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Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1408, 3 June 1865, Page 3

The English Law of Assessment. —In the case, Hale Dane v. The Overseers of Wennington, Essex, the question relating to the .right of deducting sewers taxes from the rateable value of premises occupied by the owner, is considered of general importance in cases of rating. We therefore give a report of the judgment of one of the judges, which sets forth the legal grounds of the judgment in favour of the appellant, and allowing the deduction. Mr. Justice Shee, said : I am of the same opinion as the other members of the court—in favour of the appeal. The appellant, who is the owner and occupier of 400 acres of land in the parish of Wennington, has been rated for them on an estimate of their value, in which no account has been taken of the annual charges to which they are subject in respect of the sewers rate ; and the question is, whether he is not entitled to have the estimate reduced by the amount of those charges. This brings us to the construction of the 6th and 7th William IV., cap. 96—the Act to regulate parochial assessments—by the first section of which it is provided that the rate shall be made upon an estimate of the net annual value (?, e., the value above all charges) of the hereditament; that is to say, of the rent at which the same might reasonably be expected to let from year to year, free of—i.e., disregarding, or without taking into account —usual tenants' rates and taxes, and tithe commutation, rent-charge, if any, and i, e., but deducting therefrom—that is, from the net annual value or rent, as before explained— the average annual cost of repairs, which fall upon the landlord, unless under express contract between him and the tenant, the tenant is to bear it ; insurance, which also falls upon the landlord, and other expenses—i. e., as I read it, outlay on the premises necessary to maintain them in a state to command—that is, to be worth—such rent. The scheme of the Act is to ascertain the net annual value of the hereditament, whether let to a tenant or not, as a basis of the assessment, and to deduct from that net annual value the average annual cost of repairs, insurance, and landlord's outlay to keep the hereditament up to that net annual value: (Rex. v. Adams 48. and Adol.). On these grounds lam of opinion in favour of the appellant.—Builder.

The Lord Chancellor and his Family.—The fortunate resignations of Mr. Edmunds have enabled him to provide, not only for a son in the House of Lords, but also for a son-in-laiv in the Patent Office. But this appears by no means to exhaust the list of the Lord Chancellor's achievements in the performance of this imperative and difficult duty. He feels that time is short, and that if he does not improve every occasion, the opportunity may pass from him for ever. The following speech, reported to have been made by Mr. Tidmas, at Ipswich, gives an idea of his laudable activity in this respect" It might be said of the Bankruptcy Act that it has been a gigantic system of out-door relief to Lord Westbury's relations. I hold in my hands a list of some of the appointments which the noble lord has made under that bill. First, a registrarship for the hon. Slingsby Bethel], son of the Lord Chancellor, to the Court of Bankruptcy at Exeter, and afterwards at London ; second, a registrarship of deeds to the hon. 11. Bethell, son of the Lord Chancellor, under the new Bankruptcy Act; third, crown solicitor to the Court of Bankruptcy, Walter William Aldridge, Esq., who married a niece of the Lord Chancellor, appointment created under the new Bankurptcy Act; fourth, architect to the Court of Bankruptcy, Augustus B. Abraham, brother-in-law to the Lord Chancellor, appointment found necessary under the new Bankruptcy Act. In addition to these, there was a secretaryship of presentations, given to A. B. Abraham, Esq., and a Mr. A. J. Abraham was appointed second clerk in the Land Kegistry Office. There is another little job in my own immediate neighbourhood, where the Lord Chancellor has been induced to appropriate an appointment for the benefit of his son-in-law,—the official assigneeship to the Exeter district. Now, I say that that gentleman knew no more of the duties of the official assigneeship than I know of the duties of the Lord Chief Justice of England. His lordship had recently removed his son-in-law from that district to the London official assigneeship, at a salary of £800 a-year." Even this, however, does not appear to complete the list; for it has been asserted, and the assertion, we believe, has not been contradicted, that another son of the Chancellor, the Hon. W. Bethell, has been appointed to a place of JE4OO a-year, though he is still an undergraduate at Oxford.—Saturday Review. Admission of Clergymen to the Bab.—The Benchers of Lincoln's-inn have adopted, by a large majority, the opinion of the small majority of the delegates from the four Inns of Court in favour of admitting to the bar clergymen who have (as far as they can) abandoned the clerical profession, leaving it to the bishops to take such steps as they may think fit, by refusal of licence or institution, to prevent such persons resuming their clerical functions. —Times,