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    No. 397, October 31a 1857.] THE LEADER, ...

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    ENCUMBERED ESTATES REPORT. When an exper...

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    YELLOW PETER AT ST. THOMAS. The West Ind...

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    Honest Lawyers. Tiie Trite Old Proverb A...

    tongue would as soon think of sending us his wig as those guineas which he has not earned . Nay , if we were to remonstrate and to characterize his conduct in the manner which , to our inexperience , it seems to deserve , that ingenious ornament to the British Bar will tell us that the ten guineas was not the price of his certain attendance to our case , that it was only the value of the chance of his being able to be present . He will logically observe that

    it is impossible ior him . to be in two places at the same time , and that if his presence be required in the Court of Common Pleas at " Westminster , he cannot at the same time be representing you at the Guildhall sittings . This is perfectly true , but our complaint is not that he found it impossible to comethough that was a grievous hurt to us- —but that he does 3 iot return the money which he took for cominsr . As for the statement that

    we have only purchased tlie chance of his presence , we have no hesitation in saying that if Silvebtongtte ' s clerk were shrewdly examined upon the point , it would he found that we had , in truth , purchased the certainty of his absence ; that it was perfectly clear at the time our brief was accepted and the guineas pouched , that the learned gentleman could

    not , by any possibility , attend to our case . We say advisedly , that there are gentlemen iu JVEr . Creasy ' s branch of the profession who undertake business which they well know they cannot execute . In one case , the facts of which have been communicated to us , a common lawyer of some eminence accepted a fee of five-and-twenty guineas to attend and cross-examine witnesses before one of the

    Masters in Chancery . Availing himself of a prolonged examination-in-chief , he prevailed upon his client to consent to a short absence , on the plea of an appointment at chambers , and went away up oh the solemn promise to return within the half-hour . He never returned ; the attorney had to conduct the cross-examination himself ; after which he went to "Westminster and found the truant

    counsel leading a case in one of the courts there ! Now , if Mr . Pater is not to be allowed to talk of 'the honour of a gentleman ' what shall be said of the learned counsel who can play such a trick as this ? But many of the learned gentlemen consider that if they provide a substituta they

    have discharged every obligation which the most chivalrous honesty could impose . Here again we must differ from them . The substitute is scarcely ever so good as the person he represents . Generally speaking , it is a young and as yet briefless barrister , who hopes to get into practice by holding briefs for some more fortunate man . This is a

    good advertisement for him , and on that consideration ho is content that he who has done none of the work shall pocket all the fee . It is understood , however , that if the junior who ' devils' ( as it is termed ) manifests any signs of ability , it is not found convenient to employ him further . The senior fears the rivalry of his gratuitous substitute . ¦ It is only fair to admit that a certain amount of the evil which wo hero complain

    of arises from the public themselves . It is a positiyo fact that some suitors will retain counsel , not with the view of having him in their cause , but to prevent tho other sido from securing him . Barristers have therefore work thrust upon them which they know they are not expected to perform , and this tonds to aggravate tho loose principles which govern their intorcourso with their elienfcfl .

    The remedy for this disgraceful blot upon Our forensic syatom must proceed partly from tlu ^ clients and partly fro in tho Bar itself . If fcho former would " rosolvo to divide tho buainesH more equally , instead of

    running , like sheep , after a few men , and if the latrfcer would revise the etiquette now in vogue amongst them , much might be done . The benchers of the leading Inns of Court should take the matter in hand , and make a rule for the return of the whole , or , at any rate , a part of the fee when the work has not been performe d . It is impossible to

    misconceive the result of this if wisely carried out ; the legal machine would get through more work and do it better ; the tone of the Bar would be raised , and perhaps even-we might approacli the realization of that mythical notion faintly indicated in the title to this article — we might get a few Honest Lawyers .

    No. 397, October 31a 1857.] The Leader, ...

    No . 397 , October 31 a 1857 . ] THE LEADER , 1047

    Encumbered Estates Report. When An Exper...

    ENCUMBERED ESTATES REPORT . When an experiment has been in operation for several years , it becomes desirable to test its advantages by some tangible facts or visible results . We have before us the seventh annual Ueport and summary of proceedings in the Encumbered Estates Courts , and from it we glean some curious and not unimportant statistics . The figures extend over a period commencing with the filing of the first petition on the 25 th of October , 1849 , and ending with the 31 st of August , 1857 , the concluding day of the seventh session of the commission . We learn from the Blue Book that -within this time 4164 petitions , including those for partitions and exchanges , as well as for sales , have been presented ; that the number of conveyances executed by the commissioners have amounted to 7283 , whilst 10 , 327 lots have been disposed of ; that is to say , by public auction in court , 7270 ; by provincial auction , 1436 ; and by private contract , 1021 . The expedition with which work has been got through in these courts is remarkably , evidenced b } r

    the fact that , when they were first instituted , 1267 cases were hopelessly pending iu the Court of Chaucery . And not only have these been long ago arranged and settled ; the large number we have already mentioned lias been disposed of , and the documents and muniments of title connected with tliem safely deposited in the archives of the Keeord-office .

    One feature in the purchases may be noticed specially as indicating the comparative wealth and independence of Ireland . The proportion of Irish new proprietors is very great . While 7180 estates , or parts of estates , have "been bought by Irishmen , only 309 English , Scotch , and foreign purchasers—less than one-twentieth of the whole number—figure upon the list .

    The gross proceeds of the sale of the encumbered estates , up to the last day of the session , amounted to 20 , 475 , 956 ? . 8 s . 4 d ., of which sum 13 , 94 < 1 , 2 O 7 Z . 10 . 3 . was obtained by public auction in court ; 2 , 821 , 381 Z . by provincial auction ; and the rest , 3 , 7 l 0 , 367 Z . 18 s . 4 d ., was obtained by private contract . The amount

    of purchase-money paid by English , Scotch , and foreign purchasers boars but a small proportion to the gross sum expended , being only 2 , 820 , 2957 . New vigour has been thrown into the life of Irish industry and enterprise , n «\ v capital introduced , a new stimulus given to agriculture , now beauty and prosperity created over the length and breadth of tho

    land . Tho beneficial results of tho operation of tho Encumbered Estates Courts arc- thus shown , nof ; only in the figures and sums above set down , but in the improved condition of tho country at large . On this oueournginy picture it is not our purpose ) to dwell ; wo have merely offered a nummary of tho businosH transacted in these courts wince their establishment . In 231 ) 5 strong-boxes deposited in tho lioeord-oflieo may bo seen and examined the 250 , 000 documents and munimenta of titlo giving validity to tho

    possession of the properties which have recently passed through the hands of the Encumbered Estates Commissioners .

    Yellow Peter At St. Thomas. The West Ind...

    YELLOW PETER AT ST . THOMAS . The West Indian , steamers are continually bringing home the yellow fever . The reason seems to be that they make the island of St . Thomas tlieir rendezvous , the yellow fever being there a chronic disease . That entrepot is a hotbed of infection . The Orinoco last summer left it -with twenty-eight cases on

    board , ten having previously proved fatal . Five or six : coal vessels had previously been stripped of their crew by the fever . Is this to go on ? Need it go on ? On the contrary , it is a purely unnecessary evil , and a very simple process would abolish it . Why are the packets sent into the fever region of St . Thomas ? There are hundreds of bavs in our

    own healthy "Virgin Islands which are rarely , if ever , visited by yellow fever , adapted for the safe anchorage of the largest of the steam fleet . Provisions in abundance are close at hand . Indeed , St . Thomas is supplied direct from Tortola . A receiving-vessel might be anchored at a convenient distance off the coal-yard . at St . Thomas , and all passengers from Europe should be transferred to

    her . In ten hours this could be accomplished ; certainly , within a day the entire cargo and passengers could be delivered . The outward boat need never go near the coal wharf . With her fires banked she might go straight back east as far as Virgin Oorda Sound , a distance of from thirty to thirty-five miles , or to a nearer anchorage in the roads , at Tortola , or to Norman ' s Isle , four miles to the south . A tender should run from St . Thomas to

    complete loading homewards , and at Tortola a small coal wharf or hulk might be established for the exclusive service of the European packet . "We cannot conceive why St . Thomas , without provisions , but never without fever , hsould be selected as the nucleus for passengers from all parts of the West Indies . In the Virgin Islands beef , mutton , poultry ,

    and fish may be obtained in any quantitiesas we have said 3 they supply the locality favoured by perpetual traffic and pestilence . If , however , . there aro reasons against them , St . John , although a Danish island , with inferior anchorage and less regular supplies , is , at all events , preferable to the town where the Orinoco and other packets embark their batches of disease . Tortola ia five miles

    north , and sixteen miles oast of St . Thomas , a chaiu of islands ) stretching between them , and as far as Virgin Gorda Sound , thus intercepting tho Atlantic breezes . The navigation presents no difficulties ; but , if necessary , vessels of any draught find safe auchorage in eleven fathoms water to leeward of the High Land on the west sido of Virgin

    Gorda . In a general sense , Antigua is preferable to St . Thomas , lying as it does more directly on the European route -, but , now that a startling evil calls for a remedy , it ia time to ask whether the West Indian passenger traflic iato be checked by the certainty which will shortly prevail—that to go out to St . Thomas ia to stimd face to face with Yellow

    lever ? Of Iato , scarcely arny European vessels have escaped a visitation more or less severe . The passengers become reckless j champagne is wasted in oceans to drown fear , and unloHa they stretch away rapidly northwards , which they never tlo , tho diseaso flourishes under the influence of tropical heat , infected coal bunkers , au < l closo bertha , and sometimes it even reaches and alarms Southampton . It may go further unless preventive measures are adopted . Tho question hna become very serious . Wo Htafcc it preliminnrilv , in « . jn ' -acticnl . shape , and trust that il ; will not bo neglected by thoso who

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 31, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31101857/page/15/