was not eligible for a seat in the House of Commons, nor has the recent Representation of the People Act removed this disability. The subject is a controversial one, and it is hardly likely that a bill to remove the disability will be introduced during the war, unless there be a strong desire on the part of the new electorate that their candidates should have seats in the House. It is tolerably certain, however, that the admission of women to the House of Commons cannot long be delayed.

The Annual Report of the Law Society shows that up to December 31st last 3,064 solicitors and 1,423 articled clerks have joined His Majesty's forces. Of these 451 solicitors and 293 articled clerks have given their lives in the service of their country. The war has had a marked effect on the number of candidates giv ing notice for Examination. In 1907, 841 candidates gave notice for the final Examination, while in 1917 only 76 candidates gave notice, a decrease of 765. A comparsion between the number of Articles of Clerkship registered in 1907 and 1917 shows that in former year there were registered 617 Articles of Clerkship, of which 538 were original Articles, while in 1917 only 120 Articles were registered, of which 103 were original Articles, showing a falling off in the num ber of clerks entering into Articles of Clerkship of 435. The number of persons admitted as solicitors in 1907 was 509, and in 1917 it was 95, a decrease of 495

W. E. WILKINSON.

the

The

Canadian Law Times.

VOL. XXXVIII. SEPTEMBER, 1918.

No. 9

BY THE WAY.

We are glad to call attention to an able and interesting letter by Mr. J. M. Clark, K.C., of Toronto, on the place of the federal power of disallowance in our Constitution. We hope other men of light and leading will follow Mr. Clark's example and send us letters on this very important subject. We notice that at the recent meeting of the Canadian Bar Association at Montreal, in the discussion on the double taxation of estates owing to various provinces taxing both within and without their boundaries, Mr. J. F. Orde, K.C., of Ottawa, said that the problem resulted through the failure of the Dominion Government to avail itself of its powers of disallowance of improper legislation, which had robbed Confederation of much of its legitimate fruits; that in such matters as this, which hampered freedom of movement of investment, such powers might well have been exercised; and that if representation were made by the Bar Association it might strengthen the hands of the Government with regard to using its powers of disallowance more freely.

We also desire to call special attention to the Article on An Imperial Bar Congress, by Mr. Holford Knight, of the Temple, London. Mr. Knight is trying to advance and bring to fruition a great idea. That idea is that many of the problems which will arise

VOL. XXXVIII. α.L.T.-36

after the war are of a character with which lawyers should be especially competent to deal. At all events, he feels that a special duty is incumbent on lawyers to contribute such assistance as they can to their solution. Therefore he advocates an Imperial Bar Congress to be held in the capital of the Empire. We believe a growing sympathy will be attracted to Mr. Knight's scheme as it assumes more practical shape, and we wish him every success. Mr. Knight is a counsel of distinction. He was appointed counsel for His Majesty's Mint in Kent and Essex Cases at the Central Criminal Court in 1911. During the war he has ap peared in several notable cases in the High Court, as, for example, Litvinoff v. Kent, in which the plaintiff was the Bolshevik Plenipotentiary in England, and Hawkes v. Moxey, in which he succeeded in getting the

Divisional Court to hold that the Mormons are religious denomination."

"a

The recent threat of the British Government against

the Bolshevik Government at Moscow to hold the mem

bers of the latter Government individually responsible unless prompt punishment and reparation follow the outrageous attack upon the British Embassy at

Pet

rograd on August 31st, wherein the gallant Captain Cromie lost his life, and, to quote the language of the official despatch, to use every endeavour to have them treated as outlaws by the Governments of all civilised nations, and that no place of refuge shall be left to them,'-is interesting as illustrating in a vivid

way

the fact, often observed upon, that the society of independent nations at the present day resembles in

many ways the conditions of all early commun ities, before law and order were fully established. In

the

absence of any international Court with power at its disposal to hale offending members of foreign Govern ments before it, and administer punishment, the last resort is outlawry, just as outlawry was the last weapon

of ancient law. As has been well said, it was the sentence of death pronounced by a community which had no police constables or professional hangmen. To pursue the outlaw, to knock him on the head as though he were a wild beast, this is the right and duty of every law-abiding man. Caput gerat lupinum,-Let him bear a wolf's head, this phrase was in use even in the 13th century. The near future may show whether a League of Nations is possible, which may entirely change this aspect of the international relations of the world.

The principal matters which came up at the recent meeting of the Canadian Bar Association at Montreal, were the discussion of the Report presented by Dr. R. W. Lee, Dean of the Law Faculty at McGill, upon the subject of legal education, which we publish, with certain amendments, in another column;-the desirability of a uniform divorce law in Canada, which was affirmed by the members;-and the injustice at present caused by double taxation of estates, owing to various provinces taxing the same estates. The Report on Education emphasized the view that service by students in the office of a practising barrister or solicitor should not be given during the same years that they are attending law schools. The Report makes various important suggestions, but, finally, the subject was remitted to the Committee on Legal Education and Ethics for another year's consideration. We hope, perhaps, to have a symposium in the Canadian Law Times upon the subject in the meanwhile.

The debate on the subject of a uniform divorce. law resulted in the adoption of a resolution providing that the Dominion Government be requested to pass an Act making the grounds for divorce uniform throughout the various provinces, with a recognized divorce law. This law, it was specified, should be placed under the jurisdiction of the Supreme or Superior Courts of the respective provinces that should

desire to take advantage of such a law. That provision, it was pointed out, would allow of the adoption of this legislation by such provinces as might desire to avail themselves of it, while it would not compel any province, such as Quebec, which did not approve of divorce, to adopt it.

As to the matter of double taxation it was finally decided that the whole matter, with the necessity of securing uniformity of legislation, should be referred to the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation. It was, also, unanimously resolved: "That in the opinion of this association legislation should be passed by the several provinces exempting from taxation the estates of those soldiers who have fallen in the present war, up to $10,000." During the Session most interesting addresses were delivered by Mr. Tsunejiro Miyaoka, on Japan's truly marvellous advance in the last forty years; and by the Honourable H. L. Carson, of Philadelphia, upon Anglo-American freedom.

7th,

We have before us the full text of the judgment of District Judge Mayer, of the District of New York, in the matter of the petition of the Cunard S.S. Company, as owner of the SS. Lusitania, torpedoed on May 1915, to obtain an adjudication as to liability in view of numerous suits begun against it, and to limit the petitioner's liability to its interest in the vessel and her pending freight, should the Court find any

liability.

It is reported in the New York Times for August 26th. Having found on an elaborate review of the evidence that the Captain, and hence, the petitioner, were not negligent, he points out that any question of liability is effectually disposed of on another ground. Negli gence to create liability must be the proximate cause of the loss or damage, and it is settled by ample authority that, even if negligence is shown, it cannot be the prox independent

mate cause of the loss or damage, if an