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The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
[DECEMBER, 1912.
in the country, but at the same time he
thought the benefit Solicitors in the country
got was very great.
For instance, they
enjoyed great privileges in connection with
the Library, from which they could have
books they required sent down to them by
post, and read them comfortably in their
offices.
Indeed, except in attendance at
meetings,
it seemed to him the country
members got as much benefit as the city.
According to his observation cases that came
up from the country were very often treated
with more consideration than the statements
received
from
their brethren
in Dublin.
Proceeding, the speaker said he could not
support the motion.
As
to
the annual
report going out earlier, he did not think it
was Mr. Craig's intention that the accounts
should be earlier in the hands of members,
because the working of the finances of the
Society was never much a matter for discus
sion. He took it that Mr. Craig referred to the
report simply. But the annual report could
not possibly be in the hands of members and
be at all an adequate report of the work of
the year under the scheme sxiggested in the
notice of motion. According to his calcula
tion it would be necessary that the report
should be in the hands of members about the
23rd October. Well, according to the usual
practice in Dublin—and most of the members
of the Council must necessarily be Dublin
Solicitors—a great many of them who got
their vacation late do not get back to their
work before the 15th October, and it would be
quite impossible, unless they closed the report
of the proceedings of the year at the end of
July, to present a report earlier, and, if they
tried, it would not give them a full report of
the year's working. The object of the report
was to show the members of the Society what
the Council had been doing during the
previous
twelve months.
Besides,
the
members of the Society got in a much more
extended way in the GAZETTE, which is sent
to them ten months in the year, accounts of
what the Council were doing. The annual
report must, therefore, necessarily be merely a
summary of what had taken place during the
year, a summary of what had appeared in the
GAZETTE every month. With reference to
the second branch of the motion as
to
members of the Council who did not intend
to seek re-election, he thought the motion, if
carried, would place them in an extraordinary
position. Why should they be obliged to
pillory themselves certainly a month before
any other members of the Society ?
They
all retired at the end of the year, and to
frame the report in the way suggested by the
motion would seem to him to look like
canvassing to get back. The members of the
Council came before the members of the
Society just the same as any other members
of the Society who came forward for election
for the first time. The only thing was that
they, the members of the Council, had had
some experience, and the Society had on the
face of the voting paper the record of the
attendance of the different members. They
had in the GAZETTE a record from month to
month of what the members had been doing,
and what more they wanted to get he could
not see. While he agreed in the main with
the general views expressed by the mover and
seconder of the motion, he begged to oppose
it, and he did not think it should be passed
in its present form, or at all.
MR. JAMES A. DENNING said he would
suggest that they should leave the matter to
the Council. He was sure they would care
fully consider the whole question, and see
whether it was possible to give a longer time
to the consideration of the report, because,
unquestionably, they had at present only a
short
time
to consider
it.
He
thought
himself that the May meeting was a most
useless meeting, but they should leave these
matters to the Council to consider. He had
no authority to speak on behalf of the Council,
but he ventured to make that suggestion
from himself.
MR. MACNAMARA said he would ask
them not to pass this motion as it would be
impossible to carry it out and have the report
at the date indicated. The report must deal
with the proceedings of the whole year.
It
was not necessary to have the report to enable
country gentlemen to understand what the
Council were doing. The GAZETTE was sent
out every month gratuitously, and it showed
what the Council were doing. As to giving
the names of retiring members, he submitted
that was unnecessary, because every member
of the Council retired at the end of the year,
and had to come up for election as if he were
never a member.
It was not necessary to
know that a particular man was retiring,