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has been amended by reference.
I presume that
we will all agree that this method of legislation
is very unsatisfactory and imposes a very con
siderable burden of checking the various sections
in former Acts of Parliament, which have been
amended in this way and this burden affects not
alone the members of our profession, but the
general public.
In addition, we are now faced
with a very extraordinary growth of Depart
mental regulations under various Acts of Parlia
ment, and particularly the growth, since this
Great War started, of the regulations under the
Emergency Powers Acts. We must recognise
that during the emergency, such as we are faced
with at the present time, it is necessary to entrust
certain powers and duties to the various depart
ments, but at the same time, there should be
published, at least annually, a complete and
proper index of the various Emergency Powers
Orders, to enable all those interested, to ascertain
immediately what particular regulation affects
their business or profession.
I would suggest
that this method of Legislation by Order, should
receive early attention and that as far as possible,
it should be abolished.
It is practically im
possible at the present time, for the legal practi
tioner much less an ordinary member of the
public, to follow the enormous amount of Emer
gency regulations that are being made from time
to time.
There has been a growing practice, in recent
years, of publication in the press of the value of
estates of deceased persons, and in many cases,
an epitome of the Wills. This frequently leads to
very misleading information being conveyed to
the general public, and occasions, frequently,
very great pain and anxiety to the relatives of
the deceased person.
I quite realise that in many
cases there may be news value in the paragraph
in question, but the amount of news value can
only apply to very large estates and I would
suggest, with very great respect to the members
of the Press, that they might consider the abolition
of these items of news having regard to the dis
tress which they cause in many cases.
I regret to have to report to you that there has
been no further progress as regards the Bill for
the better regulation of the Profession, which we
submitted in draft to the Department of Justice
for their consideration.
I understand that the
Bill is still receiving the consideration of that
Department and also the other Departments
which might be affected by it.
I had hoped that
before my year of office had ended this Bill would
have been at least introduced, and that we could
have looked forward to its early enactment.
There is another matter that I wish to refer to,
that there are very few of our intending appren
tices who are candidates for the Overend Prelimi-
ary Scholarship, as most of these candidates are
exempt from the Preliminary Examination.
I
trust that, in future, solicitors will direct the
attention of intending apprentices to the fact
that this Scholarship exists, and that the compe
tition is at present very limited. The Scholarship
is worth approximately £21 and I believe if the
attention of intending apprentices were drawn to
it, that there would be keen competition for the
Scholarship.
It seems to me that the members of our Pro
fession do not take their place in the public life
of the country ; particularly in provincial areas
a Solicitor holds a very important position and he
should, in addition to his professional activities,
play a more active part in the public life of our
country.
His qualifications and his training
amply endow him with the necessary attributes
for public life and our profession could play a much
more important part than they are doing to mould
the destinies of the country to which we belong.
I hope, therefore, that the younger members of
our profession will take their places in the future
Counsels of the nation. There is, at the moment,
a great effort being made from all quarters to
revive our national language.
It
has.
been made
an essential subject for every apprentice, who
must pass his " First" and " Second" Irish
Examinations before being admitted a solicitor.
I would appeal to these young men to play their
part in the revival of the language, and by their
example to spread it in the districts in which they
live.
You will note that during the current year, the
membership of our Society
increased by forty
members, compared with the previous year.
There are 1,422 solicitors practising in the Twenty-
Six Counties, of whom 68 also practise
in
Northern Ireland. This leaves a possible addition
still to our members of 542, and I would again
urge, as my predecessors have urged from year to
year, that every solicitor should be a member of
our Society.
It would strengthen the Society in
every way if we could say that every practising
solicitor was a member of the Society.
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