LIFE OF LORD HALDANE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20174, 7 February 1929, Page 6

LIFE OF LORD HALDANE.

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

grit and * determination;

INCIDENTS IN GREAT CAREER.

EARLY STRUGGLES AT .THE BAR,

The first instalment of a series of -||| tracts from the autobiography of the late Lord Haldane—the newspaper copyright of which has been secured by the Heiulb-;' appears below. The rise of the lato states* man from an unknown law student, firstly to a barrister of prominence, mid secondly, to the position of an eminent /Minister of the Crown, is described in his own words. Some interesting sidelights on events connected with British politics of the past quarter of a century and the Great War aro contained in the extracts, the publication of wliii>S! wiil be continued daily.

Of sport and of general society I saw almost nothing in my early days in Lon. don. The outcome of this was a certain awkwardness. Moreover, I had no attrac. tive presence to make up for other deficicncies, and I had a bad voice. Til esc were serious deficiencies for a career at the Bar.

On the other hand I could sit down and think systematically, ar.d I had a tenacious memory which let slip little of what I had read. Besides this I was active and tenqcious in a high degree, and was.confi. dent, probably to an undue extent, of my power to succeed in whatever I undertook. ...

[Going to London soon after his father's death in 1877, Lord Haldane began his legal studies by reading in Equity draft* ing and conveyancing in the chambers ol William Barber, a junior of high standing on the Chancery side, j • | When my year with Barber was over T wished to study tiie Common Law, and on the introduction of l'arrer Hersohell,brother of my uncle's wife, later on Lord Chancellor, I entered as a pupil with Lumley Smith, a busy junior in the Temple, at his chambers in King's Bench Walk. I remained with him until I was called to the Bar in the end of 1879. I then took chambers in the form of a garret at 5, New Square, Lincoln's lim. As I had little work to do, I spent my time in reading up authorities and test books.

First Year's Modest Fees. 't'S Looking at my old fee-boks, I see that in my first year I made only £3l 10s. I knew almost no London solicitors, and what I got came from Scottish sources. The next year, 1881, was only a little better. I received £lO9 in fees. Nor was the third year a great improvement. It yielded only about £l6O. But in the fourth year after my call to the Bar (1883-84), the acounts began (o sbuot up. I received about £llOO. I began to be known as an energetic and pretty ingenious junior, and, as I stayed in London through part of the long vacation, solicitors who heard of me began to come to 5, New Square. I used often to remain there until midnight, and I read the authorities copiously when I was not employed. A chop at the old Cock Tavern, in Fleet served for

dinner. I had moved to Down Street, Piccadilly, where I had rooms next door to the Junior Athenaeum Club, of which I had cot mvsclf made a member. • • • [Lord Haldane here speaks of the new influence" which had come into im legal life, when he began to ''devil'\ for Horace Davev," " the hig;hest advocated pure points of law that 1 have ever seen."]

Young Advocate's Great Chance. It was while I was with Davey that I first came into prominence at the Bar,, through two cases. He had been gnea a brief on an application for special;, leave to appeal by the Government of, Quebec. The sum at stake was very trifling, and it seemed doubtful whether the Privy Council would grant leave to appeal against the judgment of the Canadian Courts. But the matter was of high importance, involving as it diet' the validity of a statute embodying tlio Quebec' Government policy. In order, if possible, to get rid 01 the judgment, the Solicitor-General of Quebeo had been sent to get leave to appeal to the Privy Council. However, ho was not to argue himself, but to leave this,; to Davey. Late in the evening, before the case was to be heard, Davey was summoned to continue an argument in a part-heard appeal to the House o! Lords, a summons imposing on him a duty which took precedence of that to the Priw Council. No otfier leader of eminence could do got to take a brief at very short notice in a case involving a complicated question of Canadian constitutional law and, besides, a great responsibility. In despair Davey sent his bead clerk to mid me at my "rooms about 8 o'clock at night, and to summon me to a consultation at the Privy Council at 10 o'clock next morning.

More Midnight Oil. ;f I was not used to shrinking from ;| responsibility in things that had to be faced, so I 'told the clerk that it would g be all right, I sat up through much j of the night and mastered the real point. » Next morning Davey broke to tli* gg agitated Solicitor-General and to Fres.i- g fields, the well-known solicitors, that lie fc must leave at onco for the House oi M Lords. He proposed that -the SolicitorGeneral for Quebec should open the j petition. jl The latter firmly replied that lie was « precluded by his orders from doing so. -g If he did, and the application was | refused, the responsibility would be such j| that tlio Government of Quebec might ' fall. Davev then said that fortunately g ho had brought to the consultation his S learned friend, Mr. llaldane, who knew the case thoroughly, and would conduct it, and lie then seized his hat and dis- .|j appeared. This did not comfort tlio unhappy J clients. Old Mr. Wiseman, the well- |g known Privy Council Clerk of Freshfields, roso from his seat and said: ' Tn o House of Fresh field has briefed Sir g Richard Bethel, Sir Hugh Cairns, Sir | Roundell Palmer, and other great men, || and none of them ever treated tlio firm | as Mr. Davey has to-day." Only Five Minutes Left. It was now only five minutes till the case would be called. I said that j we had better apply our minds to what g was useful, and not to idle lamentation, and I proceeded to put on a wig and | gown. The case was called, and the Jj Judicial Committee seemed surprised tc || seo it about to be opened bv a youth who had never appeared before them on any other occasion. I opened roy-j| argument as shortly and moderately as j| possible, and stated the point on th« jjj Constitution of Canada concisely. If The Judicial Committee hesitated® much; they then deliberated. They g did not know my name, but they said that what had been stated had satisfied || them that we ought to have leave to |§ appeal. Our triumph was so far com* plete. M§ Neither the Solicitor-General nor fields said a word of thanks to me. They went away as persons aggrieved. • But' n few days later, who should clinibj|jg': up the narrow stairs to mv garret at Lincoln's Inn but old Mr. Wiseman himfS self, the venerable representative of the great firm of Freshfields. He said thaHjg the partners had read the shorthand note of the brief argument at the Privy | Council, and now sent me a brief for the Province of Ontario in a great case. There might, Mr. Wiseman' said, he more to follow, and. indeed, it so' turnepgjj out. This particular brief was markH 150 guineas, and it introduced me into •>-. many Canadian cases over here. - ; - <To ba continued daily.)