the Colonial Office, by Mr. Wood Renton. What there is of it is decidedly good, but there is too little of it, and so it makes the treatment of a vast subject rather scrappy. We should be glad to see a second paper on the same subject by the same writer.

Under a Strange Mask. By FRANK BARRETT. (London: Cassell and Co., Limited.) 2 Vols.-We have seldom read a prettier, daintier piece of fiction than the first half of this clever and charming story, while in the second we find the proportion of sensationalism which would seem to be an inevitable ingredient in the concoction of a romance of today. It would not be fair to the author or considerate to future readers of his story to dwell in detail upon his excellent dual plot, which is somewhat of the "Lord of Burleigh" type. Suffice it that in the modest, capable, pretty, and gentle little heroine, Marian Sylvester, and the manly, chivalrous, young Lord Redlands, we have as charming a couple as heart could desire, while a paternal old family solicitor is a faithful and sympathetic sketch, as kindly as it is capable. The curious game of crosspurposes in which Marian Sylvester and Lord Redlands get involved is treated with excellent humour, and the devotion of the young peer to his unknown little friend is as pure and pretty a little romance as we have enjoyed for a long time. Later on a grimmer element of crime and fraud is introduced effectively, but refinement and good taste are conspicuously present in every page, and the story, unpretentious as it is, is one of which the author might well be proud, and one which may be read with equal pleasure by young and old. It is to be hoped that Mr. Barrett will give us some more stories of the same interesting and wholesome character, for such work is the surest antidote to the mania for vulgar sensationalism which sometimes threaten to kill the public taste for such dainty work as Under a Strange Mask, and stories of that excellent class.

Richard Barlow the Bloodhound. By CAMPBELL RAEBROWN. (London: Dean and Son.)-In this curious and not uninteresting little story we have a sensation shilling shocker of the most pronounced type. The author has sketched some rather novel characters with some power, and the crowning incident of the self-sacrifice of the "Bloodhound" for his brother is told with considerable strength and pathos. The principal interest of the book consists in its being a study of "instinct" and its culture, and it is probable that while the catchy title will ensure buyers of the book, the majority will not grudge their shilling when the last page is turned, and the unconventional little volume finished.

INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY.—ANNUAL
MEETING.

THE annual general meeting of this society was held on Friday, the 12th inst., at the society's hall, the president, Mr. B. G. Lake, taking the chair.

MINUTES.

The President moved that the minutes of the previous general meeting, which had been circulated amongst the members, should be received, approved, and signed by the president.

Mr. R. P. Macarthur objected to the minutes, on the ground that the vote of thanks to the president, which it was stated had been carried, had not, in fact, been moved at all.

The President: I rule that a vote of thanks was, worthily or unworthily, passed to me at the last meeting. The minutes were then passed.

VACANCIES ON THE COUNCIL.

The nomination of candidates to fill the vacancies was next proceeded with. There were twelve vacancies on the council, ten members going out of office in rotation, and two, Mr. H. S. Law Hussey and Mr. Lewis Fry, M.P., having resigned. The following candidates had been nominated by letter, and it became necessary, under the bye-laws, again to nominate them at this meeting :-Mr. E. J. Bristow, Mr. John Wreford Budd, Mr. Robert Cunliffe, Mr. Robert Ellett, Mr. Charles John Follett, Mr. Henry Manisty, Sir Richard Nicholson, Sir Henry Watson Parker, Mr. Henry Roscoe, Mr. Cornelius Thomas Saunders, Mr. Richard Rendle Miller Daw, J.P., Mr. Robert Richardson Dees, the Right Hon. Henry Hartley Fowler, M.P., Mr. Herbert Morey Low, Mr. Arthur Hepburn Hastie, Mr. Frederic Douglas Norman, Mr. Robert Lowe Grant Vassall, and Mr. Alfred Kipling Common.

Mr. E. Kimber asked that the list of attendances of the members proposing themselves for re-election should be read

out. It was proper that the meeting should know who did the business of the society and who did not.

The President observed that the list had been in the office for several weeks, and it had been printed.

Mr. Kimber insisted on his right to have the list read, and The President said he would send for the list.

The nomination of Mr. Vassall was withdrawn, as he did not wish to appear to be competing against Mr. Ellett. Mr. Daw's candidature was also withdrawn.

Mr. Kimber then read the list of attendances and commented upon it.

Mr. J. Anderson Rose objected that the list of attendances was no criterion of the value of a member's services. The best men came when they specially understood the business which was to be considered.

The President said that there was a great deal in Mr. Rose's remarks. For instance, Mr. Follett held an official position, and his knowledge was of the greatest value to the council. It was impossible for him to attend council meetings often. But for the refusal of the Government to grant permission, he would, in all probability, have been president of the society for the year ensuing. The same remarks would apply to Mr. Saunders, the value of whose services it was impossible to over-estimate.

Mr. F. R. Parker proposed, and Mr. C. O. Humphreys nominated, Mr. Greenham Keen as president for the year ensuing. Mr. Melvill Green drew attention to the fact that Mr. Cunliffe, who was about to be proposed as vice-president, was retiring by rotation, and might not be elected to the council. He thought the election of the vice-president should be postponed until after the conncil had been elected.

The President said there was no necessity for that course. Any difficulty of that kird could be got over, if it should arise.

Mr. A. E. Finch proposed, and Mr. Humphreys seconded, Mr. Cunliffe as vice-president for the year ensuing.

As there were no other candidates, these gentlemen were declared duly elected, and Mr. W. R. Cooke, Mr. J. E. C. Leslie, and Mr. J. S. Chappelow were re-elected auditors.

As there were more candidates for the seats on the council than there were vacancies, the President said that a poll would be necessary, and he appointed the following gentlemen as scrutineers:-Mr. Tarry, Mr. Dodd, Mr. F. K. Munton, Mr. S. Day, and Mr. Ellerton.

THE SOCIETY'S ACCOUNTS.

The President moved the adoption of the account of the receipts and disbursements of the society for the year ending 31st of December, 1888. The account showed a total income of £27,905 11s. 10d., and a balance, excess of expenditure over income of £625 3s. 3d.

Mr. J. Emanuel asked that the accounts and the report might be taken together, as the most convenient course.

The President replied that he quite concurred with the suggestion, but the bye-laws distinctly laid down that the accounts

should be taken first.

Mr. A. H. Hastie asked whether the members of the council had any, and, if so, what, special authority for incurring bills for food and drink in the club or elsewhere and afterwards charging them to the funds of the society, and, if not, under what authority they assumed to proceed in charging such bills?

The President: It has been a long-established custom, dating probably from the foundation of the society, that lunch shall be provided for the members of the council who attend the weekly meeting, and as the weekly meeting is held at two o'clock, and frequently lasts during the whole afternoon, the custom appears not unreasonable. In addition, the council have during the last few years, in consequence of the increasingly heavy work of committees, directed that members of some, but not all, committees may be provided with lunch at the cost of the society. No set lunch is provided, but members desiring it are allowed to send for it in the committee room. Bearing in mind that committees such as those on the rules of the Supreme Court, the Land Transfer Bill, and the like are frequently occupied for some hours at the busiest time of the day, and that many members come from the City and the country, this will not be deemed an improper arrangement. I do not think that it is at all usual to have lunch in the club-room at the cost of the society. The lunch is usually sent into the council-room. I have myself when attending, as president, more than one committee, and having work and papers in the council-room, sometimes, but not invariably, had my lunch in the club-room as a change. The council will continue the practice unless, which they think unlikely, the society direct them to abandon it.

Mr. Hastie pointed out that the sum amounted to £600 or £700.

The President said he could not hear a speech upon the subject. There could not be a discussion upon a question which had been answered.

Mr. Hastie mentioned several amounts which had been paid for examination dinners-such as, "June 29th, £78 5s.[4d.," "November 30th, £90 15s. 9d." He thought these sums excessive, considering that the examiners were paid, and moved

out of the accounts.

(To be continued.)

CAPEL COURT.

The Money Market.-The market is so well supplied with money that short loans may be had at one-half per cent. ; but the bill market is firm at one and a half per cent. for the best class of six months' bills. This unusual disparity between rates arises from a momentary passage of arms between the bill brokers and the banks, the latter resenting a transparent use of them by the former in a matter of re-discounts. Any little anxiety that casts a shadow upon the market arises from the sustained depression of the Paris rate for dollars and sovereigns. Those in the know tell a two-sided story of the case; first, that the personal requirements of Englishmen and Americans have for the moment disturbed the trade balance; and, second, that recent copper and other troubles in France have led to realisations on our market, which tell against us. Mr. Goschen's latest issue of Exchequer bills for £2,000,000 in connection with the paying out of old Consols, has been taken by the banks. Financially the autumn promises to be a quiet one, with money going a-begging.

The Stock Markets.-The latest incident is the return of Colonel North to town, the expenses of his West Coast trip having been £20,000. He considers the money well spent, as no doubt it has been; and the one question in the Street is, when will Primitivas, Nitrate rails, and the collieries begin to boom? That there will be an advance all along the nitrate line no one douts, and the impression is general that others beside Colonel North might with advantage have stepped into West Coast business. With the present week an additional booming element will come to hand from South Africa in the person of Kenneth Ffarington Bellairs. He is due at any moment by the Rosslyn Castle, and is understood to have his pockets full of buying orders and of new things. Thus two of the markets are likely to be presently alive, and whether booms in either or in both will set on fire the others, remains to be seen, but may well be doubted. Prices all round in the other markets, with but few exceptions, have been carried to so advanced points that, having regard to dividends, a new bid cannot generally be made. And this being a somewhat general belief, the holiday scuttle has set in. Familiar faces in the "House" and in the Street become scarcer daily, and there is now but little business doing.

Home Rails.-The dividend announcement on Chatham Preference may be expected presently, and, owing to the Paris Exhibition traffic, it will certainly be good. Of late the stock has been unnoticed, and therefore it is safe to believe that there will be an upward movement. Brightons, for the same traffic reason, should present a moderate advance margin, but they do not, as a fractional upward movement invariably brings forward sellers, when back go prices. South Westerns, another of the southern lines, but essentially non-speculative, will show its hand within the next day or two, and as its traffic has been heavy, buyers will doubtless be attracted the instant the improved dividend is declared. Great Easterns, which were supposed to be doing well, have disappointed everybody, the dividend being unsatisfactory; and the stock having been largely bought in anticipation of a rise, it will now be sold. But fractional declines are only to be looked for. Sheffield A.'s have also been bought for a rise, which the public have no desire to support, and the speculative holders being weak, forced sales will bring quotations down. Hull and Barnsley and Furness are on the up grade.

Foreign Stocks-Argentine dollars are a dull, fidgety market, and peculiarly sensitive to the rumours of the day. Good news, as an exceptionally abundant harvest, or an exceptionally large increase in the exports, or a considerable decline in the gold premium, would favourably influence prices to the extent of 1 to 2 per cent. in a day; while bad news, as new provincial loans, or a hitch with

depress them. Brazils, on the contrary, are firm; so much horrowing having been indulged that conversion and consolidation are necessarily in the air. A moderate advance is on the cards. Spanish is lower and drooping. On the other hand, unlikely Perus and Honduras receive attention, and are likely to improve.

Foreign and Colonial Rails.-Trunks and Canadian Pacifics are getting into the hands of rings, who mean if they can to advance quotations by several points, the Canadian Railway position being strong and prosperous. Mexican Preferences are a good market, also with an improving tone. Americans are flat on New York listlessness, and on the holiday thinning-out of the usual operators.

Mines.-Activity has been confined to South Africans, and there being few shares in the hands of dealers, prices are strong. A boom just now would thus be speculative. and as the market is likely to continue to be bare of shares until September, interested persons will generally devote themselves to the spread of news.

Transvaal Gold Exploration and Land. - The mine manager's report of the 15th June:-"Mines-Theta vein: ore extracted 30 tons; assay value, 2 oz. 5 dwt. per ton; Kappa vein: 20 tons extracted, assaying 1 oz. 14 dwt. per ton." Any flutter that these figures will excite will be that of disappointment.

Gold Estates (Transvaal) Company.-Owing to the sale of one of the estates, the directors recommend a paper share distribution equal to 50 per cent. of the paid-up capital, together with a cash bonus of 15 per cent. This will leave a considerable amount to carry forward in cash and paper shares. This is promising.

Langlaagte Estate and Gold Mining.-The report for the week ending June 21 :-"Robinson shaft is now sunk to a depth of 172 ft.; east drive on south reef, 447 ft.; west drive, 296 ft.; east drive on main reef, 424 ft.; west drive, 371 ft.”

The May Output.-The Chamber of Mines of the Witwatersrand Fields are preparing a trophy for the Paris Exhibition, which shall represent the output up to date. The Eastern Star announces a display at the Standard Bank of twenty-six lumps of retorted, and about fifty ingots of smelted gold, the aggregate weight being 23,279 ounces, valued at £81,540.

THESE reports, purposely of a mixed character, go to show that gold abounds in South Africa, and that paper shares will also abound. It is well that it should be so, and that the long period of trade depression should now be compensated by an autumn of bustle and moneymaking. It will be welcomed.

CONSOLS better. Brighton A.'s better on traffic. Hull and Barnsley quiet. Canadian and Mexican rails flat. Nitrates in demand, and strong. Mines irregular.

The Emerald and Phoenix Brewing Company, Limited.— Town and country solicitors consulted by their clients about this investment may fairly assume that it is not overloaded for promotion, that it is a substantial thing, situated in one of the best conceivable centres, and that under very ordinary management it should and must pay handsomely. The breweries are upon the two sides of the Hudson River, and Jersey State and Manhattan, or New York, are as dry as the Hudson is wet. The beverage in most repute is the Jersey lager beer of the Phoenix and the New York ale and stout of the Emerald. The local consumption population stands at close on three millions, and behind those three millions there are the sixty-five millions of the United States. The articles of association are fairly drawn, without catch or licence, and they have in view a straightforward basis for the working out of two well-established money-making trades. The share capital sought is £280,000, divided into 14,000 eight per cent. cumulative preference shares of £10 each and 14,000 ordinary shares of £10

each.

The Central Trust Company of New York will see to the interests of the debenture-holders, while the ordinary shareholders, who are likely to be even better off, will see to themselves, the company being incorporated under the Companies Act, 1862 to 1887, with its registered office here in London. The directors on this side of the Atlantic are brewery men, with the exception of Mr. Charles E. Barnett, who is a director of Lloyds Bank, Limited; and the New York board of management is also one of brewery men, with the exception of Mr. Carl Lentz, who is a councillor-at-law in New Jersey. The two breweries being within easy distance of each other will be under one control. Their united output in 1887-8 was 164,000 barrels, and in 1888 168,000 barrels. Messrs. J. R. Ellerman and Co., the London accountants, have examined the books in Jersey and New York, and certify that the net profits of the two breweries were: for 1887, £45,487 3s., and for 1888, £47,309 11s. 3d.

Woodhouse and Rawson United, Limited.-This, without much undue assumption, may be taken as the premier électrical combination wherein is gathered up all the electrical combinations with them worked out into practical application. Various minor working parts of the new major combination are now to be more closely brought together, the purpose being to lessen administration charge, and to exercise a closer everyday supervision. The works in chief cover a large area with imposing establishments, and in every way the combination is entitled to trade support as well as to the favourable consideration of the investing public. There are certain dividends; the articles of association have been carefully and widely drawn, so as to give the amplest power to the executive, but yet within. limits which distinctly safeguard the shareholder and those with other interests. The proposed share capital is £350,000, divided into 40,000 shares of £5 each, and there is a further proposal for 30,000 preference shares of £5 each.

Henry Botten and Co., Limited. The proposed capital here is £100,000 in £1 shares, and the business is of the most useful kind, namely, the production of covers for bottles, jars, tin and iron drums, vats, gas, water, and sewage service ends, etc. There are various patents in connection with the business, each of which have involved Patent Office searches of the most exhaustive kind, and from the scrutiny all have emerged successfully. The directorate is one of solid influential business men, competent to judge of the value of the inventions and claims, and who are now both staking their reputation and their money on a commercial success. Foremost among the directors is Mr. Alfred J. Frost, J.P., of the firm of Frost Brothers, the great Shadwell ropemakers. His associates are of his own stamp, one of whom, Mr. Percy F. Nursey, is a past president of the Society of Mechanical Engineers.

The Assets and Debenture Securities Corporation, Limited.This proposal for a share capital of £200,000 in £5 shares presents one name of especial interest in the directorate (to say nothing of the others), namely, that of William Green, director National Dwellings Society, Limited. Green is a well-known Staffordshire and London man, so pliant and

SKIRROW

benevolent that he would take hold of a cow's tail were he asked to, and were the milk of the cow to be named as the directors' fee. Of how many companies has Green been a director of many more, we apprehend, than appear in the "Directory of Directors." And of the many, how many has he seen damned up hill and down dale before they were covered over by mother earth. We do not for a moment think badly of Green, however badly we do think of some of the many things he has lent his green name to. But we do think he might have spared the public the Assets and Debenture Securities Association. It is an undoubted appropriation of a good name and notion, without the remotest likelihood of turning either to good account. It is a promotion thing upon which the public should turn their backs.

WE note with satisfaction the judicious purchase by the Prudential Company of one whole share in the New River Company. This investment of £122,800 commends itself to our judgment, and should further increase confidence in the directorate of this institution for their far-seeing policy in the investment of the funds committed to their care. In a future issue we may deal more fully with this subject. Messrs. Edwin Fox and Bousfield were the auctioneers.

A JOURNALIST on the staff of a very new paper (a few weeks old, we believe) gets jostled in a crowd. He pushes or his pushed against someone, and that someone heads him back. This is practically his own story. That somebody turns out to be the Duke of Cambridge. The smart journalist immediately sees that a good opportunity can be made of the circumstance to advertise his paper, a matter of considerable importance in these days. Accordingly he applies for a summons, and we are firmly persuaded that he never expected to get it. But his purpose would be served all the same. The magistrate sees that even on the applicant's own showing that there could be no conviction, and as he and other magistrates have done and are doing every day, in the exercise of his discretion refuses a summons; in other words, refuses to put a defendant to needless annoyance and expense, when the case is clear that there could be no conviction. Out of this simple circumstance, which occurs every day, the most absurd attempts are made to persuade people who may not have had time to read of the incident, that the summons was denied because the Duke of Cambridge was the person against whom the application was made. Just think for a moment if you are, for instance, a business man or a working man, how ill you would think of the administration of the law if it allowed of your being taken away from your occupation on such a frivolous.pretence as our clever journalist set forth against a Royal Duke. Nor can we admit that because he is a Royal Duke he is entitled to less justice and consideration than any other of Her Majesty's subjects, than you or we. The snobs who used to prostrate themselves mentally and morally before a marquis, duke, and a that, when they thought something was to be gained thereby, are the same snobs who now with equal snobbery perform the same obeisance to the mob, and hope to win its favour by kicking at their former idols. MERCATOR.

18th July, 1889.

Charles Hall, Esq., Q.C., M.P. James C. Whitehorne, Esq., Q.C.

J. C. Lewis Coward, Esq.

John Dixon, Esq.

W. W. S. Follett, Esq.

William Ford, Esq.

M. Ingle Joyce, Esq.

P. H. Lawrence, Esq.

E. Wason, Esq.

Grinham Keen, Esq. (President Incor

porated Law Society).

Robert Browning, Esq.

8. B. Bancroft, Esq.

Edmund Yates, Esq.
E. J. Bristow, Esq.
B. G. Lake, Esq.
Henry Markby, Esq.
H. H. Bothamley, Esq.
B. P. Broomhead, Esq.
Harold Brown, Esq.
W. F. Blandy, Esq.
C. O. Bigg, Esq.
James Boyd, Esq.
Romer Williams, Esq.

J. VERNON MUSGRAVE, 41, Gresham-street, London, E.C

Edward Bromley, Esq. Charles Carrington, Esq. Robert Cunliffe, Esq. Robert W. Dibdin, Esq. Walter Dowson, Esq. Richard Ducane, Esq. A. E. Finch, Esq. H. J. Francis, Esq. Dr. E Freshfield. W. H. Gray, Esq. G. B. Gregory, Esq. J. R. B. Gregory, Esq. Charles Harrison, Esq. J. Wilson Holme, Esq. John Hunter, Esq. H. L. Hussey, Esq. Wm. Janeway, Esq. F. H. Janson, Esq. J. M. Johnstone, Esq. Germain Lavie, Esq. George H. Lewis, Esq. R. Cresswell Loader, Esq. Henry Manisty, Esq. J. P. Martineau, Esq.

Richard Mills, Esq.
John Morris, Esq.

A. S. Munns, Esq.

H. E. Norton, Esq.

J. C. Parkinson, Esq.
H. Leigh Pemberton, Esq.
Wm. Henry Prance, Esq.
Warren Pugh, Esq.
Ed. Lee Rowcliffe, Esq.
Wm. Rowcliffe, Esq.
T. Rawle, Esq.

W. A. Saunders, Esq.
George D. Stibbard, Esq.
William Binns Smith, Esq.
Dudley Stewart Smith, Esq.
H. S. Smith, Esq.

A T. Squarey, Esq.

William Melmoth Walters, Esq. Nelson Ward, Esq.

Edmund Minson Wavell, Esq.

Fredk. Weatherall, Esq.

Spencer Whitehead, Esq.

Wm. Williams, Esq.

C. R. Williams, Esq.

COMPANY,

TRUSTEES FOR DEBENTURE-HOLDERS.
THE CENTRAL TRUST COMPANY OF NEW YORK, U.S.A,
DIRECTORS.

CHARLES E. BARNETT, Esq., Director of Lloyds Bank, Limited.

SAM. LUCAS, Esq., The Brewery, Hitchin, Chairman of the Barnsley Brewery Company, Limited.

H. J. GURDON-REBOW, Esq., J.P., Chairman of the Manchester Brewery Company, Limited.

The Hon. R. PARKER, Tadcaster Tower Brewery, York.

RUSSELL H. MONRO, Esq., Director of the Bartholomay Brewing Company, Limited.

THIS Company has been formed for the purpose of carrying out an amalgamation of two important Breweries, T. C. Lyman and Co.'s Emerald Brewery and F. J. Kastner's Phoenix Brewery, situate in New York and Newark, U.S.A., respectively, and carrying on the businesses under one management. These Breweries are well established and bear high reputations.

THE LYMAN EMERALD BREWERY.

This is a large Brewery, standing on seventeen City lots of freehold land, in West 37th and West 38th Streets, between 9th and 11th Avenues, in the centre of New York, substantially built and well-arranged, with street frontages of 425 feet. The Brewery was founded in the year 1871, and is therefore one of the oldest in the city of New York. The Buildings are brick and stone, all rebuilt within the last few years, and capable of turning out with present plant 200,000 barrels per annum (the storage capacity equalling 24,000 barrels).

The Brewery contains all the Machinery and Appliances of the most modern type, and will require no additional outlay to meet the demand for its produce. In connection with it there are large Ale Vaults, Store Houses, Cooperage Works, and excellent Stabling, with 50 Horses. An Artesian Well gives an ample supply of the purest water.

The Beers brewed are Pale Burton, and East India Ales and Porter of exceptionally good quality, the trade being chiefly in New York, Brooklyn, and Jersey City, where the Ales known as the Emerald Ales enjoy a high reputation for purity and excellence

There are over 90 Licensed Houses or Saloons tied to the Brewery for their Ale and Porter supplies by Lease or Mortgage.

Included in the sale is the goodwill of the valuable Leasehold Malthouses at 49th Street.

THE PHOENIX BREWERY.

This consists of a large Freehold substantially-built Brewery with Storage Houses, situate on the west side of Lewis-street, Newark, New Jersey. together with three City lots of Freehold Land on the eastern side of the same street. The Brewery has a capacity for 100,000 barrels per annum, and ample storage for that output.

The buildings are in first-class order, consisting of Brew House, Ice Machine House, Storage Malt Tower, Boiler House, Ice House, with Artesian Well House, all fireproof, newly and solidly-built Stables, &c. None but well water is used. The principal Machinery consists of four 100 horse-power tubular Boilers, two Brewery Engines, Platform Elevator, Key Elevator, Steam Pumps, two 82 tons De Le Vergne Ice Machines, Ice Making and Electric Light Plant. The Beers of this Brewery are of the best quality of Lager Beer.

There are 78 Licensed Houses or Saloons tied to the Brewery for their Lager Beer Supplies by Lease or Mortgage.

The above Breweries are situate within easy distance of each other, and can be worked under one management with considerable advantage.

The number of barrels of Beer produced by the two Breweries was as follows;For the year 1887-8 164,009 barrels. 1883-9 168,200

The books of the Breweries have been examined by Messrs. J. R. Ellerman and Co., of London, who certify that the net profits of the two Breweries for the last two years have been as follows:£45,487 8 0 £47,309 11 3

For the year 1887 1888

...

The Breweries and Plant have been kept up to an efficient state of repair, and before arriving at these figures Messrs. Ellerman state that they wrote off large sums for depreciation, and a sum of £3,402 for reserves for doubtful debts beyond what the Vendors considered necessary.

It is anticipated that these profits will show a considerable increase in the uture, by economies to be effected by the joint management and by the amalga

Mr. Lenon, the Vendor to the Company, has entered into agreements, presently referred to, for purchasing the Breweries. The purchase includes all the real property and buildings, fixed and loose plant, machinery, vats, casks, kegs, horses and wagons, and the goodwill. The purchase also includes the stocks of Beer, Ale, Malt, Hops, and other materials, book debts, loans, and mortgages of the two Breweries, which, at the last stock-taking, exceeded the sum of £80,000, which provides ample working capital.

Mr. Lenon has fixed the price to be paid to him by the Company for the whole of the properties thus acquired by him at £470,000, and the whole of the properties acquired will, subject to the Mortgage for £190,000 to the Central Trust Company of New York to secure the Debenture-holders, be conveyed to an American Corporation in New York State, the Shares of which American Corporation will be held by or in Trust for this Company.

The properties are taken over from the 30th April last, from which date all profits are acquired, the Vendor receiving interest from 30th April until payment. The Board of Management in New York have agreed to manage the business for the Company, and the services of the present staff will be retained so far as needful, thus ensuring a continuance of the system of management under which the Breweries have attained their present high position.

The following Contracts have been entered into, viz:

Contract for Sale of the Emerald Brewery, dated 18th day of June, 1889, between Thomas C. Lyman and Henry L. Greenman of the one part, and George H. Taylor of the other part. Contract for sale of the Phoenix Brewery, dated 17th day of June, 1889, between Franz J. Kastner of the one part, and Russell H. Monro of the other part. Contract, dated 20th day of June, 1889, between George H. Taylor of the one part, and Edmund F. Lenon of the other part. A Letter, dated 17th June, 1889, from Russell H. Monro to Carl Lentz. Contract, dated 12th day of July, 1889, between Russell H. Monro of the one part, and the said E. F. Lenon of the other part. Contract, dated 19th day of July, 1889, between the said E. F. Lenon of the one part, and the Company of the other part, for the sale by Mr. Lenon to the Company of the above properties at a profit, Mr. Lenon paying all expenses attending the incorporation and registration of the Company, and also all underwriting, brokerage commissions, printing, advertisement, and expenses attending the formation of the Company up to and including allotment. Other arrangements have been entered into by or on behalf of the Vendor with various persons, which may constitute contracts within the meaning of the 38th Section of the Companies Act, 1867. There are also various Contracts connected with the Breweries as going concerns, which, from the nature of the business, it might be injudicious to publish. Applicants must therefore be deemed to waive the insertion of dates and names of the parties to any such arrangements or Contracts, and in order to prevent any questions, must accept the above statement as a sufficient compliance with Section 38 of the Companies Act, 1867, and otherwise.

The above statements as to the Properties purchased are made upon the authority of information furnished by the American Vendors, of Mr. Russell H. Monro, who has inspected the Breweries, and of Messrs. J. R. Ellerman and Co., who have examined the Books.

A Stock Exchange quotation will be applied for.

The Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company, together with copies of the above-named Contracts, and the detailed Report of the Auditors, can be inspected at the offices of the Solicitors of the Company.

Applications for Shares should be made on the accompanying form, and should be forwarded to the Company's Bankers, accompanied by a remittance for the amount of the deposit.

If the whole amount applied for by any applicant be not allotted, the surplus amount paid on deposit will be appropriated towards the sum due on allotment. Where no allotment is made, the deposit will be returned in full. Prospectuses and Forms of Application can be obtained at the offices of the Company, or at the offices of the Bankers, Brokers, and Solicitors.

REPORT OF MESSRS. J. R. ELLERMAN AND CO.

To the Directors of "The Emerald and Phoenix Brewing Company, Limited." Dear Sirs. We have examined the books of Messrs. T. C. Lyman and Co., Ale and Porter Brewers of New York, U.S.A., for the two years ending 30th April, 1889, and of Mr. F. J. Kastner, of Newark, New Jersey, for the two years ending 1st September, 1888, and taking the rate of exchange at 4.85 dols. to the £, certify (subject to our detailed report of even date) that the net profits of the combined businesses, assuming the years to have ended at even dates, but without charging interest on Capital, or the salary drawn by Mr. A. Kastner for 1887-8, were £45.487 38. Od., and for 1888-9, £47,309 11s. 3d.

The barrelage, as shown by the sworn returns to the Government, of the combined businesses was in 1887-8, 164,009, and in 1888-9, 168,200.

In arriving at the above results we have made such adjustments and further reserves as we deemed advisable. The amount written off by us for depreciation on the combined businesses for the last two years amounts to £9,280 11s., in addition to which £8,437 178. 6d. has been charged to Revenue for Repairs, and Renewals to Plant, Machinery, and Casks. We have also charged to the Trading Account, £3,402 as an extra provision for doubtful debts beyond that deemed sufficient by Messrs. Lyman and Co. and Mr. Kastner. We are, Dear Sirs,

Yours faithfully,
J. R. ELLERMAN and Co.

10, Moorgate-street, London, E.C., 21st June, 1889.

IN Walker v. Wilsher, the Court of Appeal (Lord Esher, M.R., Lindley and Bowen, L.JJ.) delivered an important judgment on a question of costs. The case came originally before Huddleston, B., and the parties consented to a verdict for the plaintiff for £100. Certain letters which had been written before action, brought without prejudice, referring to a compromise of the action, were handed up to the learned judge, who, after reading them, came to the conclusion that they constituted "good cause for de

De Lege; de Omnibus Rebus et Quibusdam Aliis.

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THE Incorporated Law Society had, as usual, a stormy meeting on the 12th inst. This is not to be wondered at. With freehold premises and an income of £28,000, the Council continue to present a deficit nearly every year. Meanwhile they are utterly out of touch with the great body of solicitors, who only hear of their corporate existence when they examine candidates for entrance into the profession, or facilitate the exit from it of four per cent. of the same candidates, by the practice known as "striking off the rolls." As a Trades Union the Law Society is a rank failure. The Solicitors' Remuneration Act was passed in the teeth of their protests, and when they attempted to stop the encroachment of the law stationers on their own particular preserves, they not only failed to make a respectable fight of it, but managed to obtain for themselves an enormous dose of the penalty which they are in the habit of inflicting on other people, viz., costs.

THE fact is that the Law Society has been for a long time in the hands of a clique. To the old and rich firms whose siège social is in Lincoln's-inn and its neighbourhood, the Law Institution forms an agreeable lounge and meeting-place. To all other solicitors it is almost entirely useless, and they have left the election of the Council and the management of the concern for the most part to the Lincoln's-inn firms, who have spent the examination fees which make up the principal part of its income with a light heart. There are signs that this easygoing state of affairs is coming to an end.

AN ex-Solicitor-General (Sir William Harcourt) shows a good example of respect for judicial decisions. In the Standard of Thursday last he is reported as saying"Then it was said, 'You must wait until the Commission reports.' (Laughter.) He did not think the country had any occasion to wait; the country had heard quite as much as it wanted to hear; it had stopped the case, and was quite prepared to give its verdict, which he did not think was likely to be altered by the report of the Commission." How is this for contempt of Court?

SOME people catch at an escapade like Lord Dunlo's as an argument against hereditary aristocracy. As a matter

The plaintiff appealed from this decision depriving him of his costs, contending that the letters, which alone constituted, as was admitted, good cause, could not be looked at for that purpose, having been written "without prejudice." The general idea previous to this decision, founded on the cases of Woodard v. Eastern Counties Railway, 1 Jur. N.S. 899; Williams v. Thomas, 2 Dr. and Sm. 29; Hoghton v. Hoghton, 15 Bear. 278, 321; and Paddock v. Forrester, 3 Man. and G. 903, was that letters written "without prejudice" might be read on a question of costs, but not as against the writer; and that, save as to costs, neither a letter written "without prejudice" nor the answer to it could be put in evidence. This view was based mainly on the consideration that every scope should be afforded for offers to compromise or admissions made with a view to preventing or shortening litigation, and, therefore, that where such offers had been made, the person making them should not, by their admission in evidence, be prejudiced, for an offer to compromise leads to the not infrequently unfair inference that the person making it has no very strong belief in the goodness of his claim or defence. Interest republicæ ut sit finis litium; offers of compromise tend to shorten litigation-therefore they should be encouraged; on the other hand they lead to the inference above mentioned, therefore if written "without prejudice " they should be excluded from being given in evidence. The Court of Appeal, however, held in Walker v. Wilsher that letters written "without prejudice" could not, except by consent of both parties, be looked at by the judge with reference to the question of costs. This certainly is going beyond the reason on which their exclusion, pending the determination of the question of liability in the action, is based. To require the consent of both parties may easily operate to exclude evidence which, though it should not be permitted to influence the determination of liability or non-liability as to the subjectmatter claimed, may tend to show that the conduct of one of the parties has throughout been vexatious and oppressive, and, admitted after verdict or judgment, be an excellent reason for deprivation of costs.

IN Cochrane v. Moore, Lopes, L.J., delivered a considered judgment which, from the exceptional point involved, deserves to be noted. The question, raised or an interpleader issue, was whether plaintiff or defendant was entitled to a sum in the hands of Messrs. Tattersall representing one-fourth of the proceeds of a steeplechase