clerk did not expect to get 2 per cent. of the fee paid to his employer. Fusion would not be brought about in the immediate future possibly, but he was of opinion that it was bound to come. Of course, the hostility of the Bench and the Bar had to be taken into consideration; but, sooner or later, that would have to give way, and the general interest of the public would prevail.

Mr. Matthews expressed himself as entirely against fusion at the present time. It might possibly set right many of the abuses which had been mentioned, but litigation had been principally referred to. The point of view of the conveyancer and the solicitor who attended to that sort of work had not been touched upon. The greatest volume of the work of the solicitor was the giving advice and general practice dealing with all sorts of subjects. It was in the client's interest that the solicitor should be able to choose any counsel he thought best for the particular matter in hand. Nothing had been said as to how that worked in America. It seemed to him that if a firm had several barristers as members preference would naturally be given to those particular barristers. The firm would not feel inclined to send business outside their office if they could help it. How was it possible, without losing the clients, to consult other firms about their business? So far as he could see at the moment, fusion would not be to the advantage of the public.

Mr. Lewis said that it was stated at the Law Society meeting that at one time the English system prevailed in Australia, and that the new system had proved to be of great service. He asked what was meant by fusion? Was it the entire interchangeability of the two classes so that the solicitor might do the work of the barrister if he chose and vice versá? That was how it appeared to his mind, and that there ought to be no reason why the solicitor and the barrister should not enter into partnership. That was, he thought, most important. At the Law Society meeting an amendment was proposed having for its object to ask only for the right of audience, but that was outvoted. It was the practice for budding barristers in many cases to go into solicitors' offices for a few months, and many budding solicitors went into barristers' chambers in the same way, and that was in a small way fusion. The real objection was that fusion might tend to split the Profession into the solicitor advocate and the solicitor non-advocate. It might be necessary that a firm should have in partnership counsel who would attend to advocacy. It might be said that many solicitors would not care to act as advocates, that advocacy was a lifelong experience; but the solicitor should have the opportunity of appearing in the courts if he was desirous of taking advantage of it, and it was desirable also that he might be elevated to the Bench.

Mr. H. Elwell remarked that the argument chiefly urged against fusion was that it would not be for the benefit of the public; but the public wanted their work done expeditiously, and they wanted to know the limit of their liability. Fusion would help that in every way.

The Master stated that the matter would be discussed by the court of the company, who, knowing the views of the members, would probably themselves express some views with regard to it.

Mr. Walker asked that there should be something more definite as to the meaning of fusion.

The Master observed that they must all feel that they did not know what fusion meant. The word had been used by Mr. Gisborne in his resolution at the Law Society meeting. He thought that what was really desired by those who had spoken in its favour was that there should be one Legal Profession which should not have two sides to it. That was apparently the wish of the meeting and of other people elsewhere, and, if that were brought about, it would in the end, there was very little doubt, lead to less expense in litigation and other matters. The solicitor side was governed by certain Acts of Parliament as to fees and remuneration, whereas the other side was not. When the two were united together he did not know what would happen. Somehow or other, he took it, there would be some sort of scale of remuneration, and there would be some sort of responsibility. At present everything the solicitor did came before the Law Society, the Master of the Rolls, and so on; what the Bar did went before the Bar Council, and no one knew what was the result.

Mr. Walker hoped there would be a further opportunity given to the members of discussing the subject.

UNITED LAW SOCIETY.

A MEETING of the above society was held at the Middle Temple Common Room on Monday, the 24th Feb., at 7.30 p.m. Mr. T. Jameson moved: "That this House is of opinion that the formation of a League of Nations is the most effective method of preventing future war." Mr. Neville Tebbutt opposed. There also spoke: Messrs. J. R. Yates, G. W. Fisher, E. J. Harvey (visitor), R. Walker, S. E. Redfern, and C. P. Blackwell. Mr. Jameson replied. The motion was carried by nine votes to four.

HALLILAY'S DIGEST OF THE EXAMINATION QUESTIONS, being a Digest of the Questions asked at the Final Pass Examination of Articled Clerks on all the Subjects from the Commencement of the Examinations, with Answers; also a Time Table in an Action; and the Mode of Proceeding, and Directions to be attended to at the Examination, with the Rule of the Honours Examination. By RICHARD HALLILAY, Esq. Seventeenth Edition. Demy 8vo. price 18s., post free.-FIELD & QUEEN (HORACE COX) LTD., "Law Times Office, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C 4.-[ADVT.]

LAW STUDENTS' JOURNAL.

To SECRETARIES.-Reports of meetings should reach this office not later than first post Thursday morning to ensure insertion in the current number.

LONDON UNIVERSITY.

SECRET TREATIES.

SIR JOHN MACDONELL, K.C.B. (Quain Lecturer on Comparative Law) delivered the first of a course of lectures upon "Secret Treaties and their Future," at the London School of Economics, Clare Market, on Thursday, the 21st ult. He observed that, according to the view of many persons, this subject, which had a long past, could have no future, and ought to be as quickly as possible forgotten. It was predicted that there would be no place for the favourite device of diplomatists by which nations were entangled in mischievous, it might be ruinous, engagements. It was said that the Covenant of the League of Nations, art. 23, effectually guarded against such secrecy by providing that all treaties or international engagements between the members of the league were to be registered, and published as soon as possible, failing which they were to be null and void. The lecturer pointed out that this article, couched in loose and popular language, was ambiguous and, as it stood, objectionable. It was in direct conflict with the United States Constitution. It was also opposed to the terms of the Constitutions of some other States which declared, or implied, that treaties were not to be divulged where their publication would be dangerous to the State. The wording of art. 23 would include the most trivial arrangements between States, and would make it incumbent upon the members of the league to disclose treaties intended for purposes of war, the very object of which would be defeated by disclosure. The words of the article included too much in one direction, too little in another; for they did not extend to treaties between members outside the league or between its members and outsiders. Then, 88 drawn the article W&S not quite intelligible. The penalty of " null and void" was appro priate in the case of agreements between private individuals who resorted to a court of law, which would refuse to enforce a contract declared to be null and void; but the Covenant of the League of Nations provided no tribunal for enforcing certain treaties and refusing to enforce certain others. Even if, in its final form, the articles in the Treaty of Peace dealing with this subject were not open to some of these objections, he feared that some of the motives which had led to secret treaties in the past would still exist. Only recently there had come to light a whole group of secret treaties to which the parties were Great Britain, France, Russia, and Italy. The lecturer then proceeded to divide his subject into four divisions: First, secret treaties, in the sense of their being concealed from any but the parties to them or their advisers; secondly, secret treaties in the sense that there were undisclosed articles controlling or modifying the published texts. Bat, he added, there was a third form of concealment much more common even than the first two; a form which might long survive, art. 23 of the League of Nations notwithstanding, and which the wording of that article did not touch-viz., the habitual employment in treaties of terms and phrases which concealed the intentions of the parties, if they had any clear intentions, or, as was often the case, the absence of clear intentions of any kind. This form of secrecy was much more common in these days than the first two. Having analysed the many reasons which induced diplomatists to resort to this form of secrecy, the lecturer also illustrated its frequent use, even in the most important international documents. It had been the aim of diplomatists to construct a kind of smooth, limpid language which, gratifying to the ear, in fact committed them to nothing definite. It was not without significance that a diplomatist was the author of the saying that "Language was intended to conceal thought." Then there was a fourth form of secrecy, or, to be more accurate, obscurity. There was no process by which obsolete treaties were weeded out; no process corresponding to that by which old laws were repealed and inconsistencies between them harmonised. Referring to the history of treaties, the lecturer said that it was a mistake to suppose that in very early times secrecy prevailed. There was often good reason for publicity. The parties to early treaties were often not satisfied with the seals or signatures of monarchs; they required other substantially avowed guarantees for the performance of promises, and sometimes treaties were registered. The perfection of diplomacy attained by Venice, and imitated by other States, led to a change in this respect, and this change was continued and accentuated in the golden age of diplomacy, that of Louis XIV. The lecturer also described the provisions in the Constitutions of the chief modern States as to the validity of any publication of treaties. He warned his hearers against attaching too much efficacy to mere publication. A treaty was generally only the last step in a long series of negotiations before the conclusion of which the Governments concerned might be compromised. They had either raised or encouraged hopes which it would be culpable to disappoint. They had probably committed the country to a line of action from which it could not well retreat. The real safety lay elsewhere than in mere machinery for registration; in the creation of a different spirit from that which had hitherto reigned in diplomacy.

(Q. 15.) INCREASE OF RENT, &c. (WAR RESTRICTIONS) ACT.-The last sentence of my answer referred only to the case in point. Under seot, 2 (2), if either the standard rent or the rateable value does not exceed the statutory limit the Act applies. In this case the rateable value appears to be less than the limit, so the Act applies and the amount of the standard rent is irrelevant. I know of no decision on the point, and the words of the section seem to me so clear in this respect as not to admit of argument. GLAUCOPIS.

(Q. 19.) MORTGAGEE and MORTGAGOR-EXCEPTION OF MINERALS.— The usual form " mentioned would appear apt in a case where the minerals were reserved to the mortgagor by the mortgage, but not otherwise. If the minerals were conveyed to the mortgagee by the mortgage, the form suggested by the querist would appear to be correct and necessary. If in the latter case the "usual form " were adopted, I think the legal estate in the minerals would, after the joint conveyance to the purchaser, remain in the mortgagee subject to the equitable right of the mortgagor to call for a conveyance thereof to himself. GLAUCOPIS.

(Q. 21.) WILL-REAL PROPERTY-SALE.-I gather that the trustees are the same persons as the executors. If the executors have not expressly or impliedly assented to the limitation to the widow they can sell ex officio. If they have so assented, I think that, there being no present trust for sale, the widow can sell as life tenant and the trustees (with future trust for sale) can give a good discharge for the purchase money. But if any doubt be felt, it seems quite clear that all parties interested—namely, the executors, the trustees (if different from the executors), the widow, and the children-could sell and convey jointly. GLAUCOPIS.

find the following: "These offices were filled by persons who were placed there by influential friends without regard to their qualifications for the particular office, and they, as solicitors' managing clerks, often had to attend before persons who were inexperienced in the law and who were sometimes incompetent to deal with the particular matter in hand." From his wide experience, "Clerk in Chancery Chambers" should know that he should not epitomise a statement and use the epitome as an unqualified quotation. In my address I was not making allegations against officials as suggested by "Clerk in Chancery Chambers." I was rather attacking the existing system of making appointments, and I very much doubt whether the writer of the letter (whatever his qualifications) could deny that the post now held by him was secured only by the assistance of some infiuential friend. It might interest "Clerk in Chancery Chambers" to know that for the past thirty years I have had the management of the Chancery work in the office in which I am engaged, and I am therefore fully conversant with the Chancery Chambers. I readily acknowledge that in those chambers there are officials who have had experience in solicitors' offices, who are thoroughly competent to do the work allotted to them, and who are always ready to express their views on different points of practice. "Clerk in Chancery Chambers," however, seems to admit that nearly one-half of the staff have had no such experience, which admission is a sufficient justification for the statement made by me at the meeting. I would, moreover, wish to point out that the Chancery Chambers do not constitute the whole of the legal offices. S. CHAS. LEWIS (late President).

Referring to your correspondent "Clerk in Chancery Chambers,' I would like to add one word of protest and in opposition to the way these vacancies are filled-viz., by girls and young married ladies of no legal experience, and in some cases by barristers' clerks who have very little or no experience of matters in relation to practice which the solicitor's clerk has to master, and in both instances I (no doubt like many others) have had to bow to the ruling of both the above occupants, who much like to assert authority. I am not, in making the above statement, doing so with any disrespect to the persons referred to, principally on the K.B. side, but the fact remains, and therefore it is unfair to the older and qualified men who should be allowed to shars in the honours now enjoyed by a "Clerk in Chancery Chambers" and his competent associates; but no one can doubt that they all have or had a friend at court-hence their now being duly installed. A SOLICITOR'S CLERK.

THE NEW PUBLIC TRUSTEE.-I have seen in your columns and else. where somewhat adverse comments on the appointment of Mr. Simpkin as Public Trustee which appear to be based on the assumption that his appointment was due to his record at the Chancery Bar. Those of us who have the pleasure of knowing Mr. Simpkin personally entertained a very high opinion of his work and prospects at the Bar; it is not in this sphere, however, that he has won the confidence of those in high places, but by his work of initiation and organisation in connection with the blockade, which those who know the facts are alone able to appreciate. 11, New-court, Carey-street. J. H. STAMP.

CORRESPONDENCE.

This department being open to free discussion on all Professional topics, the Editor does not hold himself responsible for any opinions or statements contained in it.

INCOME TAX-TRUSTEES.-I am grateful to "Schedule D" for the interesting question he has raised, and for bis kindly reference to me. An authoritative answer is, so far as I know, lacking, but I have no hesitation in forecasting its purport. The tenant for life is liable for the tax assessed in respect of interest which accrued wholly during his lifetime (irrespective of the manner or date of assessment or payment of the tax), and for a due proportion of the tax assessed in respect of any interest which accrued partly before and partly after his death. My reasons for this answer are as follows: (1) The treatment of interest paid in 1917-18 as income of 1918-19 for purposes of taxation is pure fiction, and the tax paid (whatever be the mode of calculation or the date of collection) is paid in respect of that interest notwithstanding such fiction. The very wording of the Income Tax Act 1918, sched. D, case 3, 2, supports this view, I think. (2) The trustees, being subject to a prospective claim for tax in respect of an item of interest, may, and should, retain out of such item sufficient to meet the tax, and (with great respect for the view expressed in the querist's penultimate paragraph) I would defy any beneficiary to recover payment of money so retained. (3) A tenant for life to whom (as is often done) the trustees permit payment of interest direct is personally assessable to tax on all interest accrued in his lifetime. Why should it alter his accountability for the amount of tax if his income pass through the hands of the trustees? Non sequitur.

GLAUCOPIS.

VACANCIES IN LEGAL OFFICES.-Referring to the letter of "Clerk in Chancery Chambers" in your issue of the 22nd Feb, would you kindly allow me to say that in my address at the meeting of the Solicitors' Managing Clerks' Association I did not make the general statement attributed to me by the writer of the letter? If that gentleman would take the trouble to refer again to your report of the meeting, he would

LEGAL OBITUARY.

Judge WILLIAM DENMAN BENSON, County Court Judge of Sheffield since 1907, died at his London residence on the 20th ult., aged seventy. He was the second son of General Benson, and grandson of the late Mr. Justice Wightman. He was educated at Eton and at Balliol College, Oxford, and was called by the Inner Temple in 1874, joining the South Wales and Chester Circuit. He was also revising barrister and counsel to the Post Office, and was made a County Court judge in Feb. 1907.

Sir ANDREW H. L. FRASER, K.C.S.I., LL.D, barrister-at-law, late Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, died in Edinburgh on Wednesday, aged seventy. Sir Andrew was called by the Middle Temple in 1874.

Mr. FRANCIS SPRANGER GREEN, solicitor, of the firm of Messrs. Green, Moberly, and Green, solicitors, of Southampton, died on the 11th ult., aged fifty. Mr. Green was admitted in 1892. He was & son of the late Mr. H. G. Green, of Laverton House, Southampton, the head of the firm, and was a member of the Law Society and of the Solicitors' Benevolent Association.

Mr. JOHN O'CONNOR POWER, barrister-at-law, died on the 21st ult.,aged seventy-four. Mr. Power was called by the Middle Temple in 1881, and joined the South-Eastern Circuit.

Dr. CHARLES HENRY WISE, barrister-at-law, formerly deputy coroner for one of the divisions of Essex, died on Monday,at Launceston, aged sixty-four. Dr. Wise was called by the Inner Temple in 1900, and was a magistrate for Essex.

FORMS OF ORIGINATING SUMMONS AND PROCEEDINGS CONNECTED THEREWITH, WITH NOTES.-By GEORGE NICHOLS MARCY and OSWALD R. A. SIMPKIN, M.A, of Lincoln's-inn, Barristers-at-Law. In this Edition (the Second) the subject-matter has been entirely recast, with a view to a more orderly arrangement, and with the addition of various new forms. The work does not pretend to be exhaustive, as many of the statutory Originating Summonses are of rare occurrence, whilst the others, such as Summonses for determining questions of construction, are obviously susceptible of infinite variations. Price 6s., post free.FIELD & QUEEN (HORACE Cox) LTD., "Law Times" Office, Windsor House, Bream's-buildings, E.C. 4.—[Advt.]

HUDDLESTON. On the 14th ult., at his residence, The High Holme,
Louth, Lincs, Thomas Roderick Huddleston, Captain, U.S.A.
Army, and Attorney and Counsellor-at-law of Minneapolis, Min-
nesota, aged 87 years.
LETHBRIDGE. On the 16th ult., at Exbourne Manor, Exbourne, Devon,
Sir Roper Lethbridge, K.C.I.E., D.L, J.P., aged 78.
LLOYD.-On the 19th ult, at his residence, 51, Camden-sq, N.W.,
Arthur Lawrence Lloyd, Solicitor, elder son of the late Arthur and
Sarah Lloyd, of 51, Camden-sq, in his 66th year. Buried Feb. 26
in Highgate Old Cemetery.

ROWDEN. On the 12th ult., at Holybourne Vicarage, Alton, Hants, Aldred William Rowden, K.C., Bencher of Lincoln's-inn, in his 70th year.

SHADWELL. On the 13th ult., at 103, Banbury-rd, Oxford. Charles Lancelot Shadwell, D.C.L., late Provost of Oriel, in his 79th year.

GAZETTES.

Professional Partnerships Dissolved.

GAZETTE, FEB. 25.

COMPSTON, GERALD EDMONDS; HAYDON, ROBERT ALEXANDER; and PEROWNE, EDWARD STANLEY MOULD, solicitors, 3, Mincing-la, E.C. 3, under style of Rollit, Sons, and Compston, and Perowne and Co. Jan. 24. G. E. Compston and R. A. Haydon will continue to carry on business at above address under former style of Rollit, Sons, and Compston; E. S. M. Perowne on his own account at 19, Coleman-st, E.C. 2, under style of Perowne and Co.

SMITH, ARTHUR WILLIAM, and HILL, ARTHUR PERCY, solicitors, Altrincham, under style of Laycock, Smith, and Hill. Feb. 6. Debts by A. P. Hill, who will carry on the business at same address under style of Laycock and Hill.

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ASPINALL'S

MARITIME LAW CASES

(NEW SERIES). EDITED BY

JOHN BRIDGE ASPINALL, Barrister-at-Law.

Containing all the Decisions on Maritime Law in all the Superior Courts.

N.B.-This is a continuation of the "Maritime Law Cases," placed under responsible editorship, and will be cited as "Aspinall's Maritime Law Cases" (Asp. Mar. Law Cas.). It will be found to contain all the cases on questions of Maritime Law decided by all the various courts up to the date of publication, including Marine Insurance Cases. Quarterly, price 58. 6d. and will be sent free by post to subscribers. Vols. 1 to 11, in half calf, price 24 28. per vol.

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Bankrupts.

THE BANKRUPTCY ACT 1914.

RECEIVING ORDERS
GAZETTE, FEB. 21.

To surrender at the High Court of Justice in Bankruptcy.. BAKER, GEORGE E., late Jules Hotel, Jermyn-st. Feb. 18. GREEN AND GREEN, late Beech-st, Barbican, blouse manufacturers. Feb. 19. MIDDLETON, CHARLES LEONARD, late Weston-grdns, Ealing. Feb. 19.

To surrender at their respective District Courts.
BRITTLE, HENRY, Newport, Mon., grocer. Ct. Newport, Mon. Feb. 18.
DALE, WILLIAM HENRY, late Bury, furniture dealer. Ct. Bolton. Feb. 17.
GREGORY BROTHERS AND SON, Kingston-upon-Hull, wholesale provision
merchants. Ct. Kingston-upon-Hull. Feb. 18.

HAZARD, HAROLD ROYCE, Woodfield-av, Streatham. Ct. Wandsworth.
Feb. 18.
HILL, HENRY WILLIAM, late Battersea-rise, instrument maker. Ct.
Wandsworth. Feb. 18.
THOMAS, THOMAS, Fochriw, late newsagent. Ct. Merthyr Tydfil.
Feb. 17.

GAZETTE, FEB. 25.

To surrender at their respective District Courts. BELART, JEAN, late Huddersfield, consulting chemist. Ct. Leeds. Feb. 20.

ADJUDICATION S.

GAZETTE, FEB. 21.

BLENKIRON, ALFRED VICTOR (described in receiving order as Alfred Blenkiron), Royal Aero Club, Clifford-st, Bond-st, officer in His Majesty's Army. Ct. High Court. Feb. 17.

BOON, THOMAS, Solon-rd, Brixton, house furnisher. Ct. High Court. Feb. 18.

BRITTLE, HENRY, Newport, Mon., grocer. Ct. Newport, Mon. Feb. 18.
DALE, WILLIAM HENRY, late Bury, furniture dealer. Ct. Bolton. Feb. 17.
HEATHER, WALTER SAUNDERS, Rugby, blood stock breeder. Ct. Coventry.
Feb. 19.

HILL, HENRY WILLIAM, late Battersea-rise, instrument maker. Ct.
Wandsworth. Feb. 18.
THOMAS, THOMAS, Fochriw, late newsagent. Ct. Merthyr Tydfil. Feb. 17.
TYLER, KATHLEEN (commonly known as Kathleen Wilson, and trading
and described in receiving order as K. Wilson and Co.), Queen-st,
Cheapside. Ct. High Court. Feb. 17.
Ct. Burnley.

WOOLLEY, WALTER, Nelson, general produce merchant.

Feb 19.

GAZETTE, FEB. 25.

BELART, JEAN, late Huddersfield, consulting chemist. Ct. Leeds. Feb. 20. WINNETT, JAMES WILLIAM (described in receiving order as James Winnett), Westcliff-on-Sea, civil engineer. Ct. Chelmsford. Feb. 20.

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS.

BIRTH.

HAYMAN.-On the 17th ult., at the Dudley Nursing Home, Hyde-ter, Leeds, the wife of Perceval M. C. Hayman, Captain, East Lancashire Regiment, and of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-law, of a son.

DEATHS.

ACLAND-On the 18th ult., at Killerton, Sir Charles Thomas Dyke Acland, Bart., aged 76.

BONSEY. On the 13th ult., at 9, Windsor-cres, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Helen Jane, the beloved wife of Judge Bonsey

CALLAGHAN. On the 16th ult., at 1174, Earl's Court-rd, S.W., Kenneth Ford Callaghan, of the Middle Temple, aged 29 years.

CONYBEARE. On the 18th ult., at Brogueswood, Biddenden, Charles Augustus Vansittart Conybeare, Barrister, aged 65.

Fox On the 13th ult., at Jeune House, Henry Elliott Fox, late District Registrar of Salisbury, aged 75.

HOCKING. On the 15th ult.,, Arthur Vivian, Barrister-at-law, of 1, Ravensdale-mansions, Harringay Park, N. 8, aged 29.

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