BOOK-KEEPING.

I. What is meant by the term Dr. and Cr. in cash-book and ledger?

ANS. In each case the word "Dr." means cash received, i. e., the party keeping the book or ledger debits himself with the amount received by him; the only difference is in the object for which the book and ledger are kept. Cr. in each case means the contrary to Dr.

II. Describe a cash book, petty cash book, and a banker's pass book. What correspondence ought there to be between them? What does the balance of the cash book (where banker's account is kept) and balance of petty cash book represent?

ANS. A cash book is a record of all moneys received and paid. Petty cash book contains small current disbursements. Banker's pass book is the customer's account with his bankers. The balance of the cash book represents the sum at the bank. The balance of the petty cash book shows what amount is in the hands of the person keeping it.

III. How are the annual profits of a business to be ascertained? ANS. By taking the "stock account" for the year, the balance on which will represent the loss or gains on sales and purchases; and then taking a "profit and loss" account, on the Dr. side of which the bad debts, trading expenses, &c., will appear, and on the Cr. side the profits on the stock account. The balance will be the annual profit or loss.

IV. Give three items on each side of a cash book, and post them to accounts in the ledger.

[This, we presume, any reader can do; but we cannot conveniently do it, as it would take up too much space, and also require a different form of printing to that we have adopted.]

V. What is meant by making a rest in making out an account, and its object?

ANS. Taking a balance at a certain period, and it is usually for the purpose of charging interest on the ascertained balance. It is a term used in taking accounts in the chambers of the equity judges, where an accounting party is to be charged with compound interest.

FINAL EXAMINATION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. (Trinity Term, 1867.) COMMON LAW.

I. State shortly the different causes for which the following actions lie-trespass, trover, detinue, replevin, covenant, debt and assumpsit. How is an action commenced ? ANS. Trespass lies for injury to real or personal property or the person, accompanied with immediate violence; trover for the wrongful conversion, and detinue for the wrongful detention of goods; replevin for the illegal taking of goods (usually in cases of a wrongful distress) when delivery is sought; covenant for damages on the breach of a contract under seal; debt on any contract where the amount is liquidated and there is privity contract between the parties; assumpsit for damages on the breach of a simple contract. action is in all these cases commenced by a writ of summons. By the C. L. P. Act, 1852, s. 3, it is not necessary to mention any form or cause of action in any writ of summons, &c. (F. Bk. Ch. 34; Com. Law Princ. 3, et seq.)

The

II. State shortly the requisite steps to be taken where the defendant evades service of the writ of summons.

ANS. Application should be made to a judge at chambers for leave to proceed as if personal service of the writ had been effected. This will be granted on the judge being satisfied, by affidavit, that reasonable efforts have been made to effect personal service, and either that the writ has come to the knowledge of the defendant, or that he wilfully evades service of the same and has not appeared thereto. (C. L. P. Act, 1852, s. 17; F. Bk. 263; Com. Law Pract. 66, 76; 5 Exam. Chron. 30, 62, 133; ante, p. 58.)

III. In what cases may the Statute of Limitations be pleaded? ANS. The Statute of Limitations may be pleaded to all actions, there being now statutes applicable not only to simple contracts and torts, but also (which was not formerly the case) to specialties. There is, however, a difference in the length of time; thus, it is four years to trespass to the person, two years to slander for words actionable per se, six years to simple contracts, and twenty years to specialties. (5 Exam. Chron. p. 6; 6 id. 234; ante, p. 53.)

If so, mention

IV. May a defendant plead more than one defence to an action? If necessary what leave must he obtain? Are there any cases where he can do so without leave? them. ANS. A defendant may by leave of judge obtained on summons plead more than one defence to an action, and by the C. L. P. Act

(15 & 16 Vict. c. 76, s. 84) he may plead the following pleas, or any two or more of them, without leave, namely, a denial of the contract or debt alleged in the declaration, a tender as to part, the Statute of Limitations, set-off, bankruptcy of the defendant, plenè administravit, plenè administravit præter, infancy, coverture, payment, accord and satisfaction, release, not guilty, a denial of plaintiff's property in the goods alleged to be injured, leave and licence, son assault demesne. (Com. Law Pract. 131, 132; F. Bk. 268.)

V. State some of the grounds on which a new trial may be obtained.

ANS. The most usual cases in which a new trial may be obtained, are, where the judge has improperly received or rejected evidence, or has misdirected the jury, where there has been any misbehaviour in the jury, where the party against whom the verdict was given was taken by surprise, where new and material facts have come to light since the trial, where the verdict was against the evidence, where the damages are clearly excessive or insufficient, where the witnesses were guilty of perjury, &c. (F. Bk. 274; more fully, Com. Law Pract. pp. 195, 201.)

VI. How must the plaintiff proceed where the defendant lets judgment go by default?

ANS. If the plaintiff's demand was a liquidated demand, the plaintiff may at once sign judgment and issue execution. If the plaintiff's demand was not a liquidated one, the plaintiff may sign interlocutory judgment, and have the damages assessed under a writ of inquiry before the sheriff, or, if the damages are substantially a matter of calculation, a judge's order may be obtained for a master of the Court to ascertain the amount; afterwards final judgment is signed for the amount assessed by the sheriff's jury or the master, and then execution may be issued. (Com. Law Pract. 140, 141; ante, p. 57, tit. "Judgments.")

VII. In what cases is a plaintiff, though gaining the judgment, deprived of costs? What is the object of the Legislature in depriving him of costs?

ANS. A successful plaintiff is not entitled to costs when he recovers less than 40s. damages in actions on the case or for trespass, if the judge does not certify that the action was brought to try a right, or (in case of trespass) that the trespass was malicious, &c. And where the County Courts have jurisdiction the plaintiff must

obtain an order or certificate to entitle him to costs where he recovers not more than £5 in actions of tort, or not exceeding £20 in actions of contract. And in cases of torts not within the County Courts Acts, where the verdict is for less than £5, the judge may certify to deprive the plaintiff of his costs. (1 Exam. Chron. 2, 3, 105; 13 & 14 Vict. c. 61, s. 11; 2 Exam. Chron. 279, 280; 7 Law Tim.

Rep., N.S., 425.) The object of the Legislature in depriving a plaintiff of his costs is to discourage frivolous litigation.

VIII. A declaration contains two counts : 1, for goods sold for £50; 2, for slander, damage £10. The defendant pleads as to £15, parcel of the 1st count, payment into Court of £15, and the general issue to the residue of the declaration. The plaintiff gets a verdict for £5 on the first count beyond the sum paid in, and the defendant succeeds as to the residue. Is the plaintiff entitled to costs, and if not, how can he obtain them?

ANS. The plaintiff not having recovered a sum exceeding £20, must obtain a judge's order for his costs under the County Court Acts, otherwise he will not be entitled to any costs whatever. If the plaintiff obtain this order he will be entitled to the general costs of the cause, including the costs of the trial. The defendant will be entitled to the costs relating to the count for slander on which he was successful.

IX. How are the costs taxed in the last case, and upon what scales ?

ANS. The plaintiff will include in his bill of costs the general costs of the cause, excluding those on the count for slander, whilst the defendant will bring his bill of costs exclusively incurred in disproving the charge of slander. The costs of both plaintiff and defendant will be taxed on the higher scale, the directions to the Masters (Hil. T. 1853) having no application, inasmuch as the action could not have been tried before a sheriff on a writ of trial.

X. Give the definition of a simple contract, and what are its requisites?

ANS. A simple contract is an engagement not under seal entered into between two or more persons, whereby in consideration of something to be done by the party on the one side, the party on the other promises to do or omit to do some act. Its requisites are the mutual assent of the parties, a good consideration, something to be done or omitted, which is the object of the contract; in these requisites are involved the two conditions, that the assenting parties should be competent to contract, and that the object of the contract should be in itself legal. (Chitty on Contracts, p. 8, 7th ed.; Com. Law Princ. 131, et seq.; 5 Exam. Chron. pp. 3, 4 ; ante, p. 51.)

XI. What is a lien? Give some instances.

ANS. It is a right to retain the possession of property of the owner until a debt due to the person retaining it has been satisfied. A lien is either general or particular; a general lien is a right to retain the goods till a general balance of account is paid; a particular lien

is a right to retain the goods in respect of which the debt arose. Thus a solicitor has a general lien on the papers of his client till his general balance of costs is paid. A tailor, to whom cloth has been delivered to be made up, has a lien on the particular garment till his charges for making it are paid. (Smith's Merc. Law, p. 558, et seq. 7th ed.; ante, p. 53 tit. "Lien.")

XII. What is a set off? When the defendant pleads a set

off, and proves more than the plaintiff's claim, can the defendant obtain the benefit of such overplus, and how? ANS. A set off is a cross claim, for which an action might be maintained by the defendant against the plaintiff, but which he is by statute enabled to set off against the claim of the plaintiff who is suing him. Both the demands must be liquidated and of the same nature, and exist in the same right. The defendant could only obtain the benefit of the overplus referred to in the question by bringing an action against the plaintiff. (Ante, p. 58, tit. "Set off.)

XIII. A. sues B. for a debt simply, B. pleads a bill of exchange given in payment, which A. has lost. What course should you advise A. to pursue?

ANS. To amend the declaration by adding a count on the bill, and (assuming it to be negotiable) then apply to a judge for an order, that, on giving a proper indemnity, the loss of the instrument should not be set up as a defence. (5 Exam. Chron. 6, 29, 132; ante, p. 53, tit. "Lost Bill;" Com. Law Princ. 127, 128.)

XIV. In what cases is a master liable for damage done by his servant, and where is the servant alone liable?

ANS. A master is liable for damage caused by the negligence or unskilfulness of his servant whilst acting in the master's service; this is upon the principle qui facit per alium facit per se. But the master is not answerable for the servant's wilful and malicious trespass; thus, if a servant driving a carriage, in order to effect some purpose of his own, wantonly strike the horses of another person and produces the accident, the master is not liable, but the servant only; though if, intending to effect his master's orders, he strikes, but injudiciously, and to extricate himself from a difficulty, that will be negligent and careless conduct for which the master will be liable, being an act done in pursuance of the servant's employment. And the servant alone is liable for his criminal acts; or where he does anything from which an injury ensues out of the scope of his employment. (5 Exam. Chron. 6, tit. "Master and Servant," and references there; Com. Law Princ. 330, et seq.)

XV. In an action for an injury caused by the bite of a savage dog, what may the defendant put the plaintiff to prove in support of his action?