BALANCE SHEET AND AUDIT 185 
the Act, are ultra vires and invalid [Newton v. Birmingham 
Small Arms Co. (1906), 2 Ch. 378]. It has been held, how- 
aver, that auditors cannot insist upon their statutory rights 
in all circumstances: for instance, the Court will not force 
them upon a company which does not require their services 
[Cuff v. London & County Land Co. (1912), 1 Ch. 440]. 
The effect of the indemnity clause which before the new Act 
was commonly inserted in a company’s articles of association 
exempting auditors from liability for acts or omissions not 
due to their wilful neglect or default, was considered in ze City 
Equitable Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. (1925), 1 Ch. 407, but 
the provisions of such a clause are now almost entirely avoided 
for the future by s. 152 of the Act of 1929. The Court has, 
however, power to relieve an auditor, who has acted honestly, 
and reasonably, and ought fairly to be excused from liability for 
any negligence or breach of duty (¢ 72)