The Gazette 1912-13

The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

[DECEMBER, 1912.

62

carried, would place them in an extraordinary position. Why should they be obliged to pillory themselves certainly a month before any other members of the Society ? They all retired at the end of the year, and to frame the report in the way suggested by the motion would seem to him to look like canvassing to get back. The members of the Council came before the members of the Society just the same as any other members of the Society who came forward for election for the first time. The only thing was that they, the members of the Council, had had some experience, and the Society had on the face of the voting paper the record of the attendance of the different members. They had in the GAZETTE a record from month to month of what the members had been doing, and what more they wanted to get he could not see. While he agreed in the main with the general views expressed by the mover and seconder of the motion, he begged to oppose it, and he did not think it should be passed in its present form, or at all. MR. JAMES A. DENNING said he would suggest that they should leave the matter to the Council. He was sure they would care fully consider the whole question, and see whether it was possible to give a longer time to the consideration of the report, because, unquestionably, they had at present only a short time to consider it. He thought himself that the May meeting was a most useless meeting, but they should leave these matters to the Council to consider. He had no authority to speak on behalf of the Council, but he ventured to make that suggestion from himself. MR. MACNAMARA said he would ask them not to pass this motion as it would be impossible to carry it out and have the report at the date indicated. The report must deal with the proceedings of the whole year. It was not necessary to have the report to enable country gentlemen to understand what the Council were doing. The GAZETTE was sent out every month gratuitously, and it showed what the Council were doing. As to giving the names of retiring members, he submitted that was unnecessary, because every member of the Council retired at the end of the year, and had to come up for election as if he were never a member. It was not necessary to know that a particular man was retiring,

in the country, but at the same time he thought the benefit Solicitors in the country got was very great. For instance, they enjoyed great privileges in connection with the Library, from which they could have books they required sent down to them by post, and read them comfortably in their offices. Indeed, except in attendance at meetings, it seemed to him the country members got as much benefit as the city. According to his observation cases that came up from the country were very often treated with more consideration than the statements received from their brethren in Dublin. Proceeding, the speaker said he could not support the motion. As to the annual report going out earlier, he did not think it was Mr. Craig's intention that the accounts should be earlier in the hands of members, because the working of the finances of the Society was never much a matter for discus sion. He took it that Mr. Craig referred to the report simply. But the annual report could not possibly be in the hands of members and be at all an adequate report of the work of the year under the scheme sxiggested in the notice of motion. According to his calcula tion it would be necessary that the report should be in the hands of members about the 23rd October. Well, according to the usual practice in Dublin—and most of the members of the Council must necessarily be Dublin Solicitors—a great many of them who got their vacation late do not get back to their work before the 15th October, and it would be quite impossible, unless they closed the report of the proceedings of the year at the end of July, to present a report earlier, and, if they tried, it would not give them a full report of the year's working. The object of the report was to show the members of the Society what the Council had been doing during the previous twelve months. Besides, the members of the Society got in a much more extended way in the GAZETTE, which is sent to them ten months in the year, accounts of what the Council were doing. The annual report must, therefore, necessarily be merely a summary of what had taken place during the year, a summary of what had appeared in the GAZETTE every month. With reference to the second branch of the motion as to members of the Council who did not intend to seek re-election, he thought the motion, if