Mr Rampini was born in Edinburgh in 1840. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, and Edinburgh University, where he took the first prize in Roman Law. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1865. In February 1867 he was appointed to a Stipendiary Magistracy in Jamaica ; and afterwards he was successively Judge of the Port Antonio, Manchester, and Kingston District Courts in that island. He retired from the colonial service in 1877, and in 1878 was appointed Sheriff-Substitute of Shetland. In 1885 he was transferred to Elgin. Mr Rampini is a Deputy-Lieutenant of Shet and. In 1891 the University of Aberdeen conerred on him the degree of LL.D. He compiled or the Government of Jamaica a volume of law eports, and he served on several commissions here. He is a member of the council of the palding Club, and is the author of various wellnown works in historical and general literature. Editorial. In this issue is published an Index or Digest of all cases reported in the current volume of the Scots Law Times down to the present date (ie., practically to the beginning of the Winter Session). A fresh portion of the running Digest will be started this day fortnight, of cases reported after this issue, which will be continued from week to week until the end of the year. With the New Year a third portion of the Digest will be begun, of cases reported after 1st January. This last will be continued from week to week until the close of the volume in May; when a General Digest of all cases in the volume will be given. This, it is hoped, will meet the convenience of practitioners. An Index of the Names of Parties in the already reported in this volume will be published next week. cases Is it not the duty of the Treasury 'to provide an adequate law library at each Sheriff Court centre? It surely ought to be so, as a necessary part of the equipment of a Court. Copies of the Statutes are provided, but we understand that nothing is provided beyond that. Equally essential to the proper administration of justice is it to provide copies of the Acts of Sederunt and of the quasi-official Scottish law reports, of which "Rettie" is the present lineal representative. Even a few of the more authoritative treatises on the various branches of Scots Law ought to be provided. In theory, the procurators may not. be entitled to these at the public expense; but assuredly the Sheriff is, because the Statutes, Acts THE Court of Session will resume its sittings of Sederunt, Reports of Decisions, and leading Tuesday next for the winter session. VOL. II.-PART 14. Treatises are the only repositories of the law which he has to administer in Court. They are, we repeat, part of the adequate equipment of the tribunal-just as much as tables, chairs, stationery, and the inevitable water-bottle. Looking to the wretchedly inadequate salaries of many SheriffSubstitutes (a subject to which we propose to call attention at an early date), it is unreasonable to expect these gentlemen themselves to provide all these necessary books. They ought to be provided at the public cost. made much nearer home than in Germany. No doubt the miner may think himself underpaid for his work-there are few men who don't think so of themselves; but the question which the miners had to consider was whether, financially, it would not be worse policy to strike than to remain earning what wage was current, and agitating constitutionally for the fixing of some higher rate. The latter course would in all probability have beer. followed by the miners had they been left to themselves; but the outside professional agitators, who call themselves "leaders," must occasionally do something (however wrong) to make a show of return for the sums they levy. Hence this strike, with all its miserable consequences, including a loss to the miners themselves of over a million of money. They start again exactly as they were before except (and the exception is a big one) for this loss; they have had a holiday, if a periol of idleness and starvation can be called by such name; trade has been dislocated somewhat, and wage-earners in other branches of industry been sadly hampered; and that is the glorious result of the fatal policy enforced on the strikers by their "leaders." Now, is it not time that by legislative means something should be done to avert as much as possible the recurrence of such In the account of the second day's proceedings the law to interfere in order to protect grown men things? It is not always possible or prudent fo of the Incorporated Law Society of England will of sound mind against their own folly, but in the be found an interesting paper on "The Woman restrictions or regulations under which the Legis and the Law"-not "The Law and the Lady"by Mr C. H. Pickstone, of Radcliffe Bridge, Lan-have instances of an attempt at this in matters lature places public-houses and publicans, &c., we cashire. Absolute equality with man before the law would be a concession of woman's rights which woman would be the first to repent and bewail. Discussion of the state of business in the Court of Session has now reached the columns of the daily press. Last week the Scotsman contained an article in very similar terms to those in which the subject was discussed in the Scots Law Times in July last; and on Saturday last a letter appeared in the same paper suggesting practically the same modes of removing the existing difficulties as we suggested. No doubt the authorities will deal with the congestion in the Outer House at an early date by detaching Inner House judges for a time. The other proposals cannot be so easily or speedily carried through. SUGGESTIONS FROM THE STRIKE. The protracted coal-strike which has now, in spite of persistent outside effort to keep it alive, practically collapsed, is not without lessons to future legislators. Once more it has been made clearly manifest, though at great and needless cost to all classes of the community, that combinations such as this can never be successful unless they are the spontaneous expression on the part of the men themselves of a real grievance. It is possible to manufacture feeling, but unless it is real it must, sooner or later, ineffectually play itself out. In the present instance there can be little doubt that the grievance which was at the "bottom of this strike was a manufactured one a hardly more serious to society than that which we are discussing. Can nothing be done to checkmate the sinister influence which such men as the "leaders" of the late strike exercise on masses of miners, who are only too apt to be misled by very specious arguments when these come from men apparently of education, until taught by such bitter experience as they have recently had how absolutely rotten these arguments are? The sub ject undoubtedly bristles with difficulties, but our legislators might well make an effort to grapple with it as in no regard less important than any of the schemes which occupy their attention from time to time. As it is, when once the "leaders' advice has been followed by a majority of the men (met in excited masses, and without that opportunity for calm individual reflection which the matter so much requires), the facilities given them by law are considerable for carrying on operations and increasing the area of the strike. Chief among these facilities is picketing, which is nothing more nor less than the right of dogging those miners who, from wiser and more prudential motives, have chosen to remain working, with the view of coercing them to strike also. Of course, actual violence is not legally tolerated if it can be traced, but so long as the picket parties content themselves with something just less than direct physical argument, going about in bands under the thin pretext of giving or obtaining information, they are not only protected but encouraged by Statute. Now, it is perfectly obvious, and indeed it was frequently shown to demonstration in the late strike, that there are measures capable of being taken to oppress and annoy the working miners by these picket parties, and that these measures, not reached by the law, are very serious and unjustifiable invasions of the freedom of contract. Picket parties, organised as they are by the "leaders," whose one idea is to make the strike general, and composed, as they often are, of the worst specimens of the mining community, male and female, are not slow to exercise the same kind of moral intimidation which has been so freely employed in the history of a sister country, while at the same time ostensibly merely giving and asking information, as they are entitled to do. Why should this flimsy pretence be allowed longer to exist, for it is merely a pretence, and a pretence which renders almost nugatory any protection which the working miner has during the period of a strike? Here, again, is matter suggested by the events of these recent months for the consideration of legislators. The matter is not nearly so difficult to be dealt with as the one previously indicated-a very short Act of Parliament would give the authorities ample means of putting an absolute end to the tyranny of the picket. But in both cases the lessons of the strike should, in the interest of the miners themselves as well as of the public at large, not be allowed to drop unprofited by. the person, 18,238 with crimes against property, while 128,981 were charged with miscellaneous crimes or misdemeanours; 113,735 persons were tried at the instance of the police, 2408 committed by the Sheriff, while 32,670 were not tried. Of those tried at the instance of the police, 105,240 were convicted and 8560 were acquitted. As regards those 33,670 persons who were charged with offences, but not tried, the cases were disposed of as follows:-Proceedings dropped, 6589; pledges forfeited, 24,847; otherwise, 1426; and left standing over untried at the end of the year, 808--total, 33,670. As regards the place of trial of the above-named charges and offences, we find that the larger portion of the cases were dealt with by the Police or Burgh Courts, no fewer than 93,321 having been disposed of by these tribunals; 7364 were dealt with by the Justice of Peace Courts, and 13,050 by the Sheriff Courts. Dealing next with the comparative table of criminal offenders in Scotland, i.e. persons committed for trial and bailed during the five years ending in 1893, and annual average thereof, it is found that the number of those persons committed for trial in 1893 (including those standing over at the end of the previous year) was 2515; and, deducting 126 cases standing over undisposed of at the end of the year, there remained 2389 cases which had been disposed of in that period. Out of this number 262 cases were either not proceeded with, or the accused not called for trial; while 2127 offenders were sent by the Crown to be tried,-whereof there were convicted, 1903; outlawed, 17; found insane and acquitted on the ground of insanity, 7; found not guilty, 57; and acquitted "not proven," 143. Of these 2127 cases 67 were tried in the High Court at | Edinburgh; 158 in Circuit; in the Sheriff Courts with a jury, 788; without a jury, 451; and summarily, under sect. 31 of 50 & 51 Vict. cap. 35, 663-total, 2127. No death sentence appears to have passed in 1893; but the annual average number of such sentences since 1889 still stands at 3. Ninety-three persons were sent to penal From the criminal statistics recently issued, servitude for periods varying from 3 to 21 years; it appears that during 1893 there were appre- and 1682 were sent to imprisonment for various hended or cited by the police, in the several terms; 53 persons were convicted but not sentenced; counties and burghs in Scotland, 149,813 persons while under the head of whipping, fines, &c., and charged with various offences. This was 1374 discharged This was 1374 discharged as lunatics, appear the number of 75 less than during the previous year, when the persons. Three of the persons charged and connumber stood at 151,187. For the five years ex- victed were 12 years and under; 450 were betending between 1889 and 1893, the annual tween 16 and 21 years of age; 668 were aged average of police apprehensions was 149,061. Of between 21 and 30; while no fewer than 51 were the above total of 149,813 apprehensions in 1893, over 60 years of age. Of these 1903 persons 1819 persons were charged with offences against sentenced, no fewer than 997 had been previously A YEAR'S CRIME IN SCOTLAND. S. each prisoner in the Edinburgh Prison is given at £21, 12s. 6d. per annum; in Glasgow, at £16, 6s. 5d.; and in Perth Penitentiary, at £32 10s. 2d. News. The subject of the portrait in next week's issue will be: The late Mr DONALD BEITH, W.S. convicted, 24 were habit and repute thieves, and The subject of the portrait in the issue of the From the comparative table of funds we find that the receipts for 1893, including balance from last year, parliamentary grant, manufacturing department, in the various prisons, old stores and casual receipts, amount for the year to £107,147, 3s. 4d., and the quinquennial average receipts for five years ending 1893 is £118,217. On the other hand, the disbursements are as follows:Payments out of parliamentary grant, £91,962, Os. 4d.; manufacturing department, £6,655, 14s. 2d.; receipts of prisoners' labour, &c., paid to Exchequer, £4,251, 17s. 8d. ; and miscellaneous payments, £3,669, 9s. 10d.-making together £106,439, 2s. There were two cases of suicide in prison during the year-one at Barlinnie, and the other at Peterhead; both persons belonging to the male sex. One prisoner (a male) escaped from a police cell during the year, but was retaken. The net cost of the prisoners in the several prisons, after deducting their labour earnings, ranges from £13, 13s. 6d. each, in Barlinnie; to £36, 12s. 11d. in Peterhead Convict Prison. The net cost of THE appointment of Mr Louis Victor Delafaye, Q.C., to be a puisne judge of the Supreme Court THE appointment of Mr James M'Intosh, S.S.C., to the office of Auditor of Accounts in the Court of Session, formerly announced, is now gazetted. ABERDEEN.-Mr W. S. Foggo, solicitor, formerly with Messrs Wilsone & Duffus, solicitors, has commenced business on his own account at 7 Union Terrace. S.S.C., Crown Office, has been appointed chief CROWN OFFICE APPOINTMENT. - Mr Milroy. clerk in that department in room of Mr Duncan, retired. MR DONALD SWANSON MALCOLM, No. 32 High Street, Banff, formerly of No. 38 York Place, Edinburgh, has been admitted a law agent by the Lords of Council and Session. THE "YOST" TYPEWRITER.-The Yost Type writer has been awarded a gold medal at the Lyons Exposition, one of the most important exhibitions held in France this year. This is the sixth gold medal awarded to the Yost machine during the comparatively short time it has been on the market. EDINBURGH DISTRICT LUNACY BOARD.-At a meeting of the District Lunacy Board for the urban parishes of Midlothian, held on Tuesday, tion of the office of clerk, on his being appointed Mr James M'Intosh, S.S.C., intimated his resignaAuditor of the Court of Session. The Board appointed as his successor his partner, Mr William Morton, W.S. THE LATE MR DONALD BEITH, W.S.-It is with great regret that we record the death of this highly-esteemed lawyer-one of the oldest members of the legal profession in Edinburgh. Mr Donald Beith died on Monday morning. He had undergone an operation, from the effects of which he seemed to be recovering favourably; but he suddenly became unconscious early on Monday morning, and expired after a few hours. We shall give a short sketch of his career next week. UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW-FACULTY OF LAW.In addition to the appointments of Mr Walton and Mr Mackechnie, noted in our issue of the 29th ult., the University Court of the University of Glasgow have also appointed, as Lecturer on Mercantile Law, Mr James Mackenzie, of the firm of Messrs Wright, Johnstone, Mackenzie & Roxburgh, writers, Glasgow, a well-known authority on shipping and commercial law. Mr W. Galbraith Miller, advocate, formerly Lecturer on Public Law, has been appointed Lecturer on Public International Law, International Private Law, and Jurisprudence, while Mr William Smart, LL.D., continues to be Lecturer on Political Economy. The Law Faculty of Glasgow University is thus specially equipped to meet the requirements of the new Law Ordinances, providing lectures on all the subjects, both compulsory and optional, now included in the legal curriculum, with the exception of English and of Administrative Law. CAN A MARRIED WOMAN STEAL HER HUSBAND'S GOODS-Considerable interest was manifested recently in the case of Rey. v. John Ward, juur., at Enniscorthy Petty Sessions, on August 13th, as the public were anxious to hear the decision of the magistrates on the interesting point raised for the defence on the previous court-day by Mr G. F. Fleming, solicitor. The defendant Ward was charged with having stolen certain goods (clothes and a flute), the property of his father, and that the testimony revealed, first that the goods had been given to him by his mother, who had taken possession of them without her husband's authority, and secondly that young Ward, with the assistance of companions, had pledged the articles. It was argued by the solicitor for the defence, when the Crown took up the prosecution (it having been initiated by Ward's father), that a married woman, under the existing law, could not commit theft of her husband's property under any circumstances whatsoever, and that the prisoner in the case in question could not be convicted as he had merely assisted his mother in disposing of the goods. Mr Paul, R.M., adjourned the case so as to give the point careful consideration, and on Monday, the 13th August, it was announced that the justices had decided LEGAL EDUCATION.-At the opening of the session of the Faculty of Law, at St Mungo's College, Bath Street, Glasgow, on Monday of last week, Prof. W. R. Herkless, M.A., LL.B., Dean of the Faculty, delivered the introductory address. Prof. Herkless, whose subject was "Professional Education," began by urging the advantages of a college training. He then proceeded to show why education, as bearing on fitness to practise law, was for lawyers a matter of supreme concern. In spite of its being directed to professional ends, the education of the lawyer, he said, ought to be liberal. How were they to judge whether it were so or not? Surely it was so when it enabled him to enter on his life-work, knowing that work to be not a drudgery, with recompense only in clients' fees, and not, in the best aspect of it, just a long trial of skill against skill, for the sake of the contest or for honour, but a constant furthering, through what might often seem the mean details of business, of the highest ends for which the State existed. Neither the material reward of professional services, nor the pleasure that sprang from mastery in the conduct of a case, was to be spoken of as if it were a motive to be despised or on moral grounds to be set side. But for a lawyer to look on law merely as a means of money-making, or merely as a field in which he might prove his skill, would be a betrayal on his part of the noblest trust. To his care, in a quite peculiar and determinate sense, were confided the interests of right. He stood for right. He stood for justice. right was, what specific rights were, he must first of all qualify himself to know. After dwelling on the magnitude of the task, Prof. Herkless went on to say that if they were to be saved from getting lost intellectually in a labyrinth of mere details, they must bring with them to the study of law the thought that law, looked at on the side of history, was a rational process, and, looked at as a body of established usages, precedents and enactments, was a rational product, more or less perfectly wrought out into a rational system. The clue to the maze of law in general was equally to be depended on for guidance among the turnings and windings of particular departments of law. The wiseacres who prescribed for the lawyer a practical training, as they understood the term, and who by comparison with such training made light of the learning of the schools, took instruction for granted, but insisted on its having immediate reference to business. Their system, reluctant as they might be to acknowledge the precedent, was that carried out to perfection in Dotheboys Hall. There the finished product of the system was Smike, a mental wreck. Fortunately Squeers had never gained a position of commanding in What |