Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

a conspicuous surplusage which might well have been avoided. The merest tyro does not require to be informed that after all the formalities of purchase and sale have been gone through, "it will now only remain for the clerk to ascertain the purchaser's address ;" nor is it at all necessary that a legal manual should be occupied with information which might be found in the London Directory, as, for instance that the "Middlesex Registry Office is in Bell Yard, Chancery Lane, London." We observe also, in passing, that it would have been more in accordance with the observances of literary courtesy if the greater part of page 8 (obviously extracted ipsissimis verbis from a well-known chapter in "Williams's Real Property"), had been adorned with the usual inverted commas. These are, however, faults of minor importance. There is a method, clearness, and completeness about the book which will, no doubt, ensure for it a large circulation. The thirty-eight pages devoted to an explanation of the Transfer of Land Act, 1862, with the orders that have been issued, will be read with much interest by conveyancers. After the lucid interpretation of the Act and Orders throughout the 8th chapter we read its concluding paragraphs with some regret. The author concludes somewhat abruptly, by stating, "I have said nothing of the means of opposing registration upon notice of the application; nothing of the initiative precaution of entering a caveat against a property being registered. I have said nothing about the means of cautioning the registrar against entering instruments and dealings with the property when it is already registered, or of the notice to which the cautioner is entitled. I have said nothing about equitable charges by deposit of the land certificate; nothing about the requirement of having all title deeds of the registered property stamped with an office stamp; nothing, finally, about getting a property off the register." If on account of the novelty of the Act there were really nothing to say on these highly important subjects, the omission would have been creditable to the author's judgment and sense of duty. That, however, is not so. Considering the many merits of the work, we have no doubt Mr. Smith may be called upon at a future time to prepare another edition, and we trust that, as to the surplusage above alluded to, more important matter may be substituted, or at all events appended thereto.

The Law of Joint-Stock Companies; containing the Companies Act, 1862, and the Acts incorporated therewith; with Copious Notes of Cases relative to Joint-Stock Companies, the Rules and Forms of the Court of Chancery in Proceedings under the above Act, and Forms of Articles of Association. By Leonard Shelford, of the Middle Temple, Esq., Barrister-at-law. London: Butterworths.

1863.

THE object of the Companies Act, 1862, was to incorporate, in a single and exhaustive statute, the enactments which regulate the

formation, management, and winding up of Joint-Stock Companies. While many sections from other Acts of Parliament relating to Joint-Stock Companies have been embodied, totidem verbis, on the other hand some of the most important provisions are entirely new. Thus we are now made acquainted for the first time with companies "limited by guarantee," i. e., companies in which the members may stipulate for a limited contribution to the assets upon the winding up of the company. In the case of a company limited by guarantee, it is enacted that "no contribution shall be required from any member exceeding the amount of the undertaking entered into on his behalf by the memorandum of association." Practitioners will also bear in mind, that the independent jurisdiction of the Court of Bankruptcy, in relation to the winding up of joint-stock companies has been abolished, and their interference in such matters will henceforth be under the direction and control of the Court of Chancery. Since the Act of 1859, the 21 & 22 Vict., c. 78, a special officer has been appointed, called the creditors' representative, whose business it was to protect the interests of the creditors during the process of winding np the affairs of the company. That office has also been abolished. Lastly, insurance compauies, instead of forming a distinct group, and governed by their own special rules, are made subject by this statute to the same provisions as other companies. With these, and a few less important exceptions, the Act of 1862 is almost a transcript of former joint-stock companies' Acts, having the invaluable advantage of containing in one statute all the written law on the subject. Very many of the reported decisions will, therefore, be still applicable, and only required to be logically arranged under the provisions of the new Act.

Mr. Shelford's reputation as a legal author, it is needless to say, has been long ago established. Although some fifteen standard text-books bear the author's name-text-books that are on the shelves of almost every lawyer's library, and consulted in the course of practice with the utmost confidence in the reliability of the information they furnish-the present volume, while not so elaborate, and having a narrower scope, will bear comparison with the best of them for clearness of diction, unity of design, and thoroughness of execution. Taking the "Addenda," which must have been sent off to press at the eleventh hour, probably after the bulk of the book was in type, the decided cases are brought down to almost the last published in the current reports. They have been selected, with much discrimination, and presented to the reader with a conciseness which never obscures the meaning. The explanatory notes are always pertinent and instructive; not mere paraphrases of the section, set off with a random case or two picked out of a digest. The observations on the winding up of companies and associations, for instance, under the 99th section; upon fraudulent preference, from page 188 to page 206, may be referred to as excellent specimens of clear and useful writing. Mr. Shelford has also incorporated in the same volume the following cognate statutes, with notes and explana

tions:

Railway Companies' Arbitration Act, 1859; Criminal Offences by Directors, &c., of Public Companies, 24 & 25 Vict., c. 96; The Industrial and Provident Societies' Act, 1862, 25 & 26 Vict., c. 87. Three important schedules are given, as well as the rules and orders of the High Court of Chancery, to regulate the mode of proceeding under the Companies' Act, 1862, while the concluding chapter is devoted to the consideration of the formation of companies by letters patent. By this volume Mr. Shelford has added to his reputation as a commentator, and increased the indebtedness of the profession by a valuable and very welcome contribution to the lawyer's library.

An Analytical Digest of the Cases published in the New Series of
the "Law Journal" Reports, and other Reports in the Courts of
Common Law and Equity, and Appeal in Bankruptcy, in the
House of Lords, the Privy Conncil, in the Court of Probate, the
Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes, and in the High
Court of Admiralty. From Michaelmas Term, 1855, to Trinity
Term, 1860, inclusive. By Francis Towers Streeten, Esq., and
George Stevens Allnutt, Esq., Barristers-at-Law.
Edward Bret Ince, 5, Quality Court, Chancery Lane.
THIS Digest is in continuation of seven others, published at different
times, containing the cases reported in the "Law Journal" reports,
and other contemporary reports, since the year 1822.

London:

Principles of the Law of Scotland, contained in Lord Stair's Institutions; with Notes and References as to Modern Law. By Patrick Shaw, Member of the Faculty of Advocates, and Sheriff of Chancery. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, Law Booksellers, 88, George Street. London: Stevens, Sons, and Haynes ; and Simpkin and Co.

66

LORD Stair published two editions of his "Institutions of the Law of Scotland," the one in 1681, and the other in 1693, two years before his death. A period of more than thirty years has elapsed since the latest edition of this standard work was published. "During that time," says the author of the present volume, great and important changes have been made by Parliament in almost every department of our law." Mr. Shaw has, therefore, attempted to embody the principles of the law of Scotland contained in Lord Stair's "Institutions," "in a form which inay facilitate the perusal of that great work, and at the same time point out the changes which have been made in Scotch jurisprudence."

Remarks on the Constitution and Practice of Courts Martial; with a Summary of the Law of Evidence as connected therewith; and some Notice of the Criminal Law of England with reference to the Trial of Civil Offenders. By Captain Thomas Frederick Simmons, R.A. Fifth Edition, revised. London John Murray,

Albemarle Street.

THE fifth edition of this well-known and most useful work has been carefully revised throughout, with reference to the Mutiny Acts and Articles of War of the present year, the Naval Discipline Act, 1861, the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts, and other recent statutes, and the Queen's Regulations for the Army, dated 1st December, 1859, and the warrants, orders, and circulars now in force.

A Supplement to the Seventh Edition of Stone's Practice of Petty Sessions. By Lewis W. Cave, of the Inner Temple, Barrister. London V. and R. Stevens, Sons, and Haynes.

THIS Supplement contains chapters on the summary jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace under the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts, and under the Act for the Prevention of Poaching. The decisions on the repealed statutes are also given, wherever they are calculated to assist in the construction of, or to ascertain the practice under, the substituted enactment.

A Handy Book on Property Law; in a Series of Letters by Lord St. Leonards. Seventh Edition. William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London.

THE seventh edition of this most useful and popular little book is re-issued, with a portrait of the author, and the addition of a letter on the new laws for obtaining an indefeasible title. The edition, neatly got up for the sum of three shillings and sixpence, is likely to increase the wide and well-deserved popularity of the work.

A Concise Treatise on the Construction of Wills. By Francis Vaughan Hawkins, M.A., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. London: William Maxwell. Dublin Hodges, Smith, and Co. 1863.

THIS work possesses so many merits that we feel it would be unfair to the author, as well as to the profession, upon the eve of going to press, to write only a short notice. We propose, therefore, to reserve our observations for the next Number.

Handy Book on the Diminution of the Poor Rates. By Standish Grove Grady, Esq., Recorder of Gravesend. London: Wildy and Sons. 1862.

THIS manual has been prepared by Mr. Grady, for members of Parliament, county magistrates, boards of guardians, and ratepayers. The author quotes largely from Mr. Pashley's work on "Pauperism and the Poor Law;" Mr. Scratchley's work on "Industrial Dwellings;" Mr. Gilbert's pamphlet on "Poor Law Reform," and the Report of the Poor Law Commissioners and Inspectors. The first portion contains a concise historical statement of the origin and development of our poor laws. But the main object of the work is to show that the law of settlement should be wholly repealed; that the various provisions for raising and administering relie to the poor be consolidated into one statute; that the sum needed for such relief be raised by parochial rates on real property; that two-thirds of this sum be raised by a pound rate equal throughout the country, and the remainder by a further pound rate, raising in every parish a sum equal to one-third of the actual expenditure of such parish.” Referring to the sufferings of the poor in Lancashire, Mr. Grady deprecates the legislation of 1862, in favour of raising loans to meet the exigencies of the crisis, and arguing with great force in favour of a rate extended in and extending over the widest area. "The real property of the kingdom," observes the author, "is, at an under estimate, valued at £120,000,000 a year; a rate of 4d. in the pound upon that property would produce £4,000,000. This would not be felt by any one, whereas, by confining the relief to a parish or union, or even a county, the burden falls disproportionably heavy upon the few, which would be light if cast upon the whole." The importance of this question is becoming, and will become every day, more grave. The difficulty must be grappled with, and we think the learned Recorder has contributed some help towards its solution, by the accurate information, the catholic sentiments, no less than the deep philanthropy which adorn the pages of this unpretending little treatise.

An Elementary View of the Proceedings in an Action at Law. By John William Smith, Esq., late of the Inner Temple, Barristerat-Law, Author of "Leading Cases," "A Compendium of Mercantile Law," &c. Eighth Edition. Adapted to the present practice. By Samuel Prentice, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, Editor of "Chitty's Archbold's Practice." London: V. and R. Stevens, Sons, and Haynes; H. Sweet; and W. Maxwell. 1863. SMITH'S Action at Law is so well known, and its merits so thoroughly appreciated, that it would be worse than useless, in reviewing the eighth edition, to enlarge upon its general character. The clear analytic powers of the author of the "Leading Cases"

« AnteriorContinuar »