IN RE MCNUTT. N.S.] [DECEMBER 13TH, 1912. Habeas Corpus-Supreme Court Act, sec. 39 (c)-Criminal Charge-Prosecution under Provincial Act-Application for Writ-Judge's Order. By sec. 39 (c) of the Supreme Court Act an appeal is given "from the judgment in any case of proceedings for or upon a writ of habeas corpus not arising out of a criminal charge." Held, per FITZPATRICK, C.J., and DAVIES and ANGLIN, JJ., that a trial and conviction for keeping liquor for sale contrary to the provisions of the Nova Scotia Temperance Act, are proceedings on a criminal charge and no appeal lies from the refusal of a writ of habeas corpus to discharge the accused from imprisonment on such conviction. DUFF, J., contra. BRODEUR, J., hesitante. By the Liberty of the Subject Act of Nova Scotia on application to the Court or a Judge for a writ of habeas corpus an order may be made calling on the keeper of the gaol or prison to return to the Court or Judge whether or not the person named is detained therein with the day and cause of his detention. Held, per IDINGTON and BRODEUR, JJ. that such order is not a proceeding for or upon a writ of habeas corpus from which an appeal lies under said sec. 39 (c). DUFF, J. contra. Mr. Justice Duff held that an appeal would lie in this case but that it must fail on the merits. Appeal quashed without costs. Power, K.C., and Vernon, for appellant. The Library And what of this new book?"-Sterne. "Men disparage not antiquity who prudently exalt new enquiries." -Sir Thomas Browne. Chitty's Law of Contract, Chitty's Treatise Law of Contracts, Sixteenth Edition. By Wyatt Paine, of the Inner Temple and North Circuit, Barrister-at-law. London: Sweet & Maxwell, Limited. Cloth, 35s. Toronto: Carswell Company. Limited. Cloth, $8, half-calf, $9. This standard work is presented in splendid form for a book of general use and reference by the every-day practitioner. In form it is simple, lucid, and sets out the law in few words, but every word has a meaning, and is to the point. The young barrister will recognize in this treatise a work that will be as useful to him in his daily practice as the work of Anson was to him as a student. The different kinds of contract are explicitly set out with their form and requisites, and the manner of their construction. Contracts with agents, partners, companies, executors, etc., are all taken up as well as contracts for the sale of land and of goods, contracts of carriage, employment, for loan of money, insurance and stock exchange. One very important chapter deals with defences of payment, accord and satisfaction, release, judgment recovered, set off, etc., another with a decree for specific performance, and damages for breach of contract, in addition to which there is an extensive appendix with notes on decided cases, which will be found particularly useful in preparation of pleadings. An Epitome of Leading Conveyancing_and Equity Cases, with some Short Notes Thereon. By John Indermaur, 10th ed., edited by Charles Thwaites. London: Stevens and Haynes. This handy little volume with a selection chosen from Tudor's leading cases on conveyancing, and White and Tudor's leading cases in equity has just been re-edited by Mr. Charles Thwaites, of 22 Chancery Lane, London. The notes of the various cases have been revised throughout, and a number entirely re-written, and the cases themselves are presented in the same concise form as in earlier editions, with several new ones added. As a book for students preparing for examinations this little volume is unexcelled, in addition to which it is a handy reference book for the library of the experienced pleader. COMMUNICATION. SIR. The observations of "Pro Bono Publico," in your last issue, bring to mind an anomalous condition which exists in this province with respect to the improvement of land. This province is deservedly noted for its richly productive land. Take, for instance,. the land lying adjacent to the city of Victoria. Many a city would consider its weal abundantly secure if it had just a part of the resource embraced in the smiling stretches of country situated at the very door of Victoria. These stretches have thousands of acres with a soil unsurpassed for the growing of vegetables and fruit. Where the conditions of soil and climate are so favourable for the raising of crops, one would naturally expect to see field after field evidencing the reward of wise and profitable husbandry. But the eye is disappointed to find only at intervals and in spots cultivated fields. Where crops have been planted the yield is invariably bountiful. But the striking testimony seen in isolated fields and orchards of the soil's bounty, serves only to accentuate the long intervals where nature runs wild in a profusion of entangled undergrowth and lofty evergreens. Such lack of land improvement in a country where land improvement reacts decidedly to the welfare of the land owner can only be attributable to one main cause, namely, the non-availability of money for use in the improving of land. The rich lands of British Columbia, upon which eventually the permanent prosperity of the province will rest, are left to haphazard development. Beyond allocating certain areas for pre-emptors, selling other areas, and collecting taxes, the provincial Government takes practically no interest in the improvement of the land. It seems to be assumed that it is outside the function of provincial Government to evince a paternal regard for the welfare of the man who settles on the land. If the moneyless land settler has no recourse to the provincial Government for assistance, he certainly has no recourse to the only alternative of relief, the chartered banks of Canada, which derive their sustenance from others who, like himself, after years of unassisted struggle and toil have placed themselves in a position of independence. There are in British Columbia, no doubt, isolated instances of prosperous farmers having succeeded in obtaining small loans from banks, but, generally speaking, the farmer is rigidly excluded from the lists of the banks' borrowers. So the farmers of British Columbia must progress slowly and toilsomely. If present conditions continue, decades. may pass with just partial development here and there. Areas of rich land will have to remain in a wild state, until the time arrives when money is available for their improvement. Yet in spite of non-assistance on the part of the Government or the banks, the farmers of this province will eventually become its most prosperous and substantial class. And, no doubt, at that time, as now, governments will declare that their. greatest concern is the welfare of the farmers, and the banks will take the farmers' deposits with the same regularity and divert them to uses which could hardly be called anything else but speculative. H. M. LEONARD. THE THREE GREAT CHARTERS OF ENGLISH FREEDOM. All we have of freedom, all we use or know, This our fathers bought for us. long and long ago. Now our King is one with us, first among his peers." From the basest, the most untruthful and despicable of her sovereigns, England wrung the great charters of her freedom. From that monster of iniquity, John.-Magna Charta; from Charles the First, whose insincerity was only equalled by his mendacity,-the Petition of Right; and from James the Second, that stubborn bigot,—the Bill of Rights. Magna Charta stands first among the three great scripts that contain the fundamental principles of the British Constitution. These three constitute in the words. of Lord Chatham: "The Bible of the English Constitution." 1. MAGNA CHARTA. The great charter was largely a restoration of the ancient liberties of the realm, as granted by Edward the Confessor, before the Norman Conquest, together with a restitution of the chartered rights conceded by Henry the First, and Henry the Second, father of John. In disregard of his oath, all these notable franchises were trodden under foot and a system of despotism inaugurated by John, of whom it has been said: "Foul as it is, Hell is defiled by the fouler presence of John." Without doubt, the acts of John justify the terrible verdict pronounced by general history. For insolence, licentiousness, cruelty, ingratitude and indifference to truth and honor, he stands almost alone among the rulers of any age or of any country. The Barons, in the year 1214, in consequence of his despotic acts, withdrew their allegiance and entered upon open rebellion. The King sustaining reverse after reverse and fearing the outcome of the issue, yielded to their demands. On the 19th of June, 1215, on the little island, between Staines and Windsor, called Magna Charta Island, he, under pressure, reluctantly executed the memorable document, justly called, |