It is evident, from the proceedings of the Incorporated Law
Society at its annual meeting this month, that the solicitors look with favour upon a compromise between the present system and the fusion of the two branches of the profession. The members warmly support a proposal for making the transition from one branch to the other so easy as to be, in fact, optional. A barrister is to be allowed to become a solicitor on passing an examination, or a solicitor to become a barrister, without loss of time or extra expenditure. The change will, no doubt, be a relief to both professions, and probably a benefit to both ; but we fail to see how it will benefit the public, which wants to get rid of the costliness of the present system of advice in duplicate, and to be placed in direct con- tact with counsel. Why, if any change is to be made, should not the lawyer be allowed to practise purely as counsel, or purely as solicitor, or when he is less aspiring, as both, just as the doctor may be purely a physician, purely a surgeon, or a general practitioner. The legal profession, if 'allowed liberty, would 130011 arrange itself in the way most conducive to the public interest, and to the recognition of degrees of merit within its own ranks. The public would very soon discover who were the best " consulting " lawyers, and who the most energetic legal" practitioners."
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