SIMPLER SPELLING

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 75, 30 March 1939, Page 8

SIMPLER SPELLING

BEQUEST OF £18,200

The Simplified Spelling Society, whose headquarters are at Great Russell Street, Holborn, is entitled to receive £18,200 under a settlement made by the late Sir George Burton Hunter, of Newcastle, in March, 1922, according to a decision by Mr. Justice Bennett in the Chancery Division on February 28. The Judge also held that Mr. Henry Drummond, of Rydal Mount, Hetton-le-Hole. Co. Durham, treasurer of the society, could give an effectual and valid receipt for the fund on behalf o* the society, reports the "Daily Telegraph." The matter came before the Court at the instance of the trustee.* of the settlement who, while not attacking it, suggested that they were given such a wide discretion as to create uncertainty. Mr. Justice Bennett said that under the settlement the trustees were directed to pay the income of the fund for a period of 10 years—subsequently extended to 16 years—to the Simplified Spelling Society or other associations having for their principal objects the simplification or improvement of the English language. Sir George died in January, 1937. It was suggested in argument that the gift was void for uncertainty, and that the field for selection was so wide as to make it impossible for the trustees to exercise that power. No evidence was offered in support of the suggestion. He held that there was a valid trust i