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MR A. J. YOUNG, M.A.,

LATELY SHERIFF-SUBSTITUTE OF ABERDEEN AND
KINCARDINE AT ABERDEEN.

Mr A. J. Young, advocate, who has retired
from the office of Sheriff-Substitute at Aberdeen
and is now in his seventy-ninth year, has had a
busy life in the exercise of his profession. Passing
for the Bar in 1868, he had not long to wait ere
his ability was recognised, and in the course of
a few years he obtained a good general practice.
With a grasp of legal principles and care in
mastering details,
he evinced a special
aptitude for proofs
and jury trials, and
had a large experi-
ence in conducting
them successfully.
His clients could
depend on him as
ready and resource-
ful, and he knew
how to gain a cause
without giving
offence to his
opponents.

1886 he

In

was

appointed standing

counsel for the Inland Revenue in Scotland, and for over twentyone years he gave faithful service to that laborious Department, doing on its behest much hard work and dealing with intri

of full restoration to health, and that this is the occasion of his resignation. During the period of between thirteen and fourteen years that Sheriff Young has presided in the Court at Aberdeen he has enjoyed the reputation, not only among the legal practitioners but throughout the community, of being a sound and wellread lawyer, a most capable and painstaking judge, and a public-spirited and estimable citizen. To the members of the Bar he has been uniformly courteous and considerate, and while maintaining the full dignity of the Court,

his kindly disposition has made him extremely popular. He carries with him into his retirement the esteem and good wishes of all the members, and their earnest hope that complete freedom from official duty may restore his health

and enable him for long to enjoy a well-earned retirement."

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ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND APPOINTMENT.-Mr Alexander Laurie, accountant at the bank's chief office in Dundee, has been associated with Mr Hugh H. Pillans as joint

cate and important questions. It was in 1907 agent at Hunter Square branch, Edinburgh. that he went to Aberdeen as a Sheriff-Substitute. His duties there have been since then discharged with acknowledged skill and efficiency. This is borne out by the following excerpt from the minute of a meeting held on 6th April by the Aberdeen Society of Advocates. The excerpt is in these terms:

"In connection with the recently announced retiral of Sheriff Young, as it is understood the state of bis health renders any public leavetaking inadvisable, the members of the Society take this opportunity of expressing and recording their sincere sorrow that his temporary release from duty has not had the desired effect

CALEDONIAN RAILWAY APPOINTMENT.-Mr John Scouler Steven, assistant solicitor, has been appointed solicitor jointly with Mr D. L. Forgan, the present solicitor of the Caledonian Railway Company.

MR WILLIAM M'INTOSH, writer, Dumbarton, has been appointed Clerk and Treasurer to Dumbarton Combination Poorhouse Committee.

THE business of Hewat & Dunn, solicitors, Castle-Douglas, will in future be carried on under the firm name of Hewat, Dunn & Ramsay.

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APPOINTMENTS AND CHANGES IN
SHERIFF-SUBSTITUTE OFFICES.

The King has approved, on the recommendation of the Secretary for Scotland, the appointment of Mr John Dewar Dallas, advocate, to the office of Sheriff-Substitute of Aberdeen and Kincardine at Aberdeen, in the room of Mr Andrew John Young, who has resigned.

The King has been pleased, on the recommendation of the Secretary for Scotland, to approve the appointment of Mr J. Rodger Haldane, advocate, to the office of SheriffSubstitute of Ross, Cromarty, and Sutherland at Stornoway, in room of Mr William Dunbar, promoted to be Sheriff-Substitute at Kilmarnock. Mr J. A. T. Robertson, Sheriff-Substitute of Ayr at Kilmarnock has been promoted to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the late Mr Moffat, Sheriff-Substitute of Stirling and Linlithgow at Falkirk.

Sheriff-Substitute J. C. Guy has intimated his resignation at the end of the present month. We hope to publish portrait biographies in early issues.

DEATH OF THE "FATHER" OF THE SCOTTISH BAR. We regret to announce the death at Careggi, Florence, of Mr Ninian Hill Thomson, for some time a judge in the Calcutta Courts. Mr Thomson was the oldest member of the Scottish Bar, having been called in 1855. He was also a barrister of the Middle Temple, London. The oldest member now becomes Lord Trayner, who was called in 1858.

THE firm of Messrs Lowe & Lorimer, solicitors and notaries public, Buckie, has been dissolved as at 31st March 1921, by mutual consent, by the retiral therefrom of Mr Augustus C. W. Lowe. The business will continue to be carried on by Mr James Lorimer on his own account, under the name of Lowe & Lorimer.

MR JAMES LORIMER has been appointed Town-Clerk, Burgh Treasurer and Collector, and Police Court Clerk for the burgh of Findochty in place of Mr Lowe.

WELL-KNOWN STRANRAER MAN DEAD. The death took place recently at his residence, Laurelbank, Stranraer, of Mr John Mackie Adair, who at one time held many public appointments in the town and district. Mr Adair, who has practically been in retirement for three years, held the office of J.P. clerk for the county for about forty years, and was agent for the Conservative party in the Rhins district. He acted as factor in succession to his father on Sheuchen estate, and was at one time a member of the Town Council and a magistrate, and a member of Liswalt Parochial Board and Parish Council. In addition to a solicitor's business, he also for many years was tenant of the farms of Gallowhill and Meikle Mark.

THE SECRETARY FOR SCOTLAND has appointed Mr Percy J. Adair, solicitor, Stranraer, to be Clerk of the Peace for the county of Wigtown, in place of Mr John M. Adair deceased.

SOCIETY OF PROCURATORS OF

MIDLOTHIAN.

INCORPORATED SOCIETY OF LAW AGENTS IN SCOTLAND.-A meeting of Council was held in Edinburgh on 17th March 1921, Mr Patrick Cooper, Aberdeen (the president), in the chair. The Council remitted to a committee to consider a report on the subject of the audit of trustees' accounts and a revised bill which had At a recent special general meeting of the been drafted, providing for a compulsory audit Society of Procurators of Midlothian, the followof trust accounts with certain exceptions, either ing law agents were nominated as Agents for the by a professional man or by the trustees. A Poor in the Sheriff Court for the year from memorandum by the Scottish Professional 1st April 1921 to 31st March 1922, and the Assistants' Society dealing with the Unemploy- nominations have been duly confirmed by the ment Insurance Act, and particularly with the Sheriff:-Mr R. D. C. M'Kechnie, solicitor, proposed formation of a special scheme for 14 Frederick Street, Edinburgh; Mr George M. employees in legal offices, was generally approved Leys, solicitor, 53 George IV. Bridge, Edinburgh; of. The Council had under consideration the Mr Lindsay C. Steele, solicitor, 14 Frederick report of the Bills Committee on the Convey- Street, Edinburgh; Mr J. F. Kellas, solicitor, ancing (Scotland) Amendment Bill, Land Tenure 94 Constitution Street, Leith; Mr C. Forbes (Scotland) Bill, and Trusts (Scotland) Bill, which Ridland, S.S.C., 25 Frederick Street, Edinburgh; was finally adjusted. The Council also dealt and Mr John Leslie M'Callum, 13 Bernard with Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Bill. Street, Leith. Attention having been drawn to the scarcity of messengers-at-arms, the Council remitted to the Law of Diligence Committee to consider how this might best be remedied. Messrs S. W. Mayer, Keith; C. J. MacPherson, Dufftown; David Stewart, Oban; and R. T. Milne, Cowdenbeath, were admitted members.

Among other business dealt with were the undernoted matters, which were all remitted to the Council for consideration :

1. When wills have been recorded in the Commissary Court books it was suggested that legislation should be procured to the effect that extracts or copies thereof

should be held to be authenticated for all purposes except where improbation is sought, and it was further suggested that this matter might be dealt with in the new Conveyancing Bill.

NEW LORD CHIEF JUSTICE.

MR JUSTICE LAWRENCE.

The King has been pleased to approve of the
appointment of Mr Justice Lawrence to be Lord
Chief Justice of England in succession to the
Earl of Reading.

The new Lord Chief Justice, Sir Alfred
Tristram Lawrence, has been a judge of the
High Court of Justice since 1904. Born in
1843, he is a son of David Lawrence, surgeon,
of Pontypool, Co. Monmouth, and was called
to the Bar, Middle Temple, in 1869. In 1897
he became a King's Counsel, and was knighted
in the year of his appointment to the judicial
bench. He is a J.P. and D.L. for the county
of Nairn, where he has a residence, Invernairne.

The newly-appointed Lord Chief Justice was formally sworn in to the duties of his high office before the Lord Chancellor, Lord Birkenhead, in the Lord Chief Justice's Court in the King's Bench Division on Saturday, 16th April. There was a large attendance to witness the imposing ceremony, many ladies being present.

The

2. Model Articles of Roup.-It was suggested
that it might be possible to get the legal
profession in cities and in large towns to
adopt a fixed form or model of articles
of roup such as is in use in England.
3. Division of the Year into Two Equal Terms.
In place of having the year divided as
at present, namely 15th May and 11th
November, for settling heritable transac-
tions, the year ought to be divided more
equally, namely, say as at 15th May and
15th November, and if this were done
the trouble in calculating for two unequal
portions of the year would be avoided;
and it was also mentioned in this connec-
tion that since the armistice the 11th of
November has really become an annual
commemorative day, and if the November
term date could be changed to the 15th
of November it would be an advantage Attorney-General, on behalf of the Bar, offered
from all points of view.
to the Lord Chief Justice sincere and cordial
congratulations upon his appointment. His long
association with them both as counsel and judge
caused them all to congratulate him with ad-
miration and respect and with affection upon
the attainment of a position than which there
was none more coveted by an English lawyer.
In a judge no qualities were more to be desired
than those of courage and patience, and they
all knew that these qualities had always been
exhibited by his Lordship in a superlative degree,
and that also he would add to those the crown-
ing gift of kindness and sympathy. The new
Lord Chief Justice, who spoke with some emotion,
in thanking the Bar, said he felt that it was
only the Attorney-General's high sense of duty
that prevented him being the welcomed rather
than the welcomer. He trusted and believed
that with the assistance of his brethren, and of
that most generous body the Bar of England, he
would be able to discharge the high duties of
his position "for the short time that at my
time of life it may be in my hands." His Lord-
ship subsequently presided in a Divisional Court
of the King's Bench.

4. Printing in Cases Appealed from the Sheriff Court to the Court of Session. -The question of cost of printing in such cases was raised by several members, it being pointed out that many litigants were prevented from prosecuting their appeals because of the expense occasioned by printing, and it was suggested that typed copies of appeal and evidence should be allowed as a matter of right, and further that there is no reason why it should not be permissible to lodge prints or typed copies of the notes on evidence later than fourteen days from the date of appeal.

5. Service of Writs in Affiliation Cases on a Defender Resident in England.-It seems that before a Scotswoman can sue an Englishman in such a case she must herself have her domicil in the jurisdiction of the Court where it is sought to sue the man. The Council was specially instructed to endeavour to have an alteration of the law made with regard to this anomalous state of affairs, and the meeting expressed the view that the jurisdiction for the defender should be that of the Court where the defender resides. The Council submitted an interesting report to the meeting, which report dealt with, amongst other matters, the Conveyancing (Scotland) Amendment Bill, Land Tenure (Scotland) Bill, and the Trusts (Scotland) Bill. The report also dealt with the question of legal education in Scotland, the service out of the jurisdiction of writs of the English and Irish Courts, and the new telephone rates.

JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES IN SCOTLAND.
The following have been registered for week ending 1st
April :

11665-Barclay, Mackay & Co. Ltd., 68 Gordon Street,
Glasgow (private company), to enter into an agreement with
Thomas Barclay and Walter Scott Bruce, small tool and
machinery agents, etc., carrying on business at above address
under the firm name of Barclay, Mackay & Co., and to carry
on the business of manufacturing and trading in all kinds of
machinery, machine tools, etc. Capital-£3000 in £1 shares.
patents, etc., in connection with the manufacture and selling

11666-Evron Ltd., 201 Bath Street, Glasgow, to acquire

of mechanical devices. Capital-£75,000 in 65,000 8 per

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cent. A Cumulative Participating Preference shares of £1, and 80,000 8 per cent. B Cumulative Participating Preference shares of 2s. 6d. each.

11667-Borlands Ltd. (private company), to carry on the business of general traders, produce merchants, etc. Capital -£100,000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-David and George M. Borland, general merchants, 72 Virginia Street, Glasgow. 11,668-The Broxburn United Football Co. Ltd. Capital -£1000 in £1 shares.

11669-Jas. A. Thomson & Co. Ltd. (private company), to take over the business of Jas. A. Thomson & Co., Fraserburgh, and to carry on business as herring exporters, fishcurers, fish merchants, etc. Capital -£10,000 in £1 shares. 11670-C. B. White & Co. Ltd. (private company), to acquire the business of C. B. White & Co., whisky brokers and wholesale wine and spirit merchants and blenders, Glasgow. Capital-£10,000 in £1 shares.

11671-GRI Motors Ltd., 36 Academy Street, Inverness (private company), to acquire an invention for improvements in valvular arrangements for internal combustion engines and to carry on in Inverness, Glasgow, etc., the business of engineers. Capital-£12,000 in £1 shares.

11672-Cunningham, Fraser & Co., Comely Bank Nurseries, Edinburgh (private company), to acquire the business of Cunningham, Fraser & Co., nurserymen, Edinburgh. Capital-£5000 in £1 shares.

The following have been registered for week ending 8th April :

11673-The Scottish Central Theatre Co. Ltd., 6 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh. To acquire and carry on various picture and other theatres and places of entertainment, and also the sites for new picture houses. Capital-£185,000 divided into 175,000 preference shares of £1 each and 200.000 ordinary shares of 1s. each. Subscribers-W. Reston Galt, theatrical agent, Beechfield, Tuphall Road, Hamilton; J. Muir Calder, Osborne House, 2 Albert Place, and Alex. Cullens, meat salesman, 9 Port Street, Stirling; John Fraser, architect, 22 Woodmill Road, Dunfermline; James Calder, wine merchant, 25 Hamilton Drive, Glasgow'; Alex. Mitchell, commercial traveller, 53 Bellevue Road, and Sir Joseph Dobbie, S.S. C., 42 Melville Street, Edinburgh.

11674-W. Smith & Son Ltd., 18 Market Street, Aberdeen (private company), to acquire and carry on the business of seedsmen, nurserymen, and florists. Capital-£100,000 in 20,000 preference and 80,000 ordinary shares, both of £1 each. Subscribers--Alex. Robson, seedsman and nurseryman, 46 Belgrave Terrace, and Wm. Wyllie, seedsman and nurseryman, 212 Westburn Road, Aberdeen.

11675-P. S. O'Callaghan Ltd., 132 West Nile Street, Glasgow, to acquire and carry on the business of publishers, printers, booksellers, etc. Capital-£10,000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-P. S. O'Callaghan, bookseller, Hillside House, Partickhill Road; James Manuel, chemist, 23 Rowallan Gardens, Jordanhill; Agnes Howat, clerk, 115 Wellington Street; P. S. M'Grath, traveller, 26 Crossburn Street, and Ellen M. Wilson, bookkeeper, 22 Agnes Street, Glasgow; John M'Mullan, stevedore, Rothesay Dock, Clydebank; and Thos. Campbell, merchant, 5 Main Street, Stevenston.

11676-Springburn Brick and Tile Co. Ltd., 135 Buchanan Street, Glasgow (private company). Capital-£20,000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-James Wood, coalmaster, Wallhouse, Torphichen; William Wilson, manufacturer, Castlehill; David Walker, coalmaster, Southfield, Troon; and Nicol F. Cameron, solicitor, 135 Buchanan Street, Glasgow. 11677-The Glasgow Chocolate Manufacturing Co. (1921) Ltd., 222 Kennedy Street, Townhead, Glasgow (private company). Capital-£5000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-John M'Gregor, company director, 22 Monreith Road, Newlands, Glasgow; and Robert V. Ferguson, company director, 7 Limeside Avenue, Rutherglen.

Subscribers-C. Middleton, motor dealer, 5 Cluny Villas, Jordanhill; and Cecil K. Young, merchant, 39 Falkland Mansions, Hyndland, Glasgow.

The following have been registered for week ending 15th April:

11681-Chisholm Brothers Ltd., 190 West George Street, Glasgow (private company), to take over and carry on the business of iron, coal, and steel merchants. Capital-£1200 in £1 shares. Subscribers-James Chisholm, clerk, 33 Calderwood Road; George G. Chisholm, electrical engineer, 8 Clincarthill Road, and John Chisholm, merchant, 86 Stonelaw Road, Rutherglen.

11682-Joseph Duncan Ltd., 26 Bothwell Street, Glasgow (private company), to carry on the business of chemists and druggists. Capital-£1000 in £1 shares. SubscribersArthur Duncan, chemist and druggist, 54 Gibson Street, and Archibald M. Chalmers, solicitor, 60 Sardinia Terrace, Hillhead, Glasgow.

11683-M. & A. Currie Ltd., 53 High Street, Kilmarnock (private company), to acquire and carry on the business of hosiery and cap manufacturers. Capital-£12,000 in 6000 15 per cent. preference and 6000 ordinary shares, both of £1 each. Subscribers-Andrew Currie, hosiery manufacturer, 9 Elmbank Drive, and Andrew Currie, manufacturer, Fernbank, Kilmarnock; and Alex. A. Marwick, accountant, 1624 Great Western Road, Glasgow.

11684-Jax Ltd., 127 St Vincent Street, Glasgow (private company), to carry on the business of manufacturers of soap powder and other chemical products. Capital-£5000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-John M. Maclean, merchant, 425 Shields Road, Pollokshields, Glasgow; and Alex. S. Maclean, merchant, 1 Gardner Mansions, Church Row, Hampstead, London.

11685-Morgan & Co. (Coatbridge) Ltd., 30 Dunbeth Road, Coatbridge (private company), to carry on the business of painters, paperhangers, etc. Capital-£3000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-S. H. Morgan, painter, 30 Dunbeth Road, and H. L. Munro, pawnbroking manager, 60 Portland Street, Coatbridge.

11686 The Greenlaw Electric Supply Co. Ltd., The Square, Greenlaw (private company), to supply electricity in Greenlaw, Berwickshire, and district. Capital-£4000 in 3000 ordinary and 1000 5 per cent. preference shares, both of £1 each. Subscribers-James Clapham, smallholder; James S. Macgregor, baker, and Thomas Clapham, rabbit catcher, Greenlaw.

11687-John Strachan & Sons Ltd., Gilcomston Mills, 29 Leadside Road, Aberdeen (private company), to take over and carry on the business of millers and grain merchants. Capital-£30,000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-John Strachan, miller and grain merchant, Beechgrove House, and Wm. T. Begg, miller and grain merchant, 42 Rosebery Street, Aberdeen.

11688--The Cumnock Creamery Co. Ltd., 25 Melville Street, Edinburgh (private company). Capital-£35,000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-Edward C. Hort, F.R.C.S. (Edin.), Aultmore House, Nethy Bridge; Evan J. Cuthbertson, W.S., and R. K. Cuthbertson, apprentice W.S., 25 Melville Street, Edinburgh; and Robert H. Martin, banker, 68 Lombard Street, London.

11689-Donald-Bean Insulators and Engineers Ltd., 11 Great Wellington Street, Glasgow (private company). Capital-£15,000 in 12,000 ordinary and 3000 preference shares, both of £1 each. Subscribers-W. M. Donald, iron and steel merchant, 53 Bothwell Street; A. Bean, shipbuilder, 1 Shandon Street, Govan; and H. Loudon, merchant, 1 Lynedoch Terrace, Glasgow.

11690-Motor Tours (Scotland) Ltd. (private company). Capital-£3000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-James Peterson, motor engineer, 808 New City Road, Glasgow; and Geo. W. Niyron, engineer, 7 Comely Bank Terrace, Edinburgh.

11691-Turner, Rutherford & Co. Ltd., hosiery manu

11678-The Scottish Concrete Block and Machinery Co. Ltd., 55 Bath Street, Glasgow (private company). Capital-facturers, Mansfield Mills, Hawick (private company). £1500 in £1 shares. Subscribers-William Simons, engineer, 3 Cluny Villas, Jordanbill; Arthur Kelland, manager, 144 Hyndland Road; Herbert F. Gilbert and Alex. D. Burgess, engineers, 65 West Regent Street, Glasgow.

11679--Glasgow Transport Co. Ltd., 219 St Vincent Street, Glasgow (private company). Capital-£100 in £1 shares. Subscribers-David Thomson, clerk, 46 Seamore Street, and Duncan Lush, clerk, 133 Watt Street, Glasgow. 11680-Charles Middleton & Son Ltd., 32 Woodlands Road, Glasgow (private company), to carry on the business of motor vehicle makers and engineers. Capital-£2000 in 1500 preference and 500 ordinary shares. both of £1 each.

Capital-£70,000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-Thomas E. Rutherford, hosiery manufacturer, Gowanbank; Thomas D. Elliot, traveller, 3 Loan, and Walter B. Montgomery, hosiery foreman, 13 Wilton Hill Terrace, Hawick.

11692-Furcraft Ltd. (private company), to carry on the business of furriers. Capital-£1000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-George S. Price, solicitor, 205 Hope Street, and Margaret M. Hart, saleswoman, 55 Seamore Street, Glasgow.

11693-Cinemas Syndicate Ltd., 68 Bath Street, Glasgow (private company). Capital-£3000 in £1 shares. Subscribers-Alex. Kerr, accountant, and Elizabeth Wright, typist, 68 Bath Street, Glasgow.

has fallen and to find the result; in the other, to find what result might have been obtained if the hammer had fallen. The view is accordingly submitted that for death duty you are to assume a sale without reserve. The difference between a sale with, and one without, reserve is material. It is, we think, correctly stated by Scrutton, now L.J., in Clay thus, with reference to the words "willing seller" which occur in the 1910 Act but not in the 1894 Act:

VALUES FOR DEATH DUTIES-I. There is some reason to think that it not infrequently happens that assets of various kinds are over-valued for the purpose of fixing the amount of death duties payable, and that this arises from overlooking the statutory and other rules on the subject. We do not doubt that the varied experiences of our readers will be able to supplement and in various ways improve upon our instances, and we shall have pleasure in mentioning other cases in these pages if the information is placed at our disposal. The matter is one of very serious monetary interest, and it is exactly the kind of thing in regard to which a professional journal can serve one of its best objects by acting as a means of inter-compulsion. communication between professional brethren, so that the experience of each may, so far as thought fit, be placed at the service of all.

The sources of the rules which regulate practice are partly statutory, partly judicial, and partly administrative; but all put together, they are not voluminous. There are special cases with which we shall not have space to deal, and we propose to confine attention to cases where the taxpayer might be apt to pay too much, as we may assume that the other side will have expert administrative attention. The rule of general application is contained in subsection (5) of section 7 of the Finance Act 1894, and is as follows:

The principal value of any property shall be estimated to be the price which, in the opinion of the Commissioners [of Inland Revenue], such property would fetch if sold in the open market at the time of the death of the deceased.

A NOTIONAL SALE.

We start with a critical analysis of this rule. 1. Notional Sale.-The first point we desire to make, and indeed the main burden of this article, is that the statutory standard postulates a sale at the time of the death of the deceased. It matters not that the deceased had no intention of selling, nor that the successor has no intention of selling or perhaps no power to sell, nor that a prudent or sagacious person would not sell, or at any rate would not sell at that time.

2. Sale without Reserve. In the case of Inland Revenue v. Clay ([1914] 3 K.B. 466) Cozens Hardy M.R., dealing with land values under section 25 (1) of the Finance (1909-10) Act 1910, said that you are not necessarily to assume a sale without reserve. But then that section appears to be materially different from s. 7 (5) of the Finance Act 1894. The latter requires you to find the "price" which the property "would fetch" if sold, while the former section merely speaks of the "amount" which the property, if sold, "might be expected to realise." In the one case you are invited to assume that the hammer

"A willing seller does not mean a person who is willing to sell for any price however inadequate, or who is under compulsion, but one who will not insist on a fancy price."

Now, under the 1894 Act, our submission is that the seller is under a statutory notional

3. Time. This notional sale is to be "at the time of the death." It appears that it is really the value to the deceased that is to be arrived at (Attorney-General v. Jameson, [1905] 2 I.R. 218). Whether the actual day or actual moment of death is to be assumed we do not know, but in certain classes of property a day or an hour might make a vast difference either up or down. Sudden appreciation arises in the case of property dependent on lives, and sudden depreciation may be due to a fire loss. There is evidence that the Exchequer is not severe in cases of sudden depreciation, but in the converse case the subject appears to be entitled to stand upon his statutory right to take the lower value at the moment of death.

4. Mode. The subsection does not say that the notional sale is to be deemed to be by auction, and this is not implied (Clay, supra).

5. Place. Nor does the subsection say anything about the place of the hypothetical sale. It appears that it need not be the place where the property is situated, and indeed if there were a better market elsewhere, the latter would no doubt need to be assumed.

6. Open Market. The meaning of this expression is dealt with in the English case of Clay (supra) and in the Scottish case of Glass v. Inland Revenue (1915 S.C. 449). It does not necessarily mean auction, but it imports fair conditions, full publicity, and an opportunity to all and sundry, and not to merely a selected class such as a family. Speculative purchasers must be notionally included, and the cases shew the extent to which it is to be deemed that their speculative spirit might carry them.

7. Actual Impossibility.-But then the circumstances may be such that in point of fact such an unfettered sale is legally impossible. In saying this we do not refer to any fetters which the deceased may himself have created in his will, and indeed it may be taken as clear that the terms of the will are wholly irrelevant. it is common in the case of private companies to have all manner of restrictions in the company's constitution. This was the Irish case

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