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CLERKE and BRETT'S CONVEYANCING ACT, 1882, &c.

This day is published, in post 8vo, 2s. 6d., sewed. ACT, 1882, together with the General Order made in pursuance of the Solicitors' Remuneration Act, 1881; with Notes. By AUBREY ST. JOHN CLERKE, B.A., and THOMAS BRETT, LL.B., B.A., both of the Middle Temple, Esquires, Barristers-at-Law.

THE CONVEYANCING

** Being a Supplement to the Second Edition of the work by the same Authors on the "Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881." London: BUTTERWORTHS, 7, Fleet-street, Her Majesty's Law Publishers.

Recently published, in 1 vol., post 8vo, 7s. 6d., cloth. THE CONVEYANCING and LAW of

and Purchaser Act, 1874, and the Solicitors' Remuneration Act, 1881. With Notes and an Introduction. By AUBREY ST. JOHN CLERKE, B.A., and THOMAS BRETT, LL.B. London University, B.A., both of the Middle Temple, Esquires, Barristers-at-Law. Second Edition.

London: BUTTERWORTHS, 7, Fleet-street, Her Majesty's Law Publishers.

MACASKIE'S LAW OF BILLS OF SALE. Just published, in 1 vol., post 8vo, 8s., cloth. THE LAW RELATING to BILLS of

SALE: with Notes upon Fraudulent Assignments and Preferences, and the Doctrine of Reputed Ownership

SCOTTISH EQUITABLE LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY. GUARDIAN FIRE AND LIFE OFFICE

ESTABLISHED 1831.

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demption on fixed terms, whether the life tenant be alive or dead, is reserved to the reversioner for five years or for such other term as may be agreed. In the case of absolute reversions the redemption money is simply the accumulated amount of the advance at five per cent. compound interest.

Full particulars may be obtained on application to the Society's

LONDON OFFICE-69, KING WILLIAM STREET, E.C.
A. MACKAY, Resident Secretary.
Solicitors-Messrs. BURTON, YEATES, HART, & BURTON,
37, Lincoln's-inn-fields.

in Bankruptcy; and an Appendix of Statutes, Precedents, THE

and Forms. By STUART MACASKIE, of Gray's-inn,
Barrister-at-Law.

London: BUTTERWORTHS, 7, Fleet-street, Her Majesty's
Law Publishers.

In demy 8vo, cloth, about 200 pages, price 5s.

THE LAW RELATING to ELECTRIC

LIGHTING: being the Electric Lighting Act, 1882, with a Continuous Commentary, Expository and Critical; also, a General Introduction, explaining its Scope and probable Working, and elucidating its Provisions, with special reference to the Evidence given before the Select Committee of the House of Commons; and an Appendix, consisting of the Rules of the Board of Trade issued under the powers thereby granted, together with some Notes and Suggestions. By GEORGE SPENCER BOWER, B.A., of the Inner Temple, Barristerat-Law, and WALTER WEBB, Solicitor of the Supreme Court.

London: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEABLE, & RIVINGTON, Crown-buildings, 188, Fleet-street.

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Just published, One Shilling, post-free.

ILLS of SALE 1882, with

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The Rt. Hon. Viscount Sherbrooke (Chairman). Henry H. Fowler, Esq.. M.P. (Vice-Chairman). The Rt. Hon. Sir Wm. Hart Dyke, Bart., M.P. Sir Gabriel Goldney, Bart., M.P. Sir Philip Rose, Bart. James Staats Forbes, Esq. Ralph L. Lopes, Esq. George Russell, Esq. Charles Schiff, Esq. John Westlake, Esq., Q.C. BANKERS-London and Westminster Bank (Limited). SOLICITORS-Messrs. Ashurst, Morris, Crisp, & Co. MANAGER-Mr. Henry Fisher. SECRETARY-Mr. C. C. Bowlby.

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AW UNION FIRE and LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. Chief Office-126, Chancery. lane, London, W.C.

The Funds in hand and Capital subscribed amount to upwards of £1,600,000 sterling. Chairman-JAMES CUDDON, Esq., Barrister-at-Law,

Lombard-street, London, E.C.

Established 1821. Subscribed Capital, Two Millions.

DIRECTORS.

M.P.

CHAIRMAN-JOHN G. TALBOT, Esq., M.P. DEPUTY-CHAIRMAN-ALBAN G. H. GIBBS, Esq. Henry Hulse Berens, Esq. Beaumont W. Lubbock, Esq. Henry Bonham-Carter, Esq. Rt. Hon. G. J. Shaw-Lefevre, Charles Wm. Curtis, Esq. Charles F. Devas, Esq. Sir Walter R. Farquhar, Bart. James Goodson, Esq. Thomson Hankey, Esq. Richard M. Harvey, Esq. Rt. Hon. J. G. Hubbard,M.P. Frederick H. Janson, Esq.

John B. Martin, Esq.
8. Hope Morley, Esq.
Henry John Norman, Esq.
David Powell, Esq.
Augustus Prevost, Esq.
Henry Vigne, Esq.

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Share Capital at present paid up and invested... £1,000,000 Total Funds, upwards of ... £2,941,000 Total Annual Income over... £517,000 N.B. Fire Policies which expire at Michaelmas should be renewed at the Head Office, or with the Agents, on or before the 14th day of October.

SURREY,

In the High Court of Justice, "Ede v. Illidge."-Brixton. -Important and valuable Freehold Estates, situate in and abutting upon Acre-lane, comprising well-secured ground-rents, amounting to £570 19s. 6d. per annum; also four spacious residences, with large gardens and forecourts, available for occupation or profitable development.

MESSRS. EDWIN FOX & BOUSFIELD

lane.

will SELL, at the MART, on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, at ONE precisely, in Lots, highly-important and valuable FREEHOLD ESTATES, comprising well-secured ground-rents, amounting to £570 19s. 6d. per annum, arising from 84 houses in Acre-lane. The Avenue and Raeburn-street, Brixton, with Reversion to the rackrents, approximating upon £4,500 per annum; also four spacious Residences, most advantageously situate in AcreEach house has a long forecourt and large garden in the rear, the entire depth being 260ft, and having a frontage of 150ft. The houses could, at a moderate outlay, easily be restored to their original condition as residences for respectable families, and will then let at remunerative rents, while a portion of the land in the rear could be devoted to trade or manufacturing purposes, or the site of the entire property forms a very valuable area suitable for the erection of a large number of small houses, with shops in front and other trade premises in the rear.

Particulars of Messrs. Potter & Sandford, Solicitors, 36, King-street, Cheapside, E.C.; of Messrs. Tatham, Oblein, & Nash, Solicitors, 11, Queen Victoria-street, E.C.; at the Mart; and of Messrs. Edwin Fox & Bousfield, 99, Gresham-street, Bank, E.C.

FREEHOLD INVESTMENT.

O BE SOLD, by PRIVATE CONTRACT,

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and 7, Paddington-green, situate at the corner of Harrowroad, comprising a block of modern, substantial, brickbuilt buildings of attractive elevation, having an area of about 8,346 square feet, let on lease for about twenty-five years at the very low rents of £155 per annum, but underlet to highly responsible tenants at greatly increased rentals, to which a purchaser would be entitled on the expiration of the present leases. Moderately estimated to be worth £700 per annum.

BA Supplement to the third edition it Noted Deputy Chair Goldsmith-building, Temple, co & Pomber-Sonor further particulars apply to Messrs. Fuller,

Redman's "Law of Bills of Sale."

REEVES & TURNER, 100, Chancery-lane, London, W.C.

N

Price 2s. 6d.

EWTON'S PATENT LAW and PRACTICE.-Enlarged Edition. Defining Patentable and Non-patentable Invention and the nature of Specifications and Claims; showing the mode of obtaining and opposing Grants, Disclaimers, Confirmations, and Extensions of Patents, and giving all information necessary to enable a Solicitor to advise his Clients. By A. V. NEWTON.

"It is a most useful summary."-R. E. Webster, Esq., Q.C.

tons), Solicitor, 44, Lincoln's-inn-fields. Every description of Fire and Life Insurance business transacted.

Whole World and Unconditional Life Policies granted at a slightly increased rate of Premium. Policies of Insurance granted against the contingency of Issue at moderate rates of Premium.

sions, whether absolute or contingent. Advances made on Mortgage of Life Interest and Rever

Prospectus, Copies of the Accounts as deposited with the Board of Trade, and every information sent on appli. cation to FRANK MCGEDY, Actuary and Secretary.

London: TRÜBNER & CO., 57 and 59, Ludgate-hill, NORTHERN ASSURANCE COMPANY.

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Horsey,

OMMODIOUS FAMILY RESIDENCE, rent £65, containing five bed and dressing rooms, drawing, dining, and breakfast rooms, library, bath room (hot and cold water), good servants' offices, Venetian blinds, every modern improvement; gravel soil, good drainage. Within four miles of Charing-cross, two minutes from West Kensington Station.-Apply to Messrs. GIBBS & FLEW (Limited), Cedars Estate Offices, West Kensington Station, W.

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CURRENT TOPICS.

LONDON, OCTOBER 7, 1882.

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THE COMMENCEMENT of the Michaelmas Sittings will be marked, as has been the case during each of the last two years, by the appointment of a new judge. Vice-Chancellor HALL, after over forty years' work at the bar and on the bench, has been compelled by illness to resign his post. He will carry with him into his retirement much personal esteem and cordial wishes for his recovery. The arrangements connected with the appointment of his successor, including the question of whether Mr. Justice KAY is to succeed to the chambers, will probably be made before the 25th inst., when the chambers will re-open.

whether the fixed fee will be much less than the aggregate of the present auctioneer's commission; if it is not, then, since auctioneers' and valuers' charges are disbursements under the Order, the client will have in reality to pay a double commission. (2) The solicitor may agree with the auctioneer for his payment by a fixed sum, as above, and, instead of charging his own commission for conducting the sale, may charge the increased rates allowed by rule 12 in Schedule I. By taking this course, however, the solicitor will sacrifice a considerable portion of his remuneration for the benefit of the auctioneer and client. Thus, in the case of a sale for £3,000, he will receive £40 instead of £55. (3) The solicitor may undertake all the business connected with the sale, and engage an auctioneer simply to put up the property, as described by our Liverpool correspondent last week. This would involve work with which London solicitors' offices are not at all familiar. Or (4) the solicitor may take out an auctioneer's license and conduct the whole sale from beginning to end. There is at present, as our correspondence columns have shown, much diversity of opinion as to which of these courses should be adopted, and it is extremely desirable that at the forthcoming provincial meeting of the Incorporated Law Society the fullest opportunity should be afforded for discussion and the passing of recommendations preliminary to some action by the council of the society with a view to the establishment of a uniform practice.

THE EFFECT of the notice of avoidance of the benefice which the Bishop of Manchester has at length given to the patron of Mr. GREEN'S living has been a good deal misunderstood. Under section 13 of the Public Worship Regulation Act, 1874, the benefice became void at the end of three years from the date of the issuing of the monition; and the Act provides that " upon such avoidance it shall be lawful for the patron of such benefice to appoint, present, or nominate to the same as if the incumbent were dead." The patron could, therefore, have appointed a successor to Mr. GREEN at any time after the 27th of June last, when the three years from the issuing of the monition expired, without reference to any notice from the bishop. But for the purposes of lapse the avoid-gas, or other means of lighting the streets, markets, and public ance of the benefice is to be reckoned from the day on which the notice was delivered; and if, within six months from that day, the patron fails to present, the bishop will be able himself to collate an incumbent. The patron is stated to have declared at a meeting at Derby that," if possible, Mr. GREEN should come out of gaol rector of Miles Platting." But, so far as the patron is concerned, this is not possible, for section 13 of the Public Worship Regulation Act provides that "it shall not be lawful for the patron at any time to present to such benefice the incumbent by whom the same was avoided under this Act."

LONDON SOLICITORS are now face to face with the fact that an important provision of the Remuneration Order has been framed with reference to a practice which has little or no existence in the metropolis. The discussion in our columns has elicited the meaning and object of rule 11 in Schedule I., but we are nearly as far as ever from knowing what will be its effect. The object is to give a commission to solicitors who do all the auctioneer's work except putting up the lots, but the rule is so expressed that it will give a commission to solicitors who do none of the auctioneer's work. For-putting aside as impracticable or undesirable the mode of evading the rule by the auctioneer's commission or fee being stipulated to be paid by the purchaser-there remain four courses open to the solicitor. (1) Matters may be left as at present, except that the auctioneer, instead of being paid by commission, shall be paid a fixed sum for all the work he does at present. The difficulty attending this course (at all events if established and eminent auctioneers are employed) is as to

AMID THE STRUGGLE for licenses under the Electric Lighting Act, it may perhaps occur to some energetic "urban authority to endeavour to dispense with licenses and provisional orders altogether, and to fall back upon the 161st section of the Public Health Act, 1875. The first paragraph of that section enacts that, "any urban authority [i.e., by section 6, any town council improvement commissioners, or local board] may contract with any person [which expression, by section 4, includes any body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate] for the supply of buildings in their district, and may provide such lamps, lampposts, and other materials and apparatus as they may think necessary for lighting the same." It seems clear beyond doubt that electricity is another means of lighting within the meaning of this paragraph, and the only question seems to be whether the Electric Lighting Act, which does not expressly repeal this or any prior "lighting" enactment, impliedly repeals it by some provision that there shall be no electric lighting except under the Act, or the like. Turning to the Electric Lighting Act, we find that section 2 enacts that "the provisions of this Act shall apply to every local authority, company, or person who may, by this Act or any license or provisional order granted under this Act, or by any special Act to be hereafter passed, be authorized to supply electricity within any area, and to every undertaking so authorized, except so far as may be expressly provided by any such special Act." Expressio unius exclusio alterius. Applications under the Electric Lighting Act itself are carefully named and expressed, so that contracts under the section of the Public Health Act which we have above referred to, are excluded. It would seem that such contracts may still be made, and that the contractors under them will be, so far as the Electric Lighting Act itself is concerned, absolutely free from all the provisions of that Act.

AN ENACTMENT of some interest to poachers may be found imbedded in a statute bearing the curious "short" title of the Revenue, Friendly Societies, and National Debt Act, 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c. 72). It is enacted by the 6th section of that Act that " "if, upon the hearing of an information exhibited against any per

son for the recovery of the penalty imposed by the fourth section of the Act of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth years of her THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN LODGERS Majesty's reign [for shooting game without a license, the penalty being £20], it shall be proved that such person used or carried a AND HOUSEHOLDERS FOR ELECTORAL gun without having in force a proper license under the Gun PURPOSES. License Act, 1870 [33 & 34 Vict. c. 57, imposing a penalty of £10 for carrying a gun without a license, the license duty being 10s.], he shall not be entitled to be wholly acquitted by reason of a failure to prove an offence against the said section, but the court before whom the said information is heard shall be at liberty to acquit him of the charge contained in the said information and convict him of an offence against the seventh section of the Gun License Act, 1870, and order him to pay the penalty thereby imposed" [i.e., the penalty of £10 above mentioned]. The intention is good, but the phraseology of the enactment is cumbrous and its position highly peculiar, as other portions of the statute in which it is to be found deal with such matters as the quarterly payment of dividends on the Two-and-a-half per Cents., and the payment over to the Exchequer of millions of fractions of a penny which had been deducted from the dividends upon the National Debt.

THE TRIBUNAL OF COMMERCE craze is plainly abating. The Associated Chambers of Commerce, at their meeting on Tuesday, passed a resolution to the effect " That this association desires to confirm its previous vote to the effect that, while maintaining their preference for efficient tribunals of commerce, this association recommends as a step in the direction towards the attainment of that desideratum that the more important county courts be made courts of first instance for all commercial disputes, without limit as to their amounts, subject, of course, to all proper regulations for removal and appeal, and that in all important cases the judge may be assisted by competent assessors, and that the council be directed to use every available means to obtain such an extension of the county courts' jurisdiction in the course of next session of Parliament." If recourse to courts bound by the established rules of law and evidence and the decisions of superior courts in analogous cases is "a step towards the attainment of the desideratum," then the desideratum must have been considerably altered, for one of the main objects formerly aimed at was to have a tribunal which should decide all cases by the light of nature. Another main object avowed by the promoters of the Manchester Tribunal of Arbitration was not to fall into the hands of solicitors." How is this calamity to be avoided if the county courts are to be made "courts of first instance for all commercial disputes"?

66

IT IS STATED that the Pontefract magistrates have dismissed a charge against a girl for poaching, on the ground that the Prevention of Poaching Act applies to men only, "the masculine gender being used throughout." It is, no doubt, the fact that the Act speaks of "he," but it is also the fact that Lord BROUGHAM'S Act (13 & 14 Vict. c. 21) provides (section 4) " that in all Acts words importing the masculine gender shall be deemed and taken to include females unless the contrary is expressly provided"; wherefore we do not advise female poachers to place much reliance on the decision of the Pontefract magistrates.

The junior class of Roman law at University College, London, has been postponed till January 8, in consequence of the Professor (Mr. Edmund Robertson) having to proceed to the United States on professional business. The senior class will be undertaken by Mr. J. S. Cotton, barrister-at-law, late fellow of Queen's College, Oxford.

The Pacific Coast Law Journal says that "Clara S. Foltz, the learned lady attorney, of San Francisco. has returned from her late visit to Oregon and Washington Territory. This talented lady lawyer and gifted orator received a very flattering compliment from Judge Deady, of the United States Circuit Court. While the court was in session the judge espied the distinguished lady seated in the room, when he immediately arose, and taking her by the hand escorted her to a seat beside him on the bench, and, after the adjournment of the court, he introduced her to every lawyer present. This was, indeed, an honour, and Judge Deady has the thanks of the ladies of California for his true gentlemanly courtesy to Sister Foltz."

WE called attention, shortly after the passing of the Registration Act of 1878, to the difficulties that would arise in consequence of the definition of the term "dwelling-house" given by that Act. Previously to the passing of that Act there had been, on several occasions, a difference of opinion among the judges with regard to the meaning of the same term as interpreted in the Representation of the People Act. The alteration of the definition in the Act of 1878 was no doubt intended to be a solution of the vexed question, but the result has been to give rise to still greater difficulties and absurdities. The occupation of a "house" being one of the qualifications for the borough franchise under the Reform Act, the question what constitutes a house necessarily arose under that Act. The Court of Common Pleas decided that "structural severance" was essential to the idea of a house, so that a flat or set of chambers would be a house; but a part or parts of a house not structurally severed as, for instance, one room on the groundfloor and another on the first-floor-could not constitute a house. It was a moot question whether the definition contained in the Representation of the People Act was intended to reverse the previous decisions on the Reform Act in this respect; but the question, though giving rise to great controversy, was not of such great general importance, inasmuch as separate rating was essential to the status of a dwelling-house under the Representation of the People Act, and it was practically very difficult, if not impossible, to enforce the rating of parts of a dwelling-house not structurally severed. The Act of 1878 did away with the necessity for separate rating, and it must now be taken that structural severance is no longer essential to the definition of a dwellinghouse for the purposes of the franchise.

But a fresh difficulty arose, as we pointed out immediately after the passing of the Act of 1878. The Representation of the People Act had created a lodger franchise, and had made it a condition of such franchise that the lodgings occupied should be of a certain value, whereas, in the case of the dwelling-house, value is immaterial. It therefore becomes material to distinguish between the occupier of part of a house who is only a lodger and the occupier of part of a house who is a householder. This is, obviously, not easy in many cases, and, accordingly, cases involving this question were soon brought before the courts. Last year the Court of Appeal delivered a series of most elaborate, but, in our humble opinion, not very satisfactory, judgments on the subject. It has generally been assumed that the effect of those judgments is that wherever the landlord reserves any part of the house, and occupies the same by himself or his servant, the effect is that the tenants of the other parts of the house are necessarily mere lodgers, but where the whole of the house is let out in apartments, the occupiers of the parts so let out are householders. We discussed these judgments when they were given, and expressed our opinion that they were very far from being entirely satisfactory, and it seems, to judge from the reports now appearing in the newspapers, that the application of them to the cases brought forward in the revision courts this year is a matter, in many instances, of considerable difficulty.

We thought before the delivery of those judgments, and we still think, that the mere question whether the landlord occupies by himself or his servant, or has not let off part of the house, cannot per se be the true test. It is impossible to define a lodger, just as it is impossible to define numbers of concrete things; but, roughly speaking, a lodger is a person who occupies part of a house subordinately to another person's occupation of such house. As a general rule, having regard to the actual necessities or probabilities of life, it is obvious that where the landlord occupies part of the house by himself or servant he would, as a matter of fact, retain that general control over the whole which would render the occupation of the occupier of the other part a subordinate occupation, and consequently that of a lodger. But we cannot think that the question is one of law, or that there is any necessary legal presumption on the subject. Lord Justice Brett, in giving his judgment in the Court of Appeal, commented very strongly on the absurdities of the legislation on the subject. We have commented

on more than one occasion on the shortcomings of the Act of 1878. But some of the particular difficulties suggested by the Lord Justice seem to us to be the creation of the judges, not of the Legislature. A dictum which occurs in his judgment has been made the subject of considerable discussion in the metropolitan revision courts lately. He said that the result of holding that the occupation of any part of the house by the landlord would be to make the occupiers of the remaining apartments lodgers must be the following absurdity-viz., that people would be lodgers or householders according as a room in the house might or might not be vacant from time to time, though substantially the character of the occupation would not be changed. This absurdity does seem to us to arise if the result of the judgments of the Court of Appeal is that, as a necessary presumption of law, the fact that the landlord has not at any particular moment let the whole house makes the occupiers of the rest of the house at that particular moment lodgers; but it seems to us that this is not the result of the judgments, and that this dictum was enunciated by the Lord Justice only arguendo to illustrate the absurdities that might arise from the legislation, and can hardly be treated as a deliberate expression of his judicial opinion on a definite case. We agree, therefore, with Mr. Bathurst, the revising barrister for Westminster, who recently declined to follow this dictum as a decision on the point. It seems to us that the true test whether the occupation of the person claiming the vote is that of a lodger or a householder is, whether it is, in point of fact, a subordinate or an independent occupation. The mere fact that one apartment or set of apartments in a house becomes vacant cannot per se turn an occupation of other apartments that was before an independent occupation into a subordinate one, even admitting that for certain purposes the landlord must, in contemplation of law, be considered as occupying the unlet part of the house. If the landlord does actually enter upon the unlet part and occupy it, the question must be whether he then, in fact, exercises such a control over the house as a whole as to render the other occupations subordinate. If a landlord or his servant, as his representative, is in permanent occupation of part of the house, it may, as a matter of fact, be in general the right conclusion that he is dominus of the whole house, like the landlord of an hotel; but if the practice of the landlord is to let off the whole of the house, it seems to us to be an unwarrantable inference to suppose that whenever a room falls vacant he control of the whole house.

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But although we think the particular absurdity suggested by Lord Justice Brett does not necessarily arise, we do think that the co-existence of the present lodger franchise with household suffrage does necessarily lead to great absurdities. We are afraid that the abolition of any franchise is past hoping for, but we are, nevertheless, of opinion that two existing franchises should be abolished-viz., the lodger franchise and the freeman's qualification. If a freeman is a person likely to exercise the franchise properly, he is, in nine cases out of ten, a householder, and so has an independent qualification. The person whose sole qualification is that of a freeman is generally a broken-down, semi-pauperized old person who lives in an almshouse-just the man whose vote could be bought for five shillings and a glass of beer. The lodger franchise is a fancy franchise, involving practical difficulties of which legislators have little or no idea. No doubt, theoretically, a man who occupies lodgings worth £10 a year unfurnished may be a very proper person to have a vote, but so may a person who has so much in a savings bank, or who pays so much income tax. It cannot be said, according to our present views, that a system of representation must be condemned because it leaves out many persons as capable of exercising the franchise as those whom it includes. No system can insure the inclusion of all presumably capable persons, except manhood suffrage, and that would include a great many presumably incapable persons. It is impossible, within the scope of the present article, already too long, fully to explain the practical objections to the lodger franchise. They are only fully known to revising barristers and political agents. We may perhaps revert to this subject on a future occasion.

Mr. Justice Day has fixed the following dates for holding the autumn assizes on the Northern Circuit, viz. :-Carlisle, Monday, October 30; Manchester, Thursday, November 2; Liverpool, Saturday, November 11.

THE REMUNERATION ORDER. V.

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WE come now to the alterations in the present charges effected by Schedule II. It is hardly necessary to point out the importance of these, considering the large class of matters affected by them. As we remarked at the commencement of these articles, the fact that the new scale applies only to completed sales, purchases, mortgages, and leases other than mining leases, and that all other conveyancing business is to be paid for on the present system as altered by Schedule II., invests the alterations effected by that schedule with almost as much importance as the new scale itself. We concur, to pondent, whose letter will be found in another column, in regretting that so many matters have been left outside the scale. Whether the suggestion of the Council of the Incorporated Law Society, that in respect of settlements of personal estate the same remuneration should be given to the solicitor as on a purchase at a price equal to the value of the property settled, should have been adopted, may perhaps be doubtful, but it would not seem to be difficult to frame a scale for these and many other transactions which are now outside the scale. Some matters are excluded without, so far as we can see, any sufficient reason. One would have thought that if the scale for sales and purchases is just and equitable, there could be few cases where its application would be Yet the more natural than in the case of compulsory sales. last clause of rule 11 in Schedule I. provides that, "In case of sales under the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, or any other private or public Act under which the vendor's charges are to be paid by the purchaser, the scale shall not apply." The result would seem to be that in sales under the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, and in all cases of compulsory sales, the remuneration of the vendor's solicitor will be (under rule 2 (c.)) regulated according to the present system as altered by Schedule II. The first part of Schedule II. deals with "instructions for, and drawing and perusing deeds, wills, and other documents"; and "such fees for instructions as, having regard to it prescribes the care and labour required, the number and length of the papers to be perused, and the other circumstances of the case, may be fair and reasonable." This regulation is right in principle, but it remains to be seen what interpretation will be given to it. It may, perhaps, be that some indication of the charges which will be considered as " fair and reasonable" for each hour employed in ordinary cases, is afforded by the allowance to the solicitor of 15s. per hour for journeys from home.

The allowance for drawing deeds, wills, and other documents is increased from 1s. to 2s. per folio "in ordinary cases"-an expression which seems to contemplate an increased allowance in the case of instruments of special difficulty. The charge for fair copy remains at 4d. per folio, and for engrossing at 8d. per folio, and we presume that this latter charge will still include examination of draft with engrossment. The greatest increase in these charges is in the charge for perusing, which is raised from 5s. per fifteen folios to 1s. per folio-a change which is certainly reasonable considering the responsibility often involved in this operation.

"" attendances

We have already briefly referred to the abolition of the time-honoured fee of 6s. 8d. for attendances, and the substitution of a fee "in ordinary cases" of 10s. for each attendance. It is, however, provided that "in extraordinary cases the taxing master may increase or diminish the above charge, if for any special reasons he shall think fit." It is presumed that " ordinary will include attending to stamp, attendances respecting alterations which are made in the draft by the other side, and so forth. What about attending completion? Will the 13s. 4d. wherever formerly chargeable be raised to £1? And how will the increase for special reasons be regulated? On these points we shall have to wait until the Order has come into operation before we can say what will be the complete result of the changes made in the old system.

With regard to abstracts "where not covered by the above scales "a remarkable heading, since the whole of the schedule we are considering is only applicable where the scales do not apply charge of 6s. 8d. is allowed for drawing "each brief sheet of eight folios," and a charge of 3s. 4d. for fair copy, also, we presume, of each brief sheet of eight folios,

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We may now, in conclusion, notice one or two matters not hitherto commented on. The first is the provision of rule 7, that "a solicitor may accept from his client, and a client may give to his solicitor, security for the amount to become due to the solicitor for business to be transacted by him, and for interest on such amount, but so that interest is not to commence till the amount due is ascertained, either by agreement or taxation." This rule carries out the provision of section 5 of the Solicitors' Remuneration Act, and extends the right given by 33 & 34 Vict. c. 28, s. 16, to security for interest on costs.

The charge for journeys from home is raised to £5 5s. | Consequently, we find a very peculiar provision as to the income "in ordinary cases for every day of not less than seven hours tax, which was imposed long after the principal half-yearly employed on business or travelling," and where a less time than dividends which it proposes to charge had been paid away. It is seven hours is so employed, the charge is to be 15s. per hour; but enacted by the 9th section that "where any dividends, it is provided that in extraordinary cases the taxing master may interest, or other annual profits or gains are due or payable increase or diminish this allowance "if for any special reasons he half-yearly or quarterly in the course of the said year shall think fit." This allowance, it is presumed, is exclusive of [the year which commenced on the 1st of April, 1882], the travelling and hotel expenses, but it is singular that while these first half-yearly payment and the two first quarterly payments are expressly excluded from the remuneration provided by shall be deemed to have been or be chargeable with the duty of Schedule I., no such provision occurs in Schedule II. This fivepence, and the other half-yearly payment and the two other charge for journeys and also the charge for ordinary attendances quarterly payments shall be deemed to be chargeable with the duty are, it is understood, taken from the draft order submitted by the of eightpence." This will make an important difference in the Council of the Incorporated Law Society; and they will, we net amount of some people's January dividends, and the quarterly believe, be generally acceptable. payment of the dividends on the Two-and-a-half per Cents. which is secured by section 19 of the Revenue Act, "after such date as the Treasury may appoint," will probably be the first to catch the taxpayer's contribution towards payment for the shot and shell so liberally expended in Egypt. The remaining sections of the Act deal with a certain new duty on "imitations of coffee and coffee mixtures," and provide conditions as to marked labels, &c., under which only such imitations may be legally sold. For amendments of the Stamp Act, which it is usual to include in the annual Customs Act, we must turn this year to the Revenue Act. These amendments are rather numerous, but not of much importance. They grant new duties on contracts for superannuation annuities (section 8); exempt from duty cheques drawn by Government offices (section 9); and make provision for cancellation where two or more adhesive stamps are used (section 14). The Act also provides for compensation for loss of fees by probate officers in consequence of the fifteen-shilling minimum imposed by section 37 of the Customs and Inland Revenue Act, 1881, and, in terms which we have already noticed, makes (by section 6) an attack upon poachers carrying guns without license. The other sections are of little, if any, legal interest, except the 7th, which has a curious and unhappy history. It will be remembered that the Taxes Management Act, 1880, repealed (inter alia) 43 Geo. 3, e. 161, s. 60, which relates to the inspection of houses for the purposes of assessment to the house tax. This repeal was apparently not intended, for the Statute Law Revision Act, 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 59), "revived" the enactment in question. But the revived statute does not appear to have been quite lively enough, for the period between the passing of the Taxes Management Act, 1880, and of the Statute Law Revision Act was left unprovided for, and during that period the revived statute was left dead as a door-nail. So now we have a further revival by section 7 of the present statute, which provides that, "notwithstanding anything contained in the Taxes Management Act, 1880, section sixty" of [here the title of the Act is set out at length]" shall be deemed to have continued in force since the time of the passing of the said Taxes Management Act, 1880, to the same extent to which it was in force at that time." The enactment in question, thus made retrospective, in defiance of all the rules of legislation, gives power to certain Inland Revenue officers to make domiciliary visits.

By the same rule it is provided that "a solicitor may charge interest at four per cent. per annum on his disbursements and costs, whether by scale or otherwise, from the expiration of one month from demand from the client. And in cases where the same are payable by an infant, or out of a fund not presently available, such demand may be made on the parent or guardian, or the trustee or other person liable." The value and reasonableness of this provision are obvious, but the question arises, what will be a sufficient "demand" to make interest run after the lapse of a month? It seems doubtful whether sending a client his bill of costs will suffice, and we think that a polite form of letter requesting payment will have to accompany the bill.

Lastly, we come to the provision of rule 3, that "drafts and copies made in the course of business, the remuneration for which is provided for by this Order, are to be the property of the client." Is it meant by this that the client may always require them to be delivered to him as soon as the matter is completed? The consequences of this might be so serious to solicitors that we fancy the rule will generally remain a dead letter. Where is the provision in the Solicitors' Remuneration Act which authorizes the making of this rule?

LEGISLATION OF THE YEAR.

REVENUE ACTS.

45 & 46 VICT. c. 41.-AN ACT TO GRANT CERTAIN DUTIES OF
CUSTOMS AND INLAND REVENUE, TO ALTER OTHER DUTIES,
AND TO AMEND THE LAWS RELATING TO CUSTOMS AND INLAND
REVENUE.

45 & 46 VICT. C. 72.-AN ACT FOR AMENDING
THE LAWS
RELATING TO CUSTOMS AND INLAND REVENUE AND POSTAGE
AND OTHER STAMPS, AND FOR MAKING FURTHER PROVISION
RESPECTING THE NATIONAL DEBT AND CHARGES PAYABLE OUT
OF THE PUBLIC REVENUE OR BY THE COMMISSIONERS FOR THE
REDUCTION OF THE NATIONAL DEBT;
PURPOSES.

AND FOR OTHER

We have placed these two enactments together, and think it desirable to notice them together, because it is abundantly clear from the perusal of the second, which bears the "short" title of "The Revenue, Friendly Societies, and National Debt Act, 1882," that a large number of its provisions ought to have been inserted in the first, which bears the familiar title of "The Customs and Inland Revenue Act," 1882. In speaking of them we will use the still shorter names of "Customs Act," and "Revenue Act," respectively.

The Customs Act received the Royal assent in August, a later date by two or three months than is usual with this annual statute.

ELECTRIC LIGHTING. 45 & 46 VICT. c. 56.-AN ACT TO FACILITATE AND REGU LATE THE SUPPLY OF ELECTRICITY FOR LIGHTING AND OTHER PURPOSES IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. This is, beyond doubt, one of the most important of the many important Acts of this session. Commenting upon it in its passage through Parliament, we ventured to observe that its excessive stringency might perhaps have the undesirable effect of discouraging promoters. We are glad to see that the House of Lords, which has made but few alterations in the Bill, has made two of great importance. These are the substitution of seven for five years as the term for which a "license" is to last, and of twenty-one for fourteen years as the period after which the power of compulsory purchase may be exercised. will now go shortly through the main provisions of the statute.

There are three alternative authorities under which the powers of the Act may be worked First, there is the Board of Trade license (section 3); secondly, the Board of Trade provisional order (which needs a special Act to confirm it) (section 4); and thirdly, the special Act, not preceded by a provisional order. The

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