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Advertisements must reach the office not later than five o'clock on Thursday afternoon and must be accompanied by a remittance. Post-Office Orders payable to HOBAOE Cox. Vc. CXXXI-No. 3576. amongst creditors-Property held by bankrupt in trust for another GARWOOD. GARWOOD.-Partnership -Covenant-Charge on partner's share- Gains and profits"-Construction-Dissolution by death...... 231 SUNDERLAND. — Bankruptcy Petition "Sufficient cause for not making receiving order-Knowledge by creditor that debtor in difficulties 233 Re 21 238 Re EARL OF SHEFFIELD; RYAN . BRISTOW. Will ConstructionBequest of "the amount of one year's wages"-Servants (indoor and outdoor)-Weekly wages......... 236 HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE. KING'S BENCH DIVISION. CHUTER (app.) v. FREETH AND POCOCK LIMITED (resps.).-FoodAdulteration-Sale of an article of food-Written warranty PILGRIM AND OTHERS (apps.) v. SIMMONDS (resp.). 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LAWRIE to be the successor of Mr. LOVELAND LOVELAND as Deputy-Chairman of the County of London Quarter Sessions, the Profession will receive the official confirmation with no little astonishment. Against Mr. LAWRIE personally we have not a word to say, and we congratulate him upon his undoubted good fortune; but, at the same time, the public has the right to expect that in filling such a vacancy the Home Office should have made strenuous efforts to obtain a man of the ripest experience. The new deputy-chairman was only called to the Bar in 1899, and, we believe, is less than forty years of age, and we can hardly think that he was chosen solely for his professional experience. It must be remembered that, apart from its large criminal jurisdiction, the Court of London Quarter Sessions is the appellate tribunal before which the decisions of the metropolitan stipendiary magistrates are considered, and also for all matters of rating in London. THE creation of an industrial council representative of employers and workmen, to be presided over by Sir GEORGE ASKWITH, K.C., is clearly a move in the right direction, and its establishment for the purpose of, if possible, preventing industrial trade disputes by which the entire public are seriously affected will be welcomed by every thinking and responsible person. The names of those who have accepted the invitation of the President of the Board of Trade to serve on the council are such as will inspire confidence in both masters and men, and, although no compulsory powers are conferred, the existence of such a body should do much to assist in the peaceful and equitable settlement of disputes. ON Thursday this week the Michaelmas Sittings commenced with 270 appeals and 1689 causes for hearing, as compared with 214 appeals and 2100 causes this time last year, and 243 appeals and 1883 causes in Oct. 1909. That the appeal list bears a less favourable aspect is due to the final and new trial appeals from the King's Bench Division, for whereas last year we were able to record that the court would commence its business with appeals only set down in the preceding May, this year those entered in March last still await disposal. The list of appeals from the County Courts under the Workmen's Compensation Acts is somewhat striking, and contains cases set down in April. The following are the figures for the last six years : It is, however, in the King's Bench Division that the great change has taken place, and the appointment of the two additional judges has been amply justified. The figures we have given at the commencement of each term have indicated the improvement that has been taking place, and each department of work has been steadily relieved of the load of arrears. It is to be hoped that, if no reduction takes place in the numbers of the Bench, by the new year we shall find causes being tried within two months of setting down, and it would be an excellent thing if all appeals could be disposed of within the same period. The following table shows the position of the King's Bench Division since 1906: THIS time last year we stated, as was the fact: "In the Crown Paper many of the cases date from the first three months of the year, while in the Civil Paper appeals set down in March last await hearing. In the special and common jury lists the arrears date back to the same month, the non-jury list being in a slightly better position." At the present time the Crown Paper contains a little more than one-half of the number of cases a year ago, while the Civil Paper only dates back to June, the special, common, and non-jury courts commencing their work with actions set down in May. THE number of causes in the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty list is 508, as against 528 a year ago. Probate and Divorce matters still show a large increase over the figures for 1909, for at Michaelmas that year 265 were for hearing, rising to 385 last year, and they now stand at 371. THE report by the comptroller of the Companies Department of the Board of Trade for 1910 shows that during that year there was a very distinct advance in company promotion in England and Wales. The total number of new companies registered was 6707, as compared with 5833 in 1909, while the net increase during the year was 2881, the figure for 1909 being 2623. The number of companies on the register in England and Wales on the 31st Dec. 1910, excluding companies that were in the course of liquidation or removal from the register, was about 47,000. THE total amount of nominal capital of the companies registered in 1910 was £205,146,594 as compared with £132,143,244 in 1909, the total for last year being by far the largest for the past ten years. Again, taking the average amount of nominal capital of each company registered in 1910, it was £30,586, as against £22,654 in 1909, this average amount being the largest since 1903. Turning to the table of the companies classified according to the amount of their nominal capital, the most striking increases are to be found in those with a nominal capital between £1000 and under £5000 and those with a capital of £1,000,000 and above. Of the first class, 2513 were regis. tered in 1910, as compared with 2080 in 1909 and 804 in 1901, this class showing a steady increase over the whole decade. Twenty-five companies with a capital of over £1,000,000 were registered last year, the total for 1909 being but ten, while, generally speaking, all companies with capitals above £100,000 not only show a distinct upward tendency as compared with the preceding twelve months, but also when the whole period of ten years is considered. No doubt, as the comptroller points out, the large rise between 1909 and 1910 was due in great measure to the boom in rubber and oil shares. So far as prospectusless companies are concerned, the percentage has not materially changed during the past three years, probably due to the beneficial effect of sect. 82 of the Companies Consolidation Act 1908. Companies registered in Guernsey again show a slight increase over the two preceding years. In 1908, seven were so registered with a nominal capital of £167,000; in 1909, six with a capital of £219,000; and in 1910, ten with a capital of £974,250, but this last figure includes one company with £600,000 capital. The sooner this practice of registering companies in Guernsey (when they are intended to operate in this country) in order to evade the more stringent provisions of the English law is stopped altogether, the better; but there is no doubt that this method of registration, when the figures of 1902 to 1904 are considered, appears to be dying out. DURING 1910, 1868 companies were removed from the register on the ground that they were no longer carrying on business, while there were 1811 voluntary liquidations, fourteen subject to the supervision of the court, and 135 compulsory liquidations, but in two of these last cases the winding-up proceedings were stayed. Of the companies ordered to be wound-up by the court compulsorily, the average duration of life was 4:16 years, one company having existed for over thirty-two years and four for over twenty years, while twenty-seven had been registered for less than one year before the date of the winding-up order. In 1910, winding-up orders were made against six companies not registered under the Companies Acts. THE formal declaration by Italy that she "considers herself from this moment in a state of war with Turkey" may be regarded as a method of procedure more precise than is requisite in accordance with the existing usage. The conditional Italian ultimatum in writing setting forth the essential demands succinctly, and giving a certain limited time for compliance, may be regarded in itself as a form of declaration of war, since, if such terms are not acceded to within the time prescribed, war begins, as in the recent conflict between the Boer Government and Great Britain. Negotiations precede war, and their nature warns the parties interested of the probable outcome. The recall or dismissal of diplomatic representatives is generally the last step before actual hostilities, although this may occur without war. War may begin with a proclamation or manifesto by a country endeavouring to show the justice of its cause and the bad faith of its adversary, loosely spoken of as a declaration of war, or by a formal declaration of war, or the first act of naval or military force against the opposing State. On account of the provision in the Constitution of the United States giving power to Congress to declare war, formal declarations will probably remain usual with the United States and other nations with like institutions. The Constitution, so short lived, under which Napoleon proposed to reign after his return to power in 1815 contained a similar provision. ACCORDING to modern usage, a declaration of war not being necessary, nations generally content themselves with a proclamation to their own citizens of the existence of war and a formal notice to neutral States. In a civil war there is never a formal declaration of war. It has been held that the great civil conflict in the United States began with the President's proclamation of blockade of the 27th April 1861. The United States did declare war against Great Britain in 1812 and against Spain on the 25th April 1898; but in the first instance the United States began active hostilities before the news could cross the ocean, and, in the second, the declaration recognised that war had existed since the 21st April. England captured New York, in 1664, before declaring war against Holland, and, before the Seven Years' War was declared, captured hundreds of ships and thousands of prisoners from France. Since the peace of 1763 the European practice has been even more irregular, and the necessity of a declaration is generally denied. In 1870 the representatives of France at Berlin handed the German Government a note simply declaring that "le gouvernement de S.M. Imp. se considère dès à présent comme étant en état de guerre avec la Prusse," and in 1877 a dispatch to the same effect was delivered to the representative of Turkey at St. Petersburg. Such are the survivals of the mediaval practice according to which knightly honour forbade an attack until after full notice. Ir was hardly to be supposed that the report that Turkey intended to declare grain contraband had any solid foundation in fact, and now it is officially declared that vessels laden with grain will be permitted to pass the Dardanelles provided that they are not bound for an Italian port. It will be remembered that foodstuffs in the Declaration of London were included in the list of articles susceptible of use in well war as as for purposes of peace" and might be treated as conditional contraband, and, under art. 33, be liable to capture if shown to be destined for the use of the armed forces or of a Government department of the enemy State. It would seem, therefore, that the position taken up by Turkey with regard to grain, if conveyed in neutral ships, is beyond that defined by the Declaration of London, if that arrangement in the future is accepted and ratified by the Powers, for, apart from questions of blockade, the country of destination does not seem to be the test, but the use to which the conditional contraband is to be put. Secon1 Sheet. THE PARLIAMENTARY RECORD. (Continued from p. 500.) CAP. 17 is an Act of a more or less formal character in fact, however much its subject-matter calls for more acute dissection. The Public Works Loans Act grants certain large sums of public money for the purpose of the local loans, and certain debts are required not to be reckoned as assets of local loans fund established under the National Debt and Local Loans Act 1887. Certain remissions of arrears of principal and interest in respect of a Scottish harbour loan are made, and fifty years is substituted for the period of thirty years forming the maximum period for repayment where no special period is specified in an Act relating to a loan. The Indian High Courts Act (cap. 18) was introduced by Mr. Montagu as means for providing for raising the maximum number of judges in certain Indian High Courts, for the provision of new High Courts, and for the appointment of temporary judges by the Governor-General in Council, and for the purpose generally of meeting the present congestion in legal affairs in that part of our possessions. There was no difficulty whatever in passing this measure, although it opened the door for some debate. maximum number of judges, including the Chief Justice, is raised to twenty; a power by letters patent is given to His Majesty to alter local jurisdictions and to establish additional courts; and judges can be temporarily appointed for two years, their salaries being defrayed out of the revenues of India. The The Labourers (Ireland) Act forms cap. 19. This needs no long mention, for it deals with matter quite outside the ambit of the ordinary practitioner. Certain dormant money is applied to the purposes of the Labourers' Cottages Fund, and, inter alia, a power is given for the demolition of any house occupied as a dwellinghouse by a labourer where it appears to the Local Government Board that it is unfit for human habitation and that the labourer can obtain suitable accommodation elsewhere. The Geneva Convention Act, cap. 20, arose out of the Convention of 1906, when it was agreed that steps should be taken to prevent dishonourable use of the Red Cross flag, and to limit it to the societies assisting the sick and wounded in time of war. Several countries have already adopted the Convention. The Act prohibits the use by any person for purposes of trade or business, or for any other purpose whatever, of the heraldic emblem formed by reversing the Federal Swiss colours, or the words "Red Cross 'Geneva Cross." Where a company contravenes this enactment, not only the company is liable, but every director, secretary, and manager who is knowingly a party is liable to a penalty. Proprietors of trade marks containing such emblem or words registered before the Act are allowed to continue to use the same for four years. or Cap. 21 is the Factory and Workshop (Cotton Cloth Factories) Act, which passed through its stages with much ease, though it changed its title in the process. Power is given for the Home Office to make regulations as to these factories in matters pertaining to humidity and ventilation, and, when made, such regulations are to have effect as if embodied in Part 5 of the Factory and Workshop Act 1901, and may be substituted for certain existing provisions which are to cease to apply. Sect. 95 of that Act is to apply to non-compliance with the regulations now to be made, and, both as to its application to the provisions of that Act and to the regulations, that section is to be read as though twenty-four months were substituted for twelve months. The Expiring Laws Continuance Act (cap. 22) is somewhat of an anomaly, for it continues not only temporary measures, but some measures which have as much a stamp of permanence upon them as is the case with a large number of Acts passed into law without time limits. It should surely be possible to separate the considerable number of Acts set out in the schedule into their appropriate classes, and, in so doing, to determine whether the principle involved in each Act in question is not sufficiently tested to affirm or negative its existence. Some of the Acts thus carried on from session to session are seventy years old. Little professional interest centres round cap. 23, entitled the National Gallery and St. James' Park Act. One of its objects is to appropriate certain parcels of land hitherto used for St. George's Barracks, and in the hands partly of the Commissioners of Woods and partly in those of the War Office. The whole is now transferred to the Office of Works and is to be used for the purposes of the National Gallery or those of the National Portrait Gallery, and until so used is to be employed for such public purposes as the Commissioners of Works may think fit. other purpose of the Act is to give the Commissioners of Woods power to dispose of a piece of certain land and the same is to cease to be a part of St. James' Park, and on the London County Council surrendering to His Majesty some land leased by them, this latter is to become a portion of the park. It is rather curious to note that through some technical imperfections it was necessary for the House of Commons to agree on the 7th Aug. that the proceedings on the preceding 4th Aug. were null and void. The third reading stage was therefore taken over again, the King's consent to the Bill being signified, and the measure passed. The Pensions (Governors of Dominions, &c.) Act forms cap. 24. The measure both amends and consolidates the existing law on this subject. The maximum pension in future is to be £1300, inclusive of any pension gained in any other employment under the Crown. A pension can be given to any governor who has completed not less than ten years' ser The or vice and has attained the age of sixty, or has become incapable of discharging his duties by some infirmity of mind likely or body to be permanent, or has retired been removed from his office by reason of its abolition. For the purpose of computing the amount of the pension, governorships are to be divided into four classes, and according to the class so will be calculated the unit of pension for every completed month's service. In certain cases a governor's service may be reckoned in for the computation of his Civil Service pension where he has been employed as a permanent officer. An obligation rests on a person who has served as a governor and is under sixty years of age, when called on by His Majesty, to undertake any governorship, if he is not incapable from infirmity of mind or body. If such a person refuses to undertake the office, or, if under sixty-five years of age, he retires without permission, or neglects or declines to execute his duties in a satisfactory manner, he may forfeit all his claim to a pension. In special cases, where it is impracticable to find appropriate employment for an ex-governor, the State may give him a reduced pension. The term governor" means the administrator of any part of the dominions, exclusive of the British Islands and India, or of any protectorate, and will include the High Commissioner of Cyprus. Another measure affecting our oversea dominions is to be noted in cap. 25, the Government of India Act Amendment Act. It is quite brief, and requires little comment. It enacts that any grant to the legal personal representative of a deceased officer or servant on the establishment of the Secretary of State in Council made out of the revenues of India before the Act passed is to be deemed to have been lawfully made. The Telephone Transfer Act is cap. 26. The Commons by a resolution had authorised the Treasury to borrow for the purpose of paying the sum awarded by the Railway and Canal Commission as the amount due to the existing company in accordance with the scheme propounded and accepted six years ago. The transfer involves 600,000 telephones and 18,000 operators. After some discussion it was ascertained that an arrangement could be made between the company and the State, and users were assured that steps would be taken to improve the service, not the least so in outlying villages. The Act is scarcely one calling for detailed description. It falls into three parts. The first of these carries out the necessary financial arrangements for the discharge of the purchase scheme. The second provides for superannuations of transferred officers and as to certain gratuities, and the third is of a miscellaneous character. One provision enables the company after the 31st Dec. next to temporarily retain for their own use a reasonable number of servants in order to enable them to wind-up their affairs and to dissolve the company. The Protection of Animals Act is cap. 27. This was a private member's Bill, and is intended to strengthen the law relating to animals and knackers, regard being had to the grave defects shown to be existing in the present legislation. The penalties for cruelty are increased, and the maximum period of imprisonment is also lengthened. The Act is one of a considerable scope and variety, and to give anything like a full account of its operation would entail an unreasonable demand on our space. The 1st section in itself is full of importance and detail. The offences of cruelty are enumerated. They are in themselves numerous and diversified, and there are qualificatory expressions pertaining to them such as call for a most minute examination of the circumstances in each case in order to form any opinion as to the applicability of the Act. An owner can be deemed to have permitted cruelty if he has failed to exercise reasonable care and supervision to protect the animal. Amongst the detailed items of cruelty we note, in sect. 1 (e), subjecting or causing or procuring or, being the owner, permitting to be subjected any animal to any operation performed without due care and humanity. The Act does not apply to the preparation of food for mankind, unless accompanied by needless pain, and the Act saves the hunting of any captive animal, unless it is liberated in an injured, mutilated, or exhausted condition. A captive animal is not to be deemed to be coursed or hunted before it is liberated for the purpose of being coursed or hunted, or after it has been recaptured, or if it is under control. A power is given to the court to order the destruction of an animal and to charge the expense on the owner. An owner can be deprived of his ownership in addition to other punishment, and the animal can be disposed of as the court thinks fit. Sect. 4 enables a person aggrieved to obtain from a person who by cruelty has caused damage to an animal or any person or property a sum not exceeding £10 as compensation, without prejudice to other legal proceedings in respect of such damage. Knackers are required by sect. 5 to conform to certain regulations set out in a schedule, all of which tend to alleviate the lot of animals delivered to be slaughtered. One special requirement is that no person licensed to slaughter horses may be allowed to carry on trade as a horse dealer. Animals in pounds and their food are the subject-matter of sect. 7. The use of poison is treated in the following section, some protection being afforded to persons who lay it down to destroy rats, mice, and small vermin. The section as to the use of dogs for draught purposes is phrased widely, and involves a fine if the offence is committed on any public highway. The inspection of traps is another most important subject. Traps for rabbits or hares must be inspected at reasonable intervals, and at least once every day between sunrise and sunset. A constable finding an animal so diseased or injured or in such physical condition that in his opinion it can only be removed with cruelty can, if the owner is absent or refuses his consent, summon a veterinary surgeon. If the latter certifies that the animal is mortally injured, or so severely injured or so diseased or in such a physical state that it is cruel to keep it alive, then the constable can kill it, or cause or procure it to be killed, as seems best so as to inflict as little suffering as practicable. This section applies to horses, mules, asses, bulls. sheep, goats, and pigs. Other sections deal with constables' powers to apprehend without warrant persons guilty of an offence, and the production of drivers or animals by owners and employers on a summons being issued by the court. Appeals lie to quarter sessions. Cap. 28 forms the Official Secrets Act. This originated in the Lords, and was promoted by the War Office. It strengthens the law relating to the violation of obligations with regard to official secrets and espionage generally. It is made a felony if any person for any purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State approaches prohibited places or makes plans calculated to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy, or obtains or communicates sketches or information of this nature. It will not be necessary on prosecutions to show the commission of any particular act if the circumstances or the person's character make it appear that his purpose was prejudicial to the State. The wrongful communication of information by persons who have held office forms the burden of the next section. The definition of prohibited place" occupies no fewer than thirty-three lines of printed matter in the statute, and is of the most general descrip tion. There are provisions enabling a person found committing an offence under this Act, or suspected of such offence, being arrested as if he were a person committing a felony. Sect. 7 imposes a penalty on harbouring spies. Prosecutions, by sect. 8, must be with the consent of the Attorney-General. A justice of the peace can issue a search warrant on being satisfied that there is ground for suspecting an offence against this Act, and, where there is great emergency and immediate action is required in the interests of the State, a superintendent of police may give any constable a like authority. 66 The Parsonages Act (cap. 29) was introduced by the Archbishop of Canterbury with the object of amending the Parsonages Act 1838 and the Church Building Act 1839. lt requires little comment. It deals with the application of purchase money paid to Queen Anne's Bounty under sect. 8 of the Act of 1838, and makes it disposable for the benefit of the particular benefice in al respects as if it had been money appropriated to that benefice out of the Bounty's general funds. There is also a power given t Queen Anne's Bounty to pay off loans in certain cases. The Public Health (Scotland) Act (1897) Amendment Act (forming cap. 30) is yet another measure entailing little comment. The powers conferred by the earlier Scottish Act on local authorities enabling them to carry sewers within their district may be exercised by any body of trustees or commissioners authorised to supply water by any local Act. With this chapter we reach the tale of measures passed up to this stage of the history of the session. The Insurance Bill is still before the country, and it is understood that efforts will be made to pass with it the Bill relating to shop hours. It is conceivable that Parliament will be compelled. in deference to public opinion, to consider the present legal position of the railway companies and their staff, if it does not consider afresh the whole situation raised by the legislation governing trade disputes. Naturally the decision as to this will depend largely on the report of the Royal Commission about to pronounce its judgment upon the evidence submitted to it. With such complex and diversified materials, Parliament has now before it in mid-October enough to engage its attentions for double the time available. As so much harm has already been done by overhaste, it is to be hoped that the Legislature may be disposed, after having passed the Parliament Bill and having staked its existence upon it, to act upon the legend of festina lente. IRISH NOTES. JUDGE CRAIG at the Castleblaney County Court recently made some strong references to the canvassing of magistrates at petty sessions. According to His Honour, it is the custom-in county Monaghan at any rate-for both sides to engage in canvassing. His Honour is reported to have said: "One of the excuses the litigants make when they go to a respectable magistrate-when they want to get a respectable magistrate to preside in the casewas that the other side had the Bench packed." But it is to be assumed that both sides allege that the particular justices whom they approach are respectable magistrates," and it is difficult to arrive at a definition of respectability in this regard. However, there is no doubt that the evil exists to some extent in licensing cases; but the licensing legislation of the last few years leaves small scope for this class of enterprise. 66 THE question of the fixing of "third-term rents" is discussed in the annual report of the Irish Landowners' Convention That report says: "The committee have been actively engaged in furnishing to landlords and their agents information and assistance in resisting reductions being made by the [Land] Commissioners. Their view is that, having regard to the substantial rise in prices of agricultural produce, judicial rents for a new statutory term should be increased rather than lowered. At the suggestion of the executive committee, Mr. J. R. Pretyman Newman, M.P., obtained on the 22nd Feb. a Government return showing the average annual prices of agricultural produce for each year from 1881 to 1909, and the average annual prices for each period from 1881 to 1909 of five years, ten years, fifteen years, twenty years, and twenty-five years. This return affords valuable information which may be used as evidence in cases of revision of rent. The Judicial Commissioner on the 13th July 1911 delivered judgment in the first third-term appeal cases which came before him for decision.' This judgment appears as an appendix to the report. ONE of the urban district councils in the neighbourhood of Dublin at a meeting last week was called upon to consider the following letter from their township accountant, who happens to be a barister: "I would feel obliged for the privilege of being allowed to attend at the Four Courts, &c., for the purpose of practising my profession, I undertaking to perform as heretofore all the duties of my office. The concession, whilst being of great advantage to me in opening up a new career, will not militate against the interest of the council or the ratepayers, but will, on the contrary, stimulate me to renewed efforts on their behalf. The town clerk, with whom I have discussed the subject, agrees with me in this conclusion." The finance committee of the council recommended the council to grant permission to the accountant "to be absent from his office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (except on Fridays) in order to practise his profession as a barrister-at-law in Dublin, such permission to continue for six months from this date, and that, in view of the fact of his absence from his office, he shall receive the reduced salary at the rate of £250 per annum.' This recommendation was adopted by the council. The THE record of the agrarian revolution in Ireland that is just coming to a close is continued in the annual report of the Estates Commissioners which has just been published. This report shows, generally speaking, that there has been great activity on the part of the commissioners in the carrying through and concluding of transactions that originated prior to the Act of 1909; since the passing of that Act the number of originating agreements filed has decreased very considerably owing to the fact that the financial terms contained in the Act of 1909 are much less favourable to landlords and tenants than the terms contained in the Act of 1903. The local ratepayers, however, in Ireland have reason to congratulate themselves on the passing of the Act of 1909, as that Act tended to make land purchase in Ireland pay its way, and took a grievous burden off the shoulders of the ratepayers. number of purchasers in the year ended the 31st March 1911 was 7954, the amount applied for being £2,370,821. It is obvious that this is a very substantial body of transactions for one year, although it does not approach the average for the other years since 1903. Since the 1st Nov. 1903 the number of purchasers has been 254,044, the amount applied for being £83,304,552. It is frequently alleged that the Act of 1909 stopped land purchase. That, of course, is an exaggeration. Taking into consideration the two classes of transactions-namely, the transactions that originated prior to the Act of 1909 and that are being completed now and the transactions that originated since 1909-there is no doubt that the progress that is being made is as great as safety and sanity permit. The question of negotiation fees is one of professional interest. During the year the commissioners sanctioned such fees is respect of the sale of 345 estates. The total fees sanctioned amounted to £65,313 6s. 11d., which sum represents an average percentage of 25 on the aggregate purchase moneys. The total amount of fees sanctioned from the commencement of the Act of 1903 to the 31st March 1911 was £420,183 11s. 10d. in respect of 1531 estates, the average percentage being 25. During the year the Judicial Commissioner decided fourteen questions of law referred to him by the Estates Commissioners pursuant to sect. 23 of the Act of 1903, making a total of 120 points decided under that section. SANITARY ASSURANCE.-Before renting or purchasing a house it is advisable to obtain an independent report on the condition of the Drains, Sanitary Fittings, and Water Supply. Moderate fees for Sanitary Inspections on application to the Sanitary Engineering Company, 115, Victoria-street, Westminster. 'Phone, Westminster 316. Sanitation," London.-[ADVT.] FIXED INCOMES.-Houses and Residential Flats can Furnished on a new system of Deferred Payments especially adapted now be for those with fixed incomes who do not wish to disturb investments. Selection from the largest stock in the world. Everything legibly marked in plain figures. Maple and Co. Ltd., Tottenham Courtroad, London, W.-[ADVT.] THE LAW OF ESTATE DUTY, with the Amendments effected by the Finance (1909-10) Act 1910. Second Edition. All cases to July 1910 are digested. The work also contains a List of the Necessary Forms. By J. WEBSTER-BROWN, of the Estate Duty Office, Somerset House, Solicitor. Price 8s. net.. post free. -HORACE Cox, "Law Times Office, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, London, E. C.[ADVT.] OUR CANADIAN LETTER Amherst, N.S., Sept. 21, 1911. THE case of Toronto Railway Company v. Toms (44 S. C. R. 268) is an important case considered in its relation to Victorian Railway Commissioners v. Coultas (58 L. T. Rep. 390; 13 A. C. 222). The action was brought to recover damages for a personal injury sustained by the plaintiff while being carried as a passenger on the defendants' street railway. The plaintiff's principal claim was in respect to sufferings alleged to be due to the shock or concussion resulting from the car in which he was being carried colliding with another car and being thrown from the track. There was, however, some physical injury done to the plaintiff. Counsel for the defendants asked the trial judge to direct the jury to distinguish physical damage from nervous shock in their findings, but the judge declined to do so, and instead directed the jury that there was not any great physical injury in the sense that there was any bones broken or any great bruising or abrasion of the surface, but that there might be a physical injury of a serious nature which was not indicated by any external mark. The jury found for the plaintiff, and an appea' was taken by the defendants per saltum to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal upheld the course taken by the trial judge, and dismissed the appeal. The judgment of the court was delivered by Garrow, J.A., and he distinguished the Coultas case on the ground that there was no impact there, as here, and, further, that this plaintiff, in addition to his other rights, was a passenger on the defendants' railway, and had therefore contractual rights. The defendants were bound by their contract safely to carry him, and they did not safely carry him, but, on the contrary, the car in which he was sitting was negligently allowed to come into collision with an engine on the railway crossing, whereby the plaintiff, an elderly man, was violently thrown from his seat over to the back of the next seat in front of him. Speaking of the case in the Privy Council, the learned judge said: "The Coultas case, as the decision of our ultimate Court of Appeal, is still, of course, a binding authority in this province, although it is impossible not to feel that the situation is not satisfactory, and that the decision is to be applied with careful discrimination when we find that the courts both in England and Ireland refuse to follow it. No one can object to the principle enunciated on p. 225 that the damages must be the natural and reasonable result of the defendants' act and such a consequence as in the ordinary course of things would flow from the act, but the stumbling block, or, if I may say so without disrespect, the vice, of the decision appears to be in treating as a question of law that which appears to be essentially one of fact, to be determined, like other questions of fact, upon competent evidence-namely, what are the natural and reasonable consequences such as ordinarily flow from such acts as that of the defendants?" The report of this appeal is to be found in 22 0. L. R. 204. The company appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Five judges heard the appeal, and they agreed in dismissing the appeal. The Chief Justice distinguisued the Coultas case because there the condition from which the complainant was suffering was due to fright alone, while here there was impact resulting in some physical injury, however slight, to the plaintiff, and he said: "I would have thought it too clear for argument that where a person suffers physical injury, however slight, damages might also be claimed for the fright occasioned thereby. It would appear somewhat difficult to distinguish between the injury caused to the human frame by the impact and that resulting to the nervous system in consequence of the shock, the shock and the physical injury being both the result of the same accident. The nature of the mysterious relation which exists between the nervous system and the passive tissues of the human body has been the subject of much learned speculation, but I am not aware that the extent to which the one acts and reacts upon the other has yet been definitely ascertained. Those who are interested will find a learned discussion of the whole subject by Paul Bert in his book, where he discusses the role played in the human system by what he calls la grande sensitive. I do not think that many of the juries who usually try damage cases have had their attention directed to this abstract subject, which, as Bert says, has baffled scientists for ages.' For my part, it is difficult to understand how a person should not be allowed to recover for an injury to the nervous system resulting from fright, which frequently alone produces physical injuries of the most serious character. But we are not concerned with that question now. Here the fact of physical injury is established beyond all doubt, and, that fact once admitted, I cannot find the line of demarcation between the damage resulting to a human being by reason of the abrasion of a limb or the rupture of an artery and that which may flow from the disturbance of the nervous system caused by the same accident. The latter may well be the result of a derangement of the relation existing between the bones, the sinews, the arteries, and the nerves. In any event, the resultant effect is the same. The victim is incapacitated and in consequence suffer3 damages whether the incapacity results from the physical injury alone or the physical injury with the nervous shock superadded." Mr. Justice Davies pointed out the adverse criticism which the Coultas case has received in the English, Irish, and Australian courts, and continued: "This court would possibly feel itself bound, notwithstanding all this adverse criticism, in a case where the facts were strictly analogous to those under consideration in the Coultas case to follow that decision, but I do not think they |