The Gazette 1916-17

DECEMBER, 1916]

The Gazette ol the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

43

and loyal to our profession, and you will find that the Bench and Bar will respect us, and, I will venture to say, will be afraid to run counter to us. Benchers' Meetings. As many of you are aware our profession and the public suffered considerable incon venience owing to the fact that the Benchers' Meeting on the eighth clay in each Sittings took place at 11 o'clock. The result was that if a case appeared in the list on that day, the Solicitors and the parties interested had to be in Court shortly after 11 o'clock, as no one could say how long the Benchers' Meeting would take. If the meeting was prolonged, the business of the Court might not be taken up until 12 o'clock, 12.30, or perhaps later. Your Council, on more than one occasion, made suggestions with the object of remedying this inconvenience, and I am pleased to say that the matter has now been finally disposed of. The Benchers' Meeting on the eighth day of each Sittings will now take place at 3.30 p.m. Unqualified Persons Acting as Solicitors. You will see in the Report that, during the last twelve months, we have successfully prosecuted two unqualified practitioners. Your Council are determined to safeguard the interests of our profession. This can only be done satisfactorily if our brethren in the country keep their eyes open, and report to the Council cases of illegal practising that come under their notice. You may rest assured that all cases brought before the Council have been, and will be, most carefully considered, and that wherever the evidence warrants a prosecution proceedings will be taken, and the guilty party will be made to bear the penalty. The War. I have left until the end the part of our Report which refers to the casualties that have occurred amongst our soldier Solicitors and Apprentices, and to the distinctions which they have won. I did this advisedly, for I felt that once I began to speak on this subject I would find it quite impossible to

return to other subjects dealt^with in the Report. We are proud^of what the soldier Solicitors have done : 113 Solicitors and 71 Apprentices have joined the Army since the outbreak of the war ; 12 Solicitors and (i Apprentices have given their lives for us. Many have been wounded, including my old friend Captain Frank Crazier ; he has been wounded twice—in Gallipoli and recently in Salonika. He is now in hospital in London, and I am happy to say that the latest reports arc that he is well on his way to recovery. We are proud of these men, and we are proud of the distinctions that Solicitors and Apprentices have won. Here are some of the distinctions :—D.S.O.—Captain John D. McCallum, R.I.F., Solicitor. Five Military Crosses—Capt. J. J. Kavanagh, Connaught Rangers, Apprentice (Capt. Kavanagh was also awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour) ; Capt. A. M. Dunlea, R. I, Regiment, Solicitor ; Capt. Victor H. Parr, R. Inniskillings, Apprentice ; Lieut. J. K. McGregor Greer, Irish Guards (since died of wounds), Apprentice; 2nd Lieut. R. W. McGonigal, R. Gar. Artillery, Apprentice. Distinguished Conduct Medal—Sergt. Arthur C. Crookshank, D Company, 7th Batt., R.D.F., Apprentice (killed in action). Is not this a list to be proud of, and what are we to say with reference to those who have gone out and died for us ? Have they not died the grandest death a man can die—a death for others ? It is those who have been left behind to mourn their loss that deserve our sympathy—the poor lonely father or mother, the wife, the sister, the brother, or the child. Their hearts are sad and lonely. May God comfort them. But as for those who have died fighting for their country, they died for others ; they followed the supreme example : '' Greater love hath no man than this : that a man lay down his life for his friends." MR. JOHN H. WALSH (Vice-President) seconded the motion for the adoption of the Report. MR. PATRICK RODNEY said :—If I might be permitted I would like to say a few words on that portion of the Report which deals with the losses suffered by certain Solicitors in Dublin during the Easter week disturbances. The Solicitors who suffered