he would defy any human being to say beforehand what the practice was. There was occasionally a decision in practice, and, by dint of great labour, a man might pick out from the reported cases what the practice was to a small extent. A few days ago he wished to inform a client upon a point of practice, and turned to Mr. Grant's very able book, the last upon that subject, to see what he had said upon it, when, to his utter dismay, after detailing what the practice formerly was, he went on to say -"The above is stated for information; but how far the new rules have altered the practice, or reversed it, or abolished it, it is impossible for any person, on such a point as this to say; it must be left to the decision of the Court."-Thus a Solicitor who wrote a book on the subject, said, it was impossible to tell what the practice is. There was then a vital disease in the practice of the Court, which could be completely remedied only by abolishing the present system altogether. The Six Clerks'-office was also preserved for the purpose of taxing costs; but he had documents in his hand which completely illustrated their inability to discharge even that duty. He held in his hand a bill of costs, thirty-five sheets long, which was taxed in the Masters' office, in the presence of a Clerk in Court. The bill amounted to 8307., from which, upon taxation, 132/. was struck off; but afterwards the Solicitor himself retaxed the costs without the Clerk in Court, and took off twice the amount. It might be asked how this happened? Why the Clerk in Court allowed for a copy of ninety folios, when it contained only fifty-one; and for another, 1,150, which contained only 779, and committed other oversights, of a similar nature, although he was one of the most intelligent of the body. The fees, too, which they received were very heavy. He had known a case in which they had received as much as 607. from each side, and as the Solicitors received the same, it made an expense of 1207. on each side for taxing the costs alone. The Six Clerks themselves had, in effect, sinecures; for they divided the duty between them by taking two months each in the year, for which two months of doing nothing, each, with other small fees, as Comptroller of the Hanaper, received 1,2007. a-year. He said, two months of doing nothing; and hon. Members would agree with him, if they would take the pains to look at the evidence of Mr. Vizard, or of the Six Clerks, which describes the duties of the office; and they might be discharged by any man of the least glimmering of understanding, for they consisted in seeing that the documents were written in a fair hand on proper parchment, and not blotted, and other similar duties. He did not mean to treat the individuals in that office with any disrespect, but he certainly did not think them competent to the office of taxing costs, as suggested by his hon. and learned friend. There was, he feared, no alternative but to employ one or two taxing officers, and he would pay them as he would every one who did anything beneficial to the suitor, while he would get rid of all offices not beneficial to the suitor. He would then proceed to the last subject on which he should trouble the House. Having got rid of the Six Clerks, an office must be erected to keep the Records; and, connected with this subject, he had framed a plan which would as he thought get rid of three-fourths of the abuses existing in the Court of Chancery. He proposed, that all bills should be filed in the office so erected, not written, as now, on a great sheet of parchment, which nobody could read, but in the form of a book. Next to the bills, the answers should be entered in the same way. Then should come the decree, the report, the order, or further directions, all following one another in the same way. This would totally abolish the present expensive system of recitals. At present the decree was carried to one office, the report to another, and the bill and answer to another, so that each document contained a recital of all the proceedings necessary to explain it; but if they were all entered one after another, like sheets in a book, there would be no necessity for a recital, for the report would be explained by the decree which preceded it, as would the order on further directions by the report. He would ask any individual who had ever seen the records of the Courts of Chancery, the immense sheets of parchment, covered, certainly with writing in a legible hand, but he defied any man to read them without a guide for the eye; he would ask any individual, who had seen these records, whether the plan he proposed would not be a simple, but vast improvement? It would at once put an end to the multiplied copies of the same document-multi Sir E. B. Sugden submitted that the debate should be a curned Mr. R. Grant was ready to acquiesce in plied, indeed, to an extent hardly con- transferring its jurisdiction to the Common ceivable; for it often happened, that the Law Courts, of which he says they have been same sentences were written ten times robbed, we should soon find them more enover in the different offices. It would cumbered than the Court of Chancery itself. abolish, also, the Enrolment Office; for, Let the House keep the Courts of Common not content with all the previous copies Law free from the reproach of delay, exfor decrees, in order to get the benefit of pense, and vexation, and endeavour to his decree, a party must have it enrolled make such alterations as would relieve the -that is, have it written on a long musty Court of Chancery from such imputations, sheet of parchment, and laid by. The gen- and then the House would not have to tleman to whom he was indebted for many discuss such bills as that brought before it of these details, Mr. Edgar Taylor, had for forcing parties to submit their cases to published a pamphlet on the subject, to the arbitration of any individual the Judge which all interested in it might refer with may think fit to appoint. That he should great advantage. That gentleman shewed, decidedly object to: for it would be in that the pleadings were copied six times effect to deny a man that justice the Conover at least: a Writ of Execution, must stitution of the land entitled him to decontain the order, with all its recitals; mand, and would be for Parliament to and what was most monstrous, although declare itself incompetent to establish a the party succeeding was compelled to sufficient Court of Judicature. obtain a Writ of Execution to enforce his decree, yet he was not allowed it in his costs. Indeed, he must say, that a com- | plete revision of the present system of costs was necessary. He had trespassed longer on the time of hon. Members than he intended; but he thanked the House most cordially for its kind indulgence. He should not have entered so much into detail, had he not, early in the Session, given notice of a series of resolutions which embody the opinions he had expressed. It was certainly his intention to take the opinion of the House on those resolutions, unless something effectual should in the interim be brought forward in this or the other House; and he had only delayed the subject till after Easter, from a feeling that he could not fairly press it upon the attention of Ministers Whilst they had so many things to attend to. He was sure his Majesty's Government would not consider that it was in the slightest spirit of hostility to them that he had formed this resolution, but he had beeu grievously disappointed by trusting to other Governments, and feit it neces Sary, Increfcie, not to de penitoo much upon this Government. He had the most perfect comecida that the Court of Chancery might be resnicie a Court in the highest degree Jonotoni to the subject, anni de besteves that, i ne aiteration of the hon. menike är Wmmassa were autopied, of the adjournment; but he thought Members must feel how much more advantage. ous it would be to deliver their opinions when there was some substantive proposition before the House, and not on conversation leading to nothing. He did not conceive it was regular to adjourn, for the second time, on an unresisted motion. He Mr. Campiell merely rose to protest against the doctrine of his hon. and learned friend Sir E. B. Sagien, that memberci the Common Law Bar could not make a competent Lord Chancellor. This was say ing, that to spend twenty years in an equity draughtsman's office, was the best educa tion for a Lond Chanesilor, a proposition which he could never quiesce in. had the authority of Lord Eldon for saying, that the best Chancellors were those that had been taken from the Common Law Bar. That learned Lord Cimself wen' the northern curcuit. : Sunuel Romis practised at Sessions sixteen or seventeer years, and he bilered that the most en heat Equity avers Ind received the bes part of their sincativa the Commo. Law Bar. The guilty was cleared for a divisio on the question of journment; but the not being feety Meazers present, House ajouma x course. END JP VOL. 1-THIRD SERIES. 1 |