e CHANCERY OFFICES, IRELAND, COMMISSION.
contemplated by that Act being quite insufficient for carrying them on, the Lord Chancellors, for*the time being, acting under the authority of the Act of 6 & 7 Wm.
IV.,
cap.
74, sec.
17, have, from time to time, appointed four additional clerks to carry on the business.
The office, therefore, now consists of the Accountant-General, a Chief Clerk, and two assistant clerks, appointed under the Act of 4 Geo.
IV.,
cap.
61, and four additional clerks, appointed by the Lord Chancellor, under the provisions of the 17th section of the Act of 6 & 7 Wm.
IV.,
cap 74.
We are of opinion, that the bubinets of this office has been conducted most satisfac¬ torily, and that the time of the Accountant-General, and of the Chief and other clerks, is fully occupied during the hours of official attendance; and that, moreover, they frequently take home work which they execute after office hours, in order to expedite the public business..
We are, therefore, unable to make any suggestion for improving the mode of conducting the business in this department.
There being no fee payable on obtaining from the Accountant-General a certificate of the funds in Court to the credit of any cause or matter, the Accountant-General has stated to us the effect to be, that such certificates are frequently ordered unnecessarily, as is evidenced by the fact, that many of these documents are not called for, after they have been so ordered, and that many thousands of them now remain in his office.
We are of opinion, that in the event of stamp duties being imposed in lieu of fees, a small duty of six pence should be payable on these documents, to prevent an unnece&sary demand for them; and that the fee of two pence a line, now payable under the Act of 4 Geo, IV.,
cap.
61, on the copy of an account, should be reduced one-half, so that in respect of both these duties taken together, no additional expense will be imposed upon the suitors.
The salaries of the Chief and of the other clerks in the office, were very recently settled upon a scale recommended to the Treasury by the late Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and we are of opinion, that a very slight modification of that scale, to bring it into harmony with the rates of salary we have recommended for other offices of the Court, will fully meet the justice of their case.
But we are of opinion, that the remuneration which is received by the Accountant-General, and which was regulated by the Act of 4 Geo.
IV.,
cap.
61, is not adequate to the duties and responsibilities imposed now upon that officer, or to the position which he enjoys with relation to other officers of an analogous character.
We think that a net salary of £1,000 per annum should be awarded to his office; and that the fees received by the Accountant-General should be carried to the credit of the incidental account, until converted into stamp duties.
We forbear to make any recommendation as to the right of the Accountant-General to appoint to Junior Clerkships in this office; but we would strongly urge that the pro¬ motion to the Chief Clerkship should be in succession throughout the office, the Lord Chancellor having the power of suspending the annual increase, or of selecting for promotion a clerk, junior to the one next in succession, upon a representation to him in writing from the Accountant-General, that either the conduct or capacity of the clerk next in succession, was not such as to render him deserving of promotion.
CLERK OF THE CROWN AND HANAPER.
The office of the Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper in Chancery is regulated by the Act of 6 and 7 Wm.
IV.,
cap.
74, which provides that the office shall consist of the Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper, and two clerks to be appointed by him.
The duties of the office are threefold:—first, those connected with the petty-bag or law side of the Court; secondly, preparing and issuing certain writs specified in the schedule to the Act of 4 Geo.
IV.,
cap.
61; and thirdly, swearing gentlemen into office before the Lord Chancellor.
The business of the petty-bag or law-side of the Court, is confined to proceedings to enforce the performance of a recognizance entered into in the Court, and to proceedings in cases of debt against officers of the Court, there being an antiquated privilege appertaining to officers of the Court of Chancery, that they are not amenable in cases of debt to the ordinary tribunals of the country, but must be sued in their own Court.
We are of opinion that this branch of the business of the office should be entirely abolished, and that apower should be given to the Court of Chancery of ordering the surety of a receiver, his heir or personal representative, or any other person bound by a
