The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-09 00:00:00

IRISH-PATRONAGE.

Mr. J. FITZGERALD moved for a return of the
names of the several' persons.*ho' since the Ist day of
January, 1843, have been appointed to fill judicial offices,
or the office of Attorney or Solicitor General, in any of
her Majesty's colonial possessions, or in any of her Ma-
jesty's possessions in India, not being natives of India,
with the title of the office the salary and emoluments
annexed thereto, and also distinguishing to which bar,
whether English, Irish, Scotch, Colonial, or Indian,
each person so appointed had previously belonged.—
Agreed to.
SHERIFF COURTS IN SCOTLAND.

Mr. CRAUFURD rose to move for leave to bring in
a bill for the more speedy and effectual administration
of justice in the Sheriff Courts in Scotland, and stated
that if he obtained leave to introduce the bill, he should
propose after the second reading to refer the measure to
that committee which he presumed would be ap-
pointed to investigate the bill brought in by
his learned friend (the Lord Advocate), to which he
entertained serious objections. The main feature of the
bill which he (Mr. Craufurd) proposed was the abolition
of the double system of sheriff substitutes and sheriffs.
At present there was a cheap and expeditious process by
which all debts up to 81. 6s. Bd. were recovered in the
courts of the sheriff substitute, and he wished that the
powers of those courts should be extended, with a sum-
mary and easy jurisdiction, not merely up to 121., as
was proposed, but up to 351. or 501„ while, in cases of
consent, he would allow the court to exercise a summary
jurisdiction even beyond that amount. (Hear, hear.)
He proposed to take away the present powers of appeal
on matters
of fact to a judge who had not heard the wit-
nesses, and knew nothing of the circumstances under
which their evidence had been given, but the bill pro-
vided that there should be an appeal on points of law in
all cases from 251., and then directly to the supreme
courts. His bill would give more extensive jurisdiction
to the sheriff substitute than he at present possessed.
and would allow the issue of interdicts and injunctions.
He proposed to raise the salaries of the judges, who
were now exceedingly underpaid. The sheriffs of Scot-
land were not merely County Court judges, but exercised
a large jurisdiction in general matters. They acted in
bankruptcy and insolvency cases, as police magistrates, as
criminal and civil judges, and their duties were very onerous
and important. The bill which he sought to introduce
took away the fees now payable in the registration courts,
and the additional salary to be given to the sheriffs would
be in lieu of those fees. He wished to return to the old
Scottish system, and to make the sheriff a resident local
judge. The last County Courts Act for England pre-
vented the County Court judges from acting profession-
ally, and why should an opposite system prevail in Scot-
land with regard to the sheriffs principal ? If they wished
to secure an effective administration of justice, they must
raise the status of the local judges. The position of the
sheriff-substitute had been improved, and the beat result
had followed. He wished now to give a short summary
remedy for the recovery of debts under 501., and to con-
solidate the offices of sheriff-substitute and sheriff-prin-
cipal, so as, out of the two officers, to make one good
and effective judge. The bill brought forward by the
Lord-Advocate for the reform of the Sheriff Courts of
Scotland was, headmitted, a great improvement in many
respects upon the present system, but the mode of pro-
c,edure which he proposed to substitute was by no means
%trial to that of the English County Court system. He
-held in his hand a resolution agreed to at Glasgow, at n
meeting of bankers, merchants, manufacturers, and
others. The bill of the Lord-Advocate was admitted by
those gentlemen to provide various useful alterations in
the present system, but they expressed a strong opinion
in favour of an abolition of the office of sheriff-principal.
He believed, if the house would grant him a select com-
mittee, he should be able to substantiate every word of
this resolution, and he trusted that the Government
would accede to his motion. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. JOHN MACGREGOR said that the subject of
a reform in the Sheriff Courts engaged the serious atten-
tion of all Scotland, excepting, perhaps, Edinburgh.
The present Sheriff Courts and their local jurisdiction
were a mere remnant of the ancient system which ex-
isted when judicial situations were heritable. The Lord-
Advocate's was a good bill, but the house would never
give satisfaction to Scotland until they did away with
the system of non-resident sheriffs. The people of
Scotland wanted loeal courts as nearly as possible upon
the same plan as the county courts in England.
The LORD-ADVOCATE, although he would not
oppose the motion, or throw any obstruction in the way
of the introduction of the bill, was of opinion that the
hon. member had not adopted the most convenient
mode of attaining the end which he professed so have in
view. He (the Lord-Advocate) introduced a bill on the
same subject early in the session, and fixed next Thurs-
day for its second reading, but, understanding that the
Scotch members wished for further time in order to

ascertain the feeling of the country with respect to the
measure, it was his intention to postpone it to a more
distant period. This would enable the Scotch members
to follow their usual practice—and a wise one it was—

of meeting together- to discuss the various points of
measures affecting their country, and of communicating
to each other the opinions of their constituents. Having
no object in view but to obtain the best measure on the
subject for Scotland, he could not refuse to allow of

the introduction of tho hon. member's bill, since he
declared that it contained provisions which, if adopted,
would prove beneficial in their operation ; but at the
same time—judging of the measure by the online which
the hon. member had given of it, and the principles
on which it was founded—he must avow it was not

likely, when introduced, to obtain his support. It
was incumbent on him to declare, plainly and mire-
servedly—and he would not do so if he spoke merely his
own opinion—that, so far from thinking the hon. mem-
ber's bill a step in the direction of reform, he conceived
it to be a retrograde and mischievous movement. (Hear,
hear.) The system which tha hon gentleman wished to
abolish was that of one judge having a cause with the
right of appeal, by the parties, to another judge sitting
in Edinburgh. Now, it was his (the Lord-Advocate's)
opinion that this system had been of the greatest poBsi-
ble advantage to Scotland, and productive of extreme

benefit. (Hear.) So far from thinking that the system
of Scotch law merited the obloquy which some would
attach to it, it was, in his opinion, more scientific and
simple than that of England. The hon. member, while
objecting to his (the Lord-Advocate's) measure as stop-
ping short of what was required, himself proposed a
scheme which was obviously imperfect. The hon. mem-
ber would give summary jurisdiction in cases under 501.,
but in respect to cases above that value he made no pro-
vision. The hon. member's scheme was simply an inno-
vation, and not a reform, and he opposed it, first, be-
cause it would impair the judicial functions of the sheriff,
while it struck at the very root of his administrative
functions. (Hear, hear.) Never was anything more
erroneous than the opinion that the office of sheriff was
not usually held by good lawyers. Why, there had
scarcely been a lawyer of eminence in Scotland who had
not filled that office. (Hear.) Seven out of the thirteen
existing judges and sheriffs ; so had the present and the
late Solicitor-General, and most of their predecessors.

It was said that the office was a sinecure. - It was true
that in some of the smaller counties there might not
be much to do, but in the larger counties the sheriff
underwent a considerable amount of onerous labour.
The office was an important link in the whole ad-
ministrative system ; take it away, and you impaired
the strength of the whole chain of government. The
Sheriff Court was as cheap, easy, and smooth as
administrative machine as could be devised. (Hear,
hear.) It was said that his measure would not
satisfy the country. Now, he did not expect that a
measure which made considerable changes and dealt with

many details would •btain universal concurrence ; but
he had reason to think that it had been received with
favour hitherto, and that it was likely to advance in the ,
good opinion of the people of Scotland. Favourable re-
ports had been received from Edinburgh, and at a meet-
ing held in Dumfries a resolution had been passed in
favour of the existing system of two judges. It was not
his intention to surrender the character of a law reformer
because he was not prepared to support the hon. mem-
ber's bill, and to sacrifice one of the most useful institu-
tions of the country. (Bear.)
Mr. HUME cared nothing for the praises which the
learned lord had lavished on the Sheriff Courts in Scot-
land. He had hoard similar eulogiums passed on all
the worst abuses of the Courts of Chancery. (Hear.)
The Scotch lawyers were, he feared, behind those of the
rest of the empire. (A laugh.) The learned lord would
have done well to imitate the late Solicitor-General for
Ireland, who, in one of the most important speeches on
law reform ever delivered in that house—(hear)
declared his intention to place the 1
peop e of Ireland
as