divisions of any country. All the law of Canada, with the exception of the purely Civil Law of Quebec, is founded upon the Common Law of England, and all the Dominion Statutes and Provincial Statutes are, in some degrees, in fact in a large degree, borrowed from the legislative enactments of the Mother of Parliaments.

The Law Societies of the various provinces have adopted a policy of maintaining a series of reports of the case-law of their own province. While undoubtedly in the past this has been a very successful method of putting out series of reports, that it would probably, be impossible to maintain without the financial support of some Law Society, the time has come now when the Law Societies of Canada should get together and decide if, in not supporting a series of reports which would supply the need of each and every province in preference to continuing the support of individual series of reports, they are not fostering that provincialism, the growth of which is so much to be deplored in Canada today.

Somebody must take the initiative in quelling this riot of printed cases that is being showered on the lawyer from every angle. Its results are deplorable. The Bar of Canada is steadily giving up the practice of reading the case-law of Canada because they do not know where to begin, and when they have begun they find they do not know where to end,

After reading most, if not all, of the written judgments delivered in all the Courts of Canada, for a considerable period of time, with great deference, it does not seem to me that a great many of these judgments are worthy of the Judiciary of a great country such as Canada. The present system of law reporting encourages judgments of great length, as the principle followed by many editors seems to be to judge the importance of a judgment by its length. Many of the judgments that I have read contain obiter dicta of great length, having some connection it is true, but less application to the case under review.

Nova Scotia has the strongest Bench in Canada to-day, and I venture to state that every judgment handed down by the Court of Appeal for that province is worth reading, simply as an example of how to stick to the point, if for no other reason.

On the other hand, from one Western Province recently there came a case where four out of five judges disagreed with the trial judge, and yet the judgment was affirmed.

I do not think that all this can be blamed upon our present system of law reporting, but it seems to me that a proper system of law reporting would tend to a better education of the Bar of the present, which is the Bench of the future, and the ultimate result of better reporting of the cases, it is surely axiomatic to say, would be better judgments themselves.

I have treated the question of the D.L.R. simply from the angle of law reporting, and it must not be forgotten that in addition to the great service that these reports are giving to the Bench and Bar of Canada in the way of law reports, there is added to that a series of annotations which alone are worth the present subscription price.

A good wine needs no bush, and the D.L.R. needs no puffing. Their ever-increasing subscription list and the ever-increasing favour with which both the Bench and Bar of Canada receive them is sufficient

evidence of their value to the thinking and reading members of the Bar of Canada, but until the Canadian Bar Association or the Law Societies in Canada, or both, realize the necessity of substituting one series for the many series now being issued haphazardly throughout Canada, the full value of the D.L.R. cannot be appreciated, for the lawyer feels in duty bound to read the series of reports having the support of the Law Society to which he belongs.

The time is now ripe for the Bar Association to step in and dam this flood of printed cases and adopt in substitution therefor the only series of reports that has ever completely filled the requirements of every lawyer in Canada from coast to coast.

Toronto, June 11th, 1924.

Yours truly,

R. M. WILLES CHITTY.

CURRENT EVENTS.

The Right Honourable Mr. Justice Duff, Judge of the Supreme Court of Canada and a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, has been elected an Honorary Master of the Bench of Gray's Inn.

It is officially announced at McGill University that His Honour Judge E. Fabre Surveyer, LL.D., Professor of Civil Procedure, while on an extended trip to the Continent will visit many of the large universities of the old land, and will, in the interests of McGill, make a special study of the law courses at Bordeaux, Grenoble, Dijon, Paris, Lyon and Clermont-Ferrand with regard to study courses, international outlook, sports and general accommodation. The information, it is considered, will be valuable in making recommendations to winners of the Macdonald Scholarships at McGill, in regard to their post-graduate studies.

Following his recent decision in favor of 47 settlers in the Merville and Courtenay districts of British Columbia, Mr. Justice McDonald has awarded them damages of approximately $100,000 against the Comox Logging and Railway Company. The action was an aftermath of the disastrous bush fire which swept the district two years ago. The company was held responsible for not taking the requisite precautions against a fire on its limits.

Prior to the opening of the Court on one of the days of the trial of the alleged bank bandits in Montreal, the jurors petitioned the Court to prevent further publication of sketches or photographs or any other unnecessary information regarding them and their families, as they considered their lives in danger and those of their families. Mr. Justice

Wilson asked that the pressmen take their request into careful consideration.

Mr. Horace Freeman, of Shawinigan Falls, Que., speaking at a public meeting before the Canadian Chemists' convention held at Kingston on May 28th, severely criticized the present Canadian Patent Act, stating that the new Act was a great deal worse than the old one. He stated that the government had refused to act on the suggestions made to them by Canadian chemists, and the result was that the Patent Act is a laughing stock. The subject of Mr. Freeman's lecture was: The application of chemistry in the development of the natural resources in Canada.

Rum-running into the United States from British Empire ports and ports of British possessions, evoked a hurricane of questions in the House of Commons recently. Prime Minister MacDonald answered the bulk of the suggestions and criticisms by saying that he would communicate with officials of the colonial and treasury offices "and see if we can do anything to remove this disgraceful blot."

The questions came up after a discussion of the advertisements and activities of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Brodrick Hartwell, who, it was said, has been inviting contributions to a business run by him for the purpose of smuggling alcoholics into the United States, guaranteeing to investors a profit of twenty per cent. Commander Joseph M. Kenworthy suggested to the prime minister that steps be taken to prevent "this breach of the laws of a friendly state." Henry Graham White advocated persuading underwriters to give up insuring rum cargoes.

Robert Nichol suggested the possibility of applying the "esprit de corps we have in the services to prevent this scandal."

Thomas Johnston wanted to know if the export liquor business still was to be subsidized to the extent of three-pence per gallon from the public funds. Mr. MacDonald said he expected it was, although he would like to assure the members that he would be glad to do anything possible to stop "this sort of affair."

Lady Astor suggested the possibility of putting a large export tax on spirits. Another speaker asked Mr. MacDonald to make inquiries whether the Nassau assembly had considered a project to reduce the import duty on whiskey in order to be able to compete in the rum running traffic with St. Pierre.

As to Sir Brodrick, the suggestion was again made that if possible his knighthood honors should be taken away from him in view of the use he had been making of them.

Allow me in the first place to express my keen sense of appreciation of the privilege accorded me to-day of addressing this distinguished audience. If, as I hope to show you-albeit, doubtless, in a very lame and halting fashion-the future of civilization depends upon law properly understood and upon its due administration, and if as needs no proof to such an assembly as this-that due administration depends upon a Bar of trained intelligence and sterling integrity, and upon a Bench, which in addition to the possession of those qualities is, like Caesar's wife, above suspicion, then gatherings such as this have an importance little dreamt of by the man in the street, and the honour of addressing them is not to be lightly valued.

In the world of the intellect there are no such things as international boundaries. The profession of the law belongs pre-eminently to that world. It is not so much, therefore, Honourable Gentlemen of the Bench and Gentlemen of the Bar of the State of Washington, because you are citizens of a great nation beside which we-a small nation—have dwelt in peace, amity and concord for over a hundred years despite the fact that but an imaginary line over three thousand miles in length alone divides your country from ours, that we heartily welcome you to British Columbia, although we entertain towards you in that capacity the most kindly feelings by reason of our mutual history. These feelings have been greatly intensified here in Vancouver by the gracious act of your Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Harding, whose illness we all deplore, and for whose speedy recovery we earnestly pray, in honouring our city by what I may truly term a fraternal visit, and by his delivering to us an address strongly emphasizing the friendly relations of the two countries and the les

Address delivered before the Washington State Bar Association at its thirty-fifth Annual Convention, held at Vancouver, B.C., in August, 1923.

C.B.R.-VOL. II.-28

sons they teach the world-an address which did him honour alike as a man and as the occupant of what in a legal sense is by far the most powerful office in the world the Presidency of the United States of America. It is not so much, however, as I say, that you are citizens of that great country that we welcome you here to British Columbia. It is rather that we, the servitors here in British Columbia of that jealous mistress, the Law, recognize in you fellow-servitors of that self same mistress in the State of Washington, and feel that you and we and all her servitors throughout the civilized world must stand shoulder to shoulder to form the spearhead of the army of civilization in the immanent battle against the destructive forces of anarchy, that we clasp you to our hearts and hail you as sorely needed fellow-combatants in the cause of righteousness and justice.

All forward thinking men, I take it, are convinced that the battle ground will be the world of ideas, and not the world of brute force. Universal primary education in all civilized countries is effecting the transfer, and that transfer will become more and more complete in exact proportion as that primary education becomes the common possession of the common man, as it-to the honour of the race be it said-increasingly is so becoming from day to day. I am an optimist to this extent, that I believe, despite the chaotic world conditions now prevailing, that the mass of civilized humanity are at last becoming rational thinking beings. The facts of their daily existence in organized society will, unconsciously perhaps, but not the less inevitably, direct their thoughts to the principles underlying that organized society in which they live, and move, and have their being. It is of the last importance, therefore, that such thinking be orientated to the eternal principles of justice and truth.

If underlying the multifarious forms of modern States these principles are to be found, then they are pearls beyond price, and the present organization of society will endure, for not only the so-called classes, but the newly thought-enfranchised masses, will defend it with their hearts' blood, if necessary. If, on the contrary, these principles are not to be there found in the case of any particular State, then not kings, nor principalities, nor powers, nor the life-blood of its citizens will avail to save it from its fore-ordained doom of final destruction.

Whether he be a believer in an omnipotent Creator, or not, no man of intelligence can deny, if he gives the matter thought at all, that the universe, as we know it, is founded upon law. In the physical world the eternal harmony of the spheres is, as man even in his intellectual infancy soon discovered, based on fixed, immovable, unchanging laws. Materially speaking the progress of the race has been measured