Campbell Faill, Mr John N. Rae, and Mr John and Mr W. C. L. Stark. SHERIFF COURT OFFICIAL'S JUBILEE.-The Sheriff of Lanarkshire (Mr A. O. M. Mackenzie, K.C.) presided in his chambers in the County Buildings, Glasgow, last week, at the presentation of gifts to Mr John Wood, senior sheriff-clerk depute, to mark his completion of fifty years' service on the staff of the Sheriff-Clerk of Lanarkshire. Among those present were Sheriffs-Substitute Fyfe, Thomson, Lyell, D. J. Mackenzie, and Lee; Mr Robert Guy, sheriffclerk; Mr James Andrew, Dean of the Faculty of Procurators; and Mr David H. Kay, chairman of the Law Society of Glasgow. The Sheriff, in presenting him with a gold watch and silvermounted calendar on behalf of the Sheriffs, officials, and staff, said Mr Wood entered the service of the sheriff-clerk's department on February 1, 1870. In 1881 he became a depute sheriff-clerk, and since 1906 he had been keeping Sheriffs-Substitute right in the ordinary Court and also principal extractor. They all knew well the great ability and conscientious care with which he had performed the duties which had fallen to him in the different offices he held, and speaking as a former Sheriff-Substitute and as a Sheriff, he could say that they owed a very great deal to the assistance they had received from Mr Wood. Their gifts they gave with all the greater pleasure in the knowledge that the Court was not to lose his services. Mr Andrew presented an inkstand and cheque, given by members of the Faculty; and a gold albert was presented by Mr David H. Kay on behalf of the Law Society of Glasgow. Mr Wood, acknowledging the gifts, said he had served under seven Sheriffs of Lanarkshire in Glasgow, and that during the past fifty years there had been changes to the extent of at least fifty Sheriffs-Substitute. He had also served under seven sheriff-clerks, while the position of procurator-fiscal had changed hands five times. A vote of thanks, proposed by Mr W. D. Littlejohn, writer, was accorded to the Sheriff for presiding. BLAIRGOWRIE BANK CHANGES.-Mr John B. Miller, head of the firm of Messrs Miller & Gerrard, solicitors, Blairgowrie, has retired from the agency of the North of Scotland and Town and County Bank at Blairgowrie, and is succeeded by Mr James Watt, accountant, Wellington Street branch, Glasgow. MR FRANCIS J. SCOTT, advocate, Aberdeen, Gilchrist, solicitor, who was for ten years managing clerk with Messrs Holmes, Mackillop & Co., writers, Johnstone, until a year ago, and has since been conveyancing clerk with Messrs Davidson & Garden, advocates, Aberdeen. The business will be carried on in future under the firm name of F. J. Scott & Gilchrist at 1 Diamond Street, Aberdeen. ACT OF SEDERUNT AMENDING C.A.S., BOOK A, CHAPTER EDINBURGH, 1st June 1920. The Lords of Council and Session, considering that, from circumstances arising out of the late war, the fees payable to Messengers-at-Arms allowed by C.A.S., Book A, Chapter ix., section 4, have become inadequate, and that an increase thereon should be authorised: do hereby amend said C.A.S., Book A, Chapter ix., section 4, by authorising an increase of 50 per cent. on all fees allowed therein (fractions of a penny being neglected): and this amendment shall take effect for one year from and after the date hereof. And the Lords direct this Act to be inserted in the Books of Sederunt, and to be printed and published in common form. J. A. CLYDE, I.P.D. DECISIONS IN THE ENGLISH Attorney-General v. Beauchamp. NEWSPAPER-PAPER NOT BEARING TRUE NAME OF PRINTER PENALTY LIABILITY OF PUBLISHER-2 & 3 VICT. CAP. 12, SECTION 2NEWSPAPERS, PRINTERS, AND READING ROOMS REPEAL ACT 1869 (32 & 33 VICT. CAP. 24), SECTION 1.-Held that by section 2 of the Act 2 & 3 Vict. cap. 12, which is continued in force by the Newspapers, Printers, and Reading Rooms Repeal Act 1869, section 1, a penalty is NATIONAL BANK OF SCOTLAND APPOINT- imposed on a person who publishes, but does MENT.-Mr Andrew M'Kissock, chief assistant not print, a paper or book which does not in the accountant's department of the National bear the necessary imprint of the printer's Bank of Scotland, has been appointed accountant name and usual place of abode or business. of the bank in succession to the late Mr John K.B. Div. (Rowlatt and M'Cardie JJ.).— S. Weir. 19th December 1919. CONTRACT RESTRAINT OF TRADE -AGREEMENT NOT TO BE CONCERNED IN BUSINESS OF SOLICITOR AGREEMENT LIMITED AS TO AREA BUT UNLIMITED AS TO DURATION.-A solicitor employed a managing clerk under an agreement in terms of which the latter agreed to serve for a period of three years or more and undertook that, on the expiration of the agreement, he would not be concerned in the business of a solicitor within a radius of seven miles. Held that although the restraint was unlimited as to duration it was, in the circumstances, reasonable and enforceable.-Chan. Div. (Eve J.).-20th December 1919. CLUSION OF-DATE.-The defendant, by a policy of insurance, undertook to pay a certain sum to the plaintiff should peace between England and Germany not be concluded on or before 30th June 1919. The treaty of peace was signed at Versailles on 28th June 1919 but the ratifications were not exchanged until January 1920. Held that as between civilised powers between whom a state of war has existed peace is not concluded until the treaty of peace has become finally and irrevocably binding, which does not happen until ratifications have been exchanged, and that the defendant was therefore liable under the policy.-K.B. Div. (Roche J.).-13th January 1920. Wilcock v. Booth. WAR-EMERGENCY LEGISLATION LANDLORD AND TENANT RECOVERY OF POSSESSION ALTERNATIVE ACCOMMODATION INCREASE OF RENT, ETC. (AMENDMENT) ACT 1919 (9 & 10 GEO. V. CAP. 90), SECTION 1 (1) (c).—An action was brought by a landlord to recover possession of premises consisting of a dwelling-house and shop, both occupied by the tenant. A choice of two other houses, neither of which had a shop, was offered to the tenant, who declined to accept either on that ground, and the County Court judge, holding that the alternative accommodation must in the circumstances include a shop, refused the landlord's application as unreasonable. The landlord appealed. Held that the expression alternative accommodation" in section 1 (1) (c) of the Increase of Rent, etc. (Amendment) Act 1919 meant similar dwelling-house accommodation only, although in considering the alternative dwelling-house accommodation its position might be taken into account.-K.B. Div. (Bray and Bailhache JJ.).—26th January 1920. TO INSURE. Decision of Roche J. (ante p. 3) affirmed on facts.-Court of Appeal (Bankes, Scrutton, and Atkin L.JJ.).-29th January 1920. The APPLICABLE TO BOTH SHIP AND CARGO — CARGO EXCLUDED BY WRITTEN WORDS INSERTED IN POLICY SO AS TO LIMIT INSURANCE TO SHIP.— A vessel was insured under a policy of insurance, partly printed and partly in writing. printed form was applicable to an insurance of both vessel and cargo, but words were written in limiting the policy to an insurance against total loss of the vessel only "at and from any port or ports. . . . in the River Plate . to any port or ports . . . in France and for the United Kingdom (final port) excluding Mediterranean via any ports in any order." The vessel proceeded with a cargo from the River Plate and discharged it at St Nazaire and Havre. She then sailed from Havre for Barry for bunkers and was totally lost on the way. Held (reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal) that as Havre was the last port of discharge it was the "final port" within the meaning of the policy and that the underwriters were not liable. Observations on the question how far words in the printed form of policy applicable to an insurance of the cargo might be looked at in construing the policy.-House of Lords (Viscount Haldane, Lord Dunedin, Lord Atkinson, and Lord Buckmaster).-30th January 1920. MR ANDREW RAE DUNCAN, M.A., LL.B., established their headquarters in London, and war, the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation COAL CONTROLLER. Now that the Government has intimated its intention of withdrawing the coal control, it is but fitting that we should pay a tribute to the subject of this biography, Mr A. R. Duncan, who has carried out his task not only successfully but most efficiently. The controversy that arose in the House of Commons at the time of Mr Duncan's appointment to the Coal Controllership occasioned much public discussion, but Mr Duncan's success in his office adds but one other testimonial to the distinction achieved by Scottish lawyers in high administrative positions. a scholastic for a legal career. He entered the firm of Messrs Biggart, Lumsden & Co., writers, Glasgow, with whom he received his legal training. During this time he attended the law classes at the University, gaining much distinction in winning the Cunningham Scholarship, and eventually graduating LL.B. While with Messrs Biggart, Lumsden & Co., Mr Duncan, owing to his association with Mr Biggart of that firm, had much opportunity in getting a deep insight into important legal and labour questions affecting shipbuilding and engineering, in the Federations of which trades Mr Biggart occupied an important professional position. Subsequently, after the outbreak of Mr Duncan was appointed secretary. A short time afterwards he was appointed to the honorary position of secretary of the Shipping Advisory Committee, of which Sir Joseph P. Maclay, Bart., was chairman, and Mr Duncan held this position during the whole course of the committee's existence. His talents and remarkable executive ability in the course of his career up to that time stamped him in the eye of certain political and departmental officials as worthy of a really high post, and he was ultimately selected to fill the office of Coal Controller, a responsible and important position which Mr Duncan has filled with remarkable success, a noteworthy feature of his administration being his dealings with labour groups and prominent trade unionists, which have been notable for his able negotiation of difficult problems. Mr Duncan was fortunate at the commencement of his legal training in assisting Mr Harry Lumsden, LL.B., secretary of the Glasgow Trades House, specially in connec. tion with the publication of the early "Records of the Trades House of Glasgow" from 1605 onwards and of the "History of the Hammermen of Glasgow." In the investigations required prior to the publication of these books Mr Duncan received a thorough insight into the industrial history of this country from the Middle Ages down to the year 1846, when the exclusive privileges of trading were abolished by Parliament. Mr Duncan is only some 36 years of age and his successful occupation of his high office is therefore all the more signal. LORD ASHMORE. NEW SCOTTISH JUDGE TAKES HIS SEAT. ceremony Mr John Wilson, K.C., who was recently appointed a Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland following upon the vacancy created by the death of Lord Guthrie, presented his com mission in the First Division of the Court of Session on Tuesday last. The Lord Justice General presided, and there was a full attendance of the other judges. The took place in presence of a large representation of senior counsel, including the Dean of Faculty (Mr A. H. B. Constable, K.C.) and the Vice-Dean (Mr J. A. Fleming, K.C.), and also of the Junior Bar. The accommodation for the public was fully occupied, and amongst those present were Mrs Wilson, wife of the new judge, and their son and daughter. The Lord Justice-General having received from Mr Wilson the King's letter of nomination, handed it to the Clerk of Session (Mr Edwin Adam, K.C.) to be read "with all due honour and respect." This having been done the Court ordered the letter to be recorded. The Lord Probationer then proceeded to undergo his trials, and in accordance with custom heard two cases in the Outer House in Lord Hunter's Court, whence the Lord Probationer returned to the First Division and delivered his opinion in regard to the questions raised. The Lord Probationer having thereafter heard counsel in a short case debated before their Lordships of the First Division, and given his opinion thereon, all the judges of the Court of Session were again assembled, and the Lord Justice-General intimated that the Lord Probationer had passed his trials to the entire satisfaction of the judges of that Division. The new judge then took the oath of allegiance and the judicial oath, and, having inscribed the roll and been invested with his robes, was invited by the Lord Justice-General, who intimated that his judicial title would be Lord Ashmore, to take his seat on the Bench. NEW SCOTTISH SHERIFFS. The King has been pleased, on the recommendation of the Secretary for Scotland, to approve the following appointments: Mr J. C. S. Sandeman, K.C., to be Sheriff of the Sheriffdom of Perth in room of Mr John Wilson, K.C., recently appointed one of the Senators of His Majesty's College of Justice in Scotland. Mr J. L. Wark, advocate, to be Sheriff of the Sheriffdom of Argyll in room of Mr A. H. Briggs Constable, K.C., resigned. Mr John L. Wark, advocate, is the son of Mr John Wark, the well-known Glasgow writer, and a member of the firm of Messrs J. M. & J. H. Robertson. He was educated at Glasgow University, where he obtained the degree of LL.B., and was called to the Bar in 1901. In November 1912 he was appointed Counsel to the Crown as ultimus hæres, and held a commission as Hon. Sheriff-Substitute for the Sheriffdom of Fife. He was also extra AdvocateDepute in the Western Circuit till 1915, and in January of last year he was appointed AdvocateDepute. FACULTY OF ADVOCATES.-Mr William Boyd Berry, M.A., LL.B., Glasgow, was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates on 4th June 1920. AT a meeting of the Society of Advocates in Aberdeen, held on 8th inst., Mr Edwin Rezin, M.A., B.L., and Mr John A. Nicol, M.A., B.L., were admitted members. FACULTY OF PROCURATORS, GLASGOW.-The annual meeting of the Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow was held last week in the Library Hall, St George's Place-Mr James Andrew, Dean of Faculty, in the chair. The Dean referred to the losses by death which the Faculty had sustained since last meeting. The following law agents were admitted members of Faculty, viz.: John Spencer Muirhead, B.A.(Oxon.), LL.B., 205 St Vincent Street; Charles Macmillan, 170 Hope Street; John Roy, 205 St Vincent Street; and John Wilson Hendry, 40 St Vincent Street. The Dean, in submitting the report of the Council for the year ending 31st April last, pointed out that during the war the income of the Faculty had been exceeded by the expenditure annually to a very considerable amount, and the Council, in view of the greatly increased expenditure involved, had now increased the library subscription of each member from 30s. to £2, and had also slightly increased the charges for the use of the Faculty Hall for sales. These additional charges, along with the entrance money, had resulted in the income for the past year exceeding the expenditure by upwards of £70. This was so far well, but looking to the ever-increasing expense in connection with the library, he could not consider the situation satisfactory, and he thought that a special committee should be appointed to go into the whole question of the management of the library, including the Court Library, and to report. The motion was seconded, and a Mr J. Condie Sandeman, K.C., is the son of committee was appointed. The meeting proceeded to the election of office-bearers and representatives on public trusts. Dr MacKenzie, seconded by Dr Gillies, moved the reappointment of Mr James Andrew as Dean, which was unanimously approved, and thereafter new members of council and of various committees were re-elected. The following representatives of the Faculty on the boards of public trusts were appointed: Baillie's Institution Messrs John Arthur Thom, William Gemmill, Richard John Cunliffe, David Baird Smith, George Grieve Paton, and James John Thomson; the John Monteith Bursary-Mr John Jackson Coats; the John Reid Bursary Mr John Hurll; the John Gibson Bursary-Mr Charles Edwards Beckett; Western Infirmary-Mr John Grove and Mr James Farie Anderson; Victoria InfirmaryMr James Ness; St Mungo College-Mr Walter King; Royal Samaritan Hospital for WomenMr George Gillespie; Glasgow Eye InfirmaryMr Harry Lumsden. DEATH OF EX-Town Clerk of GREENOCK.— Mr Colin Maculloch, who was for over forty years town clerk of Greenock, died at his residence at Inverkip on Wednesday last. Mr Maculloch, who was 78 years of age, retired about four years ago, and on that occasion, in recognition of his long and faithful service, he was honoured by his fellow-townsmen. He was a native of Greenock, and was educated in Highlanders' Academy, Greenock, at Inverkip, and at Edinburgh University, where he graduated with honours. Serving his apprenticeship to the law with a local firm, he was for a short period depute clerk to Greenock Harbour Trust. In 1872 he was appointed clerk to Greenock Water Trust, which was then making large extensions to the undertaking. He was promoted town clerk in 1878. Mr Maculloch was an Hon. Sheriff-Substitute of Renfrew and Bute and acted as Dean of the local Faculty of Procurators. In his long connection with municipal affairs he was responsible for piloting many important schemes for the benefit of the town. INTOXICATION IN RELATION TO CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY. J. ROBERTON CHRISTIE, K.C. The official report in the Criminal Appeal Cases series has now been published of the argument and judgment of the House of Lords in what is known as " Beard's case." The appeal in this case was taken at the instance of the Attorney-General, under the provisions of the Criminal Appeal Act 1908, to the House of Lords for the purpose of obtaining a considered ruling as to the appropriate direction to be given to the jury in cases in which intoxication is put forward as a defence to a criminal charge. The appeal was heard by a Court of eight Lords, consisting of the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice, Lords Haldane, Dunedin, Atkinson, Sumner, Buckmaster, and Phillimore, and all of these concurred in the judgment, the reasons for which were expressed in a single opinion by the Lord Chancellor. The question raised was eminently appropriate for consideration by such a Court, and the case affords a striking instance of the advantages of a Court of Criminal Appeal and of the possibility of carrying a case (under the stringent safeguards provided for by the Act) to the House of Lords. For more than half a century past there had been a drift in judicial opinion away from the sure anchorage of the old rule of the institutionalists which regarded drunkenness rather as an aggravation than as a palliation of crime. But the drift was not uniform either in force or direction. It varied with the personal idiosyncrasy of the individual judge concerned. And as, in the nature of things criminal, trials generally are conducted before a single judge, the result tended to some confusion. This was added to by the circumstance that rulings-often given on circuit without very complete argument, and in terms directed to the facts of the particular case -were apt to be cited in subsequent cases involving different facts and to receive a more general application than was at first contemplated. This tendency and the resultant confusion was not even successfully checked by resort to the Court of Appeal. For in the case under notice the complaint of the AttorneyGeneral, which the House of Lords endorsed, was that the Court of Appeal had erred in treating a prior decision of that Court (which he admitted was unexceptionable in the case in which it was pronounced) as if it laid down a principle of general application. In the result the House of Lords regarded both the direction actually given by the judge of first instance and that approved by the Court of Appeal as inadequate; and laid down a general principle deduced from a consideration of all the authorities, as a guide for judges in charging juries in such cases. Although of course the judgment of the House of Lords is not in a technical sense binding upon the High Court of Justiciary-which in Scotland. is supreme and final-it cannot but be regarded as one of great importance even in Scottish criminal law. For apart from the consideration that both ancient and modern Scots authorities were cited in argument, and that the judgment was concurred in by Lord Dunedinhimself an ex-Lord Justice-General-the case |