IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 171, 21 July 1928, Page 8

IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

DEFAULTING SOLICITORS .» SETTING UP A GUARANTEE FUITD (To the Editor.) \ It. seems that the New Zealand TSociety has at last taken up the matter 3 providing a guarantee fund to reimburse th» victims of defaulting solicitors, and intends tH bring a bill before the present session of Jb lianient to permit the society to itself set i» such a fund out of an annual fee to be charwJ by the society to each practising solicitor I understand that such a scheme was approved by the conference held by the New zLi.Zj Law Society in Christchu'rch early this yes and the bill to be placed before Parliament k the outcome of the deliberations of a. ton mittee of solicitors appointed by that confer* ence. This is a distinct advance from ft* legal profession's previous attitude, but I tend that it will be utterly wrong in prinehib for the urgently-required guarantee fund to he administered by the profession itself. t have repeatedly urged, the fund should he administered by the State and built up w increasing the present annual license fee of ■ solicitor from £3 3/ to £2-1. The Government should then undertake the full liability to reimburse the clients of any defaulting solid* tor, and should retain any surplus as revenue. It will be best for the Government to the fees to the Public Trust Office for the" first year or so, and thus provide a special fuai of £50,000, which with interest accumulation! should be sufficient for the purpose, but it should be made clear that, subject to the lj*. bility to reimburse the victims of misappropriations, the surplus should belong to the State. I would point out that there have been scarcely any cases of defaulting land agents, and yet the Government requires every lyij agent to (a) pay an annual license fee of £10 (as against £3 3/ now paid by a solicitor)(b) to have his trust account audited annually' and (c) to provide a fidelity guarantee policy. Contrast the present annual license fee of £33/ paid by a solicitor with that paid by u auctioneer £40, land agent £10, barrister £5 5/ and licensed land broker £5. If the principle adopted by the legislature in the ease of land agents is correct, it is clearly wrong to allow solicitors to set up and administer a guarantee fund of their own. If this he done, the unfortunate victim of a solicitor's misappropriations will be put to further expense in employing another solicitor to prove his claim on the fund and recovering his losses from the trustees of that fund. It is not at present clear whether the proposed bill viQ give the victims any clear right to reimbursement, nor is it clear if that reimbursement will be a full one, but even if it does, I contend that sucli a principle is wrong, and that the guarantee fund should be administered by the State. COMMON SENSE.

TRAFFIC REGULATION.

Is it not high time that the traffic authorities made a serious attempt to regulate the pedestrian traffic in Queen Street? At th» Dilworth crossing it is impossible at times to take advantage of pedestrian right of way, when motors are held up, because the kerb is lined with loiterers. But if one has managed to scramble through it is necessary on reaching the car lines to run for the opposite corner if the released motors from Customs Street West and Lower Queen Street are to be avoided. On reaching the kerb, there is another struggle to penetrate the loiterers, with the risk of being pushed back under the wheels of the motor cars. Then, again, there are hoardings on the footpath where new buildinprs are going up. These are the spots which many thoughtless people choose for a gossip. The rule of the road is almost a dead letter, but in any case many people loiter along four deep and the overtaking traffic, in attempting to pass, has to perform a prolonged series of gymnastics. Citizens who use Queen Street when about their lawful occasions find the conditio*® intolerable. MOVE OX.

BOYS ON FARMS.

I understand that Church of England boy* are placed on special farms with the l>est of conditions to make work congenial. We all know that there are good and bad positioD* on farms, especially with those farmers who are up against it. Mr. Yates says our town boys will not go out on farms. They have never been tried out on a sound system. Ha states a case of a lady and her son. but lis did not state her previous experience. He says that by bringing out boys the Church is relieving distress in England. That is contrary to fact. England, with all her wealth, has been able to reduce her national debt by millions and we are increasing ours. Outside of that, one pound in England is worth thirty shillings in the Dominion as regards living. The unemployed man in England is in many instance* better off than the employed in this country. I notice that the Sheep Farmers' Union has brought out a fresh batch of boys for Flock House. Would it not be more to their credit if they took the sons of the returned soldiers of the late war, or boys who lost their fathers? The position is absolutely wrong, and it is up to the Church of England, or any other denomination, to see that our boys are given the same chances as the boys brought out. If that were done I am sure the boys would rise to the occasion, as their father* did in the war. JUSTICE.

OUR JAPANESE GUESTS.

The question of singing and 110 -upper. W your correspondent heads it. can be easily settled. In the past a favoured number of citizens and municipal employees and their wives have been the guests with our visitors at municipal "At Homes'' and the ratepayers in general have paid the bill. Here is an opportunity; let these favoured ones airain be honoured with invitations, with this difference: '"Tickets one guinea." And then they will be able to act as hosts and hostesses to the visitors, and supper will, of course, be provided. Certainly at these times the municipal purse should not be called upon to provide entertainment for a select few. CIVIS.

SHOULD GIRLS PAY FOR THEMSELVES?

I think I represent a >«>«1 percentage of modern girls when 1 disagree \\ itii -.rack ami •'ills Mother in her opinion that uir's should not pay for themselves when being t; ! k p, i to entertainments. A generation ago. w hen girlat hoiii" with a weekl\ allowance of l>in money, it was only common courtesy for a gentleman to pay expense.-. I nt to-day nios, S'rls earn <piite a> mm-h a-. if not more tlia« some of their male friend-. The old -pirit ui dependence pa--ed away with t!ie clingu:;~ early-Victorian type with whom it ua- a--o-ctated. "\\ e modern -jiil- an 1 :-ro:id of our independence: it i- our'hirthiight* We are not dolls for men's amusement—yr are their friends and equals. but no nirl can feci <piiie the same jcinv of "camaraderie"' when she is on a boy's in-uallv inadequate) funds for her pleasure. Thi- freedom does not mean that we should ap«> our men friend-. girl may be as delightful] v feminine a- siie chooses and yet be independent. Manv a izirl yields reluctantly to a kiss in payment for her evening s entertainment when she would far rather have paid her share of the expenses. VVe like to have plentv of bov friends, hut prefer to feel that should their company eease to be congenial we can sav adieu without anv sense of obligation. Most boys recognise this point of \iew, and it is onlv stupid convention and a diead fear of appearing mean in the ejes of others which keep? them from totting a gill paddle her own canoe.'" INDEPENDENT.