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special Lord Chancellor's Department who can
devote their time exclusively to this work. In this
country it is only in a spirit of co-operation between
the Government, the professors of law, the judges
and practising lawyers, that there can be hope of
success in efforts to restate and modernise our laws.
Much depends upon the spirit with which the work
is undertaken and the point of view that is consist
ently maintained throughout the task.
It will,
however, be well worth the effort to develop our
separate nationality and evolve our own ideas of
social order and social justice. The Government can
count on the whole-hearted co-operation of our
profession in their endeavours to adapt our complic
ated system of law to the needs of the times.
On a personal note of diffidence I feel under an
obligation to our profession to refer to one matter
which seems to give justifiable cause for complaint
to solicitors and has been the subject matter of
publicity in the press. It is accepted in this country
that all citizens have equal rights dependant only on
their capacity. Political patronage is almost non
existent and appointments within the gift of the
Government are made exclusively on the basis of
merit and suitability.
The main appointments
within the gift of the Government which are open
to our branch of the legal profession are State
Solicitor, County Registrar and District Justice.
There is an uneasy feeling among solicitors generally
that under all Governments since the formation of
our State it is practically futile to apply for any of
these appointments unless the applicant be an active
political supporter of the party for the time being in
power. There seems to be no justifiable reason for
adopting a different principle of selection between,
say, a county surveyor and a county registrar, or
between the solicitor for a county council and the
state solicitor for a county.
There are many
solicitors outstanding in their ability who have a
keen sense of their social and professional obliga
tions, but who take no active interest in party
politics. It does seem inequitable if such solicitors
cannot compete on equal terms, and are automatically
overlooked for preferment because they do not take
an active interest in politics.
My colleagues and friends :
The end of my year
of office is now approaching. I can look back upon it
with happy memories and deep feelings of sincere
gratitude to the profession for the honour which
they paid me and the confidence which they reposed
in me, and to the Council for their co-operation and
loyal assistance.
If my year of Office has—as I
sincerely hope—been fruitful of advances in our
profession, much of the credit goes to our worthy
secretary for his inspiration and guidance and to
members of the various committees
for
their
herculean efforts. The volume of work done by the
committees throughout the year is a tribute not only
to their diligence but to their patience, having
regard to the many demands I made on their time.
It is evidence of their deep concern not only for our
common heritage of law but also for the community
in which we live.
The motion for the adoption of the report was
seconded by Mr. Walker. Messrs. T. Desmond
McLoughlin and Desmond Moran spoke to the
motion. The President replied to points raised on
the report.
The motion for the adoption of the report was put
to the meeting and carried unanimously.
Mr. John Carrigan proposed and Mr. Robert
McD. Taylor seconded the adoption of the following
motions on the agenda for the amendment of the
bye-laws :
(1) That bye-law 3 be amended by the substitution
of the words " at least one week before the
date of the election" for " on or before
zoth day of November ".
(2) That the following bye-law be substituted for
bye-law 4 :—
4. The Secretary shall on or before July ist
in each year send a notice to each member
whose subscription is in arrear informing him
of that fact and every member whose subscrip
tion shall not be paid before the expiration of
the time appointed for receipt of nominations
under bye-law 29A shall thereupon cease to
be a member.
(3) That the following bye-law be substituted for
bye-law 13 :—
13. Two ordinary general meetings shall be
held each year on such dates as the Society in
general meeting or the Council may from time
to time appoint. At any ordinary general
meeting any special business connected with
the Society may be dealt with, provided that
fourteen days' previous notice thereof in
writing shall have been given to the Secretary
and posted by him in the Society's premises
for one week at least previous to the meeting.
Notice of all such special business shall be
sent by the Secretary to each member at least
three days before the general meeting at
which it is to be discussed.
(4) That the form of the ballot paper in schedules
C and D be altered by omitting the words
" Members who have not paid their annual
subscriptions, which become due on ist May
in each year, are not entitled to vote, and their
Ballot papers will be rejected unless
the
subscriptions be first paid ", in direction 4
in schedule C and direction 5 in Schedule D.