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No. 397. Octobee 81,1857.T THE LEADER. 1...
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ENCUMBERED ESTATES REPORT. "When an expe...
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YELLOW TETTER AT ST. THOMAS. The "West I...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Honest Lawyers. The Trite Old Proverb Ab...
tongue would as soon think of sending us Tils wig as those guineas which he has wo £ earned . Nay , if we were to remonstrate and to characterize his conduct in the manner which to out inexperience , it seems to deserve , that ingenious ornament to the British Bar will "tell us that the ten guineas was not the pric & 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 for him to be in two places at the same time , and that if his presence he 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 lie does not return the money which he took for comine * . As for the statement that
we have only purchased the dianee of his presence , we have no hesitation in saying that if Silvdrtongtje's clerk were shrewdly examined upon the point , it would be 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 in Mr . Creast ' s branch of the profes-sion
who undertake business which they well know they cannot execute . In one ease , the facts of which have been communicated to us , a common lawyer of some eminence accepted a fee of five-aiid-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 upon the solemn promise to return within the half-hour . He never
returned ; the attorne y had to conduct the cross-examination himself ; after which he went to Westminster and found the truant counsel leading a case iii one of the courts there ! Now , if Mr . Pateu is not to be allowed to talk of ' the honour of a gentleman ' what shall be Baid of the learned counsel who can play such a trick as this ? But many of the learned gentlemen
consider that if they provide a substitut 3 they have discharged every obligation whicli the most chivalrous honesty could impose . Here again wo must differ from them . The substitute is scarcely ever so good as the person ho represents . " Generally speaking , it is a young and as yet briefless barrister , who hopes to get into practice by holding briefs for soino more fortunate man . This , is a
good advertisement for him , and on that consideration he is content that he who has done none of tho work shall pocket all the foe . It da understood , however , that if the junior who ' devils' ( as it is termed ) manifests any signs of abilit y , it is not found convenient to oinploy him further . The senior fears the rivnlry of his gratuitous substitute . It is only fair to admit that a certain amount of the evil which wo hero complain of arises from tho public themselves . It is a -positive fact that some suitors will rotain
counsel , not with tho view of having "him in their cause , but to prevent tho other side from securing him . Barristers have therefore work thrust upon thorn which they know * J ? y . not expected to perfonn , and this tends to aggravate tho loose prisiciplea which govern their intercourse with , their clients .
lho remedy for this disgraceful blot upon our forensic system must proceed partly from tho ^ clients and partly | rom fl ., yj ^ itself . If tho former would rosolvo tm divide tho business rnoro equally , instead of run .
ning , like sheep , after a few men , and if the latter 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 performed . 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 approach the realization of that mythical notion faintly indicated in the title to this article — we might get a few Honest LA . WTEBS .
No. 397. Octobee 81,1857.T The Leader. 1...
No . 397 . Octobee 81 , 1857 . T THE LEADER . 104 , 7
Encumbered Estates Report. "When An Expe...
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 Report and summary of proceedings in the Encumbered Estates Courts , and from it we glean some curious an d 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 , L 436 ; and by private contract , 1621 . The expedition with which work has been got through in these courts is remarkably evidenced by
the fact that , when they were first instituted , 1267 cases were hopelessly pending in the Court of Chancery . And not only have these been long ago arranged and settled ; the large number we have already mentioned has been disposed of , and the documents and muniments of title connected with them safely deposited in the archives of the Kecord-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 7 ISO 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 snle of the encumbered estates , up to the Uist day of the session , amounted to 20 , 4 < 75 , 956 Z . Ss . 4 d ., of which sum 13 , 941 , 2 O 7 Z . 10 s . was obtained by public auction in court ; 2 , 824 , 3 S 1 Z . by provincial auction ; and the rest , 3 , 710 , 3672 . IBs . 4 d ., was obtained by private contract . Tlio amount of purchase-money paid by English , Scotch , and foreign , purchasers hears but a small proportion to tho gross sum expended , being
only 2 , 826 , 295 ? . New vigour has been thrown into the life of Irish industry and enterprise , m «\ v capital introduced ; , a new stimulus given to agriculture , now heauty and prosperity created over tho length and breadth of the land . The beneficial results of tho operation of tho Encumbered Estates Courts are thus shown , not only in the figures and sums above set down , but in tho improved condition of the country at largo . On this
encouraging picture it is not our purpose to dwell ; wo luivo meuoly olio red a summary of the business transacted in these courts since their establishment . In 2395 strong-boxes deposited in tho liecord-oilieo may bo seen and oximunitd the 250 , 000 documents and muniments of title giving validity to tho
possession of the properties whicli have recently passed through the hands of the Encumbered Estates Commissioners .
Yellow Tetter At St. Thomas. The "West I...
YELLOW TETTER 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 their 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 Tirgin Gorda 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 . Thoinas , without provisions , but never without fever , should be selected as the nucleus for passengers from all parts of the West Indies . In the Virgin Islands beef , mutton , poultry ,
and fish may he obtained in any quantitiesas we have said , they supply the locality favoured by perpetual traffic and pestilence . If , however , there are reasons against them , St . Jolm , 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 tlieir batches of disease . Tortola is five miles
north , and sixteen miles east of St . Thomas , a chain of islands stretching between them , and as far as Virgin Gorda Sound , thus intercepting the Atlantic breezes . The navigation presents no difficulties ; but , if necessary , vessels of any draught find safe anchorage in eleven fathoms water to leeward of the High Land on the west side 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 is time to aslc whether tho West Indian passenger tradio is to be checked by the certainty which will shortly prevail—that to go out to St . Thomas is to stand face to face with Yellow Fever ? Oi'late , scarcely any European vessels have escaped a visitation more or less severe . The passengers become reckless j champagne is wasted in oceaus to drown
fear , and unless they stretch away rapidly northwards , which they never do , the diHeaso flourishes under the iniluonco of tropical heat , infected coal bunkers , and close berths , and sometimes it oven roaches'and alarms Southampton . It may go further unless preventive ineiiHuroH nvo adopted . Tho question lms become very serious . Wo state ifc preliminarily , in a practical shape-, and trust that it will not be neglected by those who ;
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 31, 1857, page 1047, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_31101857/page/15/
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