The Gazette 1911-12

The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

90

[FEBRUARY, 1912

am now ready to hear this resolution pro posed, seconded, and discussed. MR. T. H. R. CRAIG :—It falls to my lot to propose the resolution, but, before doing so, I would wish, on behalf of our profession, particularly on behalf of the County Court members, and especially on behalf of the Dublin County Court practitioners, to offer you, Mr. President, our hearty congratula tions on your elevation to the Presidential Chair (applause). I think I cannot do better than to quote the words of a correspondent in the country, who wrote regretting his inability to be present to-day, and added : " It would be very appropriate if this year these very necessary reforms could be shaped into an Act of Parliament during the year of office of Mr. Byrne, as President of the Incorporated Law Society " (hear, hear). I wish that some one more worthy and more capable than I of putting this matter before the meeting had undertaken this task, but acting, as I have for some years, as Hon. Secretary of the Dublin County Court Bar Association, this duty has been thrust upon me. Now, there is one matter that I would wish this meeting and the public to keep before them, and it is this, that this is not a matter brought forward merely by the members of the Dublin County Court Bar Association in our own interest. It is brought forward in the interest of the Commercial community (hear, hear). It is not brought forward exclusively in the interest of our profession. Anything that benefits the Commercial community will, of course, naturally benefit our profession. That is perfectly plain. After careful consideration this matter has been brought forward in its present form to endeavour to get something practical done after beating the air for sixteen years. There is no matter of senti ment in the proposal. We are here to-day as business men to discuss a business proposi tion, I hope, in a business-like way. And while possibly many of us may have divergencies in our views as to the best way to bring about the result, I am perfectly certain that the thing which we wish to have brought about, namely, improvement of matters in regard to County Court adminis tration, and particularly with reference to the recovery of small debts, is uppermost in our minds here to-day (hear, hear). I would

appeal to my brethren in this matter not to let any spirit of narrow-mindedness enter into their discussions. Possibly you may not be able to have the same point of view as some other brother practitioner, but let us try and act to-day as a united body, whether we believe that a Commission would be the best means of forwarding the interests we have at heart, or whether deputations to wait upon this body or that body would be the best. Let us be united and unanimous, and let us formulate some one means and have this matter placed before Parliament or the Government, so that we may get the neces sary reforms pushed through (hear, hear). There is another matter I also want to make perfectly plain to-day. We are not here to make an attack on anybody, we are not here to make an attack on any Court or on any official (hear, hear). We are here to attack the out-of-date principle upon which the County Courts have been administered for years, and to attack, and, if possible, find a means of remedying the defects in the system of administration. Now in order that the matter may be fully understood it will be necessary to go back a little bit, and there are two questions that I think this meeting should have before them, and I know the Commercial community have them before them. The first of these questions is this : If you can put yourself in the position of a merchant or trader, which would you prefer— to give credit to a customer in a country where debts ca.n be quickly and cheaply recovered, or in a country where difficulties are placed in the way of recovering debts ? Having answered the question to your own satisfaction, I would ask you this further question : Are the methods at present available for recovering small debts in Ireland such as would warrant you in giving credit, or, in other words, if your debtor is well able to pay, but unwilling, are you, in existing cir cumstances, able to compel him to pay ? Now, we all know that trade and business cannot be carried on unless credit is given in a country, and the better facilities there are for recovering debts, the more readily will credit be given, and the trade and business of the country increase. In order to find the first Act of Parliament dealing with what I may call small debt recovery in Ireland, one must go away back for a great number of