THE GLORIOUS UNCERTAINTY OF THE LAW.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1301, 17 April 1872, Page 2

THE GLORIOUS UNCERTAINTY OF THE LAW.

A writer in the Auckland Weekly New* says;. —Does any one who- is not a lawyer or a ruined client know what a *' sitr ting in banco" means? If any one wants to learn practically what it does mean, I advise him not to make- the attempt unless he has got a spare thousand or fifteen hundred pounds to dispose of.. Some of these " banco " cases are sweetlyinteresting things to contemplate if youhave no part in- them* It is grand tolook at a battle from a safe vantageground, where neither bullet nor. ball, can reach you. It is a beautiful sight to; view a storm and shipwreck from the shore. It is charming to behold a., mother and twelve children, one rising above the other like short stepping-stones,, if you are not the father of them with a. limited income. And it is equallyifine to look on at a " banco " affair so long; as it is not your case that is being argued. Here is a specimen one I. have been a witness, to. About 25- years a now dead and buried city resident-, bought and paid for a section of land; from another now dead and buried city resident of Auckland. Before the buyerof the section died he made a will and' gave the section to his son, and at his. death the son built on it. Then the son of the seller after a time discovered, or thought he discovered, that his father had no right to part with the land, and he brings an action against the son of. the buyer for arrears of rent, interest thereon accruing, and also, for the land; to be restored to him as the rightful heir. But now comes in a brother of; the seller of the section, who says that the son now claiming the property has no right to it, inasmuch that he is unable to prove that he was born in wedlock. The son said not to have beea born in wedlock goes to law against the son of the father who bought the section. The jury declares he is born in wedlock,, and that the land belongs to him, and all that is upon it. One would think this would end the dispute. Not a bit of it, for it is hardly commenced. The beaten son applies for a rule nisi for a fresh action. The case is argued for twelve days in banco, and a fresh action is allowed. Then the brother of the original vendor applies for an injunction that the rents of the property shall not be paid to either of the claimants. Injunction on argument is granted (costs altogether up to this point .£482 6s Bd.) Now another claimant comes forward who says that 26 years ago he took a mortgage over the land which was sold by the one father aforesaid to the other father hereiubefore mentioned, who willed it to his son ; but he had not registered the mortgage becaused he held collateral security in the shape of an acceptance which he had endorsed over to a third party who had died intestate before the bill matured. A writ is now issued in prohibition, and lawyers are puzzled toknow how the case stands, althoughtheir clerks are not in entering costs. There have been arguments in demurrer, making the costs amount in all to ,£672 6s 4d ; rules nisi, applications for specific relief, interpleaders, non pros and more arguments in banco, which have added J 8292 13s 4d more to the expenses previously incurred in the proceedings*

There is a good deal more yet to be done and the dispute it is thought will be brought to a termination some time towards the end of the 1880. This is " banco." The property under the litigation is worth about .£350. By the time it has been decided who shall have it, over .£2,000 will have been paid in law expenses. Glorious thing " banco ; ' is, is it not ? Nearly as expensive as horse racing, but not half so exciting.