18 / 110
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
QUNE, 1912
Indeed, he felt he had in the President a
friend in Court, because on a former occasion
the President and he (Mr. Brady) successfully
fought to an issue a question of this sort on
behalf of the Solicitors' profession in Ireland.
He did not desire to occupy any time in
going into this matter very fully, for this
reason, that they had all seen communica–
tions from him in the Press, and had also
read the controversies he had had in court
on several occasions in the interests of his
professional brethren.
HL stated fully in
these controversies in the different Courts
his reasons for so doing, and so there was no
use
in entering upon
them
there.
The
Solicitors (Ireland) Act of 1898 contained
very stringent clauses with regard to the
punishment for a violation of that Statute
by a person who
acted as
a Solicitor
without qualifications. Having regard to
this Statute he could not understand the
conduct of those Government Departments
and other public bodies who had been acting
in violation of this Statute, on the ground
that they were empowered to do so under a
certain section of the Public Health Act.
He entirely dissented from these contentions.
Indeed, it was stated that decisions had been
obtained from Courts of Justice permitting
this conduct, but he disagreed with these
decisions, and would like to know what
decision these Courts would give on the
subject if the rights and privileges of the
members of the Bar were sought to be
invaded by unqualified persons, although, if
the decisions relied upon were well founded,
it appeared to him that there was nothing
to prevent the Barrister profession from
being invaded by these unqualified persons,
acting on behalf of public bodies in the
conduct of proceedings in Courts, under the
same powers by which they now allege they
are entitled
to
invade
the
rights
and
privileges of the Solicitor profession. When
he last contended against
these tactics by
public bodies in a Court of Justice, the Local
Government Board appeared in Court, and
produced an order, sanctioned and approved
of, as stated after consultation with the then
President of this Society, with the result
that,
to use
the words of
the learned
Magistrate :
"It operated virtually as an
equitable estoppel on him, in so far as he
purported to be acting on behalf of and in
the interests of any branch of the Solicitor
profession, having regard to the assent given
by the Incorporated Law Society to such a
rule."
,.u
He might^say that the existing
practising Solicitors in Ireland paid annually
to the Government about £11,000 for licence
duties, and each and every one of them had
to pay £105 to the Treasury, making a grand
total of money paid by the existing body of
Solicitors in Ireland to give them the right
before admission to practise as advocates,
practically £160,000 ;
so that the Govern–
ment, by allowing unqualified persons who
paid nothing
to compete against
them,
really meant that the Government Treasury
who assented to such a course was guilty of
nothing short of obtaining money from
Solicitors under false pretences, and many
people were in the dock for less. He said
they should not tolerate this thing any
longer. They all knew of the efforts made
from time to time by Clerks of Councils,
Secretaries' of Councils, and gentlemen from
the Local Government Board to conduct
legal proceedings. He thought it was nearly
time to start out against that sort of thing.
Unless they put an end to this thing it would
be getting worse instead of better. For some
time past an effort had been made by trades
union organisations to get powers inserted
in Statutes to enable what they called their
delegates to attend Courts and Coroners'
inquests on behalf of the next-of-kin. Now,
he had been all his life one of the strongest
advocates of trades unionism in this country,
and he was indebted to trades union organ–
isations for many favours. But that was no
reason why he was going to vest in them
rights which existed only in the Solicitors'
profession. While he was not condemning
these trade organisations he was going to try
and compel the shoemaker to stick to his
last. Their efforts were not based upon any
philanthropic idea at all.
That was the
merest humbug, because the gentlemen who
attended inquests on behalf of the next-of-
kin took good care that they were paid for
the time occupied in the work. Therefore,
when they sought to come in and represent
any person concerned in any of these Courts
of inquiry, they were interfering with the
rights and privileges of the Solicitors' pro–
fession.
Those who
talked of blackleg
labour and " scab " labour should be told