CORRESPONDENCE.

:

ANNUAL CERTIFICATE DUTY.

TO THE EDITOR OF "PUMP COURT."

SIR,-A great deal of correspondence has lately been going on with reference to the recent action of the president of the Incorporated Law Society in refusing to act upon the resolution passed at the society's meeting, owing to the very small majority by which it was passed. Now, sir, it has occurred to me, seeing that a large number of solicitors small are not members of the society, and that a very proportion of the members were present at the meeting, that the voting is not an indication either one way or the other of the opinion held by the majority of solicitors in England upon this subject, and a very easy way of obtaining that information is to take a general vote upon the subject in the following manner :-If every solicitor will write on a thick postcard (for convenience of counting) his opinion on the subject, using one of three words only if in favour of abolition, "for"; if against abolition, "against"; if neutral, "neutral"—and sign his name, and address the postcard to me at Shannon Court, Bristol, I will undertake to count them and publish the results in the legal papers, so that by this means a result will be arrived at without the trouble of forming a society or collecting subscriptions for the purpose.

It may be thought presumptious for a student to undertake this, but I would point out that it is a question which affects students as well as solicitors, inasmuch as it is in the first few years that the tax presses so heavily on young solicitors, and therefore students have a right to a voice in the matter.

Trusting that you will see fit to insert this letter, and that solicitors do as requested, J. L. V. S. WILLIAMS.

may

1

oblige them to give effect to whatever human interest and ingenuity may suggest? Office on such conditions would go a-begging. When the gold and silver mining fit within Great Britain has been on, Ministers have at once perceived that encouragement would be as the letting in of waters, and that gold and silver stand in need of more thinking out than has yet been bestowed upon them. They are more than platitudes; they are a puzzle.

Next, we are face to face with terrible South Africa, which seemingly presents no hindrance to the position of the wildest gold and silver mining schemes. Not that America or Australia or other regions are exhausted gold and silver mining fields, but that South Africa is making the most present noise. What is to be done with its gold and silver? Of late years Russia, Germany, and France have been the chief absorbing centres, but eventually there must be a limit both to their desire and to their need. Then the gold and silver will come to us, but curiously enough we do not want them, for when the Foreign Exchanges were lectured on at the Bankers' Institute, Mr. Martin, on behalf of the London bankers, bluntly stated that while it would be as easy for London bankers to hold French and German bills as for foreign bankers to hold London bills, still such bills were not sought, because the gold which such bills might command abroad was not desired by the London bankers. But South African gold may come and come, and be received at the Bank of England until every cubic foot of its storage capacity is filled with it. In the matter the Bank of England has no discretion; it must take all the gold that comes, and, fortunately for it, its printing-presses can print notes faster for the exchange than gold can be mined in South Africa. What harm, then, from continued gold mining in South Africa and continued bank-note printing at the Bank of England? None, presumably at the moment; but is the game worth the candle? Where is our statesmanship? Granting that statesmanship is not bound to take up everything, this bank-note printing at the Bank of England is a thing of statute, and therefore is a fit subject for further inquiry, puzzle or no puzzle. Gold production in South Africa in even less than the computed quantity should receive more attention from statesmanship than mere passive storage at the Bank of England.

TEMPLE CHURCH.-JUNE, 1889.

June 16.-Trinity Sunday.-Morning Service: Te Deum Laudamus, Turle in D; Jubilate Deo, Turle in D; Anthem, "Holy, holy, holy (Spohr); Kyrie Eleison, Arnold in A. Evening Service: Magnificat, Turle in D; Nunc Dimittis, Turle in D; Anthem, "I was in the Spirit" (Blow).

June 23.-First Sunday after Trinity.-Morning Service: Te Deum Laudamus, Hopkins in C; Benedictus, Hopkins in C: Anthem, "All ye who weep" (Gounod). Evening Service; Deus Misereatur, Hayes in E flat; Anthem, "I have surely built Thee an house to dwell in" (Boyce).

CAPEL COURT.

THE Brighton stockdealers do not appear to be in a very good way. Their shutters are broken, their brass plates are tarnished, their door-mats wear remarkably well, and their operators, when they do anything, appear to win. This is not a happy state of things at all.

THE tip to buy Imperial Ottoman Banks, which was so generally spread about a short time back, has not had much of a successful result to boast of. The price is lower now than it has been for some time. The officials of the Bank say that it has not even earned its usual ten per cent.

THE New York Cotton Exchange held its nineteenth annual meeting a few days ago. It appears to be in a healthy position, and makes a surplus net profit of about £1,000 a year.

If anyone has got Missouri, Kansas, and Texas shares,

How the sober-sided Scotch people will like automatic sweetmeats remains to be seen. They are to have a company all to themselves, anyhow, to provide them with slots in which to place pennies. Judging by precedent, the company would do better in the land of cakes if they decided to make it halfpennies.

LAKE SHORES are being bought by very good men on both sides of the Atlantic. A year or two ago the shares were quoted at 118, so that there is plenty of room for a rise without troubling over-much about reactions. You may almost buy any American roads, so long as you leave Wabash alone. Milwaukees have not finished yet by any means, although the latest crop news is not altogether

favourable.

Now that the Paris Settlement is over, it is not improbable that we may see some fresh attempts made to put foreign stocks on a better footing. There is a clique of operators who are never tired of considering Unifieds too cheap, and wanting other people to agree. Egyptians are quite high enough, and buyers have therefore nothing in their favour.

The Stock Exchange was not very conspicuous at Brighton during Whitsuntide. A few coaching men ran down and back again for the pleasure of the drive, but the Grand Hotel was comparatively empty and the parades were deserted, except by the usual Bank-holiday rabble. The few "House men who were at Brighton made up their minds to sell Berthas for a fall as soon as they got back.

Investors in telephones need not get nervous because their directors are likely to get their noses pinched by the Postmaster-General. It will do no harm, and may clear the way to the establishment of better relations. Of course the Government must have the telephones sooner or later.

THE buying of Jumpers is of a fairly good character. These and City and Suburbans are both in the swim, and will lead the next advance in the Rands.

DIRECTLY the boom in mines commences, and it is sure to begin somewhere about the start of July, Mysores will probably be among the first to show up. This mine is once more doing wonderfully good work, and its shares may even go to their old figure of 7.

INVESTORS may take it for granted that a railroad which cannot earn its fixed charges is not the best sort of investment for weakminded people who have not mastered the art of living without an income.

THE Wabash Railroad can never earn its fixed charges, according to the report of a man who has travelled over the line and knows it well. There is no part of its system which has not got a competing line, or a better equipment, running parallel to it. This should be borne in mind in listening to the news that is being manufactured about the future of this line.

THE Artisans, Labourers, and General Dwellings Company appear to be in an enviable position. It has just been decided to discontinue the issue of ordinary shares, and only continue to issue £10 preference shares, which are now returning holders 4 per cent. per annum.

THE People's Bread Company appears to be getting into bad odour with some of its shareholders. This is not to be wondered at, considering that the most recent report commences: "The directors very much regret that the result of the first financial year is so unfavourable." The debit balance on profit and loss account amounts to £4,545 16s. 5d.

COINCIDENT With Colonel North's start for home comes the revival of the battle of nitrate statistics. The mer

chants and brokers in this country think the outlook black owing to the growth of stocks and the comparative poorness of the demand in the last season, while directors and shareholders in nitrate companies claim that, thoughnitrate is selling here enormously lower than last year, the producers are getting the same prices for the manure shipped on board in Chili.

ONE obstacle that makes an impartial examination of the situation almost impossible is the variety of the ways in which nitrate statistics are drawn up. One set of people talk of it as so many dollars a quintal, others at so many shillings a bag, and others still at so many pounds a ton. The prospectuses of the big nitrate companies are positive enigmas to anyone who wishes to find out what is the lowest price at which nitrate was calculated to pay good dividends, unless he has the South American Exchange at his finger ends, and can perform feats of arithmetic in which quintals and tons, cost prices and freight, dollars and tons, are mixed up in an awe-inspiring tangle.

THE Ecuador bondholders are very suspicious of the proposal for resumption unfolded before them by Dr. Jurado. The general idea of the scheme is that the bonds of the Republic should be replaced by securities of the Guayaquil Railway and Public Works Company, a corporation with a lien over some of the most important revenues of Ecuador, with growing traffic receipts, and in good credit. The proposal is a fair one, but as there was no proof that it was made on behalf of the Government of the Republic, the bondholders cautiously resolved to inquire on whose authority it was made, and also to see if there might not be wheels within wheels which were not visible at the first glance.

SOME rather curious facts have come to light concerning the circulation in this country of bonds of railways in the United States which have been sold up, or otherwise sent into limbo. The modus operandi is not to make a formal issue of such bonds, when discovery of the fraud must result, but to pawn them privately for sums which, though far below the apparent value of the bonds, are still considerable.

MR. JUSTICE NOTH's strictures on the practice of making sixpenny calls on the shares of reconstructed mining companies should give a hint to shareholders. The result of a call of sixpence in a company with 24,000 shares is only £600-a useless sum for a mine gasping for want of capital --and it costs a lot to get the money in. The financing of many mines is simply beneath contempt.

THERE is considerable wonderment at Sir Stevenson Blackwood's letter regarding the telephone amalgamation. Everybody knows that amalgamation was not contemplated when the licences were granted to the telephone companies; but as the licences apply to the whole kingdom, and made no stipulation as to limits of working, there is nothing to prevent the National Company from nominally buying up all the other companies, and working the whole country under its own licences. The Post Office knows this, and, as it is powerless, it is strange that it should have indulged in such a futile snarl as Sir S. A. Blackwood's letter. MERCATOR.

VOL. VIII.

Pump

PUMP COURT.

The Temple Newspaper and Review.

No. 140.

execution of the transfers nothing was due for unpaid calls on the shares in question. The resolution did not state on its face the date and place for payment of the call, but certain dates were subsequently having been fixed on the 17th January, 1889-inserted in the entry of the resolution of the 18th December, 1888, by the secretary of the company. The company's articles provided, inter alia (a), that no person being indebted to the company either in respect of calls or otherwise should, without the consent of the board, which consent they might give or withhold at their discretion, transfer any shares; (b) that the amount payable on the shares in the capital should be payable at the bankers of the company, or at such other places as the board should appoint, with such deposit and in such instalments and manner and at such time as should be appointed from time to time by the board; (c) that all calls should be deemed to be made at the time when the resolutions authorising them were passed by the board, and (d) that the board might by any subsequent resolution appoint a new time and place for payment of a call as

De Lege; de Omnibus Rebus et Quibusdam Aliis.

A CASE of considerable interest to brewers and other owners of public-houses came before the Court of Appeal in White v. City of London Brewery Co. The mortgagees of a public-house entered into possession of the mortgaged premises, which they let first as a "free" and then as a "tied" public-house. Subsequently the mortgagees sold Subsequently the mortgagees sold under their power of sale, and the mortgagor commenced an action of account. It appeared that the mortgagees had made a very large profit from beer supplied by them for the business, and the mortgagor sought to make them accountable to him for this profit. North, J., in the Court below, had held that the mortgagees were not liable to account for a collateral profit, but that they must be charged in account with the mortgagor with an increased rent, the estimated increase being based on the rent likely to be obtained if the house had been let free, and the Court of Appeal, consisting of Lord Esher, M.R., Cotton and Fry, L.JJ., affirmed this decision.

In re Cawley and Co. (Limited) - Ex parte Hallett-the right of a shareholder to have a transfer of shares registered so as to avoid liability for prospective calls, came before Lord Esher, M.R., Cotton and Fry, L.JJ., by way of appeal from a decision of Chitty, J. Mr. Hallett was a director of the company, and holder of over 2,000 shares. On December 15th, 1888, he sold 2,000 of his shares, as their lordships inferred, to evade a prospective call which Mr. Hallett knew was likely to be made, but the transfer was a real transfer, by which he absolutely parted with all claim on the shares to the transferee for £80. On the morning of December 18th, the transfer, which had been duly executed, was left at the company's office for registration. On the afternoon of the same day a meeting of the directors was held, at which transfers, including Mr. Hallett's, were presented for registration; it being reported, however, that the bankers of the company had declined to renew a loan unless the unpaid capital of the company was forthwith called up, a resolution was proposed and carried calling up the remainder of the capital. Mr. Hallett alone dissented from the resolution, and claimed that the transfers having been presented for registration before the call was made, should have been registered at once. At the date of

Hallett sought a declaration under sect. 35 of the Companies' Act, 1862, that the company ought to have registered the transfer, but Chitty, J., declined to make it, holding that the directors had a right to take their business in the order they thought proper. The Court of Appeal, however, reversed this decision, and held Mr. Hallett entitled to the declaration he sought. Lord Esher, M.R., in delivering judgment, said that the directors had under ordinary circumstances no discretion to refuse registration, though they had in this case, by the articles of the company, a discretion if the shareholder was indebted to the company; that Mr. Hallett was not indebted to the company at the time when the transfer was handed to the proper officer for registration within the meaning of the articles, and that time was the period to be looked at, so that even if there was a call made on the 18th December, yet the resolution not having been come to until after the transfer was presented for registration, it did not afford any ground for withholding registration. His lordship, however, distinctly laid down that there was no call made on the 18th December, for time and place had not been named. He then dealt with the question of whether any personal equity existed entitling the directors to refuse registration of Mr. Hallett's transfer, and distinguishing the decisions in ex parte Parker, L.R. 2 Ch. App. 685, and Gilbert's cases, L.R. 5 Ch. App. 560, held there was no such equity.

A MOOт point was raised for decision in Bramwell v. Bramwell, before Mathew, J. The facts were that plaintiff had paid sums at various times, together amounting to £80, to a doctor and other persons, on behalf of his son, who was at the time, as he knew, a lunatic. These payments were admittedly for necessaries, and the father sought to recover the amount from his lunatic son, who appeared by his guardian ad litem. The guardian ad litem was quite willing to make the payment to the father, but having regard to the dicta of the Master of the Rolls in re Weaver, 21 Ch. Div. 615, was desirous of protecting himself by obtaining the authority of a decision. Mathew, J., gave judgment for the plaintiff for the amount claimed. Now in the case of an action brought on a contract alleged to have been made with a lunatic, it is in general a good defence that the defendant was, at the time of making the alleged contract, so insane as to be incapable of understanding it, and that this was known to plaintiff. That is the result of the decisions in Baxter v. Earl of Portsmouth, 5 B. and C. 170; Molton v. Camroux,

2 Ex. 487, 4 Ex. 157; Beavan v. M'Donell, 10 Ex. 184, and other cases. So where necessaries are supplied to the wife of a lunatic, his estate is liable-Read v. Legard, 6 Ex. 636-unless the wife is maintained, or other circumstances exist, such that the husband, if sane, would not be liable for necessaries supplied to her. The case of Bramwell v. Bramwell was, however, entirely different in principle to these, for there was no pretence for alleging any contract or agreement with the lunatic, or any communication with him whatever, in reference to the expenditure. The money spent had no doubt benefited him, the purposes for which the expenditure had been incurred were such as are conveniently designated "necessaries," and it is reasonable to suppose, had the lunatic been sane, he would have desired the disbursements to be made out of his property. The only legal ground, however, on which the repayment could be claimable was that there was a quasicontract, a ground very well-known to the Roman law, with its actio negotiorum gestorum, and to writers on jurisprudence, but somewhat foreign to our own system. And in re Weaver (ubi supra) there was undoubtedly strong dicta to the effect that the lunatic's estate was not liable in such circumstances for goods, etc., supplied for his benefit, the person supplying being aware of his insanity. These dicta, however, Bramwell v. Bramwell overrides.

ANOTHER question which subsequently arose in the same action of Bramwell v. Bramwell is scarcely less important. Had the Court power to order the costs of the defendant to be paid out of his estate? The Master had ordered the cause to be tried, and the action could not have proceeded without a guardian ad litem for the defendant. Counsel contended that the guardian ad litem was responsible to the solicitor employed to defend the action, and ought to be indemnified against loss, and also that the Court having required the defendant's estate to be protected, had power to order the costs of such protection to be paid out of it. Mathew, J., was of opinion that he had jurisdiction to make the order, and did so.

THE Incorporated Law Society recently made an application to strike a solicitor off the rolls, which is important from the nature of the circumstances on which the application was based. The solicitor had been employed on behalf of plaintiff in an action for malicious prosecution, which resulted in a verdict and judgment for plaintiff. On taxation of costs he swore an affidavit of increase, stating payment of £17 11s. as having been paid to one witness whose evidence was material and necessary to the trial. The witness had not been called at the trial, and the payment said to have been made was disallowed. The solicitor stated, being called on by the Law Society for an explanation, in an affidavit he swore, that two or three days after the trial he saw the witness and requested him to call and settle as to the amount due for his expenses attending the trial, as the amount had to be embodied in an affidavit before the costs could be taxed, and witness called; and being asked what his expenses were, said,

Say three guineas a day for five days, one guinea for Sunday, and fifteen shillings for railway fare ; that he made out a cheque for £17 18., the amount claimed less ten shillings paid with the subpoena, and took a receipt for the sum; that he then told witness he would have to return him such an amount as the Registrar disallowed, and the witness had better leave the cheque with him until the costs were taxed; that witness agreed to this, but said he wanted some money there and then, and that he gave him £2, keeping the cheque, and giving an undertaking that as soon as the costs were taxed he should be paid the balance of his allowance; that the reason why he asked the witness to leave the cheque was that the witness being a man of somewhat impecunious circumstances there might be a difficulty in recovering from him the difference between the amount of the cheque and the amount allowed on taxation. The solicitor urged that he had acted innocently, under mistake; that he had only been three years in practice, and handed in a number of testimonials testifying to his straightforward and honourable conduct. The Court (Pollock, B., and Field, J.) said that it was the duty of a solicitor that his accounts should be accurate in substance as well as in words; that it was the duty of everyone who made an ex parte statement to a Court, much more an officer of the Court making a statement upon

oath, to tell nothing but the whole truth; but, after careful consideration, their lordships considered that seeing the solicitor had had no lengthened practice, and obtained no pecuniary benefit himself, nor intended to do so. and that he had an upright character, justice would be satisfied by a reprimand being administered, and the costs being paid by him; and Field, J., added that the practice of handing up testimonials as to the character of a solicitor must be watched with great care.

The

AN interesting question of law arising out of a sale of goods was reserved for argument, and recently decided in Mellor v. Japing et al, by Field, J. In February last the plaintiff, as trustee of the effects of one Barber, a cloth manufacturer, sold, as he alleged, a stock lot of certain pieces of cloth which had belonged to Barber. defendants denied the sale alleged, and alleged that if the goods were sold to them they were not sold as a stock lot, but by sample, and did not correspond with the sample, and that they declined to accept delivery of the goods, and had offered to return them to plaintiff, who would not accept them. At the trial it appeared that the cloths sold were part of the stock of Barber assigned to the plaintiff, and on the 4th January, patterns having been already received, the defendants had an offer of the cloths at the price stated according to the patterns received," and wrote accepting the offer, but adding, "the pieces which are not in good condition must be finished over again, and the whole to be delivered as soon as possible." Meanwhile, the goods were in a warehouse, where they were open to inspection, and were indeed seen though not examined by the defendants. On the 30th January the cloths were delivered, and defendants wrote to the plaintiff that they were not in respect of shades of colour according to contract (a fact which was apparently admitted), and defendants asked leave to cut off patterns and attempt to resell to some third persons, and this plaintiff allowed, but the cloths could not be resold, and on the 19th February they were rejected and returned by defendants, who at the trial asserted their right to reject the cloths as not corresponding to the description by which they were sold. Field, J., held that there had only been an acceptance conditionally on the goods being according to sample, and he therefore gave judgment for defendants.

A WELL-KNOWN author is bringing out a book entitled "Confessions of a Clergyman." The title is good and fetching, but to be a success it must be up to its title, or perhaps we ought to say down to it. No mere metaphysical disquisition will go down nowadays.

INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY.

THE accounts of this society for the year ending 31st December, 1888, were published only on the 5th inst., although they are dated 2nd April, and afford material for criticism and serious reflection on the part of all interested. They do not appear to us at all satisfactory.

We observe in the present accounts for the first time the articled clerks' account is included, the omission to do which hitherto, we pointed out last year, was an infringement of the Act of 1877. But it would seem that one The year only has been treated. This is not sufficient. previous eleven years should be accounted for, but not a word is said about them.

The expenses seem to us to be exceedingly heavy. Rates, taxes, and voluntary subscriptions amount to £801; salaries to officers, clerks, and servants, pensions and special grants to £2,758; law and parliamentary expenses, £4,046; printing, stationery, and advertisements, £1,259; council dinners, £335; house expenses, £516; insurance, £41; interest on loans, £860; postage, Annual Provincial meeting expenses, council luncheons, and sundries, £1,419; buildings and repairs, £647; furniture, etc., £295; purchase of books, etc., for library, £740; and nominal rent, £2,700, making a total of £16,421.

In the first item the voluntary subscriptions and rates should be separated.

In the second item are included pensions and special grants. These should also be separate items, and not lumped with salaries.

The salaries, etc., seem to be apportioned in two equal

shares, viz., £2,758 in the society's account, and also £2,758 in the articled clerks' account. The same applies to rates, taxes, etc., a similar sum of £801 appearing in the articled clerks' account; also nominal rent, £2,700, which amount is included in both accounts, the actual rent of the society's premises being £5,400.

The sum charged for printing, stationery, and advertisements in the articled clerks' account is £645; house expenses, £516; insurance, £41; postage and sundries, £341; refreshment to lecturers and examiners, £61; prizes at the examinations, £559; and fees to lecturers, examiners, and readers, and grants to provincial law societies, £3,059, making a total of £11,484.

The amount expended for the benefit of articled clerks no one would object to, but we should like to know whether they really get their money's worth? Does the money go to lecturers and others who do efficient work? or in mere expenses which can be dispensed with, and no one except the recipients of the money themselves feel the benefit of? The additions to the library comprised in the item of £740 should be added to the library account, and a depreciation deducted.

Turning to the income side of the society's accounts, the subscriptions of 2,507 town members come to £4,992, of 2,220 country members £2,210, and arrears of subscriptions of members £231.

Do these arrears mean last year's subscriptions paid this year, or do they mean the 1888 subscriptions not received, and forming part of the sum of £450 the among assets "for arrears of subscriptions of members" in the balance-sheet?

The articled clerks' account shows subscriptions to law classes, £131; elementary classes, £232; lectures, £150; income from examination prize fund, £313; 451 examination fees and 90 renewed, preliminary, £992; 747 intermediate and 218 renewed, £2,568; 716 final and 272 renewed, £4,260; and 362 honours, £362; entering articles of clerkship, 784, £196, making a total income in this account of £9,204, and leaving a balance of excess of expenditure over income of £625.

THE BALANCE-SHEET.

The capital account seems to be the balance of the account. No particulars are given as to how it is arrived at, the nature of the item, and to whom it belongs. If it is simply the accumulated excess of income over expenditure (taking into account the articled clerks' account for previous years) it will explain why that latter account only embraces the full year in the published statement. The arrears of subscriptions seems an unsatisfactory item. Particulars should certainly be given.

Altogether we are quite unable to congratulate the Incorporated Law Society on the management of its affairs, which, judging from its accounts, seems to be in a very unsatisfactory condition.

But another matter requires explanation. For the first time there appears in the account a sum of £335 for dinners for the Council, and a futher sum of £1,400 for luncheons for the Council, postage and sundries. Why was this never done until the Council have been compelled, by our directing attention to the matter, to comply with the provisions of the statute, and to render an account of the students' fund? Let it be observed that the society's expenses were very much the same in 1876, that is before the Act of 1877 creating the students' fund.

We fail utterly to see any reason why the students' fund should be charged with half the whole expense of the Law Society. The students, too, have no reading-room of their own; they are obliged to use the members' library, and are consequently subject to much interruption.

A to F.

All applications by summons or otherwise in actions assigned to Master George Pollock are to be made returnable before him in his own Room, No. 173, at 11.30 a.m., on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

All applications by summons or otherwise in actions assigned to Master Butler under these letters are to be made returnable before him in Chambers, G to N Room, until the 13th July, after which date they are to be made returnable before the Masters in A to F Room.

All applications by summons or otherwise in actions assigned to Master Macdonell under these letters are to be made returnable before the Masters in Chambers, A to F Room, until the 13th July, after which date they are to be made returnable before him in the G to N room.

G to N.

All applications by summons or otherwise in actions assigned to Master Kaye under these letters are to be made returnable before him in Chambers A to F Room.

All applications by summons or otherwise in actions assigned to Master Macdonell under these letters are to be made returnable before the Masters in Chambers, G to N Room, until the 13th July, after which date they are to be made returnable before him in the G to N Room.

After the 13th July, Master Butler's summonses under these letters will be taken by the Masters sitting in this Division. O to Z.

All applications by summons or otherwise in actions assigned to Master Francis are to be made returnable before him in his own Room, No. 109, at 11.30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

The parties are to meet in the ante-room of Masters' chambers, and the summonses will be inserted in the printed list for the day after the summonses to be heard before the Master sitting in chambers, and will be called over by the attendant on the respective rooms for a first and second time at 11.30, and will be dealt with by the Master in the same manner as if they were returnable at chambers.

NATIONAL DEBT REDEMPTION ACT, 1889.
Consols and Reduced Three per Cents.

1. The provisions of the National Debt (Redemption) Act, 1889, the Redemption Act (Funds) Rules, 1889, and the Treasury Regulations, made under the said Act, will be applied to Funds in Court in the following manner :-—

2. The amount of the Consolidated Three per Cent. Annuities and Reduced Three per Cent. Annuities remaining on the books of the Pay Office on the 6th July, 1889, will be redeemed at par, and these stocks will then cease to exist.

3. On the 6th July, 1889, each suitor's account will be credited with cash in the proportion of £100 sterling for each £100 stock.

The cash so credited will be distinguished in the account as "Redemption Money."

4. "Redemption Money" will bear interest at the rate of three per cent. (less income-tax), payable at the usual quarterly periods for the payment of dividends up to the 5th April, 1890, or to any earlier date on which the money may be transferred out of court or otherwise dealt with, unless the person to whom the dividends on the original stock are payable signifies dissent to this arrangement. The form for signifying dissent is prescribed by the Funds Rules, and must be lodged at the Pay Office on or before the 1st July, 1889.

5. "Redemption Money" may be invested in New Consols without an order of court at any time between the 6th July, 1889, and the 5th April, 1890, if the person or persons entitled to receive dividends on the original stock shall send a request to the Pay Office upon the form provided by Rule 7; and if a portion only of the dividends is payable,and the residue is accumulated, the request of the person entitled to receive a portion will be acted upon.

6. A request may be given by any person holding a power of attorney to receive dividends, provided it is stated on the face of such request that it is given or made with the sanction of the person or persons by whom such power of attorney was granted. 7. If no order or request shall have been lodged at the Pay Office before the 5th April, 1890, dealing with the "Redemption Money," the Paymaster is required (by Rule 7) to invest the same in "New Consols.'

8. The (Funds) Rules also provide for the remission of court fees and of brokerage upon any reinvestment of "Redemption Money" in New Consols or Local Loans Stock; for lodgments in court of cash in lieu of stock; for transfers out of court; and other matters incidental to the redemption of the securities under the Act 52 Vict. c. 4.

9. Copies of forms required by the Rules may be obtained at the Pay Office (room 45), or on written application to "The Paymaster, Royal Courts of Justice, London, W.C."

June 7th, 1889.

W. HENRY WHITE, Paymaster.