Rent of Chambers sub-let (5 quarters) 21 O IO IO Sales of Journals, including back numbers, reprints, and portraits Advertisements Miscellaneous receipts Interest on War Loan 73210 249 7 445 15 9 50 61 14 7 16 2 7 0 22 I £1,290 7 4 £ s. d. 200 3 I 3 154 12 178 17 11 9 6 0 II 8 0 Purchase of back numbers " " Balance in hand, December 31, 1921 17 5 5 I I O O 2 3 II 18 10 463 12 II £1,290 7 4 REVIEW OF LEGISLATION, 1920. INTRODUCTION. [Contributed by SIR LYNDEN MACASSEY, K.C.] FOR many years this annual Introduction has been written by Sir Courtenay Ilbert, and all readers of this Journal will hope it may be continued to be written by him for many years to come. He has never allowed anything to stand between him and its preparation. On this occasion through indisposition he has been unable to undertake it, and I am venturing to write it, keenly conscious of my deficiencies as compared with his wide experience and unequalled knowledge of comparative law. The difficulty one encounters at the very outset of the task is that of deciding to what particular matters which figure in the various volumes of legislation under review a reference should be made. The contributors, one and all of them, bring such skill and judgment to bear upon their compilations of the enactments in their particular countries, that nothing, short of a considered study of all that they have written, would suffice to give a balanced view of the character and effect of the legislation throughout that part of the world which is covered by this Journal. In reading such contributions one person is struck by certain features-another finds his interest excited by different matters. A general review must, therefore, be something written entirely from a subjective point of view; that is the standpoint, for want of a better, from which I have proceeded. The general impression created upon my mind by a perusal of the summaries of legislation was the tendency in all countries in 1920 to continue war-time emergency measures for a period which they thought would suffice to tide over the transition from war to peace, coupled with the desire to pass such measures for social improvement and economic reconstruction as would provide a sure foundation on which to rebuild a new national edifice adjusted to accord with the altered circumstances resulting from the war. The trend of legislation makes it quite clear that no country expected to encounter the catastrophic depression in trade, both national and international, which set in during the late summer of 1920. It will undoubtedly be a matter for comment in the next Introduction, how much of "reconstruction" legislation has been entirely frustrated by the adverse economic forces which intervened to thwart the recuperation of all countries from the effects of the recent hostilities. Mr. Cecil T. Carr describes most appropriately the chief characteristics of the Acts passed in the United Kingdom in 1920 in these words: "The motives for legislation in 1920 were various. The storm was over. The ship was still afloat, but not yet in harbour. Her hull was protected and her deck-space encumbered by strange structures which the carpenters though not proud of their handiwork, were yet loth to jettison. These hasty improvisations required inspection to see whether they could be safely removed or whether they must be renewed or replaced by something more lasting." A notable enactment was the Emergency Powers Act, 1920, which enables a Royal Proclamation to be issued declaring that a state of emergency" exists whenever a strike takes place or is threatened on so extensive a scale as to be calculated to deprive the community of the essentials of life. The Act enables the Government, in such a contingency, to do all that is necessary to secure and regulate the supply and distribution of food, water, fuel, light and other necessities, and the maintenance of the public services. There was a provision inserted in the Act, prohibiting any regulation made under it from affecting the right of" peaceful persuasion" which was secured to the Trade Unions under the Trades Disputes Act 1906. Similar emergency powers are vested in the Governments of other countries, but, so far as I am aware, in no country but Great Britain is any legal right of "peaceful persuasion " reserved to the Trade Unions for the purpose of continuing the strike at the very time the Government is concerned in combating the strike in the interests of the community. Mr. Carr disposes admirably of the case for the Act in these words: It is hard to see by what better legislative mechanism such situations can be met if we are to preserve a form of Government which, in Lincoln's words, is strong enough to maintain its existence in great emergencies, yet not too strong for the liberties of its people." The most important Acts passed to further industrial reconstruction were the Mining Industry Act and the Unemployment Insurance Act. The former Act established a Mines Department, and Part II. proposed to set up a system of National and Area Boards and District and Pit Committees, the intention being to give the mine-workers a statutory voice in the fixing of wages and conditions of employment. Part II. ultimately expired because of the refusal of the mine-owners to work it, on the ground that it was unnecessary, inasmuch as the Agreement of July, 1920, provided, they said, somewhat similar machinery. The Unemployment Insurance Act extended to practically all manual workers (except railway men) the State scheme of unemployment insurance. Certain welcome modifications in the Income Tax Law were effected by the Finance Act which gave effect to the report of the Royal Commission on the Income Tax; and the Agriculture Act embodied many recommendations of Lord Selborne's Reconstruction Committee. Mr. Llewellyn Kneale draws useful attention to some new amendments in the constitution of the Isle of Man, effected by the Isle of Man Constitution Amendment Act, 1919, seemingly of democratic character, and to the abolition of the "Great Enquest," a jury whose duty it was to watch for and report upon interference with public rights of way, but which, in spite of its resounding name and weighty responsibilities, had seldom been convened, a proof that the fertile subject of litigation-rights of way-is not apparently productive of as much controversy in the Isle of Man as in other places. In Jersey Mr. E. T. Nicolle reports that the States of Jersey have now brought secondary education under their control, a somewhat delayed reform-as to the expediency of which there can scarcely be any question. Passing thence to North America, one learns from Mr. John D. Hunt of the strenuous efforts of Alberta to form irrigation districts and works for the purpose of combating the drought which has worked such havoc in recent years throughout portions of the Province. Another provision eloquent of local conditions is an enactment to the effect that any contract for the sale of an automobile carries an implied warranty that "repairs for the same will be available for a period of five years from the date of sale at some place in the cities of Calgary and Edmonton." A "The question of the adoption of children has occupied the attention of British Columbia," says Mr. H. G. Garrett, in reporting on its legislation, where a Statute was passed legalising and regulating the matter. provision, due no doubt to the spaciousness of, and dearth of travelling facilities in, that Province, occurs in the Provincial Elections Act: When a voter is absent from his proper polling division or his electoral district on the day of the election, he may on making the prescribed affidavit cast his ballot at the point he happens to be." Absentee votes are then placed in separate envelopes and in due course despatched to the Returning Officer of the district where the voter is registered. That Act also provides that every political party (not merely the candidates) concerned in the election must return a statement of the expenses which it has incurred. The rule of the road in British Columbia used to be the same as in England— "keep to the left when meeting, to the right when overtaking "-an Act has now reversed this so as to bring the Province into line with the rest of North America. This Province has also attacked the controversial question of mothers' pensions, and has provided them for widows, married women whose husbands are in prison or in a lunatic asylum, women whose husbands are unable to support them owing to illness or accident, deserted wives and in some other special cases, provided the applicants are indigent, have children under 16, are qualified as British subjects, and have been resident for at least 18 months in the Province. In British Columbia, as indeed in all the Provinces of Canada, Acts have been passed materially tightening up provisions regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors, which make long strides towards total prohibition. In Manitoba we read from Mr. Pitblado of the passing of an Act for the registration of all professional engineers. That necessary provision for the protection of the public is very general in the Dominions and in a number of foreign countries; why it has never been adopted in Great Britain is hard to understand. Several cases came under my personal notice during the war of men who styled themselves" civil engineers," whose only experience was the conduct of a hardware shop, and the repair of lawn-mowers, and who were appointed as "civil engineers" to positions in Government Departments. Manitoba also passed an Act providing for the legitimation as from birth of children born out of lawful wedlock by the subsequent marriage of their parents. Although the stretching tracts of the "wild west" suggest a material necessity for some such provision, the almost general adoption of such legitimation laws in North America suggests a case for the consideration of the principle in other countries. The Attorney-General of New Brunswick mentions two laws which seem to be of more than ordinary importance: One in 1919 providing for the revision of the tolls on the provincial railways. In Great Britain we have, by passing the Railways Act 1921, at last followed the example of the Dominion of Canada and of the United States of America in sweeping away all our old railway Acts which specified the maximum rates not exceeding which the railway companies might make charges and substituting for them the American system of "reasonable rates" which leaves it open to any trader to contest at any time the rate which he is charged, and in case of controversy submit the amount and the conditions of the rate to the decision of a Rates Tribunal. Another Act in New Brunswick deals exhaustively with the housing problem. Amongst the Acts passed by the Province of Ontario which are noted by Mr. Falconbridge, I observe that retirement from the provincial Civil Service is not compulsory until the age of 70, although optional at 65, a tribute to the virility of that Province. In the case of the death of a civil servant before or after superannuation, one-half of the retiring allowance is provided to be paid to the widow and to children under 18 years of age. It is interesting to notice that it has at last become necessary to limit the abstraction of water by electric power companies authorized to construct works on the Ontario side of Niagara Falls, in view of the fact that the amount of water to be used on each side of the river is limited by the International Waterways Treaty. In the matter of social legislation, Ontario has gone ahead by providing for the payment of allowances to widows or the wives of inmates of hospitals for the insane, or of permanently disabled men, provided the recipient is a mother of at least two children who live with her, is a British subject and resident in Ontario. Ontario has been, since the passing of the Ontario Temperance Act, 1916, a province in which the sale of intoxicating liquor for beverage purposes (other than native wines) has been forbidden. Now, an Act has been passed prohibiting "short circuiting," that is to say the sending of orders from Ontario to (say) Montreal which are thence returned to breweries and distilleries in Ontario to be fulfilled in Ontario. Mr. Falconbridge laconically observes that the "oppressive system under which the inhabitants of Ontario live was completed by a Dominion proclamation bringing into force the prohibition of importation. Among the Acts passed in Prince Edward Island detailed by Mr. Bentley, we again observe one for the legitimation of children born out of lawful wedlock. In Quebec, amongst a number of Acts to which Mr. Justice Fabre Surveyer refers, the most important seems the Companies Act, which is obviously designed to do away with abuses connected with the incorporation and management of companies and corporations, a reform which will much increase the confidence of investors in that Province. Saskatchewan produced, says Mr. Shannon, the smallest bulk of current legislation for many years. The Fatal Accidents Act amends the previous legislation on that subject by embodying the provisions of the English Fatal Accidents Act 1864, entitling the person, beneficially interested to bring an action. The principal Acts which were passed by the Legislature of Newfoundland, as one observes from the report of the Minister of Justice, are those dealing with one of the chief national industries. One Act prohibits the exportation of salt codfish except under licence; another provides for "the standardization of codfish," the object of the latter Act being to improve the method of curing. A commission has been appointed with very full powers over the whole codfish industry, entitled to make regulations for the breach of which penalties are provided. Another Act makes provision respecting the sufficiency, quality and quantity of food supplied to crews on fishing vessels, and the cleanliness of their sleeping quarters. Under the Acts prohibiting the destruction of beavers, these industrious little animals have multiplied so rapidly as to cause, through their river operations, serious flooding, and an Act has been passed conferring on the Governor in Council powers of enabling them to be hunted and otherwise killed in specified districts. Profiteering has led to special restrictive legislation in Newfoundland as in a number of Canadian Provinces. |