The Hon. Thomas William Hislop, who is referred to on page 83 as an ex-minister of the Crown, and elsewhere under “Legal” as a member of the firm of Messrs. Brandon and Hislop, was elected President of the Law Society in 1895.

Mr. Worley Bassett Edwards, President of the Wellington Law Society, 1894–1895, was born in London on the 5th of September, 1850. His father, the late Mr. C. S. W. Edwards, emigrated to New Zealand with his family, arriving in Port Chalmers, per “Isabella Hercus,” in 1855. He settled at Portobello, near Dunedin. Mr. Edwards was educated at the Dunedin High School, under the Rev. F. C. Simmons. He was articled to Messrs. Julius and O'Meagher, of Oamaru, solicitors; and, after spending three years in Europe, was admitted a barrister and solicitor in 1875. In 1877 he entered into partnership with the late Mr. W. S. Moorhouse. In 1878 Mr. Moorhouse retired, and Mr. C. W. Cutten was admitted a partner. After the death of Mr. Cutten, in 1885, Mr. Edwards continued in practice alone until 1890, when he retired, in order to accept a Supreme Court Judgeship. He held his Commission for over two years, and presided upon the Bench for over a year, during which time he sat in the Wellington Judicial District. It will be remembered that his appointment was made the subject of a faction fight in Parliament in the session of 1890, upon the ground that the Government had exceeded their powers in appointing a sixth judge, and that after the coming into office of the Ballance Ministry, in 1891, proceedings were taken to test the question. The appointment was upheld by the Court of Appeal; but the case was taken by the Ministry to the Privy Council, which allowed the appeal. No imputation has ever been made against Mr. Edwards in connection with the matter; but the result has involved him in a loss of several thousands of pounds, against which the honour of the Colony requires that he should be indemnified.

The Council of Law Reporting was established about 1882 for the purpose of a systematic reporting of decisions on points of law in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Courts of the Colony. It is presided over by the Attorney-General, ex-officio, and the Solicitor-General is also an ex-officio member. The other members are elected by the various law societies of the Colony, and are:—Wellington, Mr. H. D. Bell (treasurer), and the Hon. T. W. Hislop; Auckland, Messrs. Edwin Hesketh and Theo. Cooper; Napier, Mr. J. W. Carlile; Christchurch, Messrs. T. Joynt and T. W. Stringer; Dunedin, Messrs. W. Downie Stewart, and F. R. Chapman. Beyond the duties devolving upon the members in connection with the business of the Council, when assembled those representing each locality constitute a committee, to whom all cases in their locality are referred for their decision as to whether they are worth reporting. The onerous position of editor has, since the death of Mr. Wm. Fitzgerald, been ably filled by Mr. Martin Chapman. The Supreme Court reporters are:—Wellington, Mr. Maurice W. Richmond, who also does the whole of the reporting for the Court of Appeal section of the reports; Auckland, Mr. John C. L. Bassett; Napier, Mr. W. Dinwiddie; Christchurch, Mr. W. J. Byrne; Dunedin, Mr. Joseph Wood. The reports are published in monthly parts, and are delivered to subscribers in paper covers at a charge of three guineas per annum. At the end of the year the indices and tables of cases, etc., are made up into a separate part, the whole work for the year making a volume of about 850 pages. The Council has recently issued a most valuable and much needed work called the New Zealand Digest, which embraces not only the ten years work of the Council of Law Reporting, but also all the reported cases for more than twenty years before that. The work was compiled and edited by Mr. M. W. Richmond, of Wellington. The difficulties of the work were very great, but it was done with great thoroughness, and has given entire satisfaction to the profession. The price to non-subscribers is £2, but the subscribers to the law reports are allowed a discount of twenty-five per cent. Everything in connection with the law reports is on a literal scale, both paper and printing being of excellent quality. When bound in the style uniformly adopted by subscribers, the New Zealand Law Reports have an appearance equal to the best; and the name of the editor is a sufficient guarantee of the quality of the work from a literary standpoint.