existence in England of an agent of the firm for the purpose of securing orders on commission did not bring the case within the above description.

No opinion was expressed by the Court of Appeal on the real point of difficulty, but the Divisional Court held, further, that the new rules do not affect the principles laid down in Russell v. Cambefort, 23 Q.B.D. 526. It would therefore seem that the only practical effect of the alteration is that a firm "carrying on business in England" may be sued here in the firm-name (to this extent meeting the difficulty which arose in Indigo Co. v. Ogilvy, L.R. [1891] 2 Ch. 31), but the writ is still only good as against partners within the jurisdiction, and by r. 8 it affects the partnership assets within the jurisdiction only. The foreign partners must, therefore, still apparently be sued by individual service out of the jurisdiction under Ord. II., г. 4.

*

Charter-parties-Law of the Flag.

An important decision, illustrating the principle in Lloyd v. Guibert, L.R. 1 Q.B. 115, was given by the Admiralty Court in the recent case of The August, L.R. [1891] P. 328. A German vessel, owned by Germans, shipped at Singapore cargo owned by British subjects under English bills of lading in the usual form. During the voyage, a storm arose which did much damage to the ship and cargo, and compelled the master to put into a port of distress, where, acting on the best advice, and in the absence of instructions, he sold a portion of the cargo. The consignees sued the owners for breach of contract and conversion. The Court held, in accordance with the decision in Lloyd v. Guibert and in The Gaetano & Maria, 7 P.D. 137, that "he who ships goods on board a foreign ship, ships them to be dealt with by the master of that ship, according to the law of the country of that ship, unless

there is a stipulation to the contrary."

In the present case,

therefore, German Law applied, and by that law the

conduct of the master was justifiable.

Effect of Marriage upon Property of the Parties. The House of Lords, in the case of Welch v. Tennent, L.R. [1891] Ap. Cas. 639, very clearly affirmed the well established principle that questions relating to the effect of marriage upon the property of the parties are determined, as to moveables primâ facie by the law of their domicile, and as to immoveables, by the lex loci rei sitae.

The parties were domiciled in Scotland, and there was no marriage contract, thus distinguishing the case from such cases as In re Barnard, 56 L.T.R. 9. Lord Herschell said: "It is manifest that the lex loci rei sitae must determine whether the estate be heritable estate of the wife's during coverture, and what is the nature and extent of her right in respect thereof."

J. M. GOVER.

Quarterly Notes.

Agriculturists and the Amendment of the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1883.

We are always glad to learn the views of those who are directly interested in the working of an Act when any question of a Draft Amending Act comes before the Legislature. In relation to Mr. Channing's proposed Amendments of the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1883, which seem in themselves to be, and are admitted to be, rather sweeping, it is suggested by the Agricultural Economist for

July last, that, under all the circumstances, it is a question whether it would not be better to "end than to attempt to mend" an Act of which it says that its "only tangible effect" has been to put money into the pockets of the professional persons engaged in administering it. This is a severe view of the Act, and it is one which does not appear to be shared by the House of Commons.

The most important point taken by Mr. Channing, in the opinion of the Agricultural Economist, is the provision in his Bill for the reduction of the expenses of Arbitration. "The published accounts of various arbitrations," says the authority which we cite," on difficulties arising out of the present Act reveal the fact that the profession, in the shape of valuers, arbitrators, umpires and referees, have contrived to swallow up a sum often in excess of the balance of the award." It is not to be supposed that Arbitration can be made costless, but if things be as stated, we can scarcely wonder that an organ of the opinion of agriculturists should doubt whether it would not be better to "end" than to "amend."

Mr. Chaplin and the Re-creation of the Yeoman. Since the attempt to amend the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1883, to the criticism of which by an organ of Agricultural opinion we have already drawn attention, our Minister of Agriculture has professed himself a convert to the saving doctrine of Small Holdings. We are not sure that Sir William Vernon Harcourt's belief that when once Mr. Chaplin has been converted there can be nobody else left to be converted is quite justified by facts. But there is one aspect of the question, as put by Mr. Chaplin himself, which strikes us as involving a Ministerial attempt to force growth, where growth, we believe, cannot be forced. Mr. Chaplin has explicitly stated in the House that he wants to re-create the yeoman class." The decay and practical

extinction of this class has often been lamented, and its restoration might be desirable, if it were possible. But we do not in the least believe in the possibility of creating anew an entire class of the population of this country by a stroke of the pen, even though it be that of a Minister of Agriculture.

Reviews.

Revue Générale du Droit.

Edited by JOSEPH LEFORT, Advocate at the Council of State and Court of Cassation.

E. Thorin. 1891.

Paris:

Among recent Articles in the Revue Générale we note particularly an elaborate sketch in the number for SeptemberOctober last, of the functions and mode of working of Deliberative Assemblies, by M. Hauriou, Professor in the Faculty of Law, Toulouse, which is in the nature of advanced sheets of a work on Administrative Law, shortly to be brought out by the learned writer. This sketch, being as it were the dry bones of Constitutional Law in one of its most important branches, the Law of Parliament, as we should call it, is necessarily somewhat dry reading, but it is eminently sober and impartial in tone. Another valuable feature is a series of Articles on Greco-Roman Institutions from an Anti-Evolutionist point of view, by Dr. E. Reich, which present us with highly suggestive Papers on a subject full of interest to the Jurist as well as to the Philosopher. Dr. Reich thinks that it was not so much the Roman Law to which the English feeling expressed by the Baronage at Merton was opposed, as the Professional Jurists who were inseparable from the Roman Juridical system. And to this, the English and American mind. will, he thinks, always be opposed.

Paterson's Practical Statutes of the Session 1891. Edited by JAMES S. COTTON, of Lincoln's Inn, Esq., Barrister-at-Law. Horace Cox. Law Times Office. 1891.

This continuation of a long roll of statutes, commenced by the learned Mr. Paterson, appears to have been adequately

carried out by the present editor, Mr. Cotton. The elimination, however, of all statutes referring entirely to Scotland, or to Ireland, is a subject of regret, as it renders the book of relative value only. Also, where the " Foreign Marriage Act" is included, we find it difficult to see by what chain of reasoning the "Consular Salaries Act" is excluded. The volume, however, is of very convenient size, and will, doubtless, prove a valuable circuit companion to barristers who travel, as may well be the case, in light marching order.

The Metropolitan Police Guide, being a compendium of the Civil and Criminal Law affecting or relating to the Metropolitan Police. By W. ARCHIBALD, Esq., M.A., one of the Masters of the Supreme Court, J. H. GREENHALGH, Esq., B.A.. and JAMES ROBERTS, Esq., M.A., of the Inner Temple, Barristers-at-Law. Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1891.

Although the primary object of this book, according to the Preface, is to educate the Police in the Police Acts, and other statutes which specially affect the Force, it is also intended to meet the requirements of the Legal Profession generally. To the latter it will probably prove of more service than it could ever be expected to prove to the former. We can scarcely contemplate seriously the probability of a constable hunting up a reference while an offender is escaping, though such an idea may be pari passu with much that underlies the Education Acts. As to the book itself-putting aside its raison d'être—it certainly contains the Acts more particularly affecting the police of the Metropolis, and the Acts relating to procedure, as well as those relating to matters and offences, arranged alphabetically. These, with a Table of Cases and of Statutes, provide a very good collection of the laws and statutes appertaining to the Metropolitan Police, and cannot fail to prove very useful both to those whose duty it is to administer the law and to those who practice in Criminal Courts, although it may be somewhat beyond the comprehension of the modern Dogberry and Verges.