The Gazette 1964/67

extracts from the judgments are so complete that pros pective readers who will patiently read through the cases will appreciate which pitfalls to avoid. The third part of the work contains a clear statement on the duties and responsibilities of auditors, issued by the Public Accountant's and Auditor's Board of South Africa in 1965, a lengthy opinion of 25 pages by counsel on an Auditor's Liability for Negligence, re quested by the Cape Society ofAccount ants and Auditors in 1959, and finally an opinion by Mr. Pritt and Mr. Bonnier on the Duties of Auditors requested by the London Association of Accountants in 1932. The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants in Toronto, who published this comprehensive volume of nearly 650 pages, are to be congratulated on the wide field surveyed and Mr. Dickerson in the first 100 pages has admirably and fully covered the principles of negligence as affecting accountancy, there is a first class summary of the leading case of Hedley v. Heller (1963). The print is clear, but perhaps a large print could have been used for the cases, even at the ex pense of increasing the size of the book. C. GAVAN DUFFY CORRESPONDENCE THE LAND COMMISSION Land Bonds The following was the text of a letter addressed by the Secretary of the Commission to the Secretary of the Society on llth May, 1966. The letter should be read in conjunction with previous correspondence in this matter which appeared in the February issue of the GAZETTE (Vol. 59, No. 9) under the same title. Dear Mr. Plunkett, I have now fully considered our recent correspondence on the general subject of Land Bonds and have decided to adopt the alternative course suggested in your letter o 13th ultimo. Accordingly, I append herewith the following more up-to-date and comprehensive material in amplification of my letter to you of 8th December last in reply to yours of the 7th idem, later published in the GAZETTE. Payment of purchase moneys in Land Baonds The terms under which Land Bonds are issued in payment of the purchase price of land acquired by the Land Commission are laid down in the Land Bond Act. 1934, the Land Act 1953, and the various Land Bond Orders thereunder. The rate of interest to be borne by each series of land bonds is fixed with a view to securing that the market price of the bonds shall remain at or near par for a reasonable time after they have been created. Land Bonds are guaranteed by the State as to payment of interest and ultimate re demption at par but, as in the case of other Government securities, such guarantee does not extend to day-to-day prices on the Stock Exchange. The Land Commission have no power to compensate owners for losses through fluctuation in the Stock Market, or to alter the con ditions under which Land Bonds are created and issued so as to make them available for tender in discharge of death duties and income tax. The current series of Land Bonds, created by the Minister for Finance under the Land Bond Order 1966 (S.I. No. 18 of 1966) carries an interest rate of 7 per cent which, it should be noted, is J per cent higher than the interest rate applying to the latest National Loan issue.

Examination of title to purchase moneys During 1965, some arrears developed in this work due largely to a depletion in the number of Examiners which could not be made good until the end of the year. The back-log has since been cleared and the reading of titles lodged has been brought right up-to- date. New procedures have recently been introduced with the object of simplifying and expediting the examination of title. The Land Purchase Acts Rules 1964 (S.I. No. 230 of 1964) of 23rd September 1964, which were formulated after detailed discussion and consultation with the Incorporated Law Society, prescribe simplified arrangements for the allocation of purchase moneys. Orders have been made pursuant to Section 15, Land Act 1965, authorising all Examiners of the Land Com mission to exercise the powers and functions of the Judicial Commissioner and the Land Commission in relation to the distribution of Purchase Money (in cluding the certifying under sub-Section (2) of Section 5 of the Land Act 1923, of sums out of the Costs Fund established under that Section). Under Section 16, Land Act 1965, the Examiners of the Land Com mission are now authorised to accept as the period of commencement of title which the owner, tenant or other claimant shall be required to deduce a period of not less than : (a) Twelve years beginning on the date of a con veyance, transfer or assignment for valuable con sideration of the land or holding, and ending on the date on which the land or tenant's interest therein vested in the Land Commission, or (b) Thirty years ending on the date on which the land or tenant's interest therein vested in the Land Commission, whichever is the shorter. Control over Bonds by Solicitors in certain cases You referred to the fact that solicitors, in their efforts to facilitate clients, occasionally involved themselves in financial undertakings which, without the co-operation of the clients, may be difficult to resolve at a later stage. Having regard to the provisions of the Land Purchase Acts and Rules thereunder and in particular to the Land (Finance) Rules 1925, no fully effective method can be suggested which would enable a solicitor in such cases to obtain control of the bonds for the purpose of realising his security. It is, of course, always open to a solicitor to obtain a formal request from the person or persons entitled to the residue of the bonds that the said residue be paid to the person entitled in care of the solicitor and to embody it in the Vouching Certificate. It would be a matter for the solititor himself to take what further measures he would consider ap propriate in the particular circumstances to realise his security. In your letter of 5th ultimo you referred to a property acquired last year by the Land Commission in which the purchase money was agreed in 6 per cent Land Bonds and you enquired if the purchase money could now be paid in 7 per cent bonds. As you know, this point is governed by Section 26, Land Act 1965, but the case in question is unfortunately outside the ambit of the section as the lands concerned became vested in the Land Commission on 5th August 1965. In fact, the 6 per cent bonds representing the purchase money in this particular case were allocated early this month. Allocation of purchase money From the Examiners Branch of the Irish Land Com mission the Society received a communication in the 27