252 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

of Equity and Law side by side is one df the complications of the
present system. It is only men of superlative gifts who can
combine the great lawyer's grasp of fact and legal principle with
the statesman's insight into the needs of the community. The
1873 Act marked an advance towards simplicity; the late Lord
Birkenhead achieved great reforms in the law relating to property;
but the whole problem is still the subject of study by several
committees.

The collective funds of Trade Unions can secure good legal
advice for working people in cases of wrongful dismissal, or
Workmen's Compensation; and excellent work is done by "Poor
Men's Lawyers" who put their advice at the disposal of members
of the local organisations of political parties, or work with non-
party welfare associations. In the past detestation of lawyers was
widespread; under the feudal system they were regarded as
upholders of the harsh restrictions on personal liberty; until at
least the middle of the I9th century they were suspect as
men who entangled justice in a net of procedure; they suffered
from some of their own number who saw in legal confusion a
source of income rather than a reproach to be removed. The
growth of social legislation, and of awareness, among lawyers,
of social problems, has done much to alter this attitude. •

The law, then, is dear because it is complex and because the
volume of litigation leaves little time for reform. In the higher
courts, the insufficient number of judges, and consequent delay
in hearing cases is a frequent cause of complaint. Nor can any
description of the Judicature fail to bring out the fact^that the
Lord Chancellor bears a burden fit for two or three men. If the
duties of a Cabinet Minister, the Speakership of the House of
Lords as a legislature, presidency of it as a court, chairmanship
of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Presidency of
the Suprem$ Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Chancery
Division were not enough, he has control over an immense
number of judicial and ecclesiastical appointments; as Keeper
of the King's Conscience, he is the person finally responsible