committee. The result of the labors of the commit tee has been recognized and freely adopted by the judges and by the Attorney-General, and the report has been freely recognized as representing the opin ions of the profession on the subject of the new Rules. The trustees, in giving prominence to the work of the committee, desire to point out that, had it not been for the existence of the law associations, it would have been impossible to obtain any representative ex pression of opinion from the Bar of the province, nor could expression have been given to an opinion from the Bar which would have carried the weight the re port of the joint committee admittedly bore. One of the principal features proposed by the joint commit tee provided for fixing difinitely the mode of trial be fore trial. On no point were opinions so strongly and vigorously expressed as upon this; and as the solution a very strong recommendation was made to take away the absolute discretion of the judge." The Hamilton Association in their 1889 report states: "The opinions of the various county asso ciations throughout the province have been noticeably felt in connection with the deliberations on the con solidation of the Rules and the re-organization of the Law School, and the trustees consider it is a mat ter of congratulation to the profession that questions of importance to the Bar now receive such general consideration.-' The County of York Association in its report of 1889 says: "Since the last annual meeting the report of the joint committee of the law associations has been adopted in the new Rules of Practice, and since their promulgation a sufficient time has elapsed to make it plain to the profession that these Rules have simplified practice and are a well attempted effort to bring about more effectively the fusion aimed at by the Judicature Act." Sufficient has been said to prove the good accom plished by law associations. The advantage of such associations becoming known outside their own circuit is well exemplified by the importance attached to the American Bar associations by the profession in Eng land, as explained by " The Green Bag's London Legal Letter" in the July number of the magazine. The library of the County of York Law Association has already on its shelves, in the rooms appropriated to the library in the Court House, 2,500 volumes, which will be largely increased when the library is removed to the new Court House in course of erection. It may be remarked that the Association, with a praiseworthy interest in its officials, has on the walls of the library portraits of all its presidents, besides those of some distinguished judges and statesmen. These portraits have been presented to the Associa tion, and will in the future serve as a link between the men of the present and the past.
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Our " Disgusted Layman " seems at last to have really found something in the law worthy an approving word from him : — Editor " The Green Dag": Sir, — Did you know that "The Law, Sir" is really getting moral and respectable? Fact though. It must be that courts are getting to do some think ing on their own account and bothering less about "My Lord Brackton" and other mummies. How it does make a layman, that can see his nose before his face, think bad words of law and lawyers, when Eldon, for instance, is set up as a shining monu ment. How could a man be great in such a profes sion as the law professes to be and say that the foundations of society would be upset if a woman was not hung for stealing a loaf of bread? Is Diabolus-the patron saint? But here is the sort of law that does the layman good, clear up and down his backbone (you know how shivers run up and clown that backbone). The law as to mechanics' liens in this State has grown to be a monumental iniquity. Legislature after legislature has -added and tinkered until they have constructed a set of statutes having as their object, making erection of buildings as hazardous for the owner as human ingenuity can accomplish. So far has this gone, that an owner may contract as tightly as human ingenuity can manage, that the building contracted for shall not cost over ten thousand dollars, yet if the contractorin-chief, the sub-contractor, " material men," etc., combine, they can make the house cost the unfor tunate owner twenty thousand dollars, and he has no protection; he can see it go on under his eyes and be utterly powerless to prevent it. Now that's the law of the business (not my layman's law, but the genuine article); but our Supreme Court wouldn't have it; and they seem to have determined to make a bit of law themselves, and they decided that if the owner inserted a provision in his contract that no mechanics' liens should be filed against the building, all sub-contractors, etc., were shut off. This didn't suit the " material men" a cent's worth, so they hocussed and " worked" and got the legis lature to say that this decision of the Supreme Court shouldn't stand, so it shouldn't; but the court rose to the emergency, and in some opinion kindlv invited some outraged owner to bring a case before them that they might have the pleasure of declaring that statute unconstitutional because impairing the force of contracts! Now that's business clear through. The layman can see that the effect of the statutes our legislature set up to toady to " the labor vote " were simple outrage, operating against nobody as hardly as they did against the honest workingman who wanted to own his home, and
