142 



Agricultural Arbitration. [June, 



is a clerk really needed till after the parties have lodged their 

 claims and stated their objections. If it should appear from the 

 nature of the claims and objections that the arbitration is likely 

 to be attended with difficulty, the expediency of consulting a 

 solicitor at that stage can scarcely be doubted. It is not, 

 however, always necessary or desirable even in such cases to 

 appoint a clerk to the effect of leaving the whole of the formal 

 procedure to him. In many instances, on getting legal advice 

 on points of difficulty, there is nothing to prevent the arbiter 

 from attending himself to the formal procedure. In this way 

 a good deal of expense may be saved. A solicitor, on being 

 appointed clerk, invariably charges according to a scale of 

 fees which is appropriate enough to important arbitrations in 

 which large sums are at stake, but entirely out of place in the 

 generality of agricultural arbitrations in which the amount 

 involved rarely exceeds £100 or £200. The suggestion here 

 made is that except in large and difficult cases a clerk need not 

 be appointed, and that it should often suffice to consult a 

 solicitor in connection with difficulties as they arise. Of course, 

 this is on the assumption that the arbiter has had some 

 experience of arbitration procedure. 



With a view to this course being more generally followed, the 

 following statement of usual procedure may prove serviceable : — 



1. On receiving his appointment the arbiter may wait seven 

 or eight days. Indeed, it is generally desirable he should do 

 so, because " further " claims may be brought into the arbitra- 

 tion within seven days after his appointment. 



2. Thereafter, in view of the fact that by the Statute his 

 award requires to be issued within twenty-eight days after 

 appointment, he may address a letter to each party, asking him 

 to lodge any claims and vouchers within a stated period. 



3. Having received and perused the claims, he may ask each 

 party to state in writing any objections to them. 



4. At this stage — not sooner — it may possibly become, 

 expedient to consult a solicitor. If there be only a claim by the 

 tenant for improvements under the Holdings Acts and no objec- 

 tions excepting to the amount claimed, there would appear to 

 be no necessity for appointing a clerk or consulting a solicitor, 

 because such a claim^is generally disposed of on the vouchers 

 after inspecting the farm and hearing parties. If, however, 



