New Britain herald., 1916-01-26

l record year and the average for the preceding ten years was much lower. 1 Sir Rufus Isaacs gained a very hand | some fee for appearing as counsel representing the government in the Board of Trade into the Titanic dsas- ter
 The two present Law Officers, Sir F. E. Smith and Sir George Cave have voluntarily arranged a considerable l reduction of their incomes during the continuance of the war. The Attor- l ney General is to accept s30,0O0 sal ary and the Solicitor General $25,OO0 a reduction of S5OO0 each The scale of fees has been lowered so that each will suffer a loss of $2O, 900 from the estimated takings of their offices and the treasury will gam those amounts. Neither one will be eX- ttemely underpaid, judged py the revenues of American officials holding similar positions, with which com- parisons have been made by English
 writers. Sir Frederick Smith is young man and he will draw from the government about $4O,0OO year,
 while Sir George Cave may count upon s3OOOO. In addition they will be rewarded by the prestige and help to their future private practices, which a term of holding high legal office is supposed to insure.
 Paid $4O,OOO Year
 The Chief Justice of England, now Lord Reading, is paid s40,OoO year and the retired Chief Justice Lord AL verstone, who died early in Decem- Der, drew pension of $20,000 The six judges who constitute the Lord of Of ir, IT Lords, and correspond to the Amer ican Supreme Court more nearly than any other British judicial body, are at $30,0OO a year The Lord Chancellor of Ireland and the Master of the Rolls are paid at the rate. The Lord Advocate for Scotland and the Attorney General for Ireland are on the pay roll at $25,000. Of judges who receive S25,00O there is an inn posing array. They include the Chief Justices of Scotland and Ire land. In England the five Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals who sit with the Master of the Rolls, the six judges of the Chancery Division, the fifteen judges of the Kings Bench Division the two Presidents of the Court which by a singular combina- tion sits in Probate, Divorce and Ad- miralty cases, and thirty Scotch and Irish udges-altogether sixty judi cial officers in the United Kingdom salaried at 25,000.
 There are nearly thirty Judicial officers whose salaries range from $15,O0O to s23,00 and any number of minor officials at stipends which are heavy compared with American standards. All the clerks, and other important court officers, are cores pondingly well paid. Every one, from highest to lowest, iss entitled to pen sion as liberal as his. salary. The total disbursements in pensions to thirtg-six retired judges is $60O,00O per annum
 Costing Too Much.
 Apparently the impression is grow ing in England that the legal pro- fession is costing the tax payers more than it deserved, that it is securing a share of the public revenues al together out of proportion to the number and services of it's members. The roll of lawyers in Great Britain is far smaller than in the United States and there are far more hand some plums to be distributed Ad- miral Jellicoe's services are bringing him financial reward of less than s10,00O a year, and Sir John French field marshall, commanding the Brit ish army in France, was on the pay sheet at s7,5o0.
 In the old time public life of Great Britain there was a reason in theory for payments to the legal members of the cabinet, and officers of the crown, higher than given their col leagues in other fields of work Most statesmen came from the old families the traditional ruling caste. They were supposed to be men of heredity wealth who were willing to give their service for the public welfare, while the legal officials were professional men who must sacrifice their private practice when holding office. In the later day democracy, particularly with the liberal party whose leaders include large number of lawyers the old tradition does not apply The prime minister, the home secretary, the minister of munitions, the chan cellor of the exchequer, and several lesser members of the government are lawyers, yet draw far smaller incomes than their colleagues performing no more important legal duties.
 Small Court Business.
 From another point of view the if nancial burden of the law falls less heavily upon the country as usual. War conditions have brought great de- crease of business for the courts.
 "The lawyers are starving" walled a barrister to an editor, discussing libel suit. Thank God" was the