The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-03 00:00:00

administation of justice into contempt, at least as a_s
ar as the establishment of a useless Court could do so.
He t' tutted he had stated suffic'eat to !thew the ex-
treme danger arising from till creation of useless Courts.
As in 1829 and 1830 so he still thought that it was ab-
solutely necessary that one additional Judge should be
appointed. If his Hon. Friends on the other side of
the House could show him and the House, by figures,
that two Judges in addition were necessary, he should
cheerfully acquiesce in it. He was anxious that the
Court might be placed in a situation to answer
the exigences of the case.---(Hear.) It had been
said that a great many compromises had been
made, and that when there was additional accommoda-
tion there would be fewer compromises, and a great
many more cases to hear.--(Hear, hear.) No-
thing surprised him more than the statement
of the great number of compromises that had taken
place in the Court of Chancery. It was a great
mistake to suppose that one-tenth part of what
had been stated in evidence was the real amount.
These parties generally took the number of bills
filed, then they reckoned the number set down for hear-
ing, and finding that perhaps thirteen cases have slipped
out, they say all these had been compromised. After
the cases are set down for hearing, another number slips
out, and here they say is another compromise. Now there
was not the slightest foundation fcr that statement.
He (Sir E. Sugden) knew something of the practice
of the Court of Chancery, and ho could assert
that nothing was more rare titan compromising.
The case might not be a promising one, and when the
Bill was filed it was met by a demurrer or plea
which formed a complete answer to it, and
consequently it went for nothing. Another class
of cases was injunctions, and when the motion was
once made, whether it was successful or not, there was
nothing more heard of it. There was another
great class with which the parties having made up
their minds to go to law were anxious to ob-
tain the sanction of a person of character. A per-
son was determined to go to law. He was told by
Counsel that he had no case. The case you have
stated, he was told, affords no equity ; you will be
beaten ; I cannot advise you to file a bill. What did
he say ? " Why, Sir, that is all very true, but I tell
you that my opponent has certain papers in
his possession ; he has made admissions to the
effect that.. ho has them ; those papers will
prove my equity, and, therefore, if I file my bill when
this man is put upon his oath, he will prove my case."
Counsel told such a man not to be deluded, not
to file a bill, for that when the answer would
come in it would destroy every tittle of his equity.
If they took what he had stated into consideration, it
would account for a great number of cases that never came
to a hearing. His impression, therefore, was, that they
could not, by making any great addition to the number
of Judges facilitate the adjudication of causes. From
some returns for which he had moved, it appeared that
the Lord Chancellor, in the sittings of 1839,
and ending in 1840, had heard 79 original causes,
and 22 excptions ; so that the Lord Chancellor had
heard 101 original motions as a Judge of orginal juris-
diction. He had heard during that time 130 appeals. As
that seemed to be a very large number he would explain
to the House that the average number of appeals, ori-
ginal causes, and exceptions, was from twenty-
eight to thirty, and the large number that he had
stated was made up of motions and petitions.
Great misapprehension had gone abroad with respect
to short causes. Many parsons supposed that they
were not adverse causes ; now that was not the fact,
for sometimes it happened that some of the most im-
portant points of law were decided upon short causes,
without that consideration which a Judge was hound
to; pay to such questionF. A great portion of
the arrears in the Court of Chancery bad been cleared
off, and since the long vacation up to the end of Hilary
the Lord Chancellor had heard JOG original causes, 19
further directions, and 22 appeals ; the Vice-Chancellor
had heard 70 original causes, 17 fui they directions,
and had been occupied twenty-eight days upon
motions, and nearly the whole of the last term the
Vice-Chancellor had been occupied upon motions
and petitions. The Master of the Rolls had heard in
the some time twenty-four original causes, fifteen further
directions, and forty-seven short causes. At present he
was happy to say there were very few judgments, indeed
ho might say there was no arrear of judgments, and all
the appeals before the Lord Chancellor had been heard,
with the exception of six. There was an actual arrear
in the Rolls' Court of somewhere atoat 100 causes,
and these 100 causes could no doUbt be heard in the
time dedicated to them. They would all be cleared off
in the course of the Term. He anticipated that there
would be no arrear whatever in the causes to be heard
in the Roils' Court in Easter Term. In the Vice-
Cnancelior's Court the original causes to be disposed of
were three hundred and four, to which there was an
addition of ninety-five, making altoothes -
regarded the entire n net "f they amounted
way to use nunared an fifty, instead of thirteen or
foul teen hundred, as had been represented. By the es-
tablishment of a new Court they would be enabled in the
course of the judicial year, to clear cff every portion of
the existing arrcar. They had at present the Vice-
Chancellor's Court, the Master of the 11;;Ils' Court,
and the Lord Chancellor's Court, with powers to bear
original causes and matter. He had, therefore, cer-
tainly with great deference to others, but with some
knowledge upon the subject, formed a very strong opi-
nion that one Judge would meet the exigency of the
case, and that the arrears would speedily be disposed
of. The Vice-Chancellor had told him that there', was
no arrear of motions, and that there was no arrear of
petitions—all the motions had been heard and 'all the
petitions had been heard. Besides the railway petiitions,
which Lad occupied a great deal of time, were now
dropping off, so that the Courts were being cleared of
these obstacles, which impeded the regular business.
There was mother class of cases that had occupied more
time than the country or the House was aware of—he
meant the questions that had arisen relative to Munici-
pal Corporations and Charity Trustees, in consequence
of a measure that had passed that House. His Hon.
and Learned Friend's proposition, with his data, might
be a very reasonable one, because ha said there were
1.200 or 1,300 original causes, and that three years
elapsed before any cause could be heard from the time
it was set down. Now he had shown that causes had
been heard which were set down in Easter Term last year.
Toe business of the Courts was not half that whichit was.
He would advise the House to pause before they esta-
blished two new Courts at once—he would say, proceed by
slow degre.s, even although they might be necessary.
There might be such a thing as creating causes. He be-
lieved it was Dean Swift who once said to hiscook, "Take
away that beef and do it a little less—it is too much
done." Of course she answered that she was not able.
" Then," said he, " should not. that teach you to do
the meat a little less at first, because you could do it a
little more." Now, might not that, however homely,
be applied to the subject of these Courts. Let them
establish one Court, and if that did not do, if it were
proved that another Judge was necessary, then let them
establish another. That was the opinion he entertained,
and on a subsequent stage of the Bill he would take the

liberty of moving that only one Court be established,
unless, indeed, he was convinced that the proposition of
the Government was a necessary one. His mind was fully
open to conviction, but, as at present advised, lie would
propose the amendment of which he had given notice.
He would now offer a few observations upon the con-
stitution of the new Court. When the present Vice-
Chancery Court was appointed, the Judge obtained a
rank after the Chief Justice with a salary of 6,0001.
a-year. The object was that, having a vast amount of
business to transact, and being appointed to represent
the Chancellor and perform his functions, it was thought
necessary to give him high station and sufficient re-
muneration. Any one who knew what the labours of
the Vice-Chancellor were would say that it was im-
possible to give him too high a remuneration,
and he trusted that the Noble Lord, who he under-
stood intended to reduce the salary to .5,0001. after
the decease of the present holder of the office,
think better of it. It was an office that no one who
would
knew what its immense labours were, would covet.
The Vice-Chancellor was obliged to rise hours before
the sittings commenced, to read over the great mass of
papers which were laid before him, and his labours
could not therefore be estimated by the mere duration
equity lawyer, and
of the sittings. In like manner he trusted the Noble
Lord would not lower the salary of the new Judge,
whheo
object must
would
ly and efficientlydischarged.
it eqius
uties were not
i
caotmtapte
ineedn f h
proper
It was proposed
rho
be a i )er
nfeocttblyo
to make two new Judges dependent upon the Lord
Chancellor. Although he did not agree to that, be
wished it to be remembered that when he was in office
ho proposed a measure which would have trot public
convenience, very much in the way now proposed. Ho
did not think it would be • right to displace the
rank of the Vice-Chancellor, or to lower the salaries.
They had by a former 13111 given the Lord Chancellor
the power of correcting abuses in his Court, and had
armed him with a degree of authority which he (Sir
E. Sugden) did not wish to see placed in the bands of
any man. He thought, however, that a most important
improvement on the system would be to remodel the
offices of Masters, which required reformation as much
as the Courts themselves. He thought that wi.hout
provisions to that effect any measure ti.ould be imper-
fect, and he hoped to see those officers responsible to
the public in point of fact, and not merely in theory, as
at present. He had heard many propositions about the
Master's offices, some of which be could not approve
of. He thought the lower offices must be improved,
and that the higher Courts must be improved also.
Nothing was the subject of greater complaints than the
composition of our Courts of Appeal, but if the law was
now open to objection, how much greater would be
the objection, when they were going to create two new
Courts of Appeal ? The composition of the House of
Lords as a Court of Appeal was a great anomaly. It
owed its establishment to a train of unforeseen circum-
stances ; its jurisdiction was denied in late times by that
House, in the strongest terms, and to the extent of
committing persons who sought its protection ; and
though it was ultimately established, they were content
to leave their Authority-in the state they found it. What