it is one of some magnitude appears sufficiently from the Chancellor's estimate that the annual turnover was nearer 300 than 200 millions. The Act also requires an annual certificate from every bookmaker at a cost of £10, and another annual certificate at the same rate in respect of betting premises. There is a sub-section which makes it plain that this Act is not to operate to render lawful any betting in any manner or place which is now unlawful, or to authorise any circulars, notices, or advertisements which are also unlawful at present. The machinery of the Act provides for the bookmaker issuing to his client a revenue ticket, and regulations are to govern their issue, use, and form. The part of the Act dealing with Customs and Excise contained no items of special interest except that the exemptions of commercial motors from customs duty was brought to an end, and there was a ten years' stabilisation of the Imperial Preference rates. With regard to the duties on motors a new scale comes into operation next year, and under it some of the heavy vehicles carrying more than fifty-six passengers will pay up to £120, with additions for each passenger in excess of sixty-four persons. In the matter of income tax the Act contains a very considerable number of sections phrased in language far from easy of comprehension but the abolition of the three years' average for Sched. D. is a welcome amendment, however complicated may be the form of words wherein it is expressed and safeguarded. After the 30th Sept. the Act has relieved the taxpayer from assessments to excess profits duty. It is inevitable that the next Budget will show in unmistakable manner the grave financial results of the dislocations of industry from which the nation has suffered for so long. Upon no class will the blow fall with greater severity than on the workers themselves in unemployment and increase in the cost of living brought about by the tragic events of the past months. The Appropriation Act (cap. 23) applies some 248 millions to the service of the year ending on the 31st March next, and calls for no comment. The following chapter is an important measure entitled the Land Drainage Act, under which the powers of the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries under Part II. of the similarly entitled Act of 1918 are transferred. to the county councils and county boroughs. This applies to the purely agricultural districts. The councils must, except in cases of emergency, before exercising their powers, give to drainage authorities in default a thirty days' notice of their intention to exercise them, and if the drainage authority objects thereto then the Act calls for a local inquiry. Again, such an inquiry will be requisite where a draft scheme is prepared by the councils in the case of powers conferred by sect. 16 of the 1918 Act, and where the owners of one-half or upwards of the land comprised in the scheme have raised objections. There is a very long section which deals with streams, ditches, drains, cuts, culverts, dykes, and sluices. This section makes it the duty of the person controlling them to see that the flow of water is unimpeded, and to take steps to prevent injury or danger of injury by water to agricultural land belonging to or occupied by some other person. The councils can serve a notice on defaulting persons and this must be complied with within two months subject to appeal to a court of summary jurisdiction. These liabilities do not attach if the condition of the drain, &c., is attributable to subsidence through mining operations. The grounds of appeal may turn on some defect in the notice, or may show that the condition of the drain is not caused by any act or default of the person concerned, or they may show that enforcement would be harsh having regard to the nature or extent of the land, or to the extent to which the land abuts on the drain, or again, the extent of the person's interest or estate may be raised, and the expenses involved in compliance. If subsidence is alleged the Act calls for the allegation being referred to an arbitrator to be appointed by the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in default of agreement. Appeal from courts of summary jurisdiction are provided for by appeal to Quarter Sessions, which tribunals may make any order which could have been made by the court below. The expenses incurred under the Act are to fall upon the county or borough funds, as the case may be, but they must not exceed the sum producible by a penny rate. From this we pass to the Petroleum Act, numbered as cap. 25. It is not an unfamiliar draft, for it all but got on the Statute Book last session, and only failed through the pressure of business. It had very little difficulty to encounter on this occasion. It introduces and defines the expression "petroleum spirit," and makes the Petroleum Acts 1871 and 1879 and this Act operate on crude oil or oil made from coal, shale, peat, or other bituminous substance. It calls for the verification of apparatus used for testing petroleum, and requires it to be stamped by the Board of Trade. There are also provisions relating to the loading and carriage of ships. The First Schedule sets out in great detail the exact nature of the test and apparatus therefor to be employed in order to ascertain the temperature at which the petroleum will emit inflammable vapour. Cap. 26 introduces the Chartered Associations (Protection of Names and Uniforms) Act. This is designed to protect the names, uniforms and badges of bodies incorporated by Royal Charter being exposed to wrongful use. When protection is given no one may without the body's authority use the name, uniform, or badge, or anything closely resembling it so as to lead to the belief that it is the same thing. Stage play use is not interfered with, or use for cinema or pageant purposes, so long as the manner or circumstances do not bring the uniform into contempt. An application for protection is to be accompanied by an exact and detailed description of the uniform, both as to form and colour, and the protection will be afforded by an Order in Council. Such an order is not to be made protecting any article (other than a badge or decoration) in respect of which any design has been registered under the Patents and Designs Act 1907 unless the owner of the design will, without fee or reward, permit its use by anyone willing to supply the article to members of the association concerned. The Isle of Man (Customs) Act forms the title of cap. 27, and is, of course, an annual measure dealing, as its name amply shows, with a limited purpose and a closely defined area. This annual Act brings back to memory the ancient history of the island which was once under Welsh and Scandinavian rule, and was ceded to Norway in 1266. Some of the inhabitants, ere twenty-five years had elapsed, were eager for English rule, and later put themselves under the protection of Edward I. Thence arose the line of Royal Feudatories, and it is a bare 100 years since the surviving rights of the Atholl family were bought out--the sovereignty rights having been previously purchased in 1765 for a sum of £70,000. Many of the Manx customs to-day reflect those which have been on record for over 500 years. The island stands in rather an odd position, for it is not in the United Kingdom, but is in the British Isles, and is a Dominion but not a foreign Dominion. Its Church is a branch of the Church of England, but with various customs peculiar to itself, and its diocesan title of Sodor and Man speaks of days gone by when it possessed jurisdiction in Sodoreys, and finally, its bishop may sit but not vote in the House of Lords. The island has its own common law, and is not subject to the common law of England, and has, as is familiarly known, its own peculiar Legislature, the powers of which are general but require not only the Royal Assent but in addition a curious and ancient ceremony of promulgation on Tynwald Hill, pronounced alike in English and Manx. The Customs Act to which we have referred is concerned with one of the chief subjects in which the Imperial Parliament legislates for the island. Others include such matters as patents and designs, extradition, telegraphs, harbours, and the like. At its Cap. 28 brings us to the Mining Industry Act. very introduction it met with no uncertain hostility, and unwillingness to make any concessions whatever, which has displayed itself through all these weary months, was evinced by those who represented the two extremes of opinion. In the Lords the measure found foes as well as friends, and the spirit of truculence came to light in a vigorous denunciation of a certain body of men who, with no selfish motives actuating them, sought to find some platform on which all parties could try once again to find some accommodation. The new Act, which may or may not prove of great usefulness, facilitates re-organisation of the industry through methods of amalgamation or absorption schemes, total or partial. The whole scheme is permissive and dependent upon the Board of Trade being satisfied that the aim is "the more economical and efficient working, treating or disposing of coal." The owners of undertakings can then prepare a scheme of amalgamation which would be voluntary, or a scheme of absorption which would rope in owners not willing to fall into line. Some undertakings may reach agreements as to certain portions of their powers being pooled, and out of this may come a partial amalgamation or a partial absorption. It is perfectly impossible to say to what extent such schemes will become familiar, but it is believed that several are under consideration and that the complications of administration and finance are not of the slightest. The Act, by sect. 5, however, stipulates that a scheme is not to allocate to a shareholder any liability for calls in excess of any to which he had been subject, and that stamp duties are not to be claimed in respect of these schemes or in respect of share or loan capital raised in pursuance thereof. When the Board of Trade is satisfied that a primâ facie case has been made out, and that a scheme holds out promise of more economical coal, they are to pass the matter on to the Railway and Canal Commission. Here objections will be heard and the scheme will be confirmed or varied, or negatived. The commission must, however, confirm, if it is consistent with the national interests, and if its terms are fair and equitable to interested parties. The former consideration is one in which the commission is enabled, by sect. 8, to hear the views of such persons, whether for or against the scheme, as it may think fit to hear, including representatives of persons employed in any undertakings affected by it. The commission has also power to deal with the situation which would arise if some of the persons concerned in a scheme before it for confirmation draw back. If any others are willing to go forward with the scheme and the same is in the national interest, and the terms seem fair and equitable, the commission can proceed as if it were a scheme for absorption, either in whole or in part, of the various undertakings. The Board of Trade is given power also, in sect. 12, to assist owners who seem wishful, but unable, to get together, in formulating and settling an amalgamation scheme. It would seem, therefore, on a fair reading of the measure, that considerable facilities are given to those who wish to reorganise the industry, and that some gentle stimulus is given to those who hesitate through fear or other motive. The Act adds also to the powers subsisting under the Mines (Working Facilities and Support) Act 1923. Any person who desires to search for or work any coal, either by himself or through a lessee, can make his application and the commission can grant the right if it is considered expedient in the national interest that it should be granted. If the working, or the most efficient working, of coal is impeded by some restrictions or conditions contained in a lease or otherwise, the commission will be able to abrogate them. Part III. of the Act is one which deals with a levy on royalties for welfare purposes. It makes every person liable to pay mineral rights duty on the rental value of rights to work coal, also liable to pay for the financial year ending the 31st March next, a levy of 1s. in every 20s. of the rental value. The welfare committees will have to receive two extra members appointed by the Board of Trade of whom one will be appointed after consulting the Miners' Federation, and one after consulting such associations or bodies as may appear to represent persons liable to pay the royalties welfare levy. No part of the proceeds of a levy is to be required to be allocated to any particular district. The Welfare Committee will have to secure the provision of adequate accommodation and facilities for baths and drying clothes. Part IV. deals with a very controversial subject, viz., that of recruitment. Under regulations the recruitment of persons over eighteen must proceed on the basis of a preference to persons employed during a period of seven days ending on the 30th April last. These regulations will be made so as to compel owners' agents and managers to furnish information to secure compliance. Since the 30th Sept., except in a case which is undetermined, no assessment or additional assessment of coal mines excess payments or of coal levy is to be made, and no claim for relief from or of reduction or repayment of these items is to be entertained. Among some general sections there is one (sect. 20) which empowers coal-mining companies to institute profit-sharing schemes notwithstanding anything in the memorandum or articles to the contrary. There is also provision made for a future development after the expiry of two years from the commencement of the Act. In respect of any coal mine (not being a small mine within the Coal Mines Act 1911), if the Board of Trade is then shown that there is no adequate machinery for the mutual discussion as between owner and workers of matters of common interest in regard to the working they can issue regulations and these may set up a joint committee. With regard to the more scientific side of this great problem of the coal industry the Act compels notice to be given before a shaft is sunk or a borehole made intended to reach a depth of over 100ft. This will enable the Research Committee of the Privy Council to get access to specimens of the strata encountered. The information disclosed can be required to be kept confidential. The Adoption of Children Act (cap. 29) owes much to the general sense of both Houses that there was a pressing need for legislation, and perhaps it may be further observed that it is also indebted to the good fortune of the ballot which enabled it to start its course before the end of February. The subject matter is one which has for many years pressed on the minds of the public, for in 1920 Sir Alfred Hopkinson, K.C. presided over a committee which reported in favour of legalising adoption. This finding was followed by a spate of private members' Bills, some of which reached second readings, seeking by various methods to deal with the subject. In 1924 the Labour Government set up another committee over which Mr. Justice Tomlin presided and the matter was re-explored. Two reports were issued, in one of which the need for legislation was reaffirmed and in the other a sketch of a Bill for the purpose was outlined. Meanwhile two more private members' Bills, if they did nothing else, sufficed to show that the practical interest was not waning. The Act before the country is based on the report of the Tomlin Committee and its urgency may be illustrated by the mere circumstance that one society alone has to settle about twelve cases a week, and there are doubtless other bodies whose activities would add substantially to this number. The intervention of Parliament in this matter requires little defence, and it is supported by kindred legislation undertaken by the legislatures of our own dominions and by that of the United States. The measure is one of considerable length, and in general the whole system adumbrated by it is dependent upon the discretion of the High Court to which belongs the jurisdiction to make adoption orders, but there is some flexibility in this connection for, at an applicant's option but subject to rules made under sect. 8, the County Court or any court of summary jurisdiction within whose area either the applicant or the infant concerned resides may be enabled to deal with applications for adoption orders. It seems unnecessary to dilate upon the powers of the court at length. They enable postponements and interim orders for periods up to two years by way of experiment; they provide for conditions being imposed as to maintenance and education and the supervision of a child's welfare, and in general they seem, so far as can be seen, to be adequate to secure the real well-being of both the child and its foster-parent. There are plain limits put on the court's powers. The applicant, for instance, must be over the age of twentyfive and must be not less than twenty-one years older than the infant. This last condition may be waived where the . adopter and the child are within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. Special circumstances may override a general restriction on orders where the adopter is a male and the child is a girl. Again the Act contemplates the consent of the child's parents or guardians, or of its custodian or of the person liable to contribute to its support, but this again can be waived in a case of abandonment or desertion, or neglect to contribute or where the consent otherwise required is that of a person whose concurrence ought, in the opinion of the court in all the circumstances of the case, to be dispensed with. This anxious desire to avoid technical hindrances is also to be seen in the sub-sect. (4) of sect. 2 where, although applicants being spouses must apply for orders of adoption with mutual agreement, the consent of one spouse can be waived by the court if it is shown that the spouse cannot be found or cannot give a consent or that the spouses live apart and that the separation is apparently permanent. Again as a restriction on the court's discretion it is made clear that the adopter must be resident and domiciled in this country and the infant must be similarly resident and be a British subject. An adoption order being made entails a permanent deprivation of parental rights, the infant's welfare being the prime desideratum of the order, the grant of which will not be made unless the court is abundantly satisfied that no payment or reward has been given or received in respect of the application except such as the court sanctions. The child's welfare on its material side may be secured by a bond or otherwise. Where needed the court may appoint a person or body to act as guardian ad litem to safeguard a child's interests. Its welfare on the spiritual side is sufficiently guarded by the settled practice of the courts and the very wide powers conferred by this Act to impose such terms and conditions as the court may think fit." This point of view justified the rejection of an amendment which would confine adoption orders in respect of a child of a certain religion to persons belonging to the like communion. The effect of the order is, then, to put the adopter and the child in the position of parent and child and where the adopters are spouses their relationship to each other in regard to the child is again that of lawful fathers and mothers. The order will not, however, prevent the child enjoying the benefit of property to which otherwise it could make claim under an intestacy or under some disposition, and contrariwise it will not confer on an adopted child any right as a child of the adopter. The words “child,” “children” and “issue” used in any disposition whether made before or after an adoption order will not, unless a contrary intention appears, include an adopted child or its issue. Succession or legacy or other duties will be payable when necessary on the same basis as if the adopted child were born in lawful wedlock to the adopter. The Act deals with a point of some importance to friendly societies and industrial assurance companies. Under certain legislation these bodies are enabled to insure payments for funeral expenses under restrictions as to the persons to whom payment should be made on a child's death under the age of ten. This Act makes an adopter to stand in the place of a parent for these purposes also and where a natural parent had effected an insurance a subsequent adoption order will effect a transfer of all rights and corresponding liabilities to the adopter. Thus far the Act has been concerned with the system of adoption which will come into operation with the New Year, but it has, as from that date, some considerable effect upon de facto adoptions of which, as we began by observing, there are very large numbers to be found. In the case of an infant who is on the 1st Jan. in the custody of, brought up, maintained and educated by any person or by two spouses jointly and has been thus cared for during a period of two years, there is power afforded to the court, on the application of these persons notwithstanding the applicant be a man and the child a girl, to make an adoption order. This special order will not need the consents of parents or guardians if it is shown that it is just and equitable and for the child's welfare to dispense with it. Finally, there is provision to set up in the Registrar-General's office an Adopted Children Register wherein all relevant particulars will be entered. (To be continued.) OCCASIONAL NOTES At a meeting of the Union Society of London, to be held on Wednesday next, the 20th inst., in the Middle Temple Common Room, at 8 o'clock p.m., the following debate will be opened and considered by the House-viz.: That in the opinion of this House Fascism in European Politics is a grave danger to the progress of civilization." The President of the Society for the ensuing year is Mr. J. Single, and the VicePresident Mr. D. F. Brundrit. The Hon. Secretary is Mr. J. M. Symmons, 4, Essex-court, Temple. The Hardwicke Society will hold their Annual Dinner at the Grand Hotel, Trafalgar Square, on Friday, the 29th inst., at 7.15 p.m. The following are the guests of the evening— viz. The Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lord Justice Atkin, the Solicitor-General, the Master of the Temple, Sir Philip Gibbs, and Mr. Arthur Powell, K.C. Tickets may be obtained from the Hon. Treasurer, Mr. H. M. Pratt, 5, Paper-buildings, Temple, and the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Louis A. Abraham, 11, King's Bench Walk, Temple. The City of London Special Jury list will be taken on Monday, the 6th Dec. next and during that week. Applicacations for specific dates for trial of these actions should be made to the commercial judge. The Michaelmas Quarter Sessions for cases arising in the County of Middlesex will commence on Saturday next, the 23rd inst., at the Guildhall, Westminster, at 10.30. The Probate and Divorce Special Jury list will be taken on Tuesday next, the 19th inst., and will be continued up to and including Friday, the 19th Nov. next (Mondays and Saturdays excepted). A Divisional Court for the hearing of Bankruptcy Appeals will sit on Wednesday, the 3rd Nov. next, at 10.30. Mr. Justice Wright will be the commercial judge until he leaves London for Swansea on the South Wales Circuit in Nov. next. Mr. Justice Swift has fixed the following Commission days for holding the Autumn Assizes on the Oxford Circuit-viz. : Oxford, Saturday, the 16th Oct.; Worcester, Wednesday, the 20th Oct.; Gloucester, Monday, the 25th Oct.; Monmouth, Friday, the 29th Oct.; Hereford, Wednesday, the 3rd Nov.; Shrewsbury, Saturday, the 6th Nov.; Stafford, Wednesday, the 10th Nov.; and Birmingham, Thursday, the 2nd Dec. When the business at Stafford is finished he will return to London and remain until Thursday, the 2nd Dec., when he will return to the second part of the Circuit at Birmingham, being joined by Mr. Justice Sankey. Mr. Justice Acton and Mr. Justice Branson have fixed the following Commission days for holding the Autumn Assizes on the Northern Circuit-viz.: Liverpool, Monday, the 25th Oct., and Manchester, Saturday, the 13th Nov. Mr, Justice Sankey will leave London for Aylesbury on the Midland Circuit on Monday next, and will open the Commission on the following day. He will go the Circuit alone until Birmingham is reached, on Thursday, the 2nd Dec. next, when he will be joined by Mr. Justice Swift. Mr. Justice Avory has fixed the following Commission days for holding the Autumn Assizes on the second part of the South-Eastern Circuit-viz.: Hertford, Thursday, the 18th Nov. ; Maidstone, Monday, the 22nd Nov.; Guildford, Tuesday, the 30th Nov.; and Lewes' Monday, the 6th Dec. The Board of Trade have appointed Mr. Charles Connolly Gallagher to be Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Registrar of Business Names in succession to Mr. A. E. Campbell-Taylor, O.B.E., who has retired from the public service. Mr. Thomas Howard Deighton, of the firm of Timbrell and Deighton, solicitors, 90, Cannon-street, E.C. 4, has again, for the eighth time, taken office as under-sheriff for the City of London, having been appointed by Mr. Sheriff H. P. Shepherd, C.C. Mr. Howard Deighton is one of His Majesty's lieutenants of the City of London, a member of the court of common council, and deputy alderman of the ward of London Bridge. In the competition between the Inns of Court for the Scrutton Cup, which took place on the Woking links on the 7th inst., Lincoln's Inn beat Middle Temple by four games to three, and Inner Temple beat Gray's Inn by five games to two. In the final Inner Temple beat Lincoln's Inn by five games to two. In our issue of the 24th July last (p. 77) we called attention to the recent decision of the British Columbian Court of Appeal in Rex v. White (1926, 2 W. W. R. 481), where a majority of the judges held that evidence of the action of dogs employed in tracking a person accused of crime was inadmissible. Certain American decisions dealing with the point were referred to, but the court was unable to find any British or Colonial decision in point. By the courtesy of a South African correspondent we are informed that in that Dominion the question of the admissibility of evidence of this nature has been more than once considered by the courts there, and in each instance resolved in the same way as by the majority of the judges in British Columbia. The following interesting passage from the learned work by Mr. Justice Gardiner and Mr. Lansdown on South African Criminal Law and Procedure, vol. 1, p. 343, cites the relevant cases: "In the investigation of certain classes of crime great assistance is derived by the police from the conduct of certain dogs of a breed possessing highly developed organs of scent. These animals are trained to take a human trail by scent and to pursue it until the origin of the trail is discovered, when he is barked or jumped at. In Rex v. Kotcho, Rex v. Barley (1918, E. D. L. 91) the question was exhaustively considered whether evidence of a dog master as to the behaviour of his dog was admissible and whether the court could accept the important inferences to be drawn therefrom as proof of identity or even as corroborative evidence. The court, upon careful consideration of all available authorities, answered these questions in the negative, and since in the conviction under consideration it was impossible to say that the accused had not suffered prejudice by the admission of evidence of this character the proceedings were quashed. The decision was adopted in the Transvaal in Rex v. Adonis (1918, T. P. D. 411), and approved in Rex v. Trupedo (1920, App. Div. 58), and the law on the point is now therefore settled." So that both in South Africa and, independently, in British Columbia, it has been authoritatively ruled that evidence of this nature is inadmissible. A reviewer in The Times Literary Supplement last week does well to contest the opinion expressed by a distinguished essayist in a recent book that Burke was not a political philosopher as Hegel and T. H. Green were. Most people competent to judge on such a question will agree with the reviewer when he says that there is more of the political wisdom which is the only real political philosophy in a page of Burke than in many volumes of these professed philosophers. As Mr. Augustine Birrell has well said, "Burke may be called the High Priest of Order-a lover of settled ways, of justice, peace and security. His writings are a storehouse of wisdom, not the cheap shrewdness of the mere man of the world, but the noble, animating wisdom of one who has the poet's heart as well as the statesman's brain. Nobody is fit to govern this country who has not drunk deep at the springs of Burke.” As a lover of order it was natural that Burke should greatly care for the rule of law. The history of law, which he declared to be one of the first and noblest of human sciences, a science which does more to quicken and invigorate the understanding than all the other kinds of learning put together, strongly appealed to him and led him, in his Abridgment of English History, to give a brief sketch of the subject. Of any treatment of English law on historical lines the only work available in his day was Hale's History of the Common Law which he considered wholly unworthy of the high reputation of its author. Burke would fain have seen the subject receive the attention it deserved the sources of our law laid open, the ancient forms of judicial proceedings explained, and the great changes that had been effected in the substance and mechanism of the law duly noted-but he waited in vain for the fully-equipped historian, and, as we know, it was not till our own day that we have had, in the scholarly pages of Pollock and Maitland, the early history of English law treated as Burke would have loved to see it written. In England the State has always believed in being liberal in the matter of judicial salaries an attitude not merely right in itself but as likely to obtain those best fitted for the office of judge. Before the war the remuneration of a High Court judge was good without erring on the side of extravagance, but it is doubtful whether the same can be said of it now in view of the cost of living and the heavy inroad made by the super-tax. In the United States, on the other hand, the salaries paid to both Federal and State judges have been on a much lower scale, especially in view of the wealth of the country. Viscount Bryce in his American Commonwealth, and other writers on the subject, have called attention to the fact that the average judicial salary is so small that it fails to attract the best legal talent. Even the judges of the Supreme Court receive salaries lower than those paid to our High Court judges, while those paid to the State judges are as a rule very much less. According to Bryce, the new Western States are the worst paymasters, their population of farmers not perceiving the importance of securing high ability on the Bench and considering $4,000 a larger sum than a quietliving man can need. Apparently, however, this question of the adequacy of judicial salaries has recently been receiving attention in America, and it is satisfactory to learn that Rhode Island has this year added $2,000 to the annual remuneration of Supreme and Trial Court judges, and that New York has also added $5,000 to the salary of district judges. In view of this it may not be amiss for this country to consider whether the judicial salaries it pays are in these days on a scale of real, as distinguished from nominal, value worthy of the high position occupied, and the responsible duties exercised, by our judges. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE RIVERS POLLUTION A QUESTION which has been the subject of a good deal of public discussion lately is why the law intended to prevent the pollution of rivers and in-shore waters is to a large extent a dead letter. Why is pollution, which has been a complex problem for many years, increasing rather than diminishing? In a recent Government publication the relaxation in the enforcement of the law during the war period was given as the reason why rivers deteriorated in purity. Industrial and other developments carried out in recent years without sufficient regard to the desirability of preventing the pollution of watercourses and water supplies have undoubtedly intensified the need for active measures to protect the purity of water. The step taken in 1921 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of appointing a standing committee on Rivers Pollution has not brought about the improvement which was hoped for, and so the subject has come to the front again. It affects so many interests, and the inevitable consequences of continued neglect would be SO serious that vigorous and determined action is imperative. 66 The members of the standing committee referred to, in their latest report, say: 'We are continuing our work, looking to the time when the Nation will awaken to its duty, both to the present and the future population of this country, and will make a real effort to tackle the pollution problem in a comprehensive manner." They add that "the longer the necessary effort is postponed, the more difficult and the more expensive will be the task and the greater the risk of failure." Though this committee is continuing its work, and is accumulating evidence of the seriousness of the present state of things, its efforts need to be supplemented, and a means for directing the force of an informed public opinion upon the matter has now been provided by the formation of a voluntary body known as the Pure Rivers Society. This society was formally constituted at a meeting which took place in London last week. There have been, fortunately, many indications that it will be influentially supported, and it will endeavour to deal with the subject as a whole, and not merely from the fisherman's point of view. Public health, water supply, and amenities generally are threatened, and so the new society (the address of whose hon. secretary is at 1, Lincoln's Inn Fields) will work with the Government and all local authorities and societies whose object is the maintenance and preservation from defilement of our rivers and in-shore tidal waters. The main part of the problem is to discover means by which sewage and trade effluents can be dealt with so as to promote the purity of the rivers, while avoiding interference with the industries upon which the prosperity of the country depends. The investigations of the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal, which were continued for many years, show that a solution of the difficulties may be found probably by a combination of legislative and administrative action. The law must be amended and a central authority must be given necessary powers. The present Standing Committee already referred to endorsed in its latest report the view that there should be created some sort of central authority to hold the scales between the various interests concerned as well as to work at the scientific questions which are involved. At present, although the common law rights of individuals, if enforced, would be sufficient to check a great deal of the pollution which occurs, the co-operation necessary for effective action is usually lacking, and pollution, which is illegal, increases. As is well known, riparian owners have the right to the flow of water in its natural quality as well as quantity, subject to rights to pollute which may have been acquired as easements, and various statutes have been passed imposing penalties on pollution, but, as things are, existing rights are apt to be overridden. It is material to remember that, though a right to pollute the water of a stream may be acquired as an easement, there cannot be a prescriptive right to pollute to an extent which will injure the public health, nor a right to do what has been prohibited by legislation. It follows that rights to pollute cannot be acquired since the Rivers Pollution Act 1876 became operative. Moreover, if pollution is proved, an injunction may be obtained, although no actual injury has taken place, and that the water is also fouled by other people is no defence. In actual practice, however, individuals who suffer, such as the owners of shell fisheries, may find it very difficult to secure redress. As to the Rivers Pollution Prevention Act 1876, which, with the similarly entitled Act of 1893, contains the principal legislative provisions, Lord Loreburn observed in Airdrie Magistrates v. Lanark County Council 102 L. T. Rep. 437 (1910) A. C. 290 that "It is difficult to think of a simpler Act or one more clearly expressed. The Act states that you must not foul a stream except under particular conditions." As to harbour waters the Oil in Navigable Waters Act 1922 prohibits the discharge of oil. The rule of law, therefore, is clear, but its enforcement is difficult. Often persuasion suitably applied, coupled with research as to means of dealing with waste products so that they may be got rid of by altered methods not productive of nuisance, may be more effective than litigation. There is much to be said for the view of the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal that, because conditions vary, the necessary control cannot be provided by any direct enactment enforceable by the ordinary courts. An adequately equipped central administrative authority working in conjunction with local STOPPING AND DIVERSION OF THE Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the law on this subject and to make recommendations as to its amendment have issued their report. The committee consisted of Mr. J. A. Hawke, K.C., M.P. (chairman); Mr. O. F. Dowson, O.B.E., of the Home Office; Mr. J. Duckworth, M.P.; Mr. P. C. Franklin, of the Ministry of Transport; Mr. A. Greenwood, M.P.; Sir William Hart, O.B.E., Town Clerk of Sheffield; Mr. H. A. Millington, O.B.E., Clerk of the Northamptonshire County Council; Commander Sir = Cooper Rawson, M.P.; Mr. S. R. Wells, M.P.; and Mr. Alexander Macmorran, K.C.; and the following is a summary of their recom-mendations : (1) The law relating to the stopping up and diversion of highways should be the subject of public legislation of general application and not of legislation by way of Private Bills dealing with limited (3) No case has been made out for changing the conditions laid down in sect. 85 of the Highway Act 1835, by which, in the case of a diversion, the new highway must be modious to the public " than the old, and a highway can only be stopped up if it is found to be " unnecessary." 66 (4) The existing procedure by which an order for the stopping up or diversion of a highway can only be obtained after an application to the body now representing 'the inhabitants in vestry assembled," a view and certificate by justices and enrolment by quarter sessions, should be replaced by a simple procedure by which power would be given to a convenient tribunal to grant such an order. *(5) The tribunal to determine applications for the diversion or stopping up of highways should be a judicial and not an administrative body. *(6) The judicial body to determine such applications should be the justices sitting as a Petty Sessional Court. *(7) The procedure before the Petty Sessional Court should be in the form of a public inquiry after due public notice thereof. Evidence should be receivable on oath and all interested parties would be entitled to be heard. (8) Orders made by the Petty Sessional Court should be transmitted to the Clerk of the Peace for enrolment, without formal application to the court, among the records of quarter sessions. (9) There should be a right of appeal to quarter sessions from the Petty Sessional Court by persons aggrieved by the decision of that court. The appeal should operate as a rehearing and the decision of quarter sessions should be final. The question of costs should be left to the discretion of the court. (10) There should be included among those who, as persons aggrieved, have a right of appeal to quarter sessions in respect of the decision of a Petty Sessional Court, persons who object to the closing or diversion of a highway as members of the public who make occasional use of the highway in question. (11) The provisions as to the publication of notices contained in sect. 85 of the Highway Act 1835, should be replaced by a provision giving power to the appropriate public department to make rules relative to the publication of the necessary notices of an application for an order to stop up or divert a highway. Such rules should provide for the inclusion in the notice of a plan showing the effect of the proposed interference with the existing highway. (12) In addition to public advertisement, specific notice of any proposed application should be given: (a) to all owners and occupiers of lands affected; (b) to the County Council where it is the Highway Authority concerned, and to the Borough Council, District Council, Parish Council, or Parish Meeting within whose area the highway in question is wholly or partly situated. (13) The consent of any borough or district council should not be a condition precedent to the making of an order for the diversion or stopping up of a highway within its area, but those authorities should have the right to appear and be heard at the inquiry by the Petty Sessional Court and to appeal against the decision of that court to quarter sessions. (14) So much of sect. 13 (1) of the Local Government Act 1894 as makes the consent of the parish council or parish meeting necessary for the stopping up or diversion of a highway should be repealed; but those bodies should have the same right to appear at the Petty Sessional Court and to appeal to quarter sessions as the borough or district councils. (15) The consent of the landowner as required by sect. 85 of the Highway Act 1835 should continue to be necessary. • Mr. Franklin, Sir William Hart, Mr. Millington and Mr. Wells dissent from these recommendations. (16) Nothing in our recommendations should interfere with the existing special powers of the War Office and the Air Ministry with reference to the stopping up or diversion of highways, but any question of the further extension of those powers should be the subject of special legislation. (17) Nothing in our recommendations should affect any powers relating to the diversion or stopping up of highways for the purpose of any scheme under the Town Planning Act 1925. CENTRAL VALUATION COMMITTEE An important provision of the Rating and Valuation Act 1925 authorises the setting up of a Central Valuation Committee to promote uniformity in valuation throughout England and Wales (outside London) for the purposes of local rates. The committee are to give to the Minister of Health such information and make to him such representations in respect to the operation of the Act as they consider desirable for securing uniformity and removing inequalities in the system of valuation. For these purposes, the committee may hold conferences or otherwise consult such persons or bodies as they think desirable. One of the chief duties devolving on the committee is the formulation of principles of valuation for the assistance and guidance of the rating authorities, assessment committees, and county valuation committees set up under the new Act. It is hoped that the committee will succeed in making recommendations on questions of principle and practice which will meet with general acceptance and that by this means uniformity of valuation, not only within each county and county borough, but throughout the whole country, will be promoted. The committee have now been fully constituted in accordance with a scheme made by the Minister and laid before Parliament; and it is anticipated that they will be in a position to formulate, before the end of the year, their suggestions and recommendations on some of the more pressing questions confronting rating and valuation authorities so as to assist those authorities in the preparation of the new valuation lists. The first meeting of the committee will take place at the Ministry of Health at an early date. The committee consists of thirty-two members, twenty-four of whom are nominated by the associations representing county councils, municipal corporations, urban and rural district councils, and the association of poor law unions. The remaining eight appointed by the Minister, include local government officers with special experience of valuation work. In accordance with the provisions under which the committee has been constituted, the members appointed by the associations of local authorites are members of rating authorities, county valuation committees and assessment committees. Mr. A. E. Joll, of the Ministry of Health, Whitehall, S.W. 1, is acting secretary to the committee and all communications should be addressed to him. LAW SOCIETIES TO SECRETARIES.-Reports of meetings should reach the office not later than Wednesday evening to ensure insertion in the current number. LAW ASSOCIATION THE usual monthly meeting of the directors was held at the Law Society's Hall, on Thursday, the 7th inst., Mr. J. R. H. Molony in the chair. The other directors present were Mr. J. D. Arthur, Mr. E. B. V. Christian, Mr. H. B. Curwen, Mr. F. W. Emery, Mr. P. E. Marshall, Mr. A. E. Pridham, Mr. J. Venning, Mr. William Winterbotham, Mr. W. M. Woodhouse, and the secretary (Mr. E. E. Barron). A sum of £210 was voted in relief of deserving cases, a new member elected, and other general business transacted. UNITED LAW SOCIETY 66 THE first meeting of the session 1926-27 took place on Monday, the 11th inst., in the Middle Temple Common Room, Mr. L. F. Stemp in the chair. The subject for debate was as follows: A., who had been addressing a political meeting, had reason to fear that he would be assaulted by some roughs on leaving the building. To minimise the risk instead of wearing his own hat and coat he deliberately took from the cloakroom (without B.'s permission) the hat and coat of B. and with their help got away unscathed. B., not being able to find another hat and coat assumed those abandoned by A., and in consequence was mistaken for A., and seriously assaulted. The hats and coats have since been returned to their true owners. B. is now suing A. for damages. Will he succeed? " Mr. C. Willoughby Williams moved that A. would succeed. Mr. S. E. Redfern opposed. There also spoke: Messrs. F. B. Guedalla, G. W. Tookey, F. W. Yates, H. W. Pritchard, W. G. Galbraith and J. MacMillan. The opener having replied, the motion was put to the meeting but was lost by four votes. Mr. Frederick William Biddle, solicitor, of Brede, Sussex, lately senior partner in the firm of Messrs. Biddle, Thorne, Welsford, and Gait, left estate of the gross value of £35,911. |