The Government, impressed by the arrears in the Court of
Chancery, has agreed to strengthen the Bench by one new Judge, and on Monday the House of Commons passed the Motion by a vote of 159 to 38. Such opposition as there was, was based on the arguments that the Judges could arrange business better if they liked, and that Government ought to undertake the reform of the Courts in a serious spirit, and not merely tinker at it. The latter proposition is perfectly sound, but democratic Governments rarely move in advance of popular opinion, and as regards civil justice, there is no such thing. It would be impossible to get up so much as a public meeting against the law's delay. If by-elections turned on that, the difficulties in the way world vanish at once. All the Radicals in France have not, during this century, done so much for civil justice as Napoleon did. In the present instance it is not the rank-and-file of either party who have intervened, but the Cabinet; guided, we may pre- sume, by the Lord Chancelloi.
Previous page
