The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-11 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, FEB. 11, 1863.

---.,4,,---

The Attorney-General has soon commenced his
part of the business of the session by moving for
leave to bring in a bill for building the Courts of
Justice on the new and improved plan lately so much
talked of, and pretty generally considered as desir-
able for many reasons. Of course there are always
difficulties in the way of these undertakings, and
many objections constantly arise, but still on the
whole the scheme seems a notable one, and the
learned gentleman's explanation of it plausible
enough. He stated that there had been for some
time great material obstacles in the way of conduct-
ing the administration of the law in the metropolis,
and that they were in want of a local habitation for
the courts of law worthy of the dignity of the
country, and convenient for those who were
engaged in transacting business , there. This is
perfectly true, as hitherto there has been con-
siderable inconvenience felt on many occasions,
in consequence of the time wasted in going from
one court to another, and the expense thereby in-
curred is greatly to be deprecated. The Attorney-
General said that it often happened that affairs of
this sort take a long time before they are put into
practice, and certainly the case he then advocated
was an instance in point. It is now nearly thirty
years since the subject was first mooted, and,
curiously enough, the first person who engaged the
attention of the House on the subject was JOSEPH
HUME. This does not seem to sanction the argu-
ments of those who look upon this proposal as a
plan that will take too much money, and altogether
be more plague than profit. Mr. HUME was not
one to approve of any unnecessary outlay of
the public funds, and indeed was conspicuous for
his economistic views on many occasions. He ad-
vocated this plan on the plea of its being for the
public convenience and economy, and doubtless
with the far-sighted prescience that distinguishes
those of superior intelligence, he can look beyond
the immediate outlay to the time when the advan-
tages of the change would be fully appreciated and
prove of benefit and convenience to many. When
we consider the reasons which Mr. HUME put for-
ward, it will appear almost as if he had anticipated
what subsequent
exponents of the merits of the
case could declare on the subject. He said that it
was desirable that all the law courts should be
brought as near together as they possibly could,
and that the " site should be a central one and in
,
the neighbourhood of those bY whom the business
of the law was practically carried on." The reasons,
which were then valid, and the causes which con-
duced to make him propose the change, are still in
existence with increased force and
greatersignifi-
cance, if possible, since the traffic is now more con-
siderable, and the amount of business is largely
augmented. The proposition of the Attorney_
General that the site for the new buildings should
be in Lincoln's-inn is as perfect in design as can be
expected. No better or more convenient locality
can be chosen than this central one, and the only
singular part of the affair seems that so long a
period has been suffered to elapse before anything
of a definite character has been done. All those
most competent to judge the cue from their