July 18.
By reason of the report of the Committee on Finance and Industry which has just been issued, the name of Lord Mac-'Millan has come prominently before the public. During recent years Lord MacMillan has headed many commissions of inquiry into highly technical subjects in the United Kingdom. and the success he has had has been of a nature to single him out not. only as the brilliant lawyer! which he is but a man possessing marily statesmanlike mind. When practising at the Bar in Edinburgh he was bably the most able advocate his day, and the recent demand for his' services in the conduct of Parliamentary committees of inquiry emphasizes this bril-Hance, The Court of Session gives little scope to the advocate of the nature which is provided in England to the barrister-law, Lord President Inglis, it is true, attained an enormous' reputation when, before his elevation to the bench, he secured the acquittal of Madeleine Smith, but the work of that Court can in no sense compare with what goes on' in London. It is portant to bear this in mind in considering Tord MacMillan's career.
Mr. Hugh MacMillan Ko, a8 he then was, became an especially important figure in 1924, The belief is current, and probably correct, that the appointment of iny Lord Advocate or Solicitor-General for Scotland has to be with the approval of the Bar in Edinburgh, and the story is told that Mr, "Ramsay MacDonald wher forming his first administration forgot all about this and proposed the appointment of two men of his own political creed who were in no sense acceptable to the august body in question, The story is that Mr. MacDonald came to heel very quickly, and accepted the Bar's nominee, who was Mr. MacMillan, then a Conservative Member of Parliaments as his Lord Advocate. Actually the Scottish Bar had placed at the disposal of the Labour Gov-jemment of that day their leading ember, who with 'a fine disinterestedness accepted it as a non-political appointment.
This, however, was only an interlude in Mr. MacMillan's: career which in view of the markable work he has done on Government commissions deves to be followed. He had in his latter years at the Bar deen very largely employed in appeals from the Scottish courts the House of Lords, and the ability with which he conducted these marked him out as a coming Lord of Appeal. The usu course of procedure before Scottish King's Counsel becomes: a Lord of Appeal is first of all for him to serve a term as a judge in the Court of-Session in
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.