The Sun.
London, England, 1830-03-23 00:00:00

7

twice' Courts. They Led Lea exemplee doe very remote
date of the very defective state of the procedure in these
Courts, and of the necessity which existed for amendment ;
and perhaps it would be desirable that the provincial tri-
bunals of this description should be abolished. It might
he highly expedient that those modes of proceeding should
be changed which had been established in different times,
and under very different circumstances. He lad made
this rapid survey of the general scope of the alters, ions and
improvements in the law in general...sus introductory, to a
particular object which he had in view with reference to
the Court of Chancery. If it was so important that the
best modes of procedure and of administering the law
should be adopted with respect to other Courts, what
must be the importance with reference to the Court of
Chancery ? Their Lordships might judge when he informed
them that there were forty millions sterling of the money
of the subject in that Court. A Commission-had been ap-
pointed some years ago to consider the state of the proce-
dure and the administration of the law in that Gmrt, and
he had heard that it'had been said in another place that the
Commission had been productive of no advantage, and had
only occasioned needless eipence. The one assertion was
just as correct as the other. That Commission had been
attended with no expence, except for the salary of the Se-
cretary•
siuners
ftolre
threenabt
leo fmetnhe titmoomb savthtieciandetdhethear
Cott,,is
M -
mission had done so gratuitously. As for the advantage
derived from the Commission, they had effected, per-
haps, with one exception, as much as they could. Their
object was to shorten the system of procedure pre-
vious to the trial, and they had made many valuable sug-
gestions for that purpose; and many orders had been
already made in order to carry their recommendations into
effect. Much had been said as to the delays of the Court
of Chancery, but he -could fairly and justly say that now
there was, up to the hearing, as little delay as in:the Courts
of Conninon Law. In that respect all had been done that
ought to be done, and all that could conveniently be done.
The next and the great point was the hearing, and the
subsequent proceedings. Of this complaints had akVays
prevailed from the time of Lord Bacon to this day, and.it
had,happened that the arrears had steattnulated to.. a great
extent, and that thirty years had elapsed before a final de-
cree could be pronounced. But there was one consolation
at this day, and that was, that for the last five years there
was na increase in the arrears. And it might happen,
that if they could once get rid of the arrears, the present
eatablishment of the Court of Chancery might he suffi-
cient to keep down the arrear in future. Casualties, haw-
ever, might occur, as in the case of that most able Judge,
the present Master of the Rolls, and of Sir Thomas Phonier.
Besides the casualties of indisposition, many might occur
from deaths and vacancies. But still, if the arrear were
once got rid of, it might be kept down by the present
strength of the Court of Chancery, and he was willing to
qualify the proposition which he had made last year fur an
additional Equity Judge to the extent of that possibility. But
if they were to appoint an additional Judge to each of the
Courts of Common Law, it would be but unwise policy, as it
appeared to him, to deny an additional Judge to the Court
of Chancery, the arrear in which it was so very itnpartant
to get rid of. But he would suggest this qualification,
that when the arrear should be got rid of, in case of a va-
cancy in that office occurring by resignation or death, his
Majesty, with the advice of his Privy Council, should be
enabled to decline filling up the vacancy, and so discon-
tinue the appointment. This might easily be done, for
that Judge would act with the machinery of the Court of
Chancery already in operation, and no new officers would
be appointed—for whom, in case of discontinuing the
Judge, compensation must be provided. This would
create no new establishment, and the only additional ex-
pence would be the salary of the Judge himself. He had
stated that increase of arrear bad lately taken place, and
that might be ascribed in some measure to the suggeH ion
which he had thrown out last year that the Master of the
Rolls should sit in the morning. The Master of the
Rolls had immediately acted upon that suggestion with‘the
utmost sa,al and assiduity. He had his distinct bar, and
his exertions had been attended with the most advatageous
results. But still the new causes entered had kept the
arrear in the same state in 1830 as it was in the year be-
fore. The only real objection he had heard against su
additional Chancery Judge was, that he would he of no
advantage, for that there would be so many appeals the
more. He did not understand exactly what this meant.
The causes that were left unheard much more than balanced
the appeals, and besides it was very far from being the
case that every cause that was heard was appealed against.
At present a great part of the time of the Court of Chan-
cery was occupied in hearing motions, instead of hear-
ing the causes ; and for that very reason there was the
greater delay in the causes which stood for hearing-
Lord Hardwieke could say, " I will hear none of your
motions—l will hear the cause." But now, when the
causes for hearing were so much in arrear, it was impos •
aible to avoid hearing motions in pressing cases, and pro-
bably a great deal of valuable time was often in this way
thrown away. When a cause was ordered for hearing,
some one started up with a pressing motion for an injunc-
tion, or some other object that could not bear delay, and
then the hearing was necessarily postponed. But if :the
arrear were got rid of, the speedy hearing of causes and
appeals would necessarily and most materially diminish the
number of motions, and thus an additional facility would
be created for keeping down the arrears. But as the mat-
ter at present stood, the Lord Chancellor had very little
opportunity of hearing causes or appeals. His time was
taken up in bearing motions, and he was not able to tie-
avpopteeamlso:reyteht
fiftthirty
wdaystm d lastb e
ryeeqauriretdo
ttoh edishpeoaseriontgthoe;
increased number of appeals. But then it was said, that
the appeals to this House would be augmented. He as-
sured their Lordships that he had very little apprehension
of that. The appeals from the Court of Chancery were
very few, and at present there were not more than six in
the paper. Theme were, in all, not more than from
eighty to ninety in the paper, and no more than thirty had
been entered this Session. Arrangements had been made
for the sitting of the House on appeal, during five
days in the week; and there could be little doubt
but that the whole of the arrear would be got rid
of in the course of the present Session, and then
it would he easy to keep them down. They were new
hearing appeals that had only been entered a year, and that
was almost as much dispatch as prevailed in any of ' the
Courts below. There was another subject to which he
wished to allude for a moment, and that was the present
constitution of the Privy Council for hearing Appeals. He
hal heard it said that its constitution for that purpose
ought to be altered. He, however, did not think that new
cessary. The Privy Council was always attended by some
eminent Judge, who was accustomed to sit as Judge in the
Courts below—commonly the Master of the Rolls. In
the half of last year, the Master of the Rolls had disposed

of twenty Appeals in the Privy Council, and the Noble
Lord (Wynford) who sat near him bad disposed of as many
as thirty ; so that there was no arrear at all of Appeals in
the Privy Council. He had already stated that all had
been done up to the hearing of the causes in the Court of
Chancery that could be done, and he had shown that for the
speedy hearing of the causes it was necessary to have the
assistance of a legislative measure. He had now to call their
Lordships' attention to the state of the Master's office--
another important subject. Several recommendations had
been made for the more easy and speedy, and less expen-
sive conduct of the business in these offices, and they were
all adopted ; and every assistance was done that could be done
without the assistance of the Legislature. He had heard
that it had been stated in another platce that the Masters
were half idle, and almost useless Nothing could be mere
unfounded than this charge, for they were for the most
part most laboriously employed ; and if their Lordships
knew how complicated and minute, and tedious in its de-
tails, a Master's Report necessarily was—they might have
some idea of the labours of the masters, when he told them
that in each year, en an average of live years, they had
prepared and presented four thousand reports. One great
improvement recommended by the Commissioners had not
yet been carried into effect ; he alluded to the alteration
of the mode in which. the masters were paid. At pre-
sent the masters and their clerks were paid by what was
called copy-money, which, it was supposed, led to the
needless lengthening of proceedings. He believed this
charge to be without foundation ; but, nevertheless, tbl
Commissioners had justly suggested that a different mode
of payment should be established. He had prepared a
Bill for that purpose, which had met with the general ap-
probation of the masters, and he hoped would meet with
that of the House. He proposed that the fees should be
received as hitherto; but that they should be carried to a
masters were to be paid. It sesoeutanFaenuddn
remunerationfu ndto ,
dbe three hlraesetrh'
t(pio,o uohnui s oft
awhich
that
year.a P 1
ManyPter
of the masters made more ; but he thought it would be
proper to provide that every newly-made master should be
paid that Milo, partly as a salary, and p irtly as a fee on eaeli
report, when the business was completed. He was of opinion
that seine stimulus of this kind ought to be given to the
masters, judges who performed their duty in public did not
require it; but it might be necessary to give it to Judges
whose functions were executed in private. He apprehended

that the greater number of themasiers would accept of those
terms. Some, perhaps, would not; and with these he ',coin-
mended that all average of the amount of fees fur the last
seven years should be taken, and the salary fixed according
to that average. At least this arrangement would remove
any existing impediments to improvement, and it might
have the effect of leaguing the lentil of the reports which