A esperiment. Then, again, when a registry has been created it would only become necessary to register before selling, settling, or mortgaging, person in possession and not desiring to sell, settle, or mortgage need not register. On his death, however, his successor must register. It must be admitted, therefore, that if compulsion is to be applied at all the Bill is as little objectionable as may be, but that does not make it less true that if the system should prove to be really for the benefit of landowners it would need no compulsion to secure its adoption. The Bill requires that on a sale the vendor shall be registered before transfer. This appears to your committee to involve unnecessary expense. Registration by the purchaser should be sufficient. The scheme of registration which will come into operation in any district for which a registry is established is a modification of the scheme of Lord Cairns' Act of 1875. Registration may be either with an absolute, a qualified, or a possessory title. Registration with an absolute or a qualified title involves investigation of title, with its consequent expense; but it is assumed (though on this, as on so many other points, much depends upon the rules which are to be made hereafter) that registration with a possessory title will only require evidence of possession, and therefore should involve only the minimum of expense. A novel feature of the Bill is the proposal to convert a possessory or a qualified title into an absolute title after notice by advertisement in the month of November in five successive years. This appears to be in effect the enactment of a new period of limitation as to registered real property, confirming title with little or no investigation after five years' advertised possession, and it seems to the committee that, if the Statute of Limitations is to be thus varied, the alteration should apply generally and not merely to registered land, and that the proposals of the Bill do not adequately guard against the risk of defeating the rights of persons not in actual possession. A somewhat similar machinery is prescribed by the Bill for conclusively declaring the boundaries of registered land, but the committee incline to the opinion that resort to this machinery would involve much risk of trouble and litigation, but stirring up disputes as to boundaries which would otherwise never arise, and they doubt if this part of the Bill is of any practical value. The Bill proposes the establishment of an insurance fund for the indemnity of persons sustaining loss by being deprived of their rights through the registration of some other person, or by reason of forgery, fraud, or error, and to create the fund (which is to be guaranteed by the State)-an insurance fee of d. in the £ on the capital value of the land is to be paid on first registration with an absolute or qualified title, and on the transfer of registered land, and on the creation, and on transfer, of charges on registered land. It appears to the committee that there is no sufficient ground for imposing an insurance fee on owners who register under compulsion, and, further, that the proposal of the Bill to indemnify the person who is deprived of his land by the registration of some other person as owner is objectionable. The land should be restored to the true owner, and the person wrongfully registered, if acting bond fide and for value should be indemnified. The business of land registry is to be managed by a Land Transfer Board, and it is a blot upon the Bill that it does not prescribe the qualification of the members of the board, or of the registrars and district registrars to be appointed. The committee trust that this will be amended, and that none but barristers or solicitors will be eligible. The Bill gives no indication as to the extent or number of district registries contemplated. If registration is to become general throughout the country, it must in the opinion of the committee be by means of district registries sufficiently numerous to be readily accessible to the public and to the legal practitioners in every district, though for facility of search it may be desirable to provide for the transmission of copies of the entries in district registries to the principal registry, as is done in the case of the probate registries. The rules which are to be made for carrying the Act into effect are no less important than the Act itself, and the power to make such rules ought not, it is submitted, to be vested as is proposed by the Bill in the Lord Chancellor alone. An important subject to be dealt with by the rules is that of fees and costs, and it is submitted that the rules relating to costs at all events should be made by a tribunal on which solicitors are directly represented. The Bill is suspiciously vague as to the intended status of solicitors in regard to practice in the office of land registry, and some of the statements in Parliament and the press of the Lord Chancellor and others concerned in promoting the Bill have not been calculated to allay suspicion on this head. The committee contend that the profession will be acting strictly within their rights, and not less in the true interests of the public, by firmly adhering to the position taken by the Council of the Incorporated Law Society and approved by the representatives of the profession throughout England and Wales at the recent London meeting-namely, "that without limiting the right of any proprietor to transact in person his own business, the conduct for fee or reward of legal business connected with land should, as heretofore, be intrusted to solicitors." The Bill proposes to amend the law by making real estate devolve as personalty on intestacy, except that a surviving husband or wife will take a life interest. It also proposes to prohibit the creation of estates tail in future, and where an existing tenant in tail can, without the consent of any other person, bar the entail by deed, the Act will bar it. These are proposals upon which opinions will probably to some extent differ, and they involve questions of public policy, not specially affecting the profession; but the committee see no objection to this part of the Bill, unless it be that the assimilation of the law as to realty and personalty is not made complete. At the instance of the committee of the Associated Provincial Law Societies, your committee have taken steps to obtain information as to the charges usually made in this district for conveyancing business in cases of £100 and under, and £200 respectively. The following are the results of the inquiries made: QUESTIONS. 1. Are scale fees usually charged Total number of replies, 19. 13 2. Are scale fees usually charged Total number of replies, 19. 12 In each class of case the "no" replies indicate that sometimes it is found impossible to charge the scale fees. The Associated Provincial Law Societies have suggested that petitions against the Bill on some points should be presented, and the suggested form of petition will be submitted to the members at the general meeting for their consideration. Conditions of Sale-Auction Fees.-In furtherance of the resolution of the last annual meeting the committee have issued the following circular letter to the members:"November, 1886. "Dear Sir, "CONDITIONS OF SALE-AUCTION FEES. "The committee desire to bring under your notice the following resolution which was passed at the last annual general meeting of the society :"That this society recommends the discontinuance of the practice of charging purchasers with auctioneers' fees at auction sales.' "This resolution was adopted after full discussion and after the attention of the members generally had been called to the subject in the report of the committee issued prior to general meeting, in the following terms :"The attention of the committee has again been called to the use of conditions of sale imposing on purchasers the payment of auctioneers' fee, and they have given a promise to members of the society to refer to the subject in this report with a view to taking the sense of the general meeting upon it. "It will be remembered that the society has distinctly discountenanced the use of conditions charging contract fees to purchasers, and that in the reports of the committee adopted in the years 1882 and 1883, resolutions of the Incorporated Law Society and of the practitioners at Gloucester and Bristol against charging purchasers with auctioneers' fees were referred to with approval. It is believed that the practice of charging contract fees is now generally abandoned, but some members of the society still charge auctioneers' fees to purchasers, and it appears to the committee desirable that a distinct recommendation on the latter point should be given by the society for the guidance of its members.' "Under these circumstances the resolution may be taken to express the considered opinion of the society, and the committee therefore venture to hope that it will be acted upon by all the members of the society, and that they will use their influence with non-members to induce them to follow the same course, so that the practice of the profession may become uniform in this district, and at the same time be brought into harmony with the practice in London and elsewhere.-Yours faithfully, "E. W. COREN, Hon. Sec." The committee propose to revise in some few particulars the society's Common Form Conditions of Sale, and will issue the revised form as soon as possible. Solicitors' Remuneration Act and Order.-The committee regret to record that the tendency of the decisions of the courts upon the Act and Order is to cut down the remuneration of solicitors in such a way as to defeat the object of the scale. That object was to make the remuneration depend not upon the actual amount of work done in each case, but to make the simple cases help to pay for the intricate ones, and to assess the remuneration on the ad valorem principle. In particular the provisions of the order with reference to sales by auction are being so construed as to make it very difficult toobtain the scale charge for conducting auctions, and even to place in jeopardy the solicitor's right to any remuneration for work done in preparing for and attending the auction. The alarm of the profession on this point found expression in a resolution of a recent general meeting of the Incorporated Law Society, when a committee of that society was appointed to consider the question and to report to the council upon it This committee, of which your president is a member, is still sitting. In the meantime, your committee have brought under the notice of the Council of the Incorporated Law Society a case which has arisen in the practice of a member of this society, where the scale fee for conducting an auction sale was disallowed on taxation, and it is understood that this case or a similar one will come on by way of appeal at an early date It will thus be seen that the Council of the Incorporated Law Society is endeavouring to uphold the scale in the interest of the profession generally and the committee would urge upon the members of this society that they should also endeavour to uphold it by their individual action. That will best be done by adopting the scale as far as practicable, only departing from it for good reasons in particular cases, and regarding it not merely as a maximum scale, but as being, as in fact it is, the true measure of remuneration under ordinary circumstances as determined by a tribunal specially constituted for the purpose and on which for the first time solicitors are represented. To disregard the scale generally tends to stultify the action of the tribunal and to defeat the efforts of years to improve the system of remuneration for conveyancing business and make it more con. sonant with the requirements of a liberal profession. Incorporated Law Society.-Your committee cannot conclude this report without recording on behalf of your society their most cordial acknowledgments to the London members of the Incorporated Law Society for their magnificent hospitality on the occasion of the recent London meeting -a meeting which will be justly recognized as one of the most interesting and successful of the entertainments of this Jubilee year. ASSOCIATION FOR THE REFORM AND CODIFICATION OF THE LAW OF NATIONS. THE LIMITS AND PRIVILEGES OF TERRITORIAL WATERS. Mr. GEORGE BADEN-POWELL, M.P., read a paper on this subject. He said that by international law a nation is permitted, "for the purposes of The thirteenth conference of this association was opened on Monday at its own security and welfare, to hold command of portions of the open sea the Guildhall, London, Mr. Justice BUTT presiding. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. The PRESIDENT, after some preliminary remarks, said: The codification of the Law of Nations was, perhaps, a consummation which no one now living might hope to see; but if ever identical views of what should be the practice of the different nations of the earth in their dealings with each other were to be reached, it could only be by the removal or the lessening of the divergencies prevailing in their national laws and customs, and it was to that end that their labours were directed. The most important of the topics suggested for discussion were undoubtedly those which related to what was called public international law, and the subject which he regarded as the most important of these topics suggested for the consideration of the conference was the progress of international arbitration. It was impossible to conceive any question of more universal interest, more closely touching the happiness of the human race, than that. On the solution of that depended the alternative of peace or war, as the inheritance of those who came after them. The hope that in their day, or in that of the children, or even that of their children's children, the peaceful settlement of all disputes between nations might supersede the arbitrament of war might well be regarded as beyond the pale of practical aspirations. The goal might be distant, but he refused to believe that it was unattainable. He believed that the vast proportions which the standing armies of the European States had assumed, adverse as they might at first sight appear to be to their peaceful aspirations, would before very long be found to make for rather than against them. The raising and maintaining of these large armaments in most countries of Europe was eating the heart out of the people. It was not merely the fiscal burden cast on the population for the clothing and maintenance of those masses of soldiery; but it was that every man under arms was an appreciable diminution of the working power of the community-a unit withdrawn from the sum of the product of that human industry whereby nations grew rich and peoples prospered. While the armed force at the disposal of the Governments of Europe was never so large; while the engines of destruction developed by the marvellous resources of science were never so formidable; on the other hand there never was a time when Sovereigns and rulers were so anxious to appear, at least, to conform to the dictates of equity and of justice, as embodied in the works of great writers on international law. It was satisfactory to observe a growing tendency among nations to refer matters in dispute between them to arbitration. Many international disputes had been settled by the peaceful means they advocated, and there was reason to hope that for the future it would be the custom in treaties of peace, as it had been in treaties of commerce, to insert what was known as an arbitration clause. In any case by continuing to raise its voice against the monstrous absurdity and wickedness of war and in favour of the more rational solution of international disputes, this association could not fail to render valuable aid to the cause of humanity. INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS FOR THE NEUTRALIZATION OF TERRITORY AND THEIR APPLICATION TO THE SUEZ CANAL. Sir TRAVERS Twiss, Q.C., read a paper on this subject, in which, after referring to the refusal of Austria and Russia to respect the neutrality proclaimed by Switzerland itself in 1813, as being a neutrality only nominal, and the forcible expression given to this refusal by the allied Austrian and Russian armies marching through Switzerland, he said that at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the plenipotentiaries of the five Great Powers themselves declared the "perpetual neutrality" of Switzerland. He then passed to the considerations which led to Belgium being also declared by the Great Powers to be a perpetually neutral State in 1831, and those which brought about a similar agreement with regard to Luxemburg in 1867, and added:-"It is observable that in this treaty there is introduced a provision which has no place in the treaty guaranteeing the neutrality of the Helvetic Confederation, nor in the treaty guaranteeing the neutrality of Belgium-namely, a provision whereby the high contracting parties engaged themselves in express terms to respect the principle of neutrality stipulated in the treaty." He explained the reasonableness of such a provision, inasmuch as by it Powers acquire the right to demand from each other respect for the neutrality and the right to intervene to enforce their demands, although they are not bound to so intervene as they would be if they had expressly guaranteed the neutrality in a formal manner. Coming to the case of the Suez Canal, Sir T. Twiss continued: "I venture to think that it is not beyond hope that the Powers whose representatives at Constantinople have regulated in conference the tolls to be levied on vessels passing through the Suez Canal may come to an agreement to sign a declaratory act, engaging themselves to respect at all times the neutrality of the waterway through the isthmus, which His Imperial Majesty the Padishah of the Ottomans, a suzerain of the isthmus and of its waters, has declared to be always open to vessels of commerce as a neutral passage between the two seas. M. CLUNET moved :-"That the conference expresses the desire that the Government should as soon as possible resume the diplomatic negotiations inaugurated at Paris in 1885, with the object of concluding a convention relative to the free use of the Suez Canal, and of completing this work of pacification and of universal interest." This resolution was seconded by Mr. HODGSON PRATT and carried. SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. Sir TRAVERS Twiss took the chair. 66 which abut upon its coasts." It was difficult, however, to define the limits of these waters. Such portions as harbours and waters above low water mark were admittedly wholly within the lex loci; and those on board ships there are subject to the local laws and regulations as much as if they were residing on the land. With reference to parts more seaward, the question was more complicated. The cannon-shot limit was the popular rule. For all practical purposes this was the marine league of three miles. It had been claimed in our Territorial Waters Jurisdiction Act, and the United States had agreed to the claim, though other nations had not. For various objects other distances had been claimed as within the jurisdiction by different nations. Norway had specified in one case four miles, England six miles under an Act of George IV., and again twelve miles under the "Hovering Acts." The United States in 1875 claimed the same for revenue purposes, and even as far as the Gulf Stream for the exclusion of belligerents. Spain had claimed a sixmile belt round Cuba. Among instances of greater distances Great Britain had been granted by China jurisdiction over British subjects on vessels up to 100 miles from the coast of China. The question of jurisdiction over bays had been much disputed. St. George's Channel had been diplomatically acknowledged to be British territory, and the Bay of Newfoundland had been legislated for as if British territory. Generally speaking, however, the three-mile limit was generally acknowledged as the limit. Foreigners had a right of use over such waters, subject to definite limitations. Belligerent acts must not be carried on there; piracy and smuggling could be stopped there, and quarantine regulations enforced. The one general rule was that the State had the right to exercise any rights over these waters in defence of herself and her own interests, or in maintaining the right of free passage to all others. There remained the question of reaping the harvest of the sea. It was commonly acknowledged that the fructus of the waters belonged to the country, but much difference of opinion existed as to how they were to be protected in its enjoyment. Mr. Baden-Powell considered that the defining of territorial waters and of the rights of natives and foreigners in them should be settled by common agreement between nations. The Hon. DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, of New York, moved that a committee of five members of this association be appointed by the chairman of this meeting, who shall have power to add to their number, to take into consideration the valuable paper of Mr. G. Baden-Powell, and to frame some general rules for the common regulation of the duties and privileges in territorial waters of adjacent States. The resolution was adopted. UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES IS IT JUSTIFIABLE TO DESTROY SHIPPING PROPERTY AT SEA? Rear-Admiral COLOMB read a paper on this subject, in which he said: The question was how derelict ships found at sea ought to be dealt with, and whether they might be intentionally sunk as dangerous to navigation. When the Admiralty received information of a derelict ship or wreckage being in such waters as to be dangerous to shipping, their course was to communicate to Lloyd's, and they then often sent a steamer to the spot, the practice being to salve if possible, and not to destroy and sink the derelict if there was a reasonable chance of its being saved. Νο special instructions were issued to the Royal Navy officers, and they acted to the best of their discretion. Each case was treated on its own merits; the first question being whether the derelict could be saved, the second whether it was a danger to navigation, and, next, whether, if so, it could be destroyed. The Admiralty were, however, about to issue the following order:-"Should any of her Majesty's ships fall in with any waterlogged vessel abandoned at sea and constituting a danger to navigation, the same should be examined, and unless it appears that the cargo is composed of such large baulks of timber as to be of themselves a danger if released to float, or unless the position of the wreck is such as to make it probable that she may be presently towed into port, every effort should be made to sink or otherwise destroy her." Professor BALDWIN (Newhaven, U.S.A.) proposed: "That the valuable paper of Admiral Colomb be referred to the committee authorized by the previous vote." Mr. GRIFFITH (London) seconded the motion. Mr. GLOVER moved as an amendment: "That the thanks of the conference be tendered to the Admiralty for the order they propose to issue in respect of the destruction of derelicts at sea, and the public interest be still furthered by the discretion of the naval officers being less fettered, as proposed in the order." Mr. FREELAND having seconded this, Professor Baldwin's amendment was first put and carried, and then Mr. Glover's resolution was also agreed to. At a subsequent period of the meeting the Hon. D. D. FIELD expressed his strong opinion that private property at sea should be entirely exempted from capture in war. Admiral COLOMB considered that capture shortened war, but believed that the officers of her Majesty's Navy would be in favour of the proposed abolition of capture. A resolution was carried: "That it is the judgment of this association that private property at sea should be as much exempted from capture as private property on land." After lunch the Hon. D. D. FIELD took the chair. INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION. Mr. RICHARD read a paper on this subject, in which he said that it was an unquestionable fact that, numerous as wars had been within the last century, the cases in which differences bad been adjusted by some form of reference or arbitration had been still more numerous. Adverting to the recent cases of arbitration, he instanced the seizure of the Havana Packet and the resulting dispute between Holland and San Domingo, the claim of German subjects to land in Fiji, the seizure of an American ship in Manilla, the claim of England against Chili arising out of the ChiliPeruvian war complications, the Penjdeh boundary dispute between Russia and England, and the Caroline Islands difference between Germany and Spain, all decided without war and by arbitration. There was a growing conviction in favour of international arbitration. At the Conference of Berlin on the Congo, resort to arbitration in case of future disputes within those territories was formally agreed upon. A "Treaty of Arbitration" had been entered into between Colombia and Honduras, the first expressly formed with the object of terminating every kind of future difference between two States. A Bill has also passed the Senate of the United States to create an International Supreme Court for the Americans. He hoped to see that great State and Great Britain enter into a similar treaty to that between Colombia and Honduras. This had been suggested, and it would be a great triumph of civilization. Mr. JUDGE H. PEABODY moved: "That the association has heard with much satisfaction the paper of Mr. Richard on the progress of international arbitration, and reiterates its declarations of former years in favour of the substitution of arbitration for war in international disputes." Professor LEONE LEVI Seconded the resolution. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that the practical carrying out of the theoretic views agreed upon was the difficult part of the question. A board of arbitration ad hoc was easy enough to agree upon, but the difficulty was the appointment of such an authority for future disputes. Fishery and boundary questions and disputes arising out of breach of treaty were the three chief branches under which differences would arise. Arbitration clauses for the settlement of such questions could be introduced into most treaties. He asked the conference to work steadily to get that principle recognized by the insertion of the clause to govern all matters at least arising between any section of one nation against any section of another. The principle enunciated in the resolution commended itself to everyone. After some discussion the motion was carried unanimously. THE SELDEN SOCIETY. A meeting of this society was held on the 23rd inst. in the old hall of Lincoln's-inn for the purpose of receiving the report of the provisional committee appointed in January last and of electing a council and other officers and of settling the rules of the society. In the absence of the Lord Chief Justice, president of the society, the chair was taken by Lord Justice LINDLEY, who briefly introduced the business of the meeting, which was mainly of a routine character. It was arranged that the council of the society should consist of the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls, the President of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division, the AttorneyGeneral, the Solicitor-General, the treasurers of the Lincoln's and Gray's Inns and of the Middle and Inner Temple, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the president of the Incorporated Law Society of the United Kingdom, as ex officio members, together with the Minister of the United States, Lord Derby, the Bishop of Chester, Lord Herschell, Lord Thring, Lord Aberdare, Lords Justices Cotton, Lindley, and Bowen, eight other judges, Mr. Justice Gray, of the United States, and about eighty other leading lawyers in England and also in America. The provisional committee announced the early publication, under the society's auspices, of a volume of 13th-century pleas of the Crown, from the Eyre Rolls preserved in the Public Record office, to be edited by Mr. F. W. Maitland, University Reader in English Law at Cambridge, with full indices both of subjects and of persons and places. This volume will throw considerable light on the history of the petty jury, a subject at present most obscure. It is proposed next in order to print a series of records of real actions and of cases illustrating villein status and villien tenure, but how soon these may appear will depend on the number of subscribing members who may join the society. Cooke, Robert John Coombs, Herbert Francis Gilbert Cure, Charles Laurence Capel Everington, William Arnold Foottit, Reginald William Guilford, Reginald Herbert Harding, Reginald Tuffley Harrison, Ernest William Morant, Abdy Locke Nesbitt, Robert Chancellor Nicklin, Herbert John Orford, Edwin Arthur Parsons, Laurence Philp, Frederick Robert Ellison Platt, Arthur William Forster Plummer, Lambert Heelis, George Herbert Hughes, Richard James Jones, John Herbert Lewis, Ilbert Cornish Bassett Pratt, Spencer Charles Price, Charles William Mackay Westacott Simon, Frank Simpson, Charles Lionel George Stern, Frederick Augustus Simpson Taylor, Montague Wakefield Thornton, Edward Reginald Trubshaw, Wilfred Tunnicliffe, Arthur Edgar Tuppen, Claud Ernest CynfabWallace, James Lydall, Herbert Wykeham LEGAL NEWS. OBITUARY. died on the 25th inst., in his seventy-second year. Mr. Lefroy was the Mr. THOMAS EDWARD PRESTON LEFROY, late judge of county courts, third son of Mr. Antony Lefroy, of Falford, Yorkshire, and was born in 1844, and he formerly practised on the Northern Circuit. In 1868 he was 1815. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in Trinity Term, appointed by Lord Cairns judge of county courts for Circuit No. 55 (comprising a large portion of Dorsetshire and Somersetshire). He held that post till 1880, when he retired on a pension. Mr. Lefroy was married in 1846 to the eldest daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Lefroy, but he became a widower in 1855. His second son, Mr. William Chambers Lefroy, was called to the bar at Lincoln's-inn in January, 1876, and is an Assistant Charity Commissioner. Mr. JAMES FLEMING, Q.C., Chancellor of the County Palatine of Durham, died at 12, Dorset-square on the 23rd inst., aged eighty. Mr. Fleming was the eldest son of Captain Valentine Fleming, and was born in 1807. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in Trinity Term, 1836, and he practised for many years in the Court of Chancery. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1858, and after that date he, for the most part, restricted his practice to peerage cases before the House of Lords. In Estates Court. In 1871 Mr. Fleming was appointed Temporal Chancellor 1865 he was appointed Chief Commissioner of the West Indies Encumbered of the County Palatine of Durham, and he held that oflice till his death, having held a chancery sitting only three weeks previously. Mr. Fleming was married in 1841 to the second daughter of Major John Canning, and he became a widower in 1866. His eldest son, Mr. Francis Fleming, was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in Michaelmas Term, 1866, and is now colonial secretary for Natal. His second son, Mr. Baldwyn Fleming, was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in Trinity Term, 1867, and is a Local Government Board inspector. APPOINTMENTS. Mr. SYDNEY TWENTYMAN JONES, puisne judge of the High Court of Justice of Griqualand West, has been appointed a Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of the Cape Colony. Mr. Justice Jones is the second son of Mr. John Jones, of Cape Town, and was born in 1849. He was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he graduated in the second class of the Law Tripos in 1871, and he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in Michaelmas Term in 1873. He was appointed a puisne judge of the High Court of Griqualand West in 1882. Mr. CHABLES FREDERICK GILL, barrister, junior counsel to the Post Office at the Central Criminal Court, has been appointed Senior Counsel, in succession to Mr. Ernest Baggallay, who has been appointed stipendiary magistrate for the borough of West Ham. Mr. Gill is the eldest son of Mr. Charles Gill and was born in 1851. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in Easter Term, 1874. He is a member of the SouthEastern Circuit. Mr. WILLIAM HENRY SOLOMON, barrister, has been appointed Puisne Judge of the High Court of Justice of Griqualand West, in succession to Mr. Justice Jones, who has been appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of the Cape Colony. Mr. Justice Solomon is the fourth son of the Rev. Edward Solomon, and was born in 1853. He was educated at St. Peter,s College, Cambridge, and he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in November, 1877. Mr. WILLIAM MULLER, solicitor, of Shepton Mallet and Bruton, has been appointed Clerk to the Shepton Mallet Highway Board, on the resignation of his partner, Mr. Henry Dyne. Mr. Muller is coroner for the South-Eastern Division of Somersetshire. He was admitted a solicitor in 1876. Mr. LISTER MAURICE DRUMMOND has been appointed a Revising Barrister for the county of Surrey, in succession to Mr. Samuel Lilley, deceased. Mr. Drummond is the only son of Mr. Maurice Drummond, of Hampstead, and was born in 1856. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in June, 1879, and he practises on the South-Eastern Circuit and at the Surrey Sessions. Mr. JOHN CROSS ECCLES, solicitor (of the firm of Ansdell & Eccles), of 23, Market-street, St. Helens, has been appointed a Commissioner to administer Oaths. Mr. Eccles was admitted a solicitor in 1881. Mr. THOMAS BATES, solicitor, of Sudbury, has been elected Coroner for that borough. Mr. Bates was admitted a solicitor in 1879. GENERAL, On the 26th inst., in the House of Commons, a petition was presented by Sir R. Paget from the Somersetshire Law Society for amendment of the Land Transfer Bill. A dinner was given last week at Willis's Rooms, by the members of the Parliamentary Bar, to the two senior members, Mr. Hunter Rodwell, Q. C., and Mr. John Clerk, Q.C., upon their withdrawal from the active duties of their profession in the Committee-rooms at Westminster. A fire broke out at No. 1, New-square, Lincoln's-inn, on Saturday night last, and great damage was caused to briefs and papers not only by the fire but also by the water used in extinguishing it. It will be remembered that No. 2, New-square was many years ago destroyed by fire. A correspondent of the Standard gives a list of farms in one district in the county of Essex, shewing 3,527 acres to be out of cultivation, and 17,945 acres to be in the hands of landlords who were unable to find tenants for the same. Mr. J. H. Gresham, chief clerk at the Mansion-house Justice Room, has had four months' leave of absence granted in consequence of illness; and Mr. Savill, the assistant clerk, with the aid of Mr. Douglas, the chief clerk at the Guildhall Justice Room, has been requested to discharge Mr. Gresham's duties in his absence. At the Malling Petty Sessions on the 25th inst. a man was convicted of drunkenness and ordered to pay the costs. The bench also bound him over in his own recognizances of £10 for six months to come up for judgment when called upon. If he got drunk again in this six months he would forfeit the bond and have to pay the fine. The chairman told him the bench did this with a view of keeping him sober. At a meeting of the Court of Common Council last week a motion was carried that it be referred to the Law and City Court Committee to inquire and report whether the judge of the City of London Court (Mr. Commissioner Kerr) had power to direct that there should be no sittings of that court between the 12th of August and the 24th of October next, with power to confer with the law officers thereon." In a recent case before the Divorce Court it appeared that the careful respondent had obtained the execution of a deed by the co-respondent, in which he admitted that the last two children to which the respondent had given birth were his, and bound himself under a penalty of £500 not to marry anyone but the respondent until a period of seven years had expired, in order that there might be no obstacle to his marrying her should she be placed in a position to marry him. At a recent meeting of the Yorkshire justices a letter was read from the Hon. A. Duncombe, in which he said that he had gathered from the Lord Chancellor's secretary "that he disapproves of the grouping system of counties, and he places Yorkshire in that category. Being composed of the three Ridings, his idea is that all assize business for the North and East Ridings should take place at York, and that three assizes should be held there annually; that all West Riding business should be transacted at Leeds, where there would be four assizes held." : My Mr. Commissioner Kerr, refreshed by the recent observations of the Court of Appeal, has recommenced his crusade against solicitors. It is stated that he had recently before him a case in which the defendant was alleged to be the junior partner in a firm of solicitors which was engaged in five actions in the High Court, two in the Divorce Court, and two in the Lord Mayor's Court. His Honour: All these may be speculative actions. Mr. Dobson: Well, if a debtor enters into speculative actions he surely His Honour I wish I could punish and send to ought to be pulled up. prison all solicitors who enter into such actions to make money. experience is that costs are usually piled up. There are men of the highest character in the profession, but there are also black sheep. The following is the text of Attorney-General Garland's opinion with regard to the Act recently passed restricting the ownership of real estate in United States territories to American citizens :-Firstly, as mines are real estate, or inheritable interests in real estate, the Act does apply to them; secondly, as stock in a corporation is personalty, an alien can law. fully have, own, and hold shares or stock issued by an American corporation, which is now the owner of mineral lands in territories, but if the holding by aliens exceeds twenty per cent., such corporation can neither hold, own, nor hereafter acquire real estate while more than twenty per cent. of its stock is held and owned by aliens; thirdly, under the Act the advancement of money hereafter by aliens for the purpose of developing mining property is lawful, but no interest in real estate can be acquired by such advancement, nor would an alien have the right to purof the Act, even if sold on his own security or lien; fourthly, aliens may chase real estate, or any interest therein, on a loan made since the passage lawfully contract with American owners to work mines by personal COLtracts for hire, or by bond fide leases, for a reasonable time." The Government Bill for a reduction of the number of judges in Ireland proposes that on the first vacancy in the office of judge of the Courts of Probate and for Matrimonial Causes the post is not to be filled up, but the Probate and Matrimonial Division is to be united to the Queen's Bench Division. The Lord Lieutenant will then appoint one of the judges of the latter division to hear all probate, &c., matters other than trials. It is also provided that when first a vacancy occurs in the office of the Judicial Commissioner of the Land Commission it is not to be filled up until a commission has been issued by her Majesty to ascertain and report whether the duties of the Judicial Commissioner can be adequately dis. charged by the High Court. No appointment is to be made until after forty days from the date of the report or, if Parliament is not then sitting. from the beginning of the following session If the vacancy is not filled up the jurisdiction vested in the Judicial Commission of the Irish Land Commission is to be transferred to the High Court. A further provision is that no successor is to be appointed to either of the existing judges of the Court of Bankruptcy; and ultimately bankruptcy matters will be assigned to one of the judges of the High Court. In a case tried before Mr. Justice Stephen on the 27th inst. at the Central Criminal Court it appeared that the deceased woman had jumped out of a window and been thereby killed, and it was alleged by the prosecution that she did this in consequence of the behaviour of the prisoner leading her to suppose that he was going to beat her, and to escape his violence, and that the prisoner, in the circumstances, was guilty of manslaughter. Mr. Justice Stephen, in summing up, said that the point the jury had to the prisoner applied to this woman either actual violence, or threats of consider was whether they felt certain beyond all reasonable doubt that violence, the violence being so severe and the threats of violence being of such a desperate character that it became a natural thing-a natural and ordinary consequence of those threats and of that violence that the woman should avoid further mischief by jumping out of the window. If they believed that that did take place-that the woman, by violence of some very severe character, or by threats of some very desperate injury, was forced, as her only resource, to jump out of the window in the hope that she might escape by so doing, and with the feeling that she had no other way to escape, then they ought to convict the prisoner of manslaughter at least. His lordship cited the case of Reg. v. Pitts (1 Carr. & Marsh., 284). If they were not satisfied on those points, or if they thought the woman committed suicide, then they must acquit the prisoner. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty. In the House of Lords on the 21st inst. the Earl of Selborne asked the Lord Chancellor whether any steps were likely soon to be taken to carry into effect the recommendations of the committee lately presided over by the Master of the Rolls as to the business of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice. He said that the committee, which consisted of the Master of the Rolls, Mr. Justice Kay, the late Mr. Justice Pearson, Mr. Justice Stirling, Sir Horace Davey, and four other gentlemen, made opinion, the conclusion they came to was that it was clear that the actual their report on August 7, 1885, and though there were some differences of number of judges attached to the Chancery Division was unequal to cope with the business, and therefore they thought it necessary that the chancery Division should be reinforced by an additional judge. He found that the number of causes standing for hearing on the 16th of October, 1884, was 842; on the 23rd of May, 1885, 667; at the beginning of the present Trinity Sittings 786 (over 100 more than in May, 1885); and on the 20th of July, 1887, the number was 826. He thought their lordships would be of opinion that under the circumstances it was desirable that steps should at once be taken to do anything that could be done to accelerate the despatch of business. The Lord Chancellor said it was impossible not to feel that much depended on the appointment of an additional judge, and he quite agreed that it was absolutely essential, in order to clear off the arrears, that additional assistance should be given. Much injury and additional cost was caused to suitors by the present state of things. The difficulty of dealing with this matter was the state of business in the other House. There was a power to appoint an additional judge under the 18th section of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act by an address of both Houses, and he was prepared to move their lordship's House in the matter. After communication with the First Lord of the Treasury it was impossible to say whether time could be found in the other House for a motion upon the subject. Although it was a very urgent matter there were other even more urgent questions, and in the present state of business his right hon. friend informed bim that it was impossible to name a day for making such a motion, though the opportunity might occur before the session came to an end. Lord Herschell thought that those who were averse to making this change were not sufficiently alive to the frightful injury which the present state of affairs was inflicting on suitors. inn fields CARR, JOHN, Cookridge, York, Farmer. Aug 31. Craver, Horsforth FELLOWES, GEORGE PLAYER BUTLER, Sonadah, Bengal, India, Tea Planter. Aug 30. FINNES, WILLIAM JAMES, Gillingham, Kent, Contractor. Aug 3. Greathead, Rochester HARRIS, MARIA, Highworth. Aug 26. Kinneir & Tombs, Swindon HILL, CAROLINE, Bristol, Aug 20. Jacques & Co, Bristol HUGHES, JOHN, Landore, nr Swansea. Aug 20. Jones & Monger, Swansea JENKINS, WILLIAM, Ouchan, Isle of Man. Aug 1. Grundy & Co, Manchester PRESTON, WILLIAM, Heckmondwike, York, Butcher. Aug 16. Deane & Son, REINAGLE, CAROLINE ANNETTA, Horsham. Aug 10. Medwin & Co, Horsham WARNING TO INTENDING HOUSE PURCHASERS AND LESSEES. -Before purchasing or renting a house have the Sanitary arrangements thoroughly examined by an expert, from The Sanitary Engineering & Ventilation Co., 115, Victoria-st., Westmirster (Estab. 1875), who also undertake the Ventilation of Offices, &c.—[ADVT.] STAMMERERS and STUTTERERS should read a little book by Mr. B. BEASLEY, Baron's Court House, West Kensington, London, price 13 stamps. The Author, after suffering nearly 40 years, cured himself by a method entirely his own. [ADVT.] WINDING UP NOTICES. London Gazette.-FRIDAY, July 22. JOINT STOCK COMPANIES. LIMITED IN CHANCERY. NORTHERN TRANSVAAL GOLD MINING CO, LIMITED.-Petn for winding up, presented July 21, directed to be heard before North, J., on July 30. Smith & Son, Gresham House, solors for petner PUNJAUB AND CASHMERE CARPET CO, LIMITED.-Chitty, J., has, by an order dated June 2, appointed Arthur Cooper, 14, George st, Mansion House, to be othic al liquidator SUN PORTLAND CEMENT CO, LIMITED.-Petn for winding up, presented July 21. directed to be heard before Stirling, J.. on July 30. Johnston & Co, Raymond bldgs, Gray's inn, agents for Winder, Bolton, solors for petner W. CHAPPELL & CO, LIMITED.-Creditors are required, on or before July 27, to send their names and addresses, and the particulars of their debts or claims, to William Thomas Ogden, 6A, Austin Friars. Wednesday, Aug 3 at 12, is appointed for hearing and adjudicating upon the debts and clains UNLIMITED IN CHANCERY. COMMERCIAL BANK OF LONDON.-Petn for winding up, presented July 21, directed to be heard before Stirling, J., on July 30. Bristow, John st, Adelphi, solors for petner COUNTY PALATINE OF LANCASTER. LIMITED IN CHANCERY DU BEDAD ADAMS & CO, LIMITED.-The Vice-Chancellor has fixed Wednesday, July 27 at 11, at 9, Cook st, Liverpool, for the appointment of an official liquidator dator London Gazette.-TUESDAY, July 26. JOINT STOCK COMPANIES. LIMITED IN CHANCERY. BIRMINGHAM CAB CO, LIMITED.-North, J., has, by an order dated July 6, appointed Walter Newton Fisher, Waterloo st, Birmingham, to be official liquiCOMMERCIAL UNION TRUST CO, LIMITED.-By an order made by Stirling, J., dated July 16, it was ordered that the company be wound up. Beall & Co, Bucklersbury, solors for petner HENDRA ESTATE AND BUILDING MATERIALS CO, LIMITED.-North, J., has, by an order dated July 7, appointed Frederic George Painter, 2, Moorgate st bldgs. to be official liquidator FRIENDLY SOCIETIES DISSOLVED. STAR OF HINDLEY LODGE OF INDEPENDENT ODD FEMALES, Swan Inn, Hindley, Lancaster. July 22 BANKRUPTCY NOTICES. London Gazette.-FRIDAY, July 22. RECEIVING ORDERS. BEVINGTON, EDWIN, Leigh, Lancs, Provision Dealer. Bolton. Pet July 20. Ord July 20 BLAMIRES, JOSHUA, Staincliffe, nr Batley, Yorks, Rag Merchant. Dewsbury. BROWN, DAVID, Walthamstow, Essex, Egg Merchant. High Court. Pet July CLARKE, RICHARD THOMAS, Milton next Gravesend, Chemist. Rochester. Pet COOPER, WATSON, Stockton on Tees, Draper. Stockton on Tees and Middlesborough. Pet July 18. Ord July 18 COPEMAN, WALTER, Lowestoft, Butcher. Gt Yarmouth. Pet July 19. Ord July 19 COSSEY, G, Manderville st, Clapton pk, Builder. High Court. Pet June 10. Ord July 18 COTTON, WILLIAM. Stoke Newington rd, Toy Warehouseman. Elmonton. Pet July 18. Ord July 18 CULLIMORE, LEONARD, Birmingham, Fruiterer. Birmingham. Pet July 20. DAVIDSON, WILLIAM, Portland pl. High Court. Pet July 2. Ord July 19 DAVIES, WILLIAM, Ferryside, Carmarthen, Draper. Carmarthen. Pet July 18. DOMSALLA, AMANDUS ADOLPHE, Motley st, Curtain rd, Shoreditch, Cabinet FIELD, FREDERICK, Evesham, Worcester, Gardener. Worcester. Pet July 19. GREEN, ELIAS, Stalbridge, Dorset, Pianoforte Dealer. Salisbury. Pet July 18. HARRISON, BENJAMIN, Huddersfield, Contractor. Huddersfield. Pet July 16. Ord July 16 HAWS, CHARLES HENRY, Witcham, Cambridge, Brick Maker. Cambridge. Pet July 18. Ord July 18 HAZELL, JOHN JAMES, Farnham, Draper. Guildford and Godalming. Pet July 18. Ord July 18 HENDERSON, THOMAS, Gosforth, Northumberland, Grocer. Newcastle on Tyne. Pet July 18. Ord July 18 HOLDSWORTH, JOHN, Gomersal, Yorks, Flannel Manufacturer. Dewsbury. Pet July 19. Ord July 19 JONES, JOHN MORRIS, Barmouth, Merioneth, no occupation. Aberystwith. Pet July 19. Ord July 19 JUBB, JOHN HENRY, Sheffield, Auctioneer. Sheffield. Pet July 16. Ord July 16 JUDD, W B, Newgate st, Post Office Clerk. High Court, Ord July 19 KEYWOOD, FREDERICK, Nottingham, Hosiery Manufacturer. Nottingham. Pet July 15. Ord July 19 KNIGHT, EDMUND, Stoke Prior, nr Bromsgrove, Farmer. Worcester. Pet July 18. Ord July 18 |