disabled carriages. farthest from the points was filled with coal-trucks, On this morning the end of the back-siding which prevented the men on duty from shunting the tank-truck as far back on the siding they otherwise might have shunted it. Whilst the tank rested in this position all the creosote which remained in the tank ran out; and there being two gulley-holes, the one about nine and the other about eleven yards from the tank, the stuff flowed over the surface of the ground into these gulley-holes, and, down the sewer with which they communicated, to its mouth, and thence down a brook into the river Wye, at a short distance above the railway bridge over the river. By a plan which was put in by the railway company, and aided by an inspection which I have made since the hearing, I find that the main sewer runs along the six-foot (that is, the space between the main lines of the railway) from some considerable distance to the north of the cattle pens, past the passenger platform, to below the points where the tank-truck was re railway company, as common carriers of goods, attempted it would most certainly have had his were under no obligation to carry it, and conse- hands and clothes soaked with the offensive stuff quently that they must be considered to have of the nature of which he probably knew brought the stuff voluntarily on their premises, nothing, and which he might suppose dangerous to and so, according to the principle established by handle (and which in point of fact may be proFletcher v. Rylands, were bound to prevent it nounced dangerous, for I find it stated in from escaping therefrom so as to cause injury to Gregory's Chemistry that "it disorganises other persons' property. He further submitted the skin, causing a white spot, when the that there was negligence in the company's ser- cuticle soon peels off without inflammation. vants in not stopping the leak, or in not removing When applied to the interior of the mouth the tank somewhere where the contents might be and to the tongue it smart strongly, whitening and discharged without running into the sewer, or in disorganising the cuticle. Internally it is a not catching it in tubs or other vessels. Upon the powerful poison")-I cannot bring myself to first point I am of opinion that creosote is not a think that there was actionable negligence in the prohibited article within the meaning of the 105th servants of the company not attempting to stop section ["No person shall be entitled to carry or the leak in this manner. Had the fluid leaked to require the company to carry upon the railway, from the exit-pipe by a hole or crack easily accesany aqua fortis, oil of vitriol, gunpowder, lucifer sible, negligence would have been justly imputed, matches, or any other goods, which in the judg- if no attempt to stop the leak had been made. As ment of the company may be of a dangerous regards the alleged negligence in the servants not nature, &c.,"] the several articles therein specified having moved the tank to some other spot on the being explosive or erosive, or otherwise destruc- company's premises, where the fluid might have tive, so as to be dangerous to human life, or highly run out, without ultimately flowing into the river, injurious to any other goods with which they may I am of opinion from an inspection of the premises come in contact in the case of an accident or sud- that it was not practicable to place the tank anyden shock to the train in which they are carried, where else within the limits of the station, where whilst creosote has no such dangerous properties, the flowing into the river would have been wholly but is perfectly innocuous, as long as it is con- averted. There is no part of the station free from veyed by itself in a proper truck, and not exposed gulley holes, all of which communicate with the to the improbable contingency which happened main sewer; therefore, wherever the tank might in this case of being discharged into a fishing have been deposited, a considerable portion of its river. The like injurious consequences would contents would have run into the river. But it have resulted from a truck load of lime being was said the tank might have been placed below accidentally upset into a stream over which the the station, nearer to the river, on the embankrailway passes, and it would be obviously absurd ment, where the creosote would have flown on the to classify lime with the dangerous goods speci- meadow land on the western side of the railway. fied in the 105th section on account of the remote But had the truck been placed there for the purprobability of such an event happening. And so pose of having its contents discharged on the with regard to creosote, which only in a very im- adjoining land, the servants of the company would probable and exceptional case would cause injury. clearly have been guilty of a trespass; and it is Hence I am of opinion that the principle estab-impossible that their forbearing to commit a treslished by Fletcher v. Rylands does not apply here. pass on a neighbouring occupier, by which the creoThen as regards the charge of negligence or of sote might have been prevented from entering the want of proper care in the company's servants not river, can be considered an actionable negligence. doing all that was possible to avert the consequences As regards the third suggestion of not procuring which ensued from the discharge of the stuff. tubs or other vessels to catch and store the I think the observations of Mr. Moulton have creosote, that was sufficiently answered at the great weight. The train, he urged, arrived at the hearing, viz., that it was impossible to procure station at an early hour in the morning, when only them at that hour in the morning, in time to be of the night force of the company's servants were on any real service, before the tank was entirely duty. In such a strait, so unusual and so unpro- emptied. There was also another suggestion made vided for, it would obviously occur to them that -that the surface of the ground, where the tank it was necessary to detach the leaking tank from was deposited, might have been picked or dug up the train, and to remove it from alongside the so as to obtain a sufficient quantity of dry soil to platform, where it was discharging its strong absorb the fluid; but, from my examination of the smelling and offensive contents, to a part of the spot, I am convinced that only a small portion of station where the nuisance would not be felt. It the stuff could have been disposed of in this way. was also necessary to remove it off the main line It seems to me, then, that none of the suggested as soon as possible, that it might not block the plans for preventing the flow of the creosote into large mineral traffic which is carried along the the river which were available would have been railway at such frequent intervals during the effectual; and when all the circumstances are night. What, then, could men who must be taken into consideration-the early hour of the supposed to have been ignorant of the peculiar arrival of the train, the unprecedented character noxious properties of the fluid be reasonably of the accident, the presumable ignorance of the expected to do, more unobjectionable than to railway servants of the peculiar noxious qualities deposit the tank-truck at the back of the station of the creosote, the difficulty of stopping the leak, where it would be out of the way, and where the or of finding a place on the company's premises fluid would pass away into the sewer, harmlessly where it could be deposited with less risk of as it might well be thought, with the waste sur- causing either nuisance or damage-I cannot bring face water, sewage, and other filth? It may not myself to think that the company's servants dealt be necessary for the plaintiff to prove a know-with the matter otherwise than might reasonably ledge, on the part of the servants, of the injurious be expected from men in their position having properties of creosote, to give him a good cause of every desire to do their duty; and therefore I am action against the company, though I am inclined of opinion that the mischievous consequences are to think that the act of pouring any fluid into to be attributed to an unfortunate accident rather a public sewer without a knowledge that such than to negligence, and that the company are not fluid will be likely to cause injury is not action- liable for the damages which the plaintiff has able, and the probable absence of knowledge sustained. seems to me an element for consideration in determining whether there was negligence, but I think it is necessary for the plaintiff to show clearly in what particular respect there was negligence, and that it ought not to be implied from the mere escape of the fluid into the river, without proof being afforded of some ready practical method by which the result would have been avoided. And the learned counsel for the plaintiff seems to have felt the necessity of showing how the mischief might have been obviated, for he suggested-first, that the leak might have been stopped; secondly, that the tank might have been moved to some other spot on the company's premises whence the creosote could not have flowed into the river; thirdly, that the fluid might either wholly, or in material amount, have been caught into tubs or other receptacles and stored. As to stopping the leak, it was urged by Mr. Lawrence that nothing could have been easier than to have done this, for with a chisel and moved from the main line, and there, starting or tank. But it was shown by a model of the truck Garrold, the plaintiff's solicitor, said he should have asked for liberty to appeal, but his Honour's permission had rendered that request unnecessary. In reply to his Honour, Mr. Garrold stated there was another case in a Superior Court, but he was waiting for this decision before going on with it. His HONOUR called attention to the desirability of going more fully into certain points connected with the matter in any future action. Something had been said (although he had not got it on his notes) about some fish being poisoned near Hereford. Garrold replied that, for obvious reasons, certain evidence had been withheld; but no doubt all the cases would now be consolidated and tried as one action. His HONOUR then formally gave judgment for defendants, with solicitor's fee and cost of witnesses, and notified that if he had power to allow for counsel he would. Garrold said the action had been brought for less than £5, so as not to carry counsel's fee. MARYLEBONE COUNTY COURT.-Parf v. The Great Western Railway Company.-We understand that the judgment of Mr. Serjeant Wheeler in this case, recently delivered, and reported in the LAW TIMES of 21st ult., will be accepted by the railway company, which will not proceed with its appeal. DERBY COUNTY COURT. Tuesday, June 10. (Before W. FrOOKS WOODFORDE, Esq., Judge.) Ex parte BOYD; Re JAMES RAE, in liquidation. Vendor and purchaser-Goods at a railway station-Stoppage in transitu. THIS was an application by Messrs. John Boyd and Co., of Manchester, general dealers, for an order of the court directing the trustee of the property of the debtor to deliver up to them certain goods which the trustee had removed from the Pye Bridge station, and in default of his so doing, that he pay to them the value of the goods. A. J. Flint (solicitor) appeared for the applicants. W. B. Hextall (solicitor) appeared for the trustee. The facts are stated in the judgment. His HONOUR, in delivering judgment, said:This is a case of stoppage in transitu, and arises on the application of the vendor for the surrender by the trustee in the liquidation of James Rae, the vendee, of certain goods of which the trustee has obtained possession from the carriers, the The law in such Midland Railway Company. cases has long been settled, and scarcely seemed to require the elaborate expounding it has received in one or two recent decisions; yet the application of the law is uniformly a matter of considerable difficulty, and the present case is not an exception. The facts are not in dispute. On the 25th Feb. last certain goods were personally bought of the consignor, John Boyd, of Manchester, by Rae, the debtor, with directions that they should be at once forwarded to him, at the Pye Bridge station of the Midland Railway. On the 26th they were sent off, and arrived on the 27th at this station, with the words appended to the address, "To be left till called for," as requested. On the 26th Feb., the very day the goods were sent from Manchester, the debtor filed a petition in liquidation in this court. On the 19th March the trustee was appointed, who on the next day, the 20th, claimed the goods, which were still lying at the station of the railway company. On the 21st March Mr. Allport, the general manager of the company, sent this letter to the trustee's solicitors: Midland Railway General Manager's Office, Derby. March 21, 1879. Gentlemen,-Your notice of the 20th inst., has been sent to me by our agent at Pye Bridge. I presume you are unaware of the fact that the transit of these goods was completed, and that, in accordance with a special agreement we had with Mr. Rae when we gave him credit, we are entitled to hold his goods as lien until our account is discharged. I cannot, therefore, recognise the order you have given me; but, at the same time, if you like to remit me a cheque for the amount of our account, viz., £9 11s. Id., we shall be willing to act upon the trustee's instructions with regard to the disposal of all the lots except one from the Chatterley Iron Company, which they have stopped in transit.-Yours faithfully, JAMES ALLport. Messrs. A. and H. Thurman, Ilkeston. On the 24th March, the trustee having paid the amount demanded by Mr. Allport, obtained possession of the goods, and still holds them. No notice of Rae's petition had been given to the consignor, and it was not until the 22nd March, two days after the claim by the trustee, that he became aware of it, and at the same time also aware that the goods were still at the Pye Bridge station. He at once telegraphed to the stationmaster not to part with them, and by that night's post wrote to him claiming the goods. The station-master declined to let them go, as the company had a general lien upon them. One other circumstance must be mentioned. On the 19th March, the day of the appointment of the trustee, the company sent the goods to Rae's house, and the charge for the carriage of them not being forthcoming, they were taken back to the station. When the goods were taken to the debtor's the consignee, agrees to hold the goods for the statement then made that the transitus was at an MAGISTRATES' LAW. BOROUGH When holden. LAW SOCIETIES. A. S. Hill, Esq., Q.C., M.P. Ben. Francis Williams J. O. Griffits, Esq., Q.C. THE INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY, U.K. What notice of appeal to be given.. 14 days ...... Clerk of the Peace. D. P. Pellatt. G. B. Aldridge. J. O. Whatley. Edward Coxwell. Reasonable time Stephen Weller. difficulty in ascertaining the number of orders made; but the records of this society show the number left at their office for the purpose of being acted upon during the periods referred to, viz. :1877: The Lord Chief Justice of England, 6; The Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 3; The Lord Chief Baron, 68; The Master of the Rolls, 6; total, 83. 1878: The Lord Chief Justice of England, 2; The Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 3; The Lord Chief Baron, 73; The Master of the Rolls, 9; total, 87. It appeared to the council that the power of exemption contained which honours have hitherto been awarded, it in the Act had been exercised by one of the judges to a far greater extent than had been contemplated being based merely on a selection of the candidates of the greatest merit at each examination. by the Legislature, and that dispensing orders had This was felt to be an unsatisfactory course, hav-been granted somewhat indiscriminately to persons regard to the circumstance that the examination who, by reason of having been clerks to solicitors is one for a pass only. On full consideration, the for ten years, are entitled to some diminution in council determined to hold a separate examina- the period of service under articles. It was proved, tion for honours, at which the candidates should moreover, on inquiry, that out of 100 of such have an opportunity of answering fully and careclerks articled in the year 1878, more than eighty obtained dispensation orders; and, although the fully the questions proposed, which should be of a higher standard, and more suited to a competition Act of Parliament authorised the substitution of for place than those required for a mere pass some modified test, or the imposition of conditions, examination. The council have, therefore, issued nearly 90 per cent. of such dispensations were a series of regulations with respect to honours, a given unconditionally. The council are not print of which has been sent to each member of singular in the opinion that an educational test of the profession. These regulations which are insome kind should in all cases be insisted upon, cluded in the appendix to this report, will come and that the power of exemption should be into force on and from the 1st Jan. 1880. It exercised in exceptional cases only; for it cannot appeared also to the council that the examinations with reason be regarded as a hardship that a ought to embrace all branches of the law as adperson desirous of entering a learned profession ministered in the High Court, and that solicitors should show a moderate acquaintance with the should be qualified to transact every kind of legal subjects of the examination required by the business which they may be called upon to under- regulations. On a review of the whole subject, take. It will, therefore, be proposed to provide, the council propose to seek from Parliament a by a new rule, that Admiralty and Ecclesiastical modification of the existing law by an enactment Law should be added as non-essential subjects. providing that, subject to appeal, the dispensation (wholly or partially) with the examination should rest with the Incorporated Law Society. NEW INN PRIZE.-The council have much pleasure in announcing that the Honourable Society of New Inn have, since the institution of the honours examination, increased the amount of house the claim made was only for the carriage their prize from ten to twenty guineas, thus testi- fore, the lecturers being Mr. Herbert Lake of those particular goods, and nothing was said about general lien. There is no evidence whatever of anything further being done in respect of these goods between this 19th and the 21st, when for the first time the claim by the company of a general lien was set up, and there is no evidence of the claim of the company being acquiesced in by the debtor or the trustee until the 24th, when the trustee paid the company's demand and obtained the goods. There is also no evidence of the agreement between the company and the debtor as to the general lien, beyond the statement in the letter of Mr. Allport. Now, the law as to the right of an unpaid vendor to stop goods in transitu on the discovery of the insolvency of the vendee is succinctly stated by James, L.J. in the case of Ea parte Cooper (48 L. J. 49, Bank.) He says "that where goods are placed in the possession of the carrier to be carried for the vendor to be delivered to the purchaser, the transitus is not an end so long as the carrier continues to hold the goods as carrier, and is not at an end until the carrier, by arrangement between himself and fying, in the most satisfactory manner their de- POWER OF DISPENSING WITH THE PRELI- 66 LECTURES AND LAW CLASSES.-The lectures and law classes have been continued as hereto(Equity), Mr. F. W. Hollams (Common Law), and have conducted the classes in their respective Mr. Alan Stewart (Conveyancing). The lecturers subjects. With the view of aiding the younger students, the council have established a course of reading adapted more especially for the benefit of articled clerks who have not passed the intermediate examination. The instruction given is based on Stephen's Commentaries," the work selected to form the subject of the intermediate examination for the year 1880, and probably for some time longer. The selection of a reader for this class was made from a long list of applicants, and, after careful consideration, Mr. Edward Henry Busk, M.A., LL.B., a solicitor in practice in Lincoln's-inn, was appointed. The number of students who have subscribed is ninety-seven, and the council have much satisfaction in reporting that up to the present time the class has been eminently successful. The council are now in correspondence with the country law societies with a view of determining whether it will be practicable to establish in the provinces classes of a similar character, by grouping together several towns lying within a reasonable distance of each other, so that classes might be held under a local reader at one or more of such towns. CALL OF SOLICITORS TO THE BAR.-This subject has not been lost sight of. Last year steps were taken for the introduction of a clause into the Bar Education and Discipline Bill then before Parliament (which was not, however, proceeded with) to enable solicitors of five years' standing to become barristers on passing the final examination necessary for a call to the Bar. At the meeting in Manchester, last year, a resolution was passed for steps being taken to carry into effect the object which the solicitors had in view. Having regard to the circumstance that no further attempt has been made to proceed with the Bar Education and Discipline Bill, the council have determined to introduce a Bill into Parliament for removing the present restrictions. Such a Bill has accordingly been prepared, in which it is proposed to be enacted that a solicitor of not less than five years' standing, who has been struck off the roll at his own request, shall be entitled, without examination, to be admitted as a student of any of the Inns of Court, and shall be entitled to enter for the Bar final examination immediately after such admission, and on passing the examination shall be in the same position as if he had kept his terms, and had otherwise complied with the Bar regulations. On production by the applicant of the certificate of having passed the final examination, it is proposed that he should be called to the bar. AUDIENCE IN COUNTY COURTS. By the County Courts Extension Act (15 & 16 Vict. c. 54) sect. 10, it is provided that the persons entitled to address the court are the parties to the proceedings, or an attorney acting generally in the action for the party (to the exclusion of an attorney retained as an advocate by another attorney), a barrister, or, by leave of the judge, any other person instead of the party to the proceedings. Great dissatisfaction has from time to time been expressed by the Profession, more particularly in country districts, with regard to the uncertainty which prevails as to whether a clerk to a solicitor, such clerk being duly qualified by admission and certificate, was entitled to appear as an advocate in the County Court on behalf of, and in the business of, his employer. The council finding, on inquiry, that a diversity of decision has given rise to considerable inconvenience, and that it would be very advantageous to solicitors practising in the County Courts that their duly qualified clerks should be heard, provided they were at the time in the exclusive and permanent employment of the solicitor, procured the insertion of the following clause in the County Courts Bill on its passage through the House of Lords: "In a proceeding in a County Court any person who is in the permanent and exclusive employment of a solicitor shall, if he is himself a solicitor and holds a certificate entitling him to practise as such, have the same right of addressing the court as the solicitor in whose employment he so is." REQUISITION AS TO INCUMBRANCES.-In their last annual report the council drew attention to an order made by the Vice-Chancellor Hall, affirming the right of a purchaser to insist upon an answer from the vendor's solicitor to the usual question as to incumbrances, and stated that the support of this society would be given to the parties against whom the order was made on an appeal which it was proposed should be made to the Lords Justices. The appeal was heard on the 27th Jan. last, when the Lords Justices reversed the decision of the Vice-Chancellor Hall. As the matter is one of considerable professional importance, the judgment of the Court of Appeal is printed in the appendix to this report. DELAYS IN THE TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS IN THE TAXING OFFICE OF THE CHANCERY DIVISION. Frequent complaints having been made to the council with reference to the delays in the transaction of business in the office of the taxing masters of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice, they made inquiries on the subject, and ascertained that a very serious block existed in that department. The council found, however, that this block did not exist in the chambers of all the masters; for, although in the offices of about one-half of the masters appointments to tax bills, of any length, could not be obtained earlier than six weeks, and in some of the offices two months, from the time of application, yet before the other masters, early appointments could be obtained without difficulty. This delay, applying as it did to so large a portion of the business, was felt to be seriously detrimental to the interests of the suitor. There has been a very great increase in the business of the office during the last ten years. In fact, the costs taxed in 1878 amounted to 41.150.000 as against £870,000 in 1868. the staff being the same; the council considered, therefore, that if an additional taxing-master were appointed, ample occupation would be found for him. A representation was accordingly made to the Lord Chancellor on the subject, accompanied by a FEES OF CONVEYANCING COUNSEL OF THR APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS OF PROBATE AND LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION.-An irregular practice has grown up during the last few years, of solicitors, both in London and in the country, presenting applications for probate and letters of administration at the principal registry in London in non-contentious business, and carrying such business to its termination in their own names, but in fact by the employment of law stationers. The practice complained of amounts to this-that certain firms of law stationers transact daily, both for solicitors in London and in the country, a very considerable noncontentious probate business on some terms of remuneration or agency. The effect is that, by these means, certain unqualified persons take (and share with their principals, the profits derived from) proceedings which as unqualified persons they are not competent to engage in. The council have been in communication with the registrars of the Probate Court, who are anxious that this practice should be checked, and that solicitors, or their bona fide and competent clerks, should attend to the business, and they concur with the council in opinion that it is against the letter and spirit of the 2nd rule of the Rules and Orders of 1862 under the Acts of 20 & 21 Vict. c. 77, and 21 & 22 Vict. c. 95, relating to noncontentious business, that a practising solicitor should be allowed to transact business in the registry by the employment of a law stationer as an agent; but the registrars feel that it is practically impossible for them to reject applications sent by, or in the name of, a practising solicitor, or to take any steps to ascertain that the persons lodging the papers are qualified. The views entertained by the council and the registrars have been confirmed by counsel, whose opinion in effect is that an unqualified person, such as a law stationer, who can be proved to have acted as the agent of a solicitor in a proceeding in the Probate Court within the 2nd rule of the rules and orders of 1862, is under the Stamp Act 1870 (sect. 59 and schedule), liable to a penalty of £50, to be recovered at the suit of the Attorney-General (sect. 26 (1)), and that an unqualified person so acting is, under sect. 26 of the Solicitors Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict. cap. 127), guilty of a contempt of court, and liable to a penalty of £50, which penalty is cumulative, and may be recovered by the Incorporated Law Society, with the sanction of the Attorney-General in a Superior Court or in a County Court. The matter has been brought to the notice of all the country law societies, and at a meeting held by the Associated Provincial Law Societies on the 3rd April last, a resolution was passed to the effect that the practice of employing persons other than solicitors or Proctors to act as agents in proceedings in the Probate Court is improper and should be discouraged. A communication on the subject has since been addressed to the leading firms of law stationers, and they have been invited, in the event of their not being disposed to concur in the opinion thus expressed, to agree with the council on some simple course for having the question judicially determined. It is obvious, however, that the practice complained of will cease if the Profession as a body decline to countenance it. NOTARIES.-The question as to the appointment of public notaries has occupied the attention of the council. It was brought prominently before the society in a paper, read by Mr. Keen, at the annual provincial meeting, held at Bristol. The functions of a notary public are in the main undistinguishable from those of a solicitor. The same training in commercial matters which fits a man to act as a solicitor would fit him for the duties of a notary public; and, where convenience requires it, solicitors in country districts may now, without any previous service or education, be admitted to practice as notaries. The actual exclusive practice of notaries is confined to noting and protesting bills, the preparation of protests, and the verification of documents for foreign countries. All other acts they are empowered to do are more usually done by solicitors. The present mode of training and admitting notaries is calculated to limit their number rather than to afford any guarantee of their skill or character. A person desirous of becoming a notary must serve as apprentice to a notary for seven years if within a radius of ten miles from the Royal Exchange, or five years beyond that limit. Within three miles of the City of London he must be a member of the Scriveners' Company. He does not pass any examination, but is admitted by the Master of the Faculties, an officer appointed by the Archbishop Canterbury, on a certificate of fitness by twonotaries. Except in London and other centres of mercantile activity, there is not enough of his peculiar business to support a notary without other employment, while the necessity for his services is daily increasing. In the country the inconvenience is very great where a notary cannot, as is sometimes the case, be found perhaps within fifty miles and upwards of the place where he is wanted; and in some parts of London a difficulty is sometimes experienced. To remedy the inconveniences incident to the present mode of appointment of notaries, the council have prepared a Bill for introduction into Parliament, the provisions of which may be thus shortly described. It will be proposed that no person be permitted to practice as a public notary until duly admitted; all notaries, however, on the roll of the Court of Faculties at a date to be fixed to be deemed to have been duly admitted and enrolled under the intended Act. The jurisdiction of the Court of Faculties to admit public notaries to be transferred to the Master of the Rolls, the roll of the public notaries to be kept by his officer. The registrar of solicitors to be the registrar of public notaries. It will also be proposed to reduce the stamp duty payable on admission from £30 to £10, and in some cases to £20. It will be proposed that the qualification for admission should be-The having passed an examination under the authority of the intended Act, such examination to be called the notarial examination; and either having passed a final examination under the Solicitors Acts (which involves service under articles to a solicitor), or having served as apprentice or clerk to a public notary. No service with a public notary to be required of persons who have passed the solicitors' final examination. The service with public notaries of other persons to be regulated as heretofore. Solicitors of not less than ten years' standing at the passing of the intended Act to be admitted without passing the notarial examination. The roll of notaries kept in the Court of Faculties, or a copy of it, to be transferred to the custody of an officer to be appointed by the Master of the Rolls. The Incorporated Law Society to be required, whenever they hold a final examination, to hold also a "notarial examination" of persons applying to be admitted notaries, the society being empowered to make regulations, with the sanction of the Master of the Rolls, for effecting this object. The jurisdiction of the Court of Faculties and its officers over notaries to cease on the passing of the proposed Act; but provisions have been inserted with regard to vested interests of the Master of the Faculties and other officers. The Master of the Rolls to have the same juris- LAW ASSOCIATION, Ar the usual monthly meeting of the directors, LEGAL NEWS. THE Northampton Incorporated Law Society, limited by guarantee to £5, is among the new companies registered. CLERKS of petty sessions paid over the sum of £5529 to the county treasurer of Surrey during the past year. THE HON. J. WARRALL CARRINGTON, SolicitorGeneral of Barbadoes, has had conferred upon him, by the University of Durham, the degree of Doctor of Civil Law. THE new Palace of Justice at Brussels will, it is estimated, cost 44,000,000f. before its completion, which is expected to take five years more. THE clerk to the Driffield Board of Guardians, Mr. H. Botterill, has been voted £30 for his services as clerk to the school attendance committee during the past year. L.J. N.S. 656, Ch.) with their decision Re Jones (38 H. E. D. 42. WILL-POWER OF APPOINTMENT -Can A. appoint to one child upon trust for sale and division of pro- PROMOTIONS AND APPOINT- NOTA BENE.-Information intended for publication under THE Queen has been pleased to grant unto JOHN Mr. T. STOCKWOOD, jun., solicitor, of Bridgend, Mr. J. E. PRICE, Clerk to Newent Board of Mr. A. C. LYNE GLUBB, solicitor, and Mr. BOR- Mr. CHARLES SMITH, Solicitor, Ongar and in succession to the late Mr. Charles Mott. Mr. Smith, who holds the position of Clerk to the The court will sit for the despatch of business on the day after the commission day, at each place (omitting Sunday), at eleven o'clock a.m. The trial of special jury causes will commence at Manchester, on Friday, the 18th July, at the sitting of the court, and at Liverpool, on Thursday, the 31st July, at the same hour, unless the court shall otherwise order. first) at Manchester and Liverpool, will be exA list of causes for trial each day (except the hibited in the corridor of the court and in the library. The associate's fees must be paid in judicature stamps. To avoid correspondence, solicitors are requested to apply to the deputy associate for their certificates, during the assizes. By order of the judges, T. M. SHUTTLEWORTH, Clerk of Assize and Associate. THE GAZETTES. Professional Partnerships Dissolved. Gazette, June 24. TAYLOR and ROWBOTTOM, solicitors, Wigan. (Thomas BAGSHAW and WIGGLESWORTH, Solicitors, Manchester (John Bankrupts. MR. ROWLAND HOLT WILSON, of Bury St. MR. ALFRED FREDERICK CHURCH, solicitor, THE clerk of the peace for Staffordshire was paid £1300 as salary for the past year, and received £1316 18s. 10d. on account of the authorities (including £666 18s. 10d. in fees, and the remainder for business done as county solicitor), thus leaving a slight balance in favour of the county. THE awards in jurisprudence and law at Owens THE College for the past year are-General course; C. W. Pidduck, prize; J. A. Bland, T. Brownson, and T. W. Millar, equal; R. H. Crook and T. K. Peacock, equal. Special course: James Douglas, prize; E. H. Holden and C. W. Pidduck, Roman Law; T. Brownson, prize; J. Astbury and Joseph Thompson. Beyer law prize, value £10, Christian Schon. AT the Essex quarter sessions, held at Chelmsford a letter was read from Mr. R. B. Wingfield Baker, formerly M.P. for South Essex, resigning his post as one of the chairmen of the court. It was stated that he had held it since 1862, and that he was now approaching his seventy-ninth birth-day. The resignation was accepted, and a vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Baker. AT a special meeting of Preston county justices, it was unanimously resolved to offer Mr. Higgin, Q.C. chairman of Salford quarter sessions, the stipendiary chairmanship of Preston quarter sessions, at a salary of £800 a year. Mr. Higgin has officiated for the last five years gratuitously. MR. WILLIAM HENRY MARSHALL, solicitor, West Hartlepool, was discovered at a late hour on Friday night dead in his office, whither Mrs. Marshall, alarmed at his absence from their private residence, had proceeded. It is believed that deceased died while sitting at his table, and then fell. At the inquest on Saturday a verdict of died from an attack of apoplexy was returned. Mr. Marshall, who was a son of the town clerk of Durham, was only thirty-two, and had practised in Hartlepool about four years. NOTES AND QUERIES. None are inserted unless the name and address of the writer are sent, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee for bona fides. ueries. 40. EASEMENT.-B.'s vine has grown against P.'s building about twenty years, and now has reached the roof and spouts, and P. alleges that dampness is occasioned by it to the interior of the building, and requires its removal; B. objects on the ground that it was planted to cover bare walls of the unsightly edifice adjoining his garden, and that there has been, virtually, license, permission, or acquiescence in the vine being so attached, and that he has acquired a prescriptive right to its preservation in that position, although he would permit such trimming as may be necessary to prevent injury by obstruction of waterflow in spouts, or obstruction of old window-lights. Can B. maintain such right? and what decisions support it? WOODMAN. 41. MORTGAGOR AND MORTGAGEE.-Insanity of representative of deceased mortgagee-Costs of vesting <rder. Can any of your readers reconcile the expressed opinions of the Lord Justices in Hawkins v. Perry (25 COURTS AND COURT PAPERS. COURT OF APPEAL AND HIGH COURT OF Monday Rota of Registrars in Attendance. Saturday, July 5 Court of Appeal. 7 Clowes 8 Кое 9 10 Koe 11 Clowes 12 Saturday, July 5 Teesdale Farrer 7 8 Pemberton Master of the Leach Mr. Justice Fry. Saturday, July 5 Pemberton King SUMMER ASSIZES, 1879.-NORTHERN CIRCUIT. THE Commissions for holding these assizes will be There will be provisional entries for Manchester The general entry of causes at Appleby, Carlisle, Lancaster, Manchester, and Liverpool, will commence immediately after the opening of the respective commissions, and will close at nine o'clock p.m. the same evening. On entering a cause, two copies of the pleadings must be lodged, one for the use of the judge and the other for the associate. Gazette, June 27. BENNETT, JOHN, grocer, Cold Harbour-la, Loughborough HALL, WILLIAM, corrier, Layard-rd, Bermondsey. Pet. To surrender in the Country. MORROW. JAMES, clerk, Low Fell. Pet. June 23. Reg. OVEREND, JOHN, cotton broker, Leather-la, Liverpool. Pet. PURNELL, WILLIAM WILCOX, Tilly Manor Farm, West 24. Reg Woodcock. Sur. July 12 SYKES, WILLIAM, butcher, Hermitage, Whitwick. Gazette, July 1. Pet. To surrender at the Bankrupts' Court, Lincoln's-inn-fields. To surrender in the Country. CULLEN, CHARLES, shipbuilder, Northfleet. Pet. June 26. TAYLOR, JAMES, and DUNNING, JONATHAN, builders, Mid- FISHER, WILLIAM, draper, Worle. Pet. June 27. Reg. ALLEN, JAMES KEY, manufacturing confectioner, Ryde BAILEY, ROBERT WALTER, EMBLETON, THOMAS WILLIAM. BARRY, WALH, and HODGE, THOMAS, builders, Bristol. |