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58
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
[DECEMBER, 1911
safeguard your interests. The year has been
a memorable one, and your .Council took
their part in the stirring events. First, we
had the Coronation of Their Majesties the
King and Queen, and your President, as your
representative, at
the
invitation of His
j
Majesty, attended at Westminster Abbey for
;
the ceremony of the Coronation. Then we
had the visit of Their Majesties to this
country, where
they were received with
enthusiasm by all classes. Your President,
and several members of the Council, acted as
Vice-Presidents or members of the Council
of the Citizens' Reception Committee, which
did so much to make Their Majesties' visit
a success.
The Council, on your behalf,
prepared an address of welcome to Their
Majesties, and your President, with the
Secretary, attended and handed it to His
:
Majesty. When the Association of Chambers
of Commerce of the United Kingdom paid a
visit to this country, your President attended
at the welcome which was accorded to them ;
indeed, I may say that at every event of
public interest, not political, which happened
during the year this Society was represented.
I have now to refer to the great loss which
the whole public and this Society sustained
in the death of the late Lord Chancellor, Sir
Samuel Walker. (Hear, hear.) He was always
most friendly disposed to solicitors, and
he took a great interest in this Society, and
was ever ready to listen sympathetically to
any representations which we had to make
!
to him. (Hear, hear.) At the opening of these
sittings I attended in the Court of Appeal,
and on your behalf joined in the solemn and
dignified tribute which was paid
to his
memory. To his successor, the present Lord
Chancellor, I have conveyed on your behalf
your keen appreciation of his qualities. He
is a lawyer of great ability and learning,
absolutely fair-minded, and full of sympathy
for both branches of the legal profession.
(Hear, hear.) He has already shown his
interest in this Society by honouring your
President and Council with his presence at
their annual official dinner, which was held
here a few nights ago.
Turning to the Report, I regret that the
County Courts
(Ireland) Bill, which was
introduced in the House of Commons by a
member of your Council, and which would
have been a great advantage to the working
of the County Courts throughout Ireland, has
not become law.
It has sometimes been said
that we solicitors are opposed to reform in
procedure.
Here we have proposed
the
reform ourselves, but have been met by
persistent opposition. We have not referred
in our Report to our duties in connection
with the rule-making authority, because no
rules of any great moment to solicitors have
been passed during the year.
I may say,
however, that I attended meetings of the
judges several times, and in the few unim
portant rules which were passed I looked
after your interests. I found all His Majesty's
judges most willing to listen to what I had
to say on behalf of our profession. You will
see by Paragraph 8 of our Report that our
differences with
the Local Government
Board have not yet been settled.
I do not
desire to dwell much on this matter at present,
because only on Wednesday last I had an
interview with the Vice-President of the
Board, and I am in hopes that some, at all
events, of our views may meet with accept
ance.
I will, however, say this—it would be
the greatest possible mistake, in the interest
of the public and the profession, to try and
cut down solicitors' fees below a fair remun
eration for their work. We have now in
Ireland a body of solicitors, men of educa
tion, ability, and rectitude, who compare
favourably with any other similar body, but
if the fees of solicitors are cut. down so low
as to prevent them earning a reasonable pro
fessional income, the public will no longer
have men of like stamp joining the ranks of
solicitors, and this will react most seriously
against the interests of the country.
(Ap
plause.) You will see that a reform in the
mode of dealing with Government Securities,
which this Society advocated for several
years, has at last been adopted by the
Government.
In Paragraph 11 we draw attention to the
decrease of agreements for sale under the
Irish Land Purchase Acts entered into since
the passing of the Act of 1909. We are not
politicians, and we have nothing to do with
the merits of the Act; but we, with all Irish
men, desire to see our country prosperous
and contented, and we regret the halt which
has come in land purchase. When the Act
of 1903 was passed we joined whole-heartedly
in trying to make land purchase a success,