be no doubt that each item in the account, if it did not exceed £5 when incurred, can still be claimed under the terms of the proclamation. The position of the banker and his customer is certainly anomalous and not easy to estimate. Strictly the banker is the debtor to his client, and it might be held that each sum not exceeding £5 paid into his account by a customer is a debt recoverable. No doubt the point will never be raised, as, after all, the moratorium is only one of the expedients to maintain the credit system, and the use of cheques makes most drawings on banks merely paper transactions which banks will always encourage. The proclamation also does not apply to the payment of (3) rates and taxes. Maritime freight (4) is also excepted, on the ground that it was thought that otherwise it would be impossible to pay wages. It will not apply to (5) any payment in respect of any debt from any person resident outside the British Isles or from any firm, company, or institution whose principal place of business is outside the British Isles, not being a debt incurred in the British Isles by a person, firm, company, or institution having a business establishment or a branch establishment in the British Isles. This exemption therefore protects foreign firms established here, while leaving liable those situated abroad. Again, discretion would probably prevent proceedings being commenced against them if they are members of nations allied to us in the present war. Of course, trading with other neutral nations must also not be discouraged. Further, it does not apply (6) to any payment in respect of any dividend or interest payable in respect of any stocks, funds, or securities (other than real or heritable securities) in which trustees are, under sec. 1 of the Trustees Act 1893 or any other Act for the time being in force, authorised to invest. This provision will protect the income of large numbers of individuals and will be much appreciated. The anxiety which others may feel as to the receipt of dividends from companies is, after all, independent of all moratorium which could be declared by the Government. Dividends are, of course, only payable after a resolution by the company has been passed authorising the payment; nor would they be declared except upon ascertained profits. Shareholders, moreover, are masters of the situation in the affairs of the company. The liabilities (7) of a bank of issue in respect of banknotes issued by that bank are also exempted. (8) Paynients to be made by or on behalf of His Majesty or any

Government department, including the payments of old age pensions, must continue to be made. Naval and military pensions are thus also secured, and the Government will meet all liabilities for stores supplied, &c. National insurance has also been maintained in being, and (9) payments to be made by any person or society in pursuance of the National Insurance Act 1911 or any amending Act (whether in the nature of contributions, benefits, or otherwise) will continue. The Workmen's Compensation Acts also continue as before, and payments (10) ordered thereunder must be paid. Finally (11) the proclamation does not apply to any payment in respect of the withdrawal of deposits by depositors in trustee savings banks. This is, of course, a valuable protection to the finances of the working classes, whose slender resources would otherwise be curtailed.

It will thus be seen that the whole mechanism of our financial existence has been carefully studied, with a view to mitigating as far as possible such hardships as the present emergency entails. And should it appear that any matters have been overlooked, additional provisions can at any time. be included in a new proclamation. The duration of the present one is only a month, but before its expiration it will be possible to consider how far it is necessary to continue it. The moratorium will, however, probably be maintained during the whole progress of the war, as has usually been done by foreign countries when they have been compelled to introduce it.

Some criticism has been offered as to the non-applicability to small debts, but it is obvious that in this matter the County Court Judges will continue to exercise their discretion as they always do, and will not make orders upon judgment summonses unless there is evidence of means to pay. The small tradesman must also be protected, and it is not likely that they will act harshly, any more than they have done in the past in districts where there has been a strike in progress.

Finally, it must be remembered that in all matters appertaining to the maintenance of the credit system upon which our trade is based, the good sense and business instincts of the people are the chief safeguards. It may, therefore, confidently be hoped that, with or without the expedients contrived to meet an unprecedented emergency, in the end our national credit will prove to have safely weathered the storm.

A. W. G. in Law Times (Eng.)

EDITORIAL.

THE WAR.

The world has looked aghast at the utter disregard by Germany of not only the rules of warfare as laid down by the Hague conference but also the absolute disregard of all rules of international law as practiced by nations at war for many centuries past.

The destruction of Louvain and other Belgian cities occupied only by non-combatants reminds one very forcibly of the sack of Rome, by the Goths and Vandals of the fourth century. That such a thing were possible would not have been believed prior to the war, particularly as Germany was a signatory of the Hague convention and stood in the forefront of science, art and literature with the other great nations. The violation of the neutrality of Belgium, of Luxemburg and the indifference of Germany to a "piece of paper" even although it contained the signature binding the German nation, has done more to impress the public with the lack of all moral sense and the barbarism of the German people as nothing else could have done. The imprisonment of non-combatants, the outrages on women, and the placing of women and children in front of advancing German troops and the sowing broadcast of mines on the high seas is past belief and has relegated Germany to a place among the barbarians of the early centuries of the Christian era and makes it impossible for her to retain a place among the counsels of the nations as a civilized power. That payment in full will be exacted even to the last dollar and the last man lost in this war, so wantonly begun and so ruthlessly carried on, goes without saying, for with the Russians daily drawing nearer and threatening Berlin, and the Allies driving them out of France, the German Emperor and his advisers will find that the rules of humanity and civilized warfare cannot be disregarded with impugnity and that as he has sown so must he reap and the harvest will be a bloody one and the indemnity demanded from the German people equally as heavy as that exacted by Germany from France in the hour of her great disaster in 1870. In the meantime the Allies are beginning to win successes and the dispatch of Gen. Sir John French to Lord Kitchener narrating the battle, or series of battles, in the neighbourhood of Mons cannot but thrill the heart of every British subject and make them

proud of the enviable record of the British soldier fighting as they did, at that time against overwhelming odds.

Under the heading "Royal Proclamations (Moratorium)" quoted from the Law Times (Eng.), the directions therein given will be found of value to the members of the profession in the event of a moratorium coming into force in Canada. Articles on the question are also printed in this issue, one from a member of the Bar in Toronto and another from our English contemporary.

PERSONAL.

J. O. Baldwin, B.A., barrister, Swift Current, Sask., has received notification from Ottawa of his appointment as a District Court Judge. He will be stationed at Kindersley.

The death occurred recently of Fred H. White, Junior member of the law firm of Porter & Carnew of Belleville. The cause was typhoid fever. Mr. White was born in Madoc 27 years ago, the son of Mr. James White, senior, who survives. He studied law for 5 years in the office of Mr. R. G. Hunter, Toronto, and was graduated at Osgoode Hall.

Calixte Aime Dugas, Chief Justice of Dawson, Yukon, and formerly Judge of Sessions for the district of Montreal, died suddenly at St. Donat, Montcalm county.

Judge Dugas was one of the best known members of the Bar and Bench in Canada, and during his residence in Montreal, he took a prominent part in all events which tended to the betterment of the community.

He was born in St. Remi, Napierville county, in 1845, and received his education at Montreal College. He began to study law in the office of the late Chief Justice A. A. Dorion in 1865.

About 1866 Mr. Dugas became associated with Messrs. Loranger & Loranger, and before completing his course studied with the late Sir John Abbott. After admission to the Bar be became a partner of the Hon. D. Girouard. In 1874 he became associated with A. B. Longpre.

Four years later he contested Hochelaga for the Provincial Legislature, and was defeated by the Hon. Louis Beaubien. Three months later he was appointed Judge of Sessions.

Messrs. Elliott, Macneil & Deacon, barristers, etc., Winnipeg, have removed their office from Suite 316 to Suite 712722 McIntyre block.

The death occurred at Toronto following an operation for appendicitis of John Howard Hunter, barrister-at-law. Although a young man, Mr. Hunter was well known for his erudition and deep knowledge of insurance law, in addition