of human life. The author arranges the material under proper heads, with a good deal of skill, and there is no doubt that it would form an excellent division in a giant cyclopædia.

We are inclined to feel that if the writer had had more time, he would have written a shorter letter and a better one. If a lawyer is content to spend his time hunting for a case in point, his industry may be rewarded by a close examination of this voluminous record of cases.

Of what use is it to point out that in some cases the courts in some states have held thus and so upon some minor question in the law of contracts, but in later cases, or in other states, the rule was not followed? As a record of events in the development of the law, or as a matter of history, it may be useful to state the confusion and difference in opinion existing in the several states, but in a text-book we should have propositions that the author considers settled and part of the fundamental law. Minor differences of opinion should be ignored.

The effect upon the mind in reading this work is, therefore, not satisfactory. The mind seems to be confused by an immense mass of material, and conflicting views are presented with such conscientious fidelity that we lose sight of broad general lines by attention to the multitude of details.

G. C. L.

A TREATISE ON THE CONFLICT OF LAWS, OR PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW. By Francis Wharton. Third Edition, by George H. Parmele. In two volumes. 8vo, pp. ccxxiv, 1-848; xxvii, 8491830. $12. The Lawyers' Coöperative Publishing Co. Rochester, N. Y.

For this new edition of a standard work the new editor states in his preface that the controlling purpose has been to present the American and English decisions upon specific questions involving the application of principles of private international law, and to formulate from those decisions the agreed principles and rules applicable to such questions.

In order to bring the later decisions into relation with the text the present writer has frequently treated questions entirely independently of the earliest text, citing all cases found by him on the subject. He states that it was his aim to harmonize the decisions by regarding each actual decision upon its face. It is to be regretted that for the purpose of the student certain leading cases were not

more fully digested in the text or notes. This manner of book making is satisfactory from the point of view of the practitioner who is anxious to find citations to any particular point of law, expecting thereafter to read and assimilate the decisions for himself, and it is only on this ground that so mechanical a treatment is to be justified.

The book contains very full notes on certain decisions, and these notes have, in most instances, been taken over from the earlier edition, whereas recent cases are cited chiefly by reference to the title of the case. For example, the paragraph on the impeachment of a decree of a sister state upon jurisdictional facts in divorce is much shorter than one would expect, and the references to the leading cases reported in 181 U. S., 175 and 179 and 188 U. S., 14, ought, in our opinion, to go into the facts and the decisions with considerable amplification, so important was the subject then under consideration of the court, and so controlling was its determination on future cases.

In connection with the same subject, it is to be regretted that Atherton v. Atherton, 155 N. Y., 129, is frequently cited, while in only one instance is it noted that this decision was reversed by the U. S. Supreme Court in 181 U. S., 155.

The great advantage of the present edition lies in the fact that the recent decisions of all the states are to be found in the new citations, and by its use the busy practitioner is put at once upon the track of the views of his own court of last resort on the subject under consideration. In our modern practice this seems to us to be the proper aim of any legal text-book. We wish to know, not so much what the law is generally or what it ought to be, as what it actually may be in the particular jurisdiction where our litigation is to be conducted. The principles that are to determine the issue of any dispute are not those of general application but those of the courts of a particular forum, and for such a purpose the present edition of this work is admirable.

As the writer contends, the true principle by which the governing law of a particular question is to be determined must be ascertained by a comparison and study of the decisions with reference to the actual facts involved in each case, not by accepting broad statements as to general principles, and this new edition of a well-known work guides the reader clearly and distinctly to the sources from which the particular law in his own case is to be found.

H. H. W.

TRUSTS, POOLS AND CORPORATIONS. Edited, with an introduction, by William Z. Ripley. 12mo,. pp. xxx+477. Cloth, $2.15 net. Ginn & Company, Boston.

The editor, who is professor of economics in Harvard University, has here collected and reprinted a number of highly valuable articles and documents dealing with the trust problem. The contents of the volume will be very serviceable to the student, whether he is interested in the business or the legal side of the matter. Many of the articles are reprinted from the Political Science Quarterly, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and other journals of the same standing. Among the authors are Prof. Ripley, Prof. E. S. Meade of the University of Pennsylvania, J. W. Jenks, Henry Tatnall, Edward B. Whitney and Grosvenor Calkins. One class of papers deals with particular phases of the history of combination. Of this class are articles on "The Michigan Salt Association," "The Development of the Whiskey Trust," and "The Wire-nail Association of 1895-6." Others describe particular evils of trust promotion; such as overcapitalization, as illustrated by the case of the International Mercantile Marine Co.; fraudulent promotion, as appearing in the case of the asphalt companies, and fraudulent finance, as illustrated in the case of the United States Shipbuilding Co. The contribution on the latter subject is taken from the report of the receiver, Hon. James Smith, Jr. Other public documents reprinted are the decision of the supreme court in the Northern Securities case and Attorney General Knox's suggestions in regard to the amendment of the Sherman antitrust act. There is an article on "Trade Combinations at Common Law" by Prof. Frank J. Goodnow of Columbia University. Then follow three articles on typical modern legislation on the subject of public control, namely, the Massachusetts Business Corporation Law, the German Company Law, and English Companies Act of 1900. Finally comes a valuable critical survey and criticism of trust literature. And by no means either last or least, is Prof. Ripley's Introduction, in which he gives a rapid sketch of the history of trust combination, together with an outline of the problems and suggested remedies.

But the volume in hand is not merely a collection of economic reprints. It denotes a deliberate attempt, says the preface, to apply to the teaching of economics the case system, which has been so successfully used in the law schools, and with this end in view each chapter illustrates a single, definite, typical phase of the general subject. The idea is an excellent one, as on the one hand the application of eco

nomic principles to business conditions is taught by important modern examples, and on the other hand the student is trained to deduce the principles from the immense mass of facts which are always required to be taken into consideration in these cases. In the articles reprinted the primary facts, often contained originally in testimony taken in court or before commercial or industrial commissions, have of course been selected and arranged; but details nevertheless are given in abundance, with the consequence that the book is especially valuable to the lawyer.

"A second, and by no means inconsiderable, motive in the preparation of this volume," continues the preface, "has been the hope that it might contribute toward a crystallization of public opinion favoring a reasonable policy of public control over monopolistic and corporate enterprises." The editor's article on the "Capitalization of Public Service Corporations" and the three articles already referred to as dealing with the Massachusetts, German and English statutes, show how this control can be exercised, but every one of the chapters may be said to further this second purpose of the editor. R. MCC. M.

In Lighter Vein.

TRUST HUNTING.

Mused the man with the process:

"Now, I wonder why

A man with ten millions

Should ever be shy?"

EXPERIENCED.

Lawyer: "You have never been cross-examined before, have

you?"

Witness: "Well, I have been married twenty years."

SWITCHING.

"Can I recover?" gasped the injured man.

"No, I fear not," replied the physician, shaking his head. "But your wife can," assured the damage suit lawyer from the other side of the bed.

YE OFFICE BOY.

Attorney (to applicant): "You say you are competent to fill this position of office boy. What were your duties in your former position?"

Office Boy: "Everything from fillin' ink bottles to runnin' directors' meetings."

STRICTLY PROFESSIONAL.

Among the attendants at the funeral of a lawyer who, though an agnostic, had led a singularly upright life, was a prominent Philadelphian who arrived just after the minister had begun his sermon. "What part of the services have they reached?" he asked an old Quaker.

"Just opened for the defense," was the reply.

RATTLED.

"Are you a married man?" asked the young attorney, who was doing a cross-examining stunt.

"No, Sir," replied the witness. "I am a bachelor."