OF HIRE UNDER CHARTER-DIVISION OF EXCESS capacity of 460 tons this was a warranty and not BETWEEN SHIPOWNERS AND CHARTERERS.- a condition. Held also that, as the contract conCertain steamers which were on time charter tained the words " Not accountable for errors were requisitioned by the Admiralty at a rate of in descriptions," the sellers were not liable in hire in excess of that payable under the time damages although the statement as to the dead charter. This requisition did not have the effect weight carrying capacity was erroneous.—K.B. of dissolving the charter-party. The ships were Div. (Bailhache J.).-28th June 1917. to be used by the Admiralty for purposes for which the charterers could not have used them under the time charter. Held that the excess hire payable by the Admiralty fell to be divided between the shipowners and the charterers.— K.B. Div. (Rowlatt J.).—25th June 1917. Lery v. Goldhill & Co. In re the "Königsberg." NAVAL NAVY PRIZE BOUNTY RIGHT OF PRIZE ACT 1864 (27 & 28 VICT. CAP. 25), CONTRACT · AGENCY-- COMMISSION-REPEAT tions which resulted in the destruction of the ORDERS AFTER TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT. ... A. was employed by the firm of B. & Co. as a commercial traveller. The period of his engagement was indefinite. The contract provided that A. was to receive "half-profits on receipt of orders. . . . same applies to repeats on any accounts introduced by you." B. & Co. having terminated A.'s employment, held that under the agreement A. was entitled to half-profits on repeat orders accepted by B. & Co. subsequent to his dismissal from customers whom he had introduced to them while employed. Held also, the contract having been broken, that A. was entitled to damages which fell to be measured by the present value of the probability or possibility of B. & Co. receiving orders from customers introduced by A. Chan. Div. (Peterson J.).-25th June 1917. "The Liv." WAR-PRIZE-COFFEE-ENEMY DESTINATION. -A cargo of coffee on board neutral vessels was condemned as prize on the ground that it was intended to be forwarded to an enemy port which was a base of supply for the enemy forces. -Prob., Div., and Adm. Div. (Sir S. Evans P.) -27th June 1917. Harrison v. Knowles. SALE-SPECIFIC EXISTING CHATTEL-SHIPERRONEOUS STATEMENT AS TO DEAD-WEIGHT German cruiser "Königsberg." Held that the officers and men serving in the aeroplanes were entitled to share in the prize bounty paid in respect of the destruction of the cruiser.— Prob., Div., and Adm. Div. (Sir S. Evans P.).— 2nd July 1917. LAW LIBRARY. BOOK NOTICES. The Law of Arbitration in Scotland. By Peter L. This little book contains a succinct statement of the law of arbitration in Scotland. It has its origin in addresses which the author some time ago delivered to the Glasgow Chartered Accountants Students' Society and to the Chartered Institute of Secretaries, and which he has since amplified and brought down to date. He has produced a very serviceable law book, which should appeal both to the practitioner and to the student. Chambers's Income Tax Guide. By John Burns, This book is frankly addressed to the lay CAPACITY-CONDITION OR WARRANTY.-Where public, and is intended to give them the informathe subject-matter of a contract of sale is a tion necessary to a due understanding of their specific existing chattel a statement as to some rights and liabilities in relation to the payment quality possessed by the chattel is a warranty, of income tax, a subject of perennial interest not a condition, unless the absence of such which has only been increased by the experiquality or the possession of it to a smaller extent ences of war time. As such it is a good piece makes the thing sold different in kind from the of work. It is hardly likely to supplant Dowell thing as described in the contract. Held accord-on Income Tax in the graces of the legal profesingly that where a contract for the sale of two sion, but the taxpayer will find it a good investsteamers described them as having a dead weight ment for the very moderate price. where he graduated in Arts. After spending some time at the University of Heidelberg he was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1880. He acquired a good junior practice, acted for some time as counsel for the Board of Trade and the Department of Woods and Forests, and was appointed an advocate-depute in 1892. He left the Crown Office after the general election of that year, but returned there in 1895. In 1899 he was appointed Sheriff of Caithness, Orkney, and Zetland, and in the following year he was transferred to the Sheriffdom of Inver ness, Elgin, and Nairn. He took silk in 1902, and in 1905 he succeeded the late Lord Ardwall as Sheriff of Perth. The foregoing record, though shewing a much fuller life than falls to the lot of most men, by no means exhausts Lord Sands' activities. Ever since he came to the Bar he has taken a prominent part in politics as a Conservative. He contested Paisley in 1895-unsuccessfully, as was inevit able in the case of a candidate of his political persuasion and in and Edin- of. the Church since 1907, and is one of the most eminent authorities on the Ecclesiastical Law of Scotland. His edition of "Duncan's Parochial Ecclesiastical" is a well-known work, but it is by no means his only contribution to Scottish legal literature. His books on the " Agricultural Holdings Acts" and on the "Small Landholders Acts" are among the best known of Scottish law books. In the realm of pure literature he has published a most successful volume of short stories, and he is also the author of an interesting monograph on James Blaw, a noted criminal of the eighteenth century. It is well known to be impossible to forecast น the career of a judge of the Court of Session, but if Lord Sands proves to be even half as successful a judge as he was a Sheriff, he will be a very good judge indeed. SIR JOHN SIMON, K.C., is temporarily with drawing from practice at the Bar in order to accept, at the request of the Government, an important appointment in France, which will give him a military status. MR H. F. DICKENS, K.C., has been appointed Common Serjeant (London) in succession to Sir Frederick Albert Bosanquet, K.C., who has resigned. Mr Dickens, who is the sixth son of Charles Dickens, was born in 1849. He was educated at Wimbledon School and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was 29th Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos in 1872. Called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1873, he joined the South-Eastern Circuit, and was Recorder of Deal from 1883 to 1892, when he became Recorder of Maidstone. He took "silk" in 1892. Mr Dickens, who is a member of the Inner Temple, has more than once acted as a Commissioner of Assize. MR PAUL MORTIMER FRANCKE has been appointed a Registrar in Bankruptcy in the place of Mr Registrar Brougham. Mr Francke, who was educated at Westminster School and at Trinity College, Oxford, was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1890, and joined the Western Circuit. He became counsel to the Board of Trade in Bankruptcy matters in 1913, and for the last two years he has acted as jointsecretary of the Aliens Advisory Committee. LAW AGENTS' EXAMINATIONS.-The Quarterly Examination in Law conducted by the Examiners of Law Agents was held in Edinburgh on 15th and 16th inst. One candidate presented himself for examination, and was passed by the examiners-John Moubray, Troon, Ayrshire. MR R. T. PATERSON, solicitor, Glasgow, has been appointed general secretary of the Scottish National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. THE annual meeting of the Law Society of Glasgow was held in the Law Agents' Room, County Buildings, on 19th October. The report by the committee, which was submitted and approved, stated that three new members had joined during the year, and the present membership was sixty-seven. Mr L. Seymour Graham had been killed in action, and other seven members remained on service. The reports were approved, and the following office-bearers were elected for next year : President, Mr Matthew W. White, writer; Vice-President, Mr James Strang, writer; Secretary and Treasurer, Mr J. Campbell Fyfe; Committee, Messrs J. D. MacDonald, David H. Kay, J. W. Galloway, Robert Gloag, Thomas Reid, Wm. Roy, and George B. Chalk. DECISIONS IN THE ENGLISH Jacobs v. Davis. BREACH OF PROMISE-RETURN OF PRESENTS ENGAGEMENT RING.-Held that a lady who breaks off an engagement is bound to return the engagement ring given her by the man to whom she was engaged.-K.B. Div. (Shearman J.).— 2nd July 1917. SHIPPING LAW-CHARTER-PARTY-CONSTRUC ON 17th October Mr William Harvey, the newly appointed Sheriff-Substitute of Lanarkshire, was introduced to the duties of his office in the Sheriff Court of Glasgow by the Sheriff of Lanarkshire (Mr A. O. M. Mackenzie) at a sitting of the Summary Court. Sheriff Mackenzie said that hitherto Mr Harvey had been in remote parts of the country-at Kirkwall and at Dingwall. He was glad that the attrac- W. Miller & Co. Ltd. v. Owners of S.S. "Freden." tions of a busy centre like Lanarkshire had prevailed over the attractions of the North of Scotland. The county was indeed very fortunate | in having Sheriff Harvey added to the strength of the Bench of Lanarkshire. Mr Robert Marshall, on behalf of the members of the Bar, briefly welcomed Sheriff Harvey, who in his reply said he considered himself a very fortunate person in being appointed to Lanarkshire, especially when he found an old friend in the person of Sheriff Mackenzie as Sheriff. If it seemed that he was rusty in some departments of the law, he hoped they would remember that his cases in the North were mainly agricultural and were not criminal. It would be his endeavour to administer justice wisely and well. TION-STATEMENT OF DEAD WEIGHT CAPACITY.— A charter-party provided that the chartered ship should load a full and complete cargo of maize, and also contained the following clause : "the owners guarantee the ship's dead weight capacity to be 3200 tons and freight to be paid on this quantity." Held that the ship's "dead weight capacity" meant her abstract lifting capacity, not her capacity to carry tons of maize. Held accordingly that the owners were not in breach of their guarantee where the ship had a lifting capacity of 3200 tons, but had not the cubic capacity to take in 3200 tons of maize.-K.B. Div. (Rowlatt J.).-2nd July 1917. SUCCESSION In re Parker. WILL - CONSTRUCTION the road authority, if they exercised reasonable foresight, should have taken measures to neutralise the danger before the date of the accident. Held that the road authority were liable in damages.- Court of Appeal (Lord Reading C.J., Pickford and Scrutton L.JJ.).-5th July 1917. London American Marine Trading Corporation Ltd. v. Rio de Janeiro Tramway, Light, and Power Co. Ltd. INCIDENCE OF DEATH DUTIES-FINANCE ACT 1914 (4 & 5 GEO. V. CAP. 10), SECTION 14.-A testator, by a will dated in October 1914, bequeathed certain legacies to the legatees for life with remainders over. In one case an annuity was bequeathed, taking effect on the expiry of the life interest. The will provided that "all the legacies, annuities, and bequests heretofore made by me shall be free of legacy, succession, settlement estate duty, and all other death duties," and that such duties should be borne by the residuary estate. Held that the above quoted REQUISITION-COMPENSATION FOR LOSS OF SHIP clause applied to death duties which were payable -RIGHT OF CHARTERERS TO SHARE.-A ship at a future date and on the happening of future was chartered for eight years from June 1914. events, and was not limited to duties payable on In March 1914 the ship was requisitioned by the death of the testator. Decision of Sargant the British Government, which assumed war J. affirmed.-Court of Appeal (Swinfen Eady, risks on her ascertained value. The vessel Bankes, and Warrington L.JJ.).-2nd July 1917. having been lost by war risks in 1917, while still under requisition, held that the charterers were not entitled to share in the compensation SHIP CHARTER-PARTY-TIME CHARTER Wycombe Burgh Electric Light and Power Co. Ltd. payable by the Government.-K.B. Div. (Rowv. Chipping Wycombe Corporation. CONTRACT-CONSTRUCTION-ANY CAUSE WHATEVER-IMPOSSIBILITY OF PERFORMANCE.— A lighting company made an agreement in 1911 with a municipal corporation to light the streets under the control of the corporation. It was a term of the agreement that in case of default in lighting the lamps or any of them, or if they remain not lighted or were allowed to go out during the times which they ought to be lighted "from any cause whatever," the municipal corporation were to be entitled to deduct a specified sum from the contract price in respect of each unlighted lamp. Held that the words "any cause whatever were limited to any cause over which the lighting company had control, and that the corporation were not entitled to make a deduction in respect of lamps which were left unlit in consequence of restrictions imposed by a Light ing Order under the Defence of the Realm (Consolidation) Regulations 1914.-K.B. Div. (Bailhache J.).-3rd July 1917. Morrison v. Sheffield Corporation. NEGLIGENCE-ROADS AND STREETS-STREET LIGHTING-RESTRICTION UNDER DEFENCE OF THE REALM REGULATIONS-IRON SPIKES GUARD latt J.).-6th July 1917. Wales v. Lambton and Hetton Collieries Ltd. ING TREE.—An urban road authority planted WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1906 (6 EDW. trees in some of their highways in virtue of VII. CAP. 58), SECTION 1-ARISING OUT OF statutory powers, and fenced them with a guard EMPLOYMENT.-A rolleyway man employed in of iron spikes. Thereafter, under the Defence a colliery, after leaving the coal pit, but while of the Realm Regulations, all street lights were ordered to be extinguished after a certain hour, and in the dark a passenger came in contact with the spikes and was injured. A jury found that the guard was dangerous in the dark, and that still on ground belonging to the colliery, slipped on some ice and was injured. He finished work at 5.30 A.M., and at the time it was dark and frosty, and the roads and ground in the adjoining country were very slippery with ice. Held that EVIDENCE.—Held that in a trial of a charge of gross indecency with male persons, evidence that powder-puffs and indecent pictures were found in the possession of the accused about the time when the offence was committed was evidence relevant to the issue whether the accused was the person who committed the indecent acts, because such evidence shews that the accused was in possession of the means by which such crimes are usually committed.-Court of Criminal Appeal (Lord Reading C.J., Darling and Avory JJ.).-9th July 1917. Northern Steel and Hardware Co. Ltd. v. John Batt&Co. (London) Ltd. SALE-SALE OF GOODS-RISK DURING TRANSIT —NOTICE ENABLING SELLER TO INSURE-SALE OF GOODS ACT 1893 (56 & 57 VICT. CAP. 71), SECTION 32 (3).-Held (following Wimble v. Rosenberg, [1913] 3 K.B. 743) that section 32 (3) of the Sale of Goods Act 1893 (which imposes a duty on the seller of goods to give the buyer such notice as will enable him to insure the goods during sea transit) applied to a contract for the sale of goods f.o.b., but that the operation of the section was excluded where the buyers had sufficient knowledge of the facts to enable them to insure the goods. Decision of Sankey J. reversed.-Court of Appeal (Lord Reading Č.J., Scrutton L.J. and Neville J.).—11th July 1917. afterwards published, and which gives a highly coloured account of his criminal exploits. Lord Cockburn, who defended the young gentleman, described the "Life" as a tissue of lies. Mr Roughead's estimate is not so unfavourable, but we imagine that few people would be disposed to accept it as veracious history. Besides writing the "Life," Haggart also drew a sketch of himself in the condemned cell, which is reproduced in this number. In addition Mr W. W. Lucas has an article on the "Creative Function of Government," and under the title "Judges' Avocations," Amicus Curiæ discusses the question how far judges are debarred from doing work in addition to their judicial duties. The number also includes the usual reviews of the case law of the quarter and of current legal literature. Altogether it is a very good number indeed. The Trial of Sir Roger Casement. Edited by George H. Knott, Barrister-at-Law. Notable Trials Series. Edinburgh and London: William Hodge & Co. 7s. 6d. net. There is nothing to which we had become accustomed but has suffered some change by reason of the world war, and even the familiar series of notable trials is no exception. This latest addition differs both in price and interest from its predecessors. The former at any rate is increased; but one wonders whether the ugly tale of Casement's treachery and treason deserves to rank with the historic and relatively decent scoundrels whose stories occupy the earlier volumes. It was lately remarked that the almost incredible blunders of German diplomacy are due to a mistaken belief that other people are as great blackguards as themselves. The selection. by the Imperial Government of Roger Casement as their agent, however, shews that they were not invariably wrong. This report of the legal proceedings of which Casement was the occasion is practically official. It is based upon the shorthand writer's notes, and has been read by the Lord Chief-Justice himself and by his two colleagues, before whom the case was tried, Mr Justice Darling doing the like for his judgment in the Court of Criminal Appeal. The volume is illustrated by numerous photographs of productions and persons figuring in the case, and with Mr Knott's admirable introduction forms as complete and satisfactory a record of an important trial as the expert in such matters can desire. Viscount Reading and Mr Justice Darling divide the honours of the dedication. |