510

Debates on the Budget-Reduction of the Certificate Duty.

to be displaced without a just equivalent, in doing an act of entire justice, instead of either by postponing the reduction to a remitting only a small instalment. sufficiently distant day, or by returning a portion of the duty.

We are aware that there are a few instances, both in town and country, of soliIt may be said, that the attorneys who citors of eminence, who look coldly on the have been several years in practice have had measures now in progress for repealing the the advantage of a due return for their tax. They do not feel the amount in their outlay. This may be the case with many, large expenditure, or they erroneously fancy but is not so with all; and we must espe- that it tends to keep the Profession respectcially take into consideration the claims of able. We have repeatedly shown that this the present articled clerks, who have all latter is a mistaken notion. We hear also paid the duty. It appears that upwards of from some, that the Financial Plan being 500 are articled every year, and conse- on the whole satisfactory, they are reluctant quently there are 2,500 now serving their to oppose any part of it, and recommend clerkship. Another class consists of those that the instalment be accepted, with an who have completed their articles, but have intimation, that we claim to come again in not been examined. Others have been ex- the next Session for entire relief. Now the amined and admitted, but have not com- Chancellor of the Exchequer estimates the menced practice. Now none of these have total Income Tax paid by professions to be derived any advantage from the advance of 250,000l. Amongst those professions the the 1207. The Government have had their money for different periods of time-from a few days ago to the extent of five years. Are these several classes, who have paid upwards of 300,000l., to have no relief?

attorneys alone are subjected, in addition to their share of the tax, to an impost of 118,000l., levied without reference to their income. In fact, they not only pay three taxes, not payable by other professions, but are subject to a three-fold amount of Income Tax.

We happen to know that the articled clerks and those who are waiting for admissión, equally with the attorneys in ac- It has been said, that if the Tax on Attual practice, desire that the duty on the torneys be repealed, so must the licences of Annual Certificates should be totally re- brewers, distillers, &c.; but the latter are pealed, as a relief to the present and all not personal or poll taxes, but connected future practitioners; and if Parliament with the Excise, and regulated by the exshould hereafter deem it right to reduce or tent of the trade, with the power (which is repeal the duty on Articles of Clerkship, fully exercised) of transferring the burthen that the money should be applied towards to the consumers, and doubtless with some an improved system of education before en-profit superadded; whilst the attorneys are tering the Profession. bound by rigid rules in the amount of their charge, and cannot increase them because they are unjustly taxed.

Besides, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has lost sight of the difference in amount between England and Ireland,-where, in It appears that the Council of the Incororder to be admitted in the Superior Courts, porated Law Society, who have the charge it is both in town and country 1207.-and of the Bill by the common consent and reits amount in Scotland, where it is only 60%. quest of the attorneys and solicitors genein the Superior and 307. in the Local Courts. rally, have had several interviews with the Moreover, in England, the attorneys in the Noble Lord the Member for Middlesex, and County Palatine Courts pay only 607. other Members of Parliament favourable to These differences must of course be adjusted. the total remission of the duty; and a deWe understand that the Government are putation from the Society, consisting of not disposed at present to reduce the taxes Mr. Kinderley, the Vice-President, with on the Profession more than 50,000l., and Mr. Barnes, Mr. Cookson, and Mr. Leman, yet, after all, the relief which their Budget members of the Council, and Mr. Maugham, will afford to the community in general, the Secretary,-headed by Lord R. Grosthere will be a surplus of nearly half-a-mil- venor, Sir William Verney, Bart., and Mr. lion. And if the proposed tax on the suc- Fitzgerald, Q. C.,-attended the Chancellor cession to real property be carried, including of the Exchequer on Saturday last. From settlements, both of real and personal pro- what passed at this interview, and from inperty, there is good reason to believe that formation otherwise obtained, it has been in lieu of two there will be four millions of deemed expedient to postpone the second revenue derived from that source; and, reading of the Bill from Wednesday, the therefore, Parliament can be in no difficulty

* See page 411, ante.

Debates on the Budget.-Proposed Alteration in the Stamp Duties.

27th inst., to a future day, in order to take the sense of the House on the question of the total repeal of the tax, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposes his resolutions on the Stamp Duties.

This course is considered to be most consonant with Parliamentary practice, and it will have this advantage, that, if a majority for the total repeal of the tax shall be obtained, upon the resolutions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it may be anticipated that the question will be thereby finally settled; whereas, if the second reading of Lord Robert Grosvenor's Bill were carried, it would still, in all probability, be opposed by the Government on every subsequent stage.

In the present position of the question, the members of the Profession should use

their utmost endeavours, collectively and individually, to influence their representatives in Parliament to vote for the total repeal of this most unjust and oppressive tax; and they should individually write to all the members with whom they may be personally acquainted.

It seems evident from what has been already achieved in three several Sessions of Parliament-the majority in favour of the repeal advancing from 19 to 30 in former Sessions and in the present to 52,that if the attorneys and solicitors throughout the three kingdoms will again exert their influence-(why should they not redouble it)-there can be no doubt they will be successful.

PROPOSED ALTERATION IN THE
STAMP DUTIES.

THE sixth head of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer's Budget comprises the proposed
reductions on the Articles of Clerkship and
Annual Certificates of Attorneys, Receipt
Stamps, &c. They are as follow:-

No. I.-Stamps.

That from and after the 5th of July, 1853, in lieu of the stamp duties now payable upon or in respect of the several instruments, matters, and things hereinafter described, there shall be paid the several stamp duties hereinafter specified (that is to say) :

Upon every indenture, or other instrument or
writing of apprenticeship or clerkship (ex-
cept articles of clerkship to attorneys and
others, in order to admission in any Court,
or any office in any Court)-

Where no sum of money or value shall be
paid, given, assigned, conveyed, or secured
to or for the use or benefit of the master or
mistress, the duty of .
. 0 2 6
And upon or in respect of any assignment or

511

transfer of any such indenture, instrument, or writing as aforesaid, where there shall be no sum of money or value moving to any new master or mistress, the duty of 0 2 6 Upon articles of clerkship, or any contract whereby any person shall first become bound to serve as a clerk in order to his admission as an attorney or solicitor in any of her Majesty's Courts at Westminster, or in Ireland, or any other Court of Record in England holding pleas where the debt or damage amounts to 40s. ; or in order to his admission as a proctor in the High Court of Admiralty in England, or the Court of Admiralty in Ireland, or in any of the Ecclesiastical Courts in Doctors' Commons or in Ireland; or in order to his admission as a writer to the Signet, or as a solicitor, agent, or attorney in any of the Courts of Session, Justiciary, Exchequer, and Commission of Tiends in Scotland, the duty of. 80 00 Upon or in respect of any certificate to be taken out yearly by every person admitted as an attorney, solicitor, or proctor in any Court in England or Ireland, or as a writer to the Signet or as a solicitor, agent, attorney, or procurator in any Court in Scotland, and by every person admitted or enrolled as a notary public in England, Scotland, or Ireland

If

he shall reside within the city of London, or
city of Westminster, or within the limits of
the twopenny post in England, or within the
city or shire of Edinburgh, or in the city of
Dublin, or within three miles thereof: If he
shall have been admitted for the space of
three years or upwards
900

Or if he shall not have been admitted so
long
4 10 0

If he shall reside elsewhere and if he shall
have been admitted for the space of three
years or upwards
600

Or if he shall not have been admitted so long 3 0 0 Upon any policy of assurance or insurance, or other instrument by whatever name the same shall be called, whereby any insurance shall be made upon any life or lives, or upon any event or contingency relating to or depending upon any life or lives

Where the sum insured shall not exceed 50%. 006 And where the same shall exceed 50%. and shall

not exceed 500l., then for every 501.0 0 6 And for any fractional part of 50%. over and above the first, or any multiple of 50%., the further duty of 0 0 6 And where the same shall exceed 500l. and shall not exceed 1,000l., then for every 100%.

0 1 0

shall exceed 1,000l., then

And where the same
for every 1,000l..
0 10 0
And for every fractional part of 1,000l. over
and above the first, or any multiple of 1,000l.,
the further duty of

0 10 0

Upon any receipt or discharge given for or upon the payment of money, amounting to 21. or upwards

.00 1

512

Proposed Alteration in the Stamp Duties.-City Small Debts' Act.

For or in respect of any advertisement contained the action was fit to be brought in the Su

in or published with any gazette, or other newspaper, or any other periodical paper, or in or with any pamphlet or literary work 006 Upon any draft or order for the payment of any sum of money to the bearer on demand, and drawn upon any banker, or any person acting as a banker, who shall transact the business of a banker at any place where such draft or order shall be payable, such place being distant 15 miles or more from the place where such draft or order shall be issued, provided such draft or order shall bear date on or before the day on which the same shall be issued, and provided the same do not direct the payment to be made by bills or promissory notes, the duty of . 0 0 1

.

No. 2.-Newspaper Supplements.

No. 3.-Legacy Duty.

That the stamp duties payable by law upon, or for, or in respect of legacies, shall be granted and made payable upon, and for every succession to, the beneficial enjoyment of any real or personal estate, or to the receipt of any portion or additional portion of the income or profits thereof that may take place upon, or in consequence of the death of, any person, under whatever title, whether existing or future, such succession may be derived.

perior Court; and by the County Court Amendment Act (13 & 14 Vict. c. 61, s. 11), it is provided that plaintiffs recovering a sum not exceeding 207. in the Superior Courts which may be recovered in the County Courts, are not to have costs, and that it shall not be necessary to enter a suggestion to deprive the plaintiff of costs. The person who framed the City Small Debts' Act, apparently resolved to embody both those clauses, but in copying the 129th section of the Act 9 & 10 Vict. c. 95, he wilfully or inadvertently-we know not which substituted 501. for 20%., and the result is, that in every case in which the defendant "dwells or resides or carries on business or has em

That so much of any Act as imposes any ployment in the city of London or the stamp duty upon any sheet or piece of paper liberties thereof, at the time of action containing wholly advertisements, and which brought, or six months next before, or if shall be published with, and as a supplement the action arise either wholly or partly to, any newspaper chargeable with stamp duty, within the city," and where the verdict is shall be repealed. under 501., the plaintiff may be deprived of costs. As the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas truly observed, they were bound to take the Act as they found it, they had the Legislature, and could not even suggest no means of inquiring into the meaning of why a rule should prevail in the city of London differing from that established in every other part of the kingdom. There were two sections in the City Small Debts' Act apparently conflicting, but which at the same moment obtained the Royal Assent. It was impossible to say one was repealed by the other. Applying to the two sections the ordinary rules of construction, the consequence was, that when the verdict was under 50%. the plaintiff lost his costs, if a suggestion was entered; and if the verdict was under 207., the plaintiff lost his costs without any suggestion being entered.

CITY SMALL DEBTS' ACT.

VERDICT BETWEEN 201. AND 501. THE inconsistencies of recent legislation are strikingly illustrated by a case, a short note of which appeared in our last publication. A plaintiff, not residing in the city of London, sued a defendant who did reside in the city upon a bill of exchange for 281., in the Court of Common Pleas, and obtained a verdict, and the Court of Common Pleas has decided, that under the City Small Debts Act (14 & 15 Vict. c. lxxvii.), which is a local Act, the defendant is entitled to enter a suggestion to deprive the plaintiff of costs.

As most of our readers are aware, under the general County Courts' Act (9 & 10 Vict. c. 95, s. 129), in actions brought in the Superior Courts founded on contract, where a plaint might be entered in the County Court, if the plaintiff has a verdict for less than twenty pounds the plaintiff has no costs, unless the Judge certifies that

1 Castrick v. Page, 45 Leg. Obs. 504.

The practical effect of this decision is, to create another anomaly, establishing a rule with respect to parties within the jurisdiction of the City Small Debts Court, differing from that which prevails in every other portion of the kingdom. In every case in which a sum is sought to be recovered above 207., but which may be less than 50%., wherever the plaintiff resides, it will be necessary to inquire, in the first instance, if the defendant is within the jurisdiction of the City Small Debts' Court, and if the defendant-or should there be several, one of the defendants-has dwelt, carried on busi2 See the sections referred to, ante, page 504, n. 2.

Law of Attorneys and Solicitors.—Questions at the Examination.

ness, or had any employment in the city of
London at any time within six months before
action brought. In any of these events, the
plaintiff suing in the Superior Courts is liable
to be deprived of costs, unless the Judge at
Nisi Prius certifies! The judicial decision to
which we have referred appears to have pro-
ceeded upon principles not to be impugned:
the legislation upon which it is founded is
open to many and grave objections.

LAW OF ATTORNEYS AND SO-
LICITORS.

SUPPOSED DISABILITY OF SOLICITOR TO
ACCEPT RETAINER.

IN a suit by an infant next of kin for the administration of the estate of an intestate, a motion was made on behalf of the widow and administratrix and her second husband, to restrain Mr. Bashan from acting as solicitor to the next friend of the infant plaintiffs, on the ground that he had acted previously as solicitor to the administratrix.

In support of the motion, Davies v. Clough, 8 Sim. 2, was cited, and it was contended that the administratrix had a right to have her confidential communica tions with her solicitor protected. For the respondents, the case of Parratt v. Parratt, 2 De G. & S. 259, was referred to.

513

mon Law Procedure Act as to writs of summons.

6. In case where personal service of a writ of summons cannot be effected, what step is the plaintiff's attorney to take to enable him to

proceed?

7. In case of non-appearance to a writ specially indorsed, what steps are necessary to enable the plaintiff to sign judgment? and when may he issue execution?

8. How many days' notice of trial is required? and is there any difference between town and country causes?

9. What is the meaning of withdrawing a juror? and what is the effect of it?

10. How soon after trial may the successful party enter up judgment?

11. Is there any, and what, period within which a debt is recoverable?

12. Is a verbal promise sufficient to take a case out of the Statute of Limitations, or must the plaintiff be prepared with any further evidence?

13. How soon should an application to set aside proceedings for irregularity be made? and what act of the party applying debars him

from relief?

14. In a case where a rule is obtained to show cause why proceedings should not be set aside for irregularity with costs, and the rule rection as to costs, what becomes of them? is discharged generally without an express di

15. Is a party, taking out a summons before a Judge, entitled to an order on the return thereof, or must he take any further step?

The Vice-Chancellor said,"My opinion is, that the principle laid down in Cholmondeley v. Clinton, 19 Ves. 261, does not apply to this case. I think that there is no ground upon which the Court ought to interfere to prevent this gentleman from communicating to the next of kin what took place between him and the administratrix in the course of the administration of the estate. I consider this to be the right conclusion in the present instance, though assenting, as I do en-vived, and by what process ? tirely, to Lord Cholmondeley's case."

16. Before what hour must services of

pleadings, notices, summonses, &c., be made? and what is the consequence, if made after that hour?

17. In what two cases are rules for attachments absolute in the first instance?

The motion was refused without costs. Hutchinson v. Newark 3 De G. & S. 727.

QUESTIONS AT THE EXAMINATION.

Easter Term, 1853.

I. PRELIMINARY.

1. WHERE, and with whom, did you serve your clerkship?

2. State the particular branch or branches of the law to which you have principally applied yourself during your clerkship.

3. Mention some of the principal law books which you have read and studied.

4. Have you attended any, and what, law lectures?

II. COMMON AND STATUTE LAW, AND PRAC-
TICE OF THE COURTS.

5. State some of the alterations by the Com

18. If a witness do not attend upon his subpoena, can he be proceeded against? and if so, in what way?

19. At what time must a judgment be re

III. CONVEYANCING.

20. Suppose an estate limited by deed to A. for life with remainder to the heirs of his body; what estate does A. take?

21. Mention the principal parts of a conveyance in fee by a mortgagor and mortgagee to a purchaser.

22. Is there any and what difference between the covenants for a title on a mortgage and on a sale?

23. Tenant for life grants leases under a power. Are the rents apportionable at his death?

24. In case of a doubt as to the proper stamp to be put on a deed, what course would you recommend to be adopted for your client's security?

25. State the requisites for the due execution of a will, and are they the same both with regard to real and personal estate?

26. What effect has marriage upon a will? 27. A father by his will gives a legacy of

Questions at the Examination.

47. What is the nature and effect of an in- cided?