RELIEF OF INDEBTED AGRICULTURISTS. 161 



that obligation can scarcely ever be successfully performed in his 

 absence and without his help ; and it is therefore considered indis- 

 pensable to make it incumbent on the Court ordinarily to exercise, 

 in all cases of a defendant's non-appearance, the power of compelling 

 him to attend, now vested in it by the Code for exceptional use. 

 Compulsory attendance will meet the other two causes of absence 

 above mentioned. Any hardship which it might be supposed to in- 

 volve will be more than balanced by the consequent better hearing 

 of the case, and will, moreover, be much lessened by the proposed 

 bringing of the Court nearer to the debtor's home. 



Closely connected with the question of procedure is that of how 

 far effect should be given to the suggestion of the Secretary of State 

 that possibly it would be desirable to exclude professional pleaders 

 from the 'courts with summary jurisdiction and without appeal up 

 to a limited amount' which he desires. Upon this point we have 

 two precedents. The French Code excludes all skilled advocacy from 

 the Courts of the Juges de Paiv, whether in conciliation or trial of 

 suits, in the following most stringent terms : 



' Aucuns avoues, greffiers, huissiers et ci-devant hommes cle loi on procureurs no 

 ponrront representer les parties aux bureaux de paix.' 



The Madras Regulation for village-munsifs excludes professionals, 

 but allows the deputation of a relative, servant or dependant so that 

 for instance, a soivkar could send his gomashta, and a ryot could send 

 or bring with him a clever son or nephew, educated in a Government 

 school. It may be true that where a case, involving even a moder- 

 ate amount, is intricate, owing to mortgages or other exceptional 

 circumstances, a competent pleader may be of much use both to the 

 parties and the Court. On the other hand, it must be admitted that 

 a pleader is a weapon at the command of the rich alone (one subordi- 

 nate Judge even states that a pleader who often took ryot's cases 

 would lose his best customers) ; that in simple suits a pleader can often 

 add nothing of value to what is in evidence, but only wastes time 

 and introduces confusion ; and that the presence of pleaders pre-dis- 

 poses some Judges to decide on what counsel put before them instead 

 of going independently into the merits. Upon a balance of such 

 considerations, the draft Bill follows the Madras law in excluding 

 pleaders, but admitting non-professionals, in all cases before a village- 

 muiusif or conciliator. It also attempts to check the unnecessary 

 employment of pleaders in higher Courts, by excluding pleaders' 



