HISTORY REVERSING ITSELF.-We note that the Mayor of Boston has appointed one John Sullivan to succeed one J. J. Corbett as the head of the law department of the city. It is not so long ago, if we remember correctly, that one Corbett replaced one Sullivan as the head of the fistic department of the country. A BUMP FOR BUMP.-In Tate v. Sanders, 245 Mo. 211, the court says: "The main cause of all the disagreement on this question is section 626 of Bump on Fraudulent Conveyances, which is as follows [quoting the section]. Then follows a long list of citations, many of which are in direct opposition to the text." APPROPRIATE.-In each of the following cases, the controversy was with respect to the custody of a child: In re Ah Gway, 2 Brit. Col. 343; Re Smart Infants, 11 Ont. Pr. 482; Beall v Bibb, 19 App. Cas. (D. C.) 311; People v. Small, 142 Ill. App. 422; Child v. Dodd, 51 Ind. 484; Anderson v. Young, 54 S. Car. 388. A MAN'S DUTY AS TO WHISKY.-Says Mr. Justice Langford in Northern Pacific R. Co. v. Whalen, 3 Wash. Terr. 461: "Selling the whisky does not necessarily make any man drunk. If the man who buys it performs his duty, it will not make him drunk; indeed, if he uses it properly it may do him good —at least will not make him drunk." What is a man's duty when he buys whisky? Perhaps some of our readers can enlighten us. SPOONS. Spooning is not generally classed as a dangerous occupation, even when carried on by two persons of opposite sex. In mining operations, however, where a workman is occasionally required to go exploring with an instrument known as a "spoon" for an unexploded charge of dynamite, the rule seems to find its exception. Of such spooning was Judge Lamm thinking when he rid his system of the following remarks: "There is some divergence in the testimony about the length of the particular spoon used by the respondent in a way presently to be stated, but the length of that particular spoon handle is immaterial, though it is the personal view of the writer that one who handles dynamite with a spoon needs one with a long handle the longer the better. If authority is necessary for this judicial dictum, it may be found in the Danish proverb to the effect that he who eats out of the same dish with the devil needs a long spoon." See Knorpp v. Wagner, 195 Mo. 650. CONCERNING PRECEDENTS.-"The argument of counsel against these precedents of the Supreme Court, while vehement, is gracious. His expressions of veneration for the judges who made these rulings are abundant; his attack upon the decisions themselves unsparing. For example, he says, 'With profoundest respect for Georgia's chief judiciary, and with veneration and fond recollections of having known and loved some of the former judiciary (than whom no State can boast of abler jurists or better men), the plaintiff questions their former rulings; also observing that nature lent them, as us, lame Reason's lamp, instead of unerring intuition, to light the way of truth in theirs, now our little nursery.' Somehow, this brings to our mind an episode narrated of the memorable Jack Falstaff: 'Falstaff: Sirrah, what says the doctor to my water? Page: PATENTS Business from non-resident attorneys especially solicited. Highest references; best services. Counsel having clients who wish to patent inventions are invited to write for full particulars and information. WATSON E. COLEMAN, PATENT LAWYER 622 F Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. He said, sir, the water itself was a good healthy water; but, for the party that owed it, he might have more diseases than he knew for.' In this case, however, counsel condemns the water and praises the men who owed it. We can condemn neither. To our minds the decisions are absolutely sound in law and reason." Per Powell, J., in Walker v. Swift Fertilizer Works, 3 Ga. App. 285. WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER.-In Slaughter v. Commonwealth, 149 Ky. 5, wherein the defendant was charged with illegal slaughter and was condemned by the jury to be slaughtered by the state, the proceedings were further enlivened by the following slaughterous argument of the prosecuting attorney: "This defendant's head should be cut off, hung on the end of a pole, and carried through the streets of this city as an example to all others. . . I have always admired Napoleon because he cut off the heads of the Egyptians and stuck their heads on the end of poles and had them carried through the streets. Such punishment is too good for this defendant. It is a dirty shame that the fool legislature passed a law for this new refined way of killing a man. This defendant ought not to be electrocuted. He ought to be taken to the scene of the murder, left there dangling to the end of a rope, on the same spot where Jenkins was murdered. . . . If Gordon Jones had been put on this stand, we would have brought out a story to make your blood run cold. Had he come here and testified, the story he would have told would have made your hair stand on end, like the spikes on a porcupine's back." It may not be amiss to note that a new trial was granted. THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO Go.-The opinion of the Supreme Court of Mississippi in Stafford v. State, 91 Miss. 158, is short but full of meat. Said the court, per Calhoon, J.: "Rosa Stafford was convicted under section 1295, Code 1906, which makes it a penal offense for any one to 'profanely swear or curse in any public place in the presence of two or more persons.' All the facts are that she was twelve years old, and 'accidentally brushed against two other girls, and, upon being soundly abused and upbraided by them for her carelessness, said to them in a public place on a street in the city of Corinth, "Go to hell, you low-down devils."' We cannot invoke the doctrine, 'De minimis non curat lex. The learned judge below, we think, would have been glad to do this; but, under a proper rule of solving doubts of law in favor of the state, he has thrown the tremendous responsibility of adjudication upon us. The language does not violate the statute, since, upon strict construction, which is required of the courts, it lacks any 'imprecation of divine vengeance' and does not 'imply divine condemnation.' . . . There was simply a rude request or order to go to hell, with no necessity to obey, no power to enforce obedience, and no intimation that the irresistible Power had condemned, or was invoked to condemn, them to go to hell. Reversed and remanded." DELAWARE CHARTERS CORPORATIONS ORGANIZED AND REGISTERED New DIGEST of the Law sent free on request Corporation Company of Delaware Law Notes VOL. XVII.] Entered at the Post-office at Northport, N. Y., as second-class matter. Copyright, 1913, by Edward Thompson Co. [No. 1. Issued Monthly. par ururances. In the case of City of Paris v. Hinton ments imposed by virtue of mune et al., 132 Ky. 684, 116 S. W. 1197, 19 Am. & Eng. Ann. Cas. 114, and note, is found the best discussion of this subject that we have been able to find. It is held in the above case, citing numerous authorities, that the has no authority t In the note to Johnson v. State, 15 Am. & Eng. Ann. Cases (Ark.) 531, appears the following quotation from Roberts v. Roberts, 115 Ga. 259: "The reasons at the foundation of the rule, which forbid a juror from 89 S. Car. 249 100 MISS 785 & Eng. Ann. Cas. 526; and Winsor said in a note to Succession of Roder, 15 Am. & Eng. Ann. Cas. Dental Association, 13 R. I. 149. This view is 526, 531, to be in accordance with the weight of authority, and we think that it is the sounder view. stablished by the judgment." On this of the Trenor a subject, see the exhaustive note and collation of authorities in Crawford v. Tilden, 13 Ont. L. Rep. 169, at page 269 of 7 Am. & Eng. Ann. Cas. Although it is important 59Ore.242 212 Mass. 314 ndered in the disposition of the 112 Va. The AMERICAN AND ENGLISH ANNOTATED CASES are constantly cited and quoted from by the Courts in their opinions. The judges are using these books in deciding your cases. Are you using them in preparing your briefs? 26 volumes are now ready. Price $5.00 per volume. The installment terms are particularly liberal. EDWARD THOMPSON COMPANY, Publishers, NORTHPORT, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK A Necessary Equipment E VERY lawyer whose practice ranges wide enough to be called general and active should have on his office shelves the statutes of the United States. The federal government has for years been expanding its activities, and the importance of its legislation cannot be overestimated. These statutes should be an unabridged compilation of the public, permanent and general acts passed by Congress, grouped under topics, bringing all related acts together. They should show all amendments and repeals and give the history of each provision. The repealed and superseded acts should be set out for purposes of comparison. They should be accompanied by an exhaustive treatise upon the Canons of Construction of federal statutes in general, devoting special attention to those rules which have arisen out of peculiarities of federal legislation and administration. They should be indexed with the greatest care, and should be provided with tables showing where each section of the Revised Statutes and all the supplemental acts are placed. Above all, these statutes should be annotated by setting forth what the courts have ruled and said concerning them, because it is impossible to understand a statute unless you know what the courts have said concerning it. These notes should refer to every case which construes an act of Congress. Since the Constitution is the greatest statute, this set of books should do what has never been done before-print under each article and section of that instrument the holding of every decision which has passed upon it. FEDERAL STATUTES, ANNOTATED provides this neces- EDWARD THOMPSON COMPANY, Publishers NORTHPORT, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK ENCYCLOPEDIA OF UNITED STATES U.S.E. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ELEVEN VOLUMES, BUCKRAM BINDING, $66.00 DELIVERED Incomparably the most exhaustive digest of the United States Reports. The logical and analytical treatment adds greatly to its superiority. The most authoritative encyclopedia of law. The first work to consult after the State Digest. A satisfactory substitute for the United States Reports. No other work can be compared with this encyclopedia as a comprehen sive treatment of the practice in the United States Courts. OF GREAT VALUE TO LAWYERS PRACTICING IN STATE COURTS It has sometimes been urged by lawyers unacquainted with its scope that, as they have no practice in the Federal Courts, they have no use for the Encyclopedia of United States Supreme Court Reports. Nothing could be more fallacious than this argument. There are few points of law that have not at one time or another been considered by the Supreme Court; and when the Supreme Court has determined a point, what higher authority can be obtained on that point? Take, for example, the articles in the first volume of U. S. E. There are only two that can be said to be devoted to practice in the United States Courts-viz., Admiralty, 85 pages, and Ambassadors and Consuls, 15-100 out of 1064 pages. The other 964 pages treat of matters which arise daily in any lawyer's practice, such as Abatement, Revival and Survival; Accession, Accretion and Reliction; Accident Insurance; Accomplices and Accessories; Accord and Satisfaction; Accounts and Accounting; Acknowledgments; Alteration of Instruments; Amendments; Animals; Appeal and Error; etc. THE MICHIE COMPANY, LAW PUBLISHERS, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. The Court's Appreciation is Shown on the First Page of the Cover of this Magazine NOW READ A FEW OBSERVATIONS BY THE PRACTITIONER: The AMERICAN AND ENGLISH ANNOTATED CASES EDWARD THOMPSON COMPANY PUBLISHERS NORTHPORT, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK |