A STUDY IN LEGAL ADMINISTRATION AND RECORDS SHARON ...

procedure.
P.A. MacDonald, the second and last master in chancery to hold the
position, took office in 1888. Like others before him, he had studied law in
Ontario, and practised for a period of time in Manitoba before his chancery
appointment. It was to be during MacDonald's tenure that Equity side of
Queen's Bench would see its closing days.
There had been a certain tension between the two sides of Queen's
Bench since its inception in 1872. Although Equity had k en instituted to
ameliorate the rigidity of Common Law, the sometimes conflicting judgments of
the two sides could be counter productive. John S. Ewart indicated the problem
when he referred to one side restraining the other side. He also pointed to
difficu lties associated with the style of pleadings. It was frequentl y impossible
for Equity to provide a remedy "until the appearance of the pleadings has been
altered.nlw
Another issue arose with respect to the income of administrative officers.
When Daniel Carey assumed the position of prothonotary he was granted a
salary of one thousand pounds per annum, "plus al1 the fees he collected from
litigants, up to a total of five hundred p~unds."'*~ This arrangement had
similarities with the fee exactions pradised by clerks of the old English Chancery
Court. It must have occasioned abuse because an act of 1885 expressly
prohibited the practice, "No officer or clerk shall take for his own use or benefit,
directly or indirectly, any fee or emolument whatever, Save the salary which he