and public corporations. It is a pleasure to read the classifications of corporations and the characteristics of quasi-corporations, beginning with the historical discussions of the New England towns and the development of the municipal idea.

But when we come to the chapter on Bonds, we find this technical subject so generally treated as to be of little practical value. Such a subject as this requires minute attention and highly accurate distinctions to be of any service to the municipal bond attorney.

The same is true of the chapter on Public Improvements. Special assessments are so largely controlled by statute that the general theory of public improvements is of very little assistance in helping the special assessment attorney to determine the validity of proceedings in such a case as the recent Michigan avenue improvements, or the ordinance for the widening of Twelfth street. There is not a suggestion of The People v. Klehm and the Bassett cases, holding that a berme or inclined shoring is no part of a sidewalk and that a sidewalk ordinance containing such provisions is invalid.

It would seem that it would have been better to omit the chapter on Public Improvements entirely and to devote the space to a fuller discussion of Municipal Torts. In this latter subject, particularly, the brevity is so great that the result is occasionally almost inaccuracy. For instance, the following statement on page 406:

"The liability of municipal corporations in most cases of tort rests upon the general doctrine of the common law that the master is liable for the wrongs done by the servant when acting within the scope of his employment." is certainly misleading. The explanation which follows does not distinguish with sufficient accuracy the private corporation rule of law in this case from the rule of municipal corporation law. On page 385, referring to the municipality's liability in the case of strictly municipal property and business, the statement that,

"It is a corporation for profit and justly subject to the same rules as a private corporation."

is certainly not incorrect, but lays too much emphasis upon the question of profit, as a factor of municipal liability, to be strictly exact. The time-honored instances of municipal liability for tort where the municipality is engaged n the performance of governmental functions, or in the conduct of business for profit, are clearly and ably set forth; but we look in vain for a case like Johnston v. City of Chicago, 258 Ill. 494, where the city was held liable for negligence of the driver of an auto-truck delivering books from the Public Library. This latter case really represents a very late development of this law where the municipality is held liable for negligence arising neither in the performance of a governmental function nor in the conduct of a business for profit, but merely in the operation of an enterprise of purely local concern and for the benefit of its own neighborhood or citizenry. H. F. B.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE EIGHTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE NATIONAL TAX ASSOCIATION. Madison, Wisconsin: National Tax Association, 1915. Pp. 499.

The National Tax Association, which is composed of persons who are interested in taxation, arranges for an annual conference of delegates appointed by state governors, educational institutions, and associations of certified public accountants. At these conferences papers relating to taxation and expenditures are presented and discussed. In former years the proceedings have been limited to state and local taxation but the conference in 1914 devoted one session to the federal income tax.

The papers presented at the Eighth Annual Conference maintain the high standard established in preceding conferences. They cover all phases of the subject of taxation and emphasize in particular practical problems and recent progress in different sections. of the country. While most of the papers deal with the economic or administrative features of taxation, legal questions are considered in articles on "Taxation of Express Companies" (pp. 132-146), "Taxation of Foreign Corporations with Special Reference to License Fees" (pp. 151-183), and "Analysis of Cases Relating to Situs" (pp. 242-261).

The non-legal papers are not without interest for lawyers as they show that the injustice which results from existing constitutional and statutory provisions regarding taxation is due to the failure of law making bodies to recognize certain fundamental economic principles.

The ineffectiveness of mere legislation when unaccompanied with adequate provision for administration is illustrated by many examples and the growing tendency to correct this evil is shown in the increase in the number of state tax commissions which exercise supervision and control over the local tax authorities.

The proceedings of these Annual Conferences on Taxation will be of great value to all who are interested in the equitable distribution of the burdens of taxation and the improvement of tax methods.

University of Missouri.

ISIDOR LOEB.

THE LAW OF WILLS AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES. Enlarged Edition. By William Patterson Borland. Kansas City, Mo.; Vernon Law Book Company, 1915. Pp. xv, 723. The scope and purpose of this little volume is thus expressed in the preface to the enlarged edition. "This volume is a revision and an enlargement of Notes on the Law of Wills and the Administration of the Estates of Deceased Persons, published by me seven years ago. That work was the publication in book form of lectures on the subject which I had delivered yearly to the senior class of the Kansas City School of Law.

The

present volume is an enlargement of that work by including all of the leading cases in this country and in England on the subject.

It will be found of especial value to the Western lawyer and student, as it cites every case and discusses every rule embodied in the common or statute law of the following group of states: Wisconsin, Arkansas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California. It cites, also, every case bearing on the subject decided in the federal courts.

A local text book which treats in exhaustive detail and in a critical spirit the law of a particular state upon its subject, is one of the most useful types of text books which we have. But the plan of this book appears to be fatally defective. There is too great a diversity in the statutes of the thirteen Southwestern states here selected to justify their segregation in a group. The author's promise to include "all the leading cases in this country and in England on the subject" falls far short of fulfillment. His limitations of space often result in a brevity of definition that is positively misleading, e.g. in the definition of incorporation by reference, p. 51. It is regrettable that the author, by attempting too many things at once, has missed his chance to produce a local book of a sort of which we cannot have too many.

Urbana, Ill.

JOHN NORTON POMEROY.

ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS

WHAT MAY BE DONE TO ENABLE THE COURTS TO ALLAY THE PRESENT DISCONTENT WITH THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. Samuel B. Clarke. 50 Am. L. Rev. 161.

THOMAS LORD ERSKINE.

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE:
Am. L. Rev. 241.

Alexander W. Stephens. 50 Am. L. Rev. 196.

ORIGIN OF THEIR OFFICE. A. J. McGillivray. 50

"BLUE SKY LAWS." Lee J. Perrin. 10 Bench and Bar 483.

STRICT INTERPRETATION OF ECCLESIASTICAL TRUSTS. Harold J. Laski. 36 Can. L. Times 190.

A STATUTE FOR PROMOTING FRAUD. Francis M. Burdick. 16 Col. L. Rev. 273. THE SHERIFF'S RETURN. Edson R. Sunderland. 16 Col. L. Rev. 281.

DOCTRINE OF AN INHERENT RIGHT OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT. Howard Lee McBain. 16 Col. L. Rev. 190, 299.

COSMOPOLITAN CUSTOM AND INTERNATIONAL LAW. Frederick Pollock. 29 Harvard L. Rev. 565.

MONTESQUIEU AND SOCIOLOGICAL JURISPRUDENCE. Eugen Ehrlich. 29 Harvard L. Rev. 582.

JUSTICE HOLMES AND THE LAW OF TORTS. John H. Wigmore. 29 Harvard L. Rev. 601.

PLACE OF LOGIC IN THE LAW. Morris R. Cohen. 29 Harvard L. Rev. 622.

EQUITABLE RELIEF AGAINST DEFAMATION AND INJURIES TO PERSONALITY. Roscoe Pound. 29 Harvard L. Rev. 640.

INQUIRY CONCERNING JUSTICE. Floyd R. Mechem. 14 Mich. L. Rev. 361. MICHIGAN JUDICATURE ACT OF 1915. Edson R. Sunderland. 14 Mich. L. Rev. 383.

CHURCH CEMETERIES IN AMERICAN LAW. Carl Zollman. 14 Mich. L. Rev. 391.

CONSEQUENCES OF ACCIDENTS UNDER WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LAWS. P. Tecumseh Sherman. 64 Penn. L. Rev. 417.

NATIONAL DEFENSE: CONSTITUTIONALITY OF PENDING LEGISLATION. Nathan William MacChesney. 64 Penn. L. Rev. 449.

STUDIES OF ENGLISH PROCEDURE. Samuel Rosenbaum. 64 Penn. L. Rev. 472. CONSTITUTIONALITY OF GRADUATED INCOME TAX LAW. Frank W. Hackett. 25 Yale L. Journal 427.

MODEL ACT TO ESTABLISH A COURT FOR A METROPOLITAN DISTRICT. Herbert Harley. 25 Yale L. Journal 443.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN A MALE SUFFRAGE STATE. Epaphroditus Peck. 25 Yale L. Journal 459.

PEW RIGHTS IN AMERICAN LAW. Carl Zollman. 25 Yale L. Journal 467.

LAW REVIEW

Volume XI

JUNE, 1916

Number 2

LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL TENDENCIES IN THE
FIELD OF CRIMINAL LAW.1

BY CHESTER G. VERNIER.2

The indifference of American judges and lawyers to the output of legislative bodies is probably not so great today as it was in 1908, when a well-known writer said: "Not the least notable characteristics of American law today are the excessive output of legislation in all our jurisdictions and the indifference, if not contempt, with which that output is regarded by courts and lawyers." Yet one may still wonder if there be many judges or lawyers who keep fully abreast of the legislative output of even their own state. The writer after an attempt to examine all the laws passed and all the cases decided in 1915, not in the whole field of American law, but. in the field of criminal law only, is inclined to feel that this indifference may be due in part to the inherent difficulty of keeping up with the output.

In the year 1915 some forty-eight American legislative bodies met in special or regular session. An examination of the session laws (excluding special sessions and private laws) discloses that the legislative output varied from 270 printed pages in Wyoming,

1. This article is based in part on a shorter article on "Criminal Law" by the same writer in the American Year Book for 1915, pp. 274-8. Figures in the notes refer in all cases to the pages of the session laws of 1915, unless otherwise indicated. Also where not otherwise indicated a violation of a statute referred to is a misdemeanor. In a few cases the penalty varies with the various sections.

2. Professor of law in the University of Illinois and associate editor of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.

3. Roscoe Pound, "Common Law and Legislation," 21 Harvard Law Review, 383.

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