EDITORIAL.

The Ontario Bar Association under the able guidance of M. H. Ludwig, Esq., K.C., the retiring president, and his efficient officers has become an organization important not only to the Bench and Bar but also to the public having legal business, whether mercantile or litigatious, to the Bar insomuch as it has been instrumental in procuring the revision and simplification of the rules, and to the public in that it facilitates the settlement of disputes in a manner both equitable and rapid at the least possible cost, in addition to which the Legislative Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. N. B. Gash, K.C., of which a report will be presented in the next issue, has performed a work the value of which can only be estimated by those who appreciate the difficulties and delays incident to the matters to which he committee has devoted its labours. At the recent meeting of the Association illuminating addresses were delivered by Sir Allen Aylesworth, K.C., M.G., on "The Benefits of Appeals to the Privy Council of England" and "The Advisability of Increasing Judges' Salaries," by Chief Justice Sir William Meredith, K.C., M.G., on "The Workmen's Compensation Act,"—and Mr. Justice Riddell on the many cases in which a possible war between the United States and Great Britain has been averted by arbitration, a full report of which will also appear in the next issue of this journal.

The Association also took up the question of the forming of a Dominion Bar Association somewhat on the lines of the American Bar Association which, during the month of September held its first meeting on Canadian soil in Montreal and which was honoured by the presence of the Lord Chancellor of England, who delivered such an able address on "Higher Nationality," the text of which was published in a recent issue of the Law Times. A committee, consisting of the following gentlemen, was appointed to take the matter in hand: James Bicknell, K.C., W. J. McWhinney, K.C., W. C. Mikel, Frank Field, K.C., and R. J. Maclennan.

The following are the officers of the Association who are elected for the ensuing year :

Honorary President, James Bicknell, K.C.; President, F. M Field, K.C., Cobourg; Vice-Presidents, W. J. McWhinney, K.C.; G. C. Campbell, A. E. H. Creswicke, K.C.,

Barrie; Recording Secretary, A. J. Thomson; Corresponding Secretary, R. J. MacLennan; Treasurer, C. A. Moss; Historian and Archivist, Col. W. N. Ponton, K.C., Belleville; Representatives, A H. Clarke, K.C., Calgary; Hon. Mr. Justice Hodgins, S. F. Lazier, Hamilton; Charles Elliott, Toronto; W. C. Mikel, K.C., Belleville; and M. H. Ludwig, K.C.

Toronto members: Frank Denton, K.C., E. J. Hearn, K.C., N. B. Gash, K.C., C. F. Ritchie, and J. H. Spence. Other members: J. E. Farewell, K.C., Whitby; J. L. Counsel, Hamilton; M. J. Gorman, K.C., Ottawa.

Elected by Council: R. T. Harding, Stratford; H. A. Burbridge, Hamilton; F. D. Kerr, Peterborough; J. J. Drew, K.C., Guelph; J. H. Rodd, Windsor; W. S. Ormiston, Uxbridge; W. S. Herrington, Napanee; G. D. Conant, Oshawa; John S. Campbell, K.C., and A. C. Kingstone, St. Catharines; G. S. Gibbons, London.

Mr. Frank Denton, K.C., read the report of the Committee on Law Reform. He said the committee recommended the attention of the Association to the question of establishing commercial Courts throughout Canada, which would provide means of settling interprovincial actions. The matter had been brought to the attention of the committee by the Canadian Manufacturers' Association. There should be specially quallified Judges and very simple procedure.

The meeting was brought to a close by a banquet, enjoyable as only such banquets can be, in which the ordinary lengthy toast list was dispensed with, but the subjects made up in merit what was lacking in formality.

The conclusion of the argument in Morson v. City of Toronto is published in this issue, and, as previously stated, judgment has been given in favour of His Honour Judge Morson, by Judge McGibbon of Peel. Mr. Justice Lennox has also had a case of similar nature up for decision, namely the appeals of Judges McWatt and Taylor, of the County of Lambton, who finds that judicial incomes in Ontario are subject to municipal taxation. The importance of setting this matter definitely at rest will doubtless lead those interested to carry the matter to the Supreme Court, which is unquestionably the proper forum for matters of this nature.

PERSONAL.

G. A. Trainor, LL.B., who has been associated with A. Ballachey, at High River, was sworn in by the Chief Justice recently as a member of the Alberta Bar.

At a meeting of young members of the Quebec Bar, held in the Court House recently, it was decided to organize a "Junior Bar Association." To this end a provisional committee was elected as follows: President, J. H. Pare; Vice-President, Hector Laferte; Secretary, Alp. Pouliot; Committee, Messrs. Alleyn Taschereau, J. Art. Gagne, Maurice Dupre, Oscar Boulanger, V. de Billy, and Charles Darveau. It is probable that a lecture will be given in the near future by one of the Quebec Judges, and the general elections will be held later on.

John Charles Rykert, K.C., ex-M.P., of St. Catharines, who was the last surviving member of the first Parliament of Ontario, died Dec. 28. He had the longest continuous residence record of any citizen at the time of his death.

Charles H. Oxley, aged 47 years, a well-known Nova Scotia barrister, died at his home at Oxford, N. S., recently. He was a son of the late Col. Oxley, founder of the Oxford Woollen Mills.

H. H. Pickett, B.C.L., one of St. John's leading lawyers, died at his home recently after a long illness.

Mr. Oswald S. Crockett, M.P. for York, N. B., was recently appointed a Judge of the King's Bench Division of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick. Mr. Crockett has been a member of the House of Commons since 1904.

J. A. C. Cameron has been appointed Master-in-Chambers as Osgoode Hall, to succeed the late J. S. Cartwright.

Mr. Cameron has for five years been chief clerk and accountant of the office of the Master-in-Ordinary.

W. F. Nickle, K.C., M.P. of Kingston, only surviving member of the old law firm of Kirkpatrick, Rogers & Nickle, has joined with James M. Farrell, Police Magistrate, in a new firm, to be known as Nickle & Farrell. The latter has been the law partner of G. M. MacDonnell, K.C., Chairman of the Prison Reform Commission for the past twenty years. The late Sir George A. Kirkpatrick was formerly the head of the other legal firm.

John A. McKinnon, barrister, a native of Port Morien, died at Halifax on Christmas Day. For several months he suffered from partial paralysis and was undergoing treatment with hopes for recovery, but on Wednesday the affliction became more acute and within a few hours he passed away peacefully.

The deceased gentleman was born at Port Morien in 1865. He was a graduate of Dalhousie University and of the law School, was admitted to the Bar of Nova Scotia in 1892. He practiced his profession in Halifax until 1908 and subsequently in Sydney. He was much esteemed by all who knew him, both professionally and socially.

Mr. Joseph Wearing, M.A., a young lawyer of Toronto, has associated himself with Mr. R. E. Wood, County Crown Attorney of Peterborough, and the legal business will be carried on under the firm's name of Wood and Wearing.

By virtue of the authority conferred in the Act respecting King's Counsel and precedence at the Bar, an orderin-council has been passed appointing the following King's Counsel in and for the provinces of Saskatchewan: A. M. Panton, North Battleford; N. J. Lockhart, Estevan; H. C. Lisle, Lloydminster; Wm. Grayson, Moose Jaw; W. B. Willoughby, Moose Jaw; G. E. Taylor, Moose Jaw; Levi Thomson, Wolseley; C. E. Gregory, Prince Albert; Jas. H. Lindsay, Prince Albert; J. A. Allan, Regina; J. F. Frame, Regina; Jas. Balfour, Regina; T. A. Colclough, Regina; H. V. Bigelow, Regina; J. N. Fish, Regina; J. F. L. Embury, Regina; H. Y. McDonald, Regina; Alex. Ross, Regina; R. W. Shannon, Regina; Geo. E. McCrancy, Saskatoon; F. M. Brown, Saskatoon; H. L. Jordan, Saskatoon; J. D. Ferguson, Saskatoon; Peter E. McKenzie, Saskatoon; H. G. W. Wilson, Indian Head; C. S. Black, Weyburn; J. A. M. Patrick, Yorkton; S. A. Hutcheson, Swift Current; E. R. Wylie, Moosomin.

THE DUTY OF COUNTY COURT JUDGES.

It rarely happens that an order is made against a County Court Judge requiring him to hear and determine a remitted action, as was done recently in The King v. Judge Mellor. The reason of the learned Judge's refusal was that his Court was congested with local cases, and that the cause ought to have been remitted to the Liverpool Court, where, if the action had been instituted in a County Court, it would in the ordinary course have been commenced. The judgment of the Divisional Court was based on the unimpeachable ground that a County Court Judge must obey an order of the High Court. Such an order may press hardly on a County Court Judge whose lists are heavy; but he ought to do his best to cope with the work that falls to his lot. A public and vigorous protest against unfair treatment in the matter of remitted actions may be justifiable, and would probably not be without effect-a point-blank refusal to try a case in a denial of justice to the litigants. The view that the Divisional Court took of the matter is emphasized by the fact that they ordered the learned County Court Judge to pay the costs of the proceedings. Such an order against a respondent occupying a judicial position may be unusual; but there is a precedent for it in the case of Blades v. Lawrence (1874), in which the Court of Queen's Bench ordered the costs of a similar application to be paid by the Judge of the City of London Court.

The Law Journal.

CONVEYANCING AND REAL PROPERTY REFORMS.

Land law and land transfer reforms are so inextricably mixed up in the Bills laid before Parliament by the Lord Chancellor at the end of last Session that it is necessary to bear in mind, in dealing with the subject from the professional point of view, that there is nothing contentious about the reform of the land laws, which all admit to be desirable, and that the real controversy is about alternative methods of transfer of landed property-the private deed system or the official register. Lord Haldane recognises as did the Royal Commission, that the evil resides not so much in the method of conveyancing as in the substantive law affecting real prop