OCCASIONAL NOTES. In Appeal Court I. interlocutory appeals (King's Bench Division) will be taken on Monday next. In the King's Bench Division non-jury actions will not be taken before Monday, the 20th inst. The judges of the Supreme Court will rise for the Whitsun Vacation on Friday, the 24th inst., after which the courts will be closed until Tuesday, the 4th prox., when the_Trinity Sittings begin. There will be no sitting at the courts during the Vacation, and all applications "which may require to be immediately or promptly heard" may be made to Mr. Justice Horridge, who will act as Vacation judge from Saturday, the 25th inst., to Monday, the 3rd prox., inclusive. The judge will attend at King's Bench Judges' Chambers once during the Vacation to hear applications and summonses, but the day has not yet been fixed. On other days within the above period applications in urgent matters may be made to him by post or, if necessary, personally. The following judges of the King's Bench Division will remain in London during the whole of the Trinity Sitting-viz.: Mr. Justice A. T. Lawrence, Mr. Justice Hamilton, and Mr. Justice Bankes. In consequence of the pressure of business at Leeds, on the North-Eastern Circuit, Mr. Justice A. T. Lawrence will leave London to-day (Saturday) for that town to join Mr. Justice Channell, and will assist him on the following Monday in clearing the heavy calendar and trying the cases set down in the cause list. Mr. Justice Channell will leave London on Saturday next, the 18th inst., for Salisbury, on the Western Circuit, and will open the commission on the following Monday, the 20th inst. He will go the circuit alone until Exeter is reached, on Thursday, the 6th prox., when he will be joined by Mr. Justice Pickford. Mr. Justice Avory has fixed the following commission days for the summer assizes on the Midland Circuit-viz.: Warwick, Thursday, July 4, and Birmingham, Wednesday, July 10. At the last-named town Mr. Justice Avory will be joined by Mr. Justice Horridge. Mr. Justice Lush has fixed the following commission days for the summer assizes on the North Wales Circuit, viz.: Newtown, Wednesday, May 22; Dolgelley, Thursday, May 30; Carnarvon, Saturday, June 1; Beaumaris, Wednesday, June 5; Ruthin, Saturday, June 8; Mold, Wednesday, June 12. At the conclusion of the business at Mold Mr. Justice Lush will return to London, afterwards going back for the second part of the circuit at Chester on Friday, July 5, and Swansea, Friday, July 12. At the last two places Mr. Justice Ridley will join Mr. Justice Lush Mr. Justice Darling and Mr. Justice Bucknill will go the Northern Circuit at the summer assizes, in the place of the Lord Chief Justice and Mr. Justice A. T. Lawrence as originally fixed. Mr. Justice Bucknill will go the first part of the circuit, commencing at Appleby, and will be joined by Mr. Justice Darling at Manchester and Liverpool. The commission days have not yet been fixed. Mr. Justice Ridley, who will go the South Wales Circuit at the summer assizes, will return to London after the business at Presteign is finished (the commission day for such town being fixed for Thursday, June 13). He will return to the second part of the circuit at Chester on Friday, July, 5, and Swansea, Friday, July 12, being joined at the last two named towns by Mr. Justice Lush. The May Session at the Central Criminal Court will commence on Tuesday at 10.30. The Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Phillimore, and Mr. Justice Bray are on the rota to attend, but it is understood that Mr. Justice Phillimore will be the presiding judge. Mr. Justice Coleridge will attend specially on Wednesday, the 15th, to preside at the trial of Rex v. Lawrence and Pankhurst, which stood over from the April Sessions. An intermediate session for cases arising in the county of Middlesex will commence to-day (Saturday), at the Caxton Hall, Caxton-street, Westminster, at 10.30. The Treasurer and Masters of the Middle Temple Bench will give a smoking concert in their hall on Thursday next at eight o'clock. The Law Students' Debating Society will hold their annual meeting on Tuesday, at the Law Society's Hall, Chancery-lane, at seven o'clock p.m. Mr. C. P. Blackwell will preside. Mr. George Somes, of Henrietta-street, Bath, formerly of Spencer Lodge, Roehampton, Surrey, and of Great Cumberlandplace, W., barrister-at-law, a former chairman of Surrey Quarter Sessions, who died on the 17th Feb., aged eighty-four, left estate of the gross value of £19,013, with net personalty £18,942. Mr. Arthur Montefiore Brice, barrister-at-law, and hon treasurer of the Gladstone League, has been adopted as the prospective Liberal candidate for Gravesend. Sir Alfred Erasmus Dryden, eigthth baronet, of Canons Ashby, Byfield, Northants, barrister-at-law, who died on the 2nd April, aged ninety, left unsettled property of the gross value of £21,343, of which £16,356 is net personalty. Dr. Abdul Majid, Lecturer to the Colonial Office on Mahomedan Law, has been elected a member of the Old Bailey Bar, by a large majority, on the proposal of Sir Charles Mathews. He is an Indian Moslem, and is stated to be the first non- -European admitted to the Old Bailey Bar. At a meeting of the London County Council on Tuesday a letter was read from the Home Office, dated the 15th March, urging that, failing a prompt and satisfactory conclusion of the negotiations with the City Corporation, immediate steps should be taken to select a suitable site and to provide the accommodation required for the London Quarter Sessions. His Honour Judge Parry will move at the annual ladies' night debate of the Hardwicke Society at Gray's-inn Hall, on Friday, the 17th inst., "That this House considers that modern literature is seriously hampered by the inferior tastes of present-day readers." The debate will be continued by the Hon. Gilbert Coleridge, Messrs. Clement Shorter, Walter Sichell, W. L. Courtney, J. B. Lindenbaum, Miss Rowland Grey, and others. The annual dinner of the London Solicitors' Golfing Society was held at the Café Royal, Regent-street, W., on Monday last, the chair being taken by the president, Sir George Riddell. Fifty-five members and their friends sat down to dinner, and the guest of the evening was Mr. Justice Neville, the captain of the Bar Golfing Society, the entertainment after dinner being supplied by Mr. Harrison Hill, Mr. T. C. Sterndale Bennett, Miss Alice Baxter, and Miss Mamie Buck. Mr. Balfour has undertaken to unveil the statue of Francis Bacon, which Mr. F. W. Pomeroy, A.R.A., has executed in bronze for the Benchers of Gray's-inn. It is to be erected in Southsquare, Gray's-inn, close to the hall of the society-the famous Elizabethan building in which the tercentenary of Bacon's election to the office of Treasurer was celebrated three years ago. The unveiling will take place on Thursday, the 27th June. Bacon was admitted to Gray's-inn as a student on the 27th June 1576, and was called on the 27th June 1582-hence the choice of date. A new trial will shortly come before The Hague Tribunal, says the Amsterdam correspondent of the Times. When the Russian Government determined to extend the boundary of Russian territorial waters in the Sea of Okhotsk last year Japan immediately lodged a protest. The question has now become so acute that three Japanese cruisers have been sent to the North. In the meantime the Japanese Government propose to lay the question before the International Court of Arbitration at The Hague at an early date, as the cod fishery in the Sea of Okhotsk will soon begin. The most interesting article in the Burlington Magazine for May is that on Mr. Pierpont Morgan's Byzantine enamels, continued from last month. Mr. Dalton again illustrates some fine examples from this valuable collection. Mr. Arthur M. Hind writes on Jacques Callot, with a list of drawings by or attributed to him in the British Museum. Curious embroideries from Central Africa are illustrated and described by T. A. Joyce, while A. Romney Green writes a second article on the Principles and Evolution of Furniture Making, and Alys Trotter treats of Varnishes as Vehicles and Protections. The twenty-fourth meeting of the session 1911-12 of the Union Society of London was held at 3. King's Bench-walk, on Wednesday. The president was in the chair. The subject for debate was: "That this House would welcome a complete reversal of the Government's foreign policy with regard to France and Russia. Upon a division the motion was declared lost. The annual dinner will be held on Wednesday next, at 8 p.m., at the Trocadero Restaurant. Among those who have accepted invitations are Lord Justice Vaughan Williams. Lord Justice Kennedy, Mr. Justice Neville, Messrs. Edward Clayton, K.C. Marshall Hall, K.C., W. B. Ferguson, K.C., and Lord Hugh Cecil. Dr. Blake Odgers, the new Recorder of Bristol, was Recorder of Winchester for three years, and he has been Recorder of Plymouth-where he was born sixty-three years ago-since he left the Winchester Bench in 1900. He was educated at Bath Grammar School, at University College, London, and at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was a Wrangler, graduated with honours in Classics, and took the member's prize in 1871. Called by the Middle Temple_three years afterwards, he took silk in 1893, and was elected a Bencher of his Inn in 1900. He has been examiner in Law at Cambridge for the Tripos and at London University, and was Director of Legal Studies to the Council of Legal Education in 1905. 66 Sir John Macdonell will deliver the second of his course of four lectures on "Comparative Legal Procedure as illustrated by Trials (English and Foreign)," at University College, Gower-street, on Wednesday next, at 5.30 p.m. The lectures will be continued on subsequent Wednesdays, and at their conclusion Sir John will deliver two lectures upon 'International Law in relation to Labour," at the London School of Economics, Clare Market, W.C., beginning Thursday, the 13th June, at 5.30 p.m. The professor's prizes of £12 and £10 respectively will be given for the best essays, showing sufficient merit, on subjects connected with the lectures. The lectures are open to the public free of charge and without tickets; they are intended not only for lawyers, but for students of political economy, political science and sociology, and for journalists. The Treasurer (Mr. Arthur E. Gill) and the Masters of the Bench of Gray's-inn, entertained at dinner on the 2nd inst., being the Grand Day of Easter Term, the following guests: Lord Rathmore, Lord Mersey, Lord Justice Fletcher Moulton, the Treasurer of the Inner Temple (Mr. R. A. Bayford, K.C.), Sir Squire Bancroft, the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (Dr. W. C. Unwin, F.R.S.), Professor Goudy, Mr. G. E. Buckle, Dr. James Gow, and Mr. John Dickinson. The Benchers present in addition to the Treasurer were: Lord Ashbourne, Mr. M. W. Mattinson, K.C., Mr. Justice Lush, Mr. Herbert Reed, K.C., Mr. W. T. Barnard, K.C., Mr. Herbert F. Manisty, K.C., Mr. W. J. R. Pochin, Mr. Vesey Knox, K.C., Sir William Byrne, C.B., Mr. J. W. McCarthy, Mr. George Rhodes, K.C., Mr. F. A. Greer, K.C., Mr. T. M. Healy, K.C. M.P., with the Preacher (the Rev. R. J. Fletcher, D.D.). On the 2nd inst. the Duke of Bedford laid the foundation-stone of the new Guildhall, Westminster, which has been erected, mainly upon the site of the old building, for the purposes of Quarter Sessions and county administrative work in Middlesex. The new Guildhall, which will be built of Portland stone in the Gothic style, will have a frontage of 163ft. and be surmounted by a massive tower. The chair was taken by Alderman Regester, and others present were the Bishop of Willesden, Mr. Montagu Sharpe (Chairman of Quarter Sessions), Mr. Herbert Nield, M.P., and a large number of county aldermen, councillors, and justices. The chairman, in asking the Duke of Bedford to lay the foundation-stone, said that the site of the new Guildhall was that of a building erected about the time of the Norman Conquest, which served as a place of refuge to those who were fleeing from justice. It was pulled down in the eighteenth century, and gave place to the old Guildhall. Thus for the past 140 years criminals had gone to Westminster, not to evade justice, but to receive the just reward of their crimes. The Duke of Bedford, who was presented with a trowel by the architect, Mr. James S. Gibson, and a mallet by the contractor, Mr. James Carmichael, then declared the foundation-stone well and truly laid. Memories of the bitter and prolonged controversy waged in the public Press nearly twenty-three years ago as to the correctness of the verdict of guilty in the case of Mrs. Maybrick will be revived by the extracts from Sir Henry Lucy's diary printed in the Cornhill Magazine for May. Those extracts are interesting as testifying to the extreme dissatisfaction felt in responsible quarters with the jury's finding. It is stated that the present Lord Chief Justice, at that time Attorney-General, expressed the opinion that the case for the Crown was not established by the evidence; and confirmation of this view is furnished by the statement that Mr. Addison, Q.C., who led for the Crown, was so convinced that the jury would either acquit the prisoner or would disagree, that he asked for instructions as to the course to be pursued in the event of the latter contingency arising, and was directed that in that event he was not to proceed with a fresh trial. If such opinions were held in high places, little wonder was it that the uninstructed public with its customary clamour should impugn the rightness of the verdict. We know from his biography that Sir Charles Russell, who, it will be remembered, defended the prisoner, never wavered in the belief that the charge of murder was not made out, and for years he made representations to the Home Office on the subject. A Parliamentary Paper has been issued containing rules made by the Secretary for Scotland for persons undergoing preventive detention in Scotland. The rules provide that persons undergoing such detention shall be divided into three grades-ordinary, special, and disciplinary. On entering they are to be placed in the ordinary grade. After every six months passed in that grade with exemplary conduct, a prisoner may be awarded a certificate for industry and good conduct. Two of these certificates will entitle him to promotion to the special grade. With each certificate a prisoner will receive a good conduct stripe carrying privileges or a small money payment. A canteen will be opened in the prison, at which prisoners in the ordinary and special grades may purchase articles of food and other approved articles at prices to be fixed by the commissioners. The cost of such The articles will be charged against each prisoner's gratuity. privilege of purchasing articles in the canteen may at any time be limited or withdrawn by the governor. Prisoners in the special grade may have garden allotments assigned to them, which they may cultivate at such times as may be prescribed. The produce of these allotments may be purchased for use in prisons at market rates, and the proceeds credited to the prisoner, or they may be used by the prisoner under regulations approved by the commissioners. The Masters of the Bench of the Middle Temple entertained the following guests at dinner on Wednesday on the occasion of the Grand Day of the Easter Term: The Marquess of Bath, the Earl of Dalkeith, the Earl of Kintore, the Earl of Doncughmore, Viscount Churchill, Lord Clifford of Chudleigh, Lord Kinnaird, Lord Devonport, Mr. C. Scott-Dickson, K.C., M.P., Mr. Austen Chamberlain, M.P., Sir H. Maxwell, Bart., Sir A. Henderson, Bart., Sir C. Renshaw, Bart., Sir E. Waterlow, R.A., the Rev. the Master, the Rev. the Reader, and the Under-Treasurer. The following Masters of the Bench were present: The Treasurer (Mr. Balfour Browne K.C.), Sir R. B. Finlay, K.C., M.P., Lord Mersey of Toxteth, Mr. Digby, Lord Justice Fletcher Moulton, Mr. Francis Williams, K.C., Mr. Milvain, K.C., Mr. English Harrison, Mr. McCall, K.C., Mr. Loyd, K.C., Mr. Muir Mackenzie, Judge H. T. Atkinson, Mr. Erskine Pollock, K.C., Sir J. Edge, K.C., Mr. C. C. Scott, K.C., Sir Forrest Fulton, K.C., Mr. Abel Thomas, K.C., M.P., Dr. Blake Odgers, K.C., Mr. Brogden, Judge Ruegg, K.C., Mr. Astbury, K.C., Mr. Macmorran, K.Č., Sir Rufus Isaacs, K.C., M.P., Mr. Gill, K.C., Mr. Hume Williams, K.C., M.P., Mr. Aspinall, K.C., Mr. Laing, K.C., Mr. Clay, Mr. Ingpen, K.C., Sir S. T. Evans, Mr. Justice Horridge, Lord Shaw of Dunfermline, Mr. Stewart Smith, K.C., and Mr. Tobin, K.C., M.P. was On the 2nd inst. there was revived in the Middle Temple the ancient practice of holding moots in the Hall after dinner during term time. More than 200 years ago the practice was common, and formed part of the regular course of the training of a young barrister; but at the beginning of the eighteenth century it fell into disuse. This revival of the moot is due to the energy and enterprise of Dr. Blake Odgers, K.C., the Director of Legal Education, who is Lent Reader at the Middle Temple. He arranged the moot with a committee of students and barristers, and all the ancient ceremonial observed. After the evening meal, attended by members of the society in Hall, the moot began. The Masters of the Bench who took part in the moot were Dr. Blake Odgers, K.C., in the chair, Mr. English Harrison, K.C. (Chairman of the General Council of the Bar), and Mr. Muir Mackenzie (Official Referee). There were also present Mr. H. D. Greene, K.C. (ex-Treasurer), Mr. Scott Fox K.C. (Chancellor of the County Palatine of Durham), and other Masters of the Bench, and many barristers and other members of the society. The case propounded was one which in one form or another has agitated legal opinion for many years-namely, that of a passenger on a railway who has deposited his bag in a cloak room, receiving a cloak room ticket, which is afterwards stolen, and the thief by means of the stolen ticket obtains the bag: the question being whether the original owner of the bag can maintain an action for the value of the bag against the railway company. The President (Mr. W. J. Humfrys), the Vice-President (Mr. C. L. Samson), and the Council of the Law Society entertained a large company at dinner in the hall of the society on the 2nd inst. The following guests were present: Viscount Haldane, Lord Justice Vaughan Williams, Mr. Justice Eve, Mr. Justice Horridge, Mr. Justice O'Connor (Federal High Court of the Commonwealth of Australia), the Dean of Hereford, Sir Francis Hopwood, Mr. H. Curtis Bennett, Mr. E. W. Garrett, Sir James R. Mellor, Sir William Cobbett, Major-General J. S. Cowans, C.B., Mr. W. O. Danckwerts, K.C., Professor T. Erskine Holland, K.C., Mr. Montague Shearman, K.C., Mr. Edward Clayton, K.C., Mr. J. Sankey, K.C., the Hon. Gilbert Coleridge, Master T. S. Dury, Master E. C. B. Lawford, Master A. Keen, Mr. P. W. L. Earle, Mr. Hamilton Fulton, Mr. J. R. Symonds, Mr. N. H. Baynes, Mr. A. M. Latter, Mr. Leslie Hunter, Mr. J. A. Hamnett, Mr. H. L. Bevir, Mr. Arthur Pearce, Mr. C. G. May, Mr. Ernest Bevir, Mr. Joseph James, Mr. E. V. Hiley, Mr. Hume C. Pinsent, Mr. H. A. Payne, Mr. Gerald Byrne, Mr. L. W. Kershaw, Mr. Edward Jenks, Mr. Arthur Vizard, Mr. R. Farmer, Mr. C. E. Lilley, Mr. F. S. Collins, Mr. M. J. G. Scobie, C.B., Mr. W. T. Carless, Mr. P. H. Freeman, Mr. S. E. Cash, Mr. Bulmer Howell, Mr. G. H. Hamilton Symonds, M.D., Mr. W. E. V. Crompton, Mr. T. J. C. Tomlin, Mr. W. G. Hart, LL.D., Mr. P. D. Botterell, Mr. Andrew Beveridge, Mr. C. J. E. Crosse, Mr. William Murray, Mr. R. E. Bruce Beal, Mr. A. F. Mott, Mr. A. F. Fox, Mr. Felix R. Samson, Mr. Victor Mason, Mr. Charles Mayer, and Mr. W. M. Sinclair. The following members of the council were also present: Mr. W. M. Walters, Mr. A. Wightman, Mr. W. H. Winterbotham, Mr. W. Trower, Mr. C. E. Longmore, C.B., Mr. R. S. Taylor, Mr. T. Eggar, Sir Edward Fraser, Mr. R. A. Pinsent, Mr. A. C. Peake, Mr. W. H. Norton, Mr. J. J. D. Botterell, Mr. A. H. Coley, Mr. R. S. Cleaver, Mr. C. Goddard, Mr. R. C. Nesbitt, Mr. A. J. Clarke, Mr. W. Dawes, the Hon, R. H. Lyttelton, Mr. R. M. Welsford, Mr. W. H. Foster, Mr. J. R. B. Gregory, with Mr. S. P. B. Bucknill (secretary) and Mr. E. R. Cook (assistant secretary). Mr. Justice Channell (Chairman of Committee) presided at the annual meeting of the Metropolitan Prisoners Aid Society, which was held in the Old Hall, Lincoln's-inn, on Thursday, the 25th ult. Mr. Justice Hamilton and the Rev. L. J. Hudson (Chaplin, Pentonville Prison) were among those present. The report showed a total income, largely contributed to by judges of the High Court and other members of the Profession of £1087 10s., and there was a balance of excess over expenditure of £39 15s. 6d. For some time past it had been evident that the work of the society had outgrown its staff, and it had become necessary to appoint a full-time secretary-the late secretary, Mr. Chadwick, a member of the Bar, having acted for a very small salary on the terms that he should not be called upon to devote his whole time to the work. It was hoped that the extension of the society's activities would carry with it some increase in the support obtained from the public. Mr. Justice Channell, in moving the adoption of the report, said that one of the principal and most difficult features of the work of the society was the finding of employment for discharged prisoners, and, as the report stated, the public had little idea of the vast expenditure of time and trouble which was necessary if the task was to be accomplished. He had referred at the meeting last year to the fact that prison was in some cases preferred to the workhouse, and had said that it was obvious that this should not be, and that people who had committed offences ought not to be better treated than those who, through need, required a night's lodging. He had been somewhat called to task for his observations, and it had been pointed out that the lenient treatment of prisoners which had been adopted of late years had been effective, and productive of good. He did not desire to dissent from that, but, at the same time, different opinions were entertained as to the extent to which the leniency of treatment should reach, and he thought it should not go to the extent of making prisons places to which people with a tendency to committing small offences should resort in preference to going to those institutions which were intended for honest people who were out of employment, or who, from some cause or another, required assistance. It might be that the fault lay with the management of the casual wards, and that the treatment at those institutions was too severe, but it certainly ought not to be the fact that persons who were travelling about the country and who were in need of a bed should be induced, in order to avoid the casual ward, to commit some offence or another that they might be sent to prison. But, however that might be, it seemed to him quite clear that there could be no difference of opinion as to the value of the work which was carried on by the society, as well as by others of the kind, in assisting persons after they had served their terms of imprisonment. The society was a real charity in the best sense of the word, and, further, it was doing an extremely useful work so far as the community was concerned, inasmuch as it had for its object to restore such persons as it helped to the position of honest citizens. Mr. Justice Hamilton, in proposing a vote of thanks for the use of the hall, characterised the work of the society as highly beneficial. PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. The Treasury Board. THE vacating of his seat in the House of Commons by Mr. Henry Webb on his appointment to a Junior Lordship of the Treasury and his re-election on submitting himself to his constituents will render it of interest to know that the full official description of the persons who constitute the Treasury Board is that of "Lords Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Treasurer," the said persons being the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and other officials, whose number has varied from time to time, known as Junior Lords. The Treasury is still a Board of Commissioners in name, and the patent under which the members of the board are appointed still represents them as being of equal authority, with powers to any two or more of them to discharge the functions of the whole. But the Treasury has long ceased to be a board in anything but name; it is now practically a department presided over by a single head-the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The board soon ceased to be a reality, and has not even met for more than half a century. The Junior Lords of the Treasury have been virtually set aside and have no regular departmental duty to perform except of a mere routine description, such as signing documents for which their signature is legally necessary, and the real business of the department is transacted by the Government and the permanent officials under the direction and control of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. Canning once said that the duties of Junior Lords of the Treasury are to make a House, to keep a House, and to cheer the Minister. Their duties are now mainly the duties of assistants to tke Whip of the party; they also receive deputations on behalf of the Government, and serve on committees as representatives of the Government. Eovereignty of Parliament. 66 66 THE Right Hon. Sir Robert Finlay, K.C., the AttorneyGeneral of the late Government, speaking in debate recently in the House of Commons, enunciated tersely in colloquial language the cardinal constitutional doctrine of the sovereignty of Parliament. Parliament," he said, "has a right to commit any act of folly or malevolence." Blackstone supplies the classical passage on this subject. The power and jurisdiction of Parliament," says Sir Edward Coke (4 Inst., p. 36) “is so transcendent and absolute that it cannot be confined for causes or persons within any bounds. It hath sovereign and uncontrollable authority in the making, confirming, enlarging, restraining, abrogating, repealing, reviving, and expounding of laws concerning matters of all possible denominations, ecclesiastical or temporal, civil, military, marine, or criminal, this being the place where that absolute despotic power, which must in all Governments reside somewhere, is intrusted by the constitution of these kingdoms. All mischiefs and grievances, operations and remedies that transcend the ordinary course of It the laws are within the reach of this extraordinary tribunal. can regulate or new model the succession to the Crown, as was done in the reign of Henry VIII. and of William III. It can alter the established religion of the land, as was done in a variety of instances in the reigns of King Henry VIII. and his three children. It can change and create afresh even the constitution of the kingdom, as was done by the Act of Union and the several statutes for triennial and septennial elections. It can, in short, do everything that is not naturally impossible, and therefore some have not scrupled to call its power by a figure rather too bold, the omnipotence of Parliament." De Lolme has summed up the matter in the grotesque expression: "It is a fundamental principle with English lawyers that Parliament can do everything but make a woman a man and a man a woman." House of Commons and Money Votes. THE Home Rule Bill embodies in its provisions the constitutional principle by which in this country the House of Commons do not vote money unless it be required by the Crown, nor do they impose or augment taxes unless such taxation be necessary for the public service as declared by the Crown through its responsible advisers. The 10th clause of the Bill declares "the Irish House of Commons shall not adopt or pass any resolution, address, or Bill for the appropriation for any purpose of any part of the public revenue of Ireland or of any tax except in pursuance of a recommendation of the LordLieutenant in the session in which the vote, resolution, address, or Bill is proposed." The Imperial House of Commons has faithfully maintained the duty and responsibility of the Sovereign and their own regarding the custody of public money and the imposition of charges upon the people by Standing Orders framed especially for that purpose. Three of these Standing Orders were the first and for more than a century were the only Standing Orders ordained by the House of Commons for its self-government (Standing Orders Nos. 66-68), and the regulations prescribed by these Standing Orders have been from time to time extended and applied. Under the practice thus established, every motion which in any way creates a charge upon the public · revenue or upon the revenues of India must receive the recommendation of the Crown before it can be entertained by the House. The first grant of public money proposed upon a formal recommendation of the Crown took place on the 5th March 1706, when Mr. Secretary Harley informed the House that Her Majesty had been made acquainted with a petition praying for a grant of £500,000 presented by sufferers from the damage the French ships inflicted upon the islands of St. Christopher and St. Nevis during Feb. and March 1705. PARLIAMENTARY SUMMARY. IN the House of Commons, on Tuesday, Mr. King asked the Foreign Secretary whether it was the intention of the Government to make this country a party to the International Convention for the Regulation of Conflicts of Law respecting Marriage, made at The Hague in June 1902; and, if not, what reason could be given for declining to enter into an agreement to which France, Germany, Italy, and other European countries were parties.Sir E. Grey: The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. In reply to the second I must observe that the terms of the Convention conflict in many important respects with the doctrines at present accepted by British Courts of Law, and that although the States which he has mentioned are parties to itRussia, Austria, Spain, Denmark, Norway, and many other European States-the United States of America and the whole of the South American Republics are not parties. The text of Lord Wolmer's Bill to enable women to become barristers, solicitors, or Parliamentary agents, in which a good deal of interest is taken, is as follows:-1. A woman shall not on the ground of her sex alone be disqualified (a) for being called to the Bar as a barrister; or (b) for being admitted to the roll of solicitors of the Supreme Court and acting as a solicitor; or (c) for being registered as a Parliamentary agent and acting as such; or (d) for being admitted as a student at any Inn of Court, or entering as a candidate in any examination, or taking, in the like manner and on the like terms as a man, any other preliminary steps necessary for any of the purposes aforesaid. And a woman shall, on being called to the Bar or admitted as a solicitor, or registered as a Parliamentary agent, be entitled to the rights of audience and to all other ancillary rights or privileges to which a man is in the like case entitled, and any enactment or provision of law, and any order of either House of Parliament relating to, or to persons seeking to become barristers, solicitors, or Parliamentary agents shall have effect accordingly. 2. (a) This Act may be cited as the Legal Profession (Admission of Women) Act 1912. (b) This Act shall not apply to Scotland or Ireland." The Bill is "backed" by Mr. Lansbury, Lord R. Cecil, Mr. C. Roberts, Mr. J. W. Hills, and Mr. Murray Macdonald. IRISH NOTES. WHAT should be done in a case where prisoners have been sentenced by a judge of the High Court to imprisonment with hard labour for the common law offence of unlawful assembly, which is admittedly wrong, and in a case where the accused has: suffered the penalty? The case was alluded to recently in this column. It occurred at the last Winter Assizes, and the Chief Secretary for Ireland apparently_suggested a free pardon when he was questioned about it in the House of Commons. But inquiry shows that such cases have arisen before, and that they were dealt with by the procedure of a writ of error on the application of the Crown. This appears to be the only method of removing the record in a criminal case to a higher court after judgment (R. v. Seton, 7 T. R. 373). In this country in two cases at least the Attorney-General of the day himself put the action in motion to remedy the very mistake of the court in awarding_hard labour for this offence. In Queen v. Gallagher (1871, 5 I. L. T. Rep. 134) the King's Bench Division, on the motion of the Attorney-General, ordered the release from custody of thirty prisoners so sentenced, but a more recent law on the subject has not been reported. It must be borne in mind that this litigation is costly, and that it would not be reasonable to require the prisoner to set the courts right at his own expense, and it would be far from dignified upon the part of the Crown. A RECENT Parliamentary return furnishes very important figures on the present position of land purchase operations in Ireland. In a previous return it was shown that the purchase money of the lands sold and pending for sale on the 30th April 1908 was given as £86,406,817, which with the estimated purchase money of the lands then unsold (£121,959,358) made a total of £208,366,175. On the 31st March 1911 the purchase money of the lands sold and pending for sale was £117,920,976, and the estimated purchase money of the lands unsold was £83,861,096, making a total of £201,782,072. These figures read very strangely in the light of the confident estimate made many years ago by the "experts that the entire transaction meant an advance of but one hundred millions! THE Shops Act which came into operation on the 1st of the present month has caused much confusion in most of the urban districts to which it applies, not one of which had made any provision for its coming operation. The prescribed regulations were not issued in time, and loud complaints are made against the Consolidated Act passed in the present session, which is said to be most difficult to understand or construe. Solicitors for urban district councils have been much exercised on the subject for some time, and their troubles are not at an end yet. IT was long a matter of doubt whether justices sitting at petty sessions in Ireland and granting decrees for small amounts under the Small Debts (Ireland) Act 1859 had power to hand over the warrants to the police for execution. The local court at Belfast in a case of Whiteside v. Moffatt refused to take this course, when plaintiff applied for a mandamus, which the King's Bench Division after much consideration allowed, the Lord Chief Baron holding that under the statute in question, and sect. 25 (2) of the Petty Sessions Act 1851, the justices had no jurisdiction to take any other course. MR. JUSTICE Ross, of the Land Judge's Court, does not mince his words when dealing with cases of interference with farms or estates the subject of petitions for sale in his court. The other day he had an application before him to dismiss the petition for sale of certain lands in the west of Ireland to enable the sale to be made to the Congested Districts Board, a Government body consisting of a number of influential gentlemen. It was mentioned that the lands could not be let for grazing owing to the public feeling against the system in the district. His Lordship, in granting the application, is reported in the daily papers to have said: "The Congested Districts Board appeared. to have entered into a game with the agitators in this district, and lay by until by intimidation and boycotting of the vilest description no one would touch the lands in question unless at the risk of their lives." It was put forward also as a reason for dismissing the petition that the owner would be entitled to claim the bonus under the Land Purchase Act of 1909 if the case was taken out of court. THE criticism of the Government of Ireland Bill in Ireland is mainly confined to its financial scheme. This, it was conceded on all sides, was an ingenious one, and, on the whole, most liberal to this country, which had ceased to be a self-supporting member of the United Kingdom. A committee of the General Council of County Councils led the way in a somewhat severe condemnation of the proposals in the Bill as "unsatisfactory in many respects,' and as needing "drastic amendment before we could advise the council to express approval of them as affording anything like a safe and sure foundation on which to build up the national prosperity." This view and the arguments and figures by which it was sustained were warmly adopted by a school of critics and for a brief period seemed to be making headway, but the supporters of the Bill, and notably the Postmaster-General, subjected both to a merciless dissection, and since the committee report has only found one prominent defender, though its simple arithmetic has been challenged and criticised most adversely. A NOVEL point, and one which will probably turn out to be wellfounded, has been raised before the rent-fixing tribunal of the Irish Land Commission, established under the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881. Under sect. 8 of that statute, as is well known, tenants of agricultural land may apply by originating notice to the court to fix the fair rent to be paid by such tenant to the landlord for the holding, and thereupon the court, after hearing the parties and "having regard to the interests of the landlord and tenant respectively, and considering all the circumstances of the case, holding, and district, may determine what is such fair rent." infinite variety of matters connected with the tenancy may be considered under this provision, which has been subjected to judicial examination on dozens of occasions, but to Mr. Wallace, solicitor, Banbridge, is due the distinction of having added another matter, because at the recent sitting of the court there he gave evidence for the tenant of the contribution which he An would have to pay under the Insurance Act on behalf of his workmen, and the commissioners felt that it was a circumstance which they probably must consider, but reserved their decision for further consideration, in order that they might pronounce a formal judgment, from which, if necessary, an appeal could be taken. INTERNATIONAL, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL LAW. OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER. THE coming into political power of the Labour Party in Australia has brought with it the assault on capital which has been threatening for so long. This assault is not upon misused capital, nor upon superfluous capital in the hands of an individual; it is directly made upon all capital, because it is-capital. The great object of the Socialist-viz., the State ownership of all the means of production, distribution, and exchange-is now being struggled for all over Australia, and in those Parliaments where Labour is predominant legislation is being passed to bring it about-confiscatory Acts of Parliament are falling over Australia as plentifully as snowflakes. The absentee owner of property is, where possible, singled out for attack. By the Federal Land Tax Act of 1911, exemption to the amount of £5000 is allowed resident owners, but in the case of an absentee no such exemption is allowed. As much British capital is invested in land-owning concerns in Australia, the British holders of shares in banks, pastoral and land companies, as well as British owners of Australian land, all have to bear a weightier load of taxation than those persons who reside in Australia. In the Income Tax Act of 1911, passed in New South Wales, the absentee is also penalised, not, it is true, by the manipulation of an exemption, but by the direct imposition of an extra on the tax. The Act says that an absentee means a person, other than a company, who has resided or had his place of abode outside the Commonwealth during the twelve months preceding the day for sending in a return. Then the rate of tax is fixed on the amount of income won by personal exertion, a higher rate on income the produce of property invested, and an extra levy on an absentee. To show the manner in which the rate per pound is struck, I shall give the words of the schedule when dealing with an income not exceeding £700, and chargeable "Sixpence, with the addition of one-third where the person liable to taxation is an absentee, and an addition or further addition in any case of onethird of sixpence on such of the income as is derived from the produce of property." The rate of tax is graduated so that where any of the income exceeds £9700 the tax on it will be at the rate of 1s. per pound, with a further 4d. per pound on the absentee, and an increase of 4d. on such income as is derived from the produce of property. There is another provision by which the income of a company is taxed to the extent of ls. 2d. in the pound, so that so far as an individual is concerned, who has income from a company as well as from other investments, he pays two rates of tax upon income the produce of property. The admitted object of the Federal Labour Party, when imposing the land tax which was to "burst up "large estates and bring down land prices by forcing land on the market, has not been reached. Land was never so dear as it is in Australia to-day, rents have gone up, and the landowner's tax is more than paid by his tenants, and by the appreciation of his land. If British ships in our waters do any local carrying, the sailors on such ships must be paid wages at the local rate, although they may be under contract to complete their voyage at the lower rate agreed upon when signing on. The steamer Durham arrived on the New Zealand coast from Liverpool, and discharged cargo at different ports. She took some cargo on board to be conveyed from Bluff to Avonmouth, both in New Zealand. When on her way to Avonmouth she transhipped the cargo into the steamship Sussex. This carriage of the cargo from Bluff to the steamship Sussex was held by the court to be "coastal trade," and that the steamship Durham had been engaged in such coastal trade from the time she discharged at her first port in New Zealand until she had transhipped the cargo to the steamship Sussex. Consequently the owners were liable to pay the rate of wages fixed by the local Arbitration Court as suitable for sailors engaged in the coastal trade. This state of things is not confined to New Zealand, but is in operation on the Australian coast, as between ports in different States. The law governing the matter is one of the Commonwealth, and is not applicable to carriage between ports in any one State. When Mr. John Perry on leaving the Legislative Chamber omitted to remove his hat and make obeisance to the Speaker of the New South Wales Parliament, he was guilty of a breach of a standing order and of his duty to pay respect to th› Speaker. And in view of the possible bad effect of such conduct on the business of the House, Mr. Speaker, through the Serjeant-at-Arms, had Mr. Perry arrested outside the door of the Legislative Chamber and brought back in order to apologise for his conduct. But Mr. Perry was not satisfied with this action of Mr. Speaker and he sued the latter and the Serjeant-at-Arms for damages in an action of assault. The Speaker pleaded "necessity" as justification of his order to the Serjeant-at-Arms, so as to prevent the spread of disorder and to secure obedience during the session. It was true that there was no standing order to cover the interference by the Speaker with a member outside the door of the Chamber, and he admitted he had no punitive power. It certainly was a difficult position to resolve. The Speaker was openly insulted by the conduct of the member, but he had been unable to deal with him inside the Chamber, owing to the rapidity with which the member had got through the doorway with his hat on his head. But to the plea of "necessity" the court applied the doctrine laid down in Seymour v. Maddox (16 Q. B. 326), and gave judgment for the plaintiff. As to what is the position of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, as regards the control of the members of the House, the court declared that the Speaker is really in the position of the chairman of a meeting. and the question is simply this: Has such a chairman the right to bring back to the meeting any person who has left it and gone about his own business? That he has the right to remove a person who has obstructed the business of a meeting is not denied. But when the offending person has left the meeting, so that, so far as he is concerned, the cause of the disorder has been removed, the authority of the chairman over him is at an end. He has ceased to form one of that body of persons who, by assembling together under the presidency of one of their number, have implicitly given him the right to maintain order during the progress of the proceedings. If the chairman may immediately bring him back, it must follow that if it be necessary, as alleged, to maintain order that he should be kept in the room, he may be kept there for the remainder of the sitting. No authority has been cited to justify such an extraordinary deprivation of a man's liberty. EVERARD DIGBY. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. HEIRS-AT-LAW AND NEXT OF KIN. DUNN (Mary Ann) and DUNN (H. Arthur C.), or their legal personal representatives claiming under inquiries made in the matter of the trusts of the settlement, dated Sept 15, 1879, made on the marriage of Charles Anderson and Rose Anne Hall, Trewellen v. Hall, to come in, by July 1, at chambers of Parker and Warrington, JJ. Hearing July 9, at 12, at said chambers, Room 252. APPOINTMENTS UNDER THE JOINT STOCK NOTICES OF APPEARANCE AT HEARING MUST REACH THE SOLICITORS BY 6 P.M. BANA MORENI PETROLEUM COMPANY LIMITED.-Creditors to send in, by E. J. ADAMS LIMITED. Petition for winding-up to be heard May 14, at Royal Courts of Justice. A. M. Longhurst, 2, Fenchurch-bldgs, E.Č., sol. for pets. Notices of appearance by May 13. EATON AND CO. LIMITED.-Creditors to send in, by June 8, to W. Nicholson, 12, Wood-st, Cheapside, E.C. Rexworthy, Barnard, and Bonser, 114115, Cheapside, E.C., sols. to liquidator. ESSEQUIBO RUBBER AND TOBACCO ESTATES LIMITED.--Petition for windingup to be heard May 21, at Royal Courts of Justice. Heywood and Ram, the Outer Temple, 222, Strand, W.C., sols. for pets. Notices of appearance by May 20. F. JOHNSON AND CO. (HULL) LIMITED.-Creditors to send in, by May 25, to W. G. Hall, Union and Smiths Bank-chmbrs, Silver-st, Hull. GENERAL ENGINEERING COMPANY LIMITED.-Creditors to send in, by May 23, to J. Butterfield, 2, Darley-st, Bradford. GRANGE TANNERY LIMITED.-Petition for winding-up to be heard May 21, at Royal Courts of Justice. James, Mellor, and Coleman, Basma House, 13A, Fore-st, E.C., sols. for pet. Notices of appearance by May 20. GROCERS' WHOLESALE ALLIANCE LIMITED.-Creditors to send in, by June 3, to O. Berry, Monument House, Monument-st. Wood and Wootton, 13, Fish-st-hill, E.C., sols. for liquidator. LA RICA EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED.-Creditors to send in, by May 31, to H. T. McConville, 65, London-wall, E.C. LAW'S ESTATE COMPANY LIMITED.-Creditors to send in, by June 3, to H. W. Brettell, 11, Waterloo-st, Birmingham. MACHIN AND WHITEHOUSE LIMITED.-Petition for winding-up to be heard May 16, at Wolverhampton County Court. Munns and Longden, 4B, Frederick's-pl, Old Jewry, agents for R. Willcock, Wolverhampton, sol. for pet. Notices of appearance by May 15, to R. Willcock. PRADO STEAMSHIP COMPANY LIMITED.-Creditors to send in, by June 4, to A. Reid, 28, Chapel-st, Liverpool. Rogers and Birkett, Liverpool, sols. for liquidator. RICHARD SMITH AND CO. LIMITED.-Creditors to send in, by June 15, to E. B. Winn, 18, Bennett's-hill, Birmingham. Pinsent and Co., Birmingham, sols. to liquidator. |