The Gazette 1916-17

[DECEMBER, 191G

The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society ot Ireland.

44

section eventually to put our clients, as regards the lost documents, J.n _as good a position as they were before the destruction of the documents. The second clause is a clause freeing us and all similar persons in whose possession original documents were— such, for example, as mortgagees—from liability in respect of the loss. In connection with this clause we wish publicly to thank the present Attorney-General and Solicitor- General for their efforts on our behalf. In Parliament the Attorney-General stated that in his opinion we Solicitors could not be held liable even without the clause. Nevertheless, it is a valuable safeguard both for-us and for mortgagees. There is just one other matter which I would wish to mention : the result of our being free from liability would mean, in the ordinary course that our clients would have to bear the expenses of replacing the documents. The injustice of this was pointed out to Mr. Samuel and to the law officers. Mr. Samuel stated :—" There is no doubt there must be certain, expenditure required when reconstituting the deeds. . . . The Committee (i.e., the Goulding Committee) will be expected to take cognizance of this claim." And the Attorney-General in Parlia ment stated that we '' had been allowed and encouraged to apply to this Goulding Com mittee with regard to any of their property, including deeds, for compensation." Of course we could have no claim for compensa tion for the loss of the deeds, but we now understand that the Goulding Committee are prepared to treat the loss as our loss, and to. recommend the Government to pay as compensation the cost of replacement. MR. JAMES BRADY said :—With refer ence to the question of the Government of Ireland Act, he trusted sincerely they would never again be troubled with.the question of partition. He thought the promoters of such a suggestion as that ought to be confined in a lunatic asylum. He regretted there was a reduction in the membership of the Society. They ought to be loyal to one another; but so long as men remained outside the Society they should endure and suffer the results of many queer transactions that occurred in Court from time to time. There were nearly 1,600 Solicitors on the roll in Ireland, and there were only 828 members of the Society,

formed themselves into a Committee, and elected me their Chairman, and Mr. R. N. Matheson their Secretary. In the first place we wish to acknowledge the efforts of your Council to assist us and to assist our clients by helping us to replace the documents destroyed in our offices. We regret, as I am sure your Council regret, that your efforts have not been more successful. In connection with this I think the public should know that we Solicitors have received less compensation than any other class of sufferers. We have been paid for the loss of our office furniture as all other sufferers have, but we have not and will not receive one penny for the loss of our records and entries which, as you all know, form, the most valuable portion of our stock in trade. In the second place we wish to acknowledge with very grateful thanks the enormous assistance given to us by the Property Losses Association. They are, as we know, an association of business men upon whom we have no claim. Yet they assisted us materially, and without their aid we would indeed be in a sorry plight. On our applica tion they were good enough to elect me a member of their Committee. This enabled me to state our case to Mr. Samuel, the Home Secretary, and to get from him on behalf of the Government the statement that the Goulding Committee would be expected to deal with the claim in connection with the reconstitution of the lost documents. Thirdly, we wish to tender our sincere thanks to the City Members, and especially Mr. J. J. Clancy, K.C., for enabling us to obtain two valuable clauses in the Act of Parliament known as the Law and Procedure (Emergency Provisions) Ireland Act, 1916. The first was a clause on behalf of our clients enabling us in a cheap way to apply to the Chancery Courts to perpetuate the testimony afforded by the lost documents. Rules have been made by the Lord Chancellor to enable us to work this section. We had an interview with his Lordship, who received us most sympathetically, and at his suggestion my Committee submitted to his Lordship a list of suggestions in reference to these rules, and I have here a letter from, his Lordship's Secretary, in which he says that our suggestions have been of great assistance in drafting the rules. We hope under this