Notes of Recent Cases, duty as a citizen, and a more laudable ambi tion in life than when he entered. The no blest ideals of moral character are found in the Bible. To emulate these is the supreme conception of citizenship. It could not, therefore, have been the intention of the framers of our Constitution to impose the duty upon the Legislature of establishing a system of common schools where morals were to be inculcated and exclude therefrom the lives of those persons who possessed the highest moral attainments. The court adds that the evidence shows that the teacher made no effort to inculcate any religious dogma. She repeated the Lord's Prayer and the Twenty-third Psalm without response, comment or remark. The pupils who desired gave their attention and took part; those who did not were at liberty to follow the wanderings of their own imagination.
SECRET SOCIETY. (INITIATION OF MEMBERPERSONAL INJURY — LIABILITY OF ORDER.) UNITED STATES CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS, FIFTH CIRCUIT.
Jumper v. Sovereign Camp Woodmen of the World, 127 Federal Reporter 635, was a suit by one personally injured in an initia tion into a local lodge of the defendant order. The portion of the initiation which resulted disastrously was not prescribed by the ritual or authorized by the Sovereign Camp. It was nevertheless participated in by the lodge members during a regular ses sion, and, under the authority of Kinver v. Phoenix Lodge, I. O. O. F., 7 Ontario Re ports, Q. B. Division 377, would be the act of the lodge itself. In that case, however, the action was against the local lodge, while in State, v. Williams, 75 X. C. 134 the mem bers of the local lodge were prosecuted for an assault. The present case failed because plaintiff did not adequately show that the Sovereign Camp and the local lodge sus tained towards each other any such rela tionship of master and servant or principal and agent as rendered the Sovereign Cam]) responsible. The authority to collect dues was not regarded as creating such an agency.
571
STATUTE OF FOREIGN COUNTRY. (EVIDENCE THEREOF—TRANSLATION — DEPOSITION OF LAW YER OF SUCH COUNTRY RESPECTING CONSTRUC TION OF STATUTE.)
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT. In Slater v. Mexican Nat. Railroad Co., 24 Supreme Court Reporter, 581, the ques tion as to the admissibility of the deposition of a lawyer of a foreign country respecting the accepted or proper construction of a statute of such country was determined. It was contended that as an agreed transla tion of statutes of a foreign country was in evidence, the deposition of a lawyer of such country as to the construction of the statutes was not admissible, the translation being the best evidence. The court says that the translation was no doubt the best evidence so far as it went, but the testimony of an expert as to the accepted or proper construc tion of the statutes was admissible upon any matter open to reasonable doubt. With only the bare statutes before the court, many doubts were left unresolved. A solution of them could be furnished by a deposition of я lawyer as to the accepted and proper con struction of the statutes. TENANTS IN COMMON. (EFFECT OF JUDGMENT OBTAINED BY ONE OF THE CO-TENANTS SETTING ASIDE A DEED EXECUTED BY A COMMON AN CESTOR.)
SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROUNA. Allred v. Smith, 47 Southeastern Repor ter, 597, was a partition proceeding. In this case the question was raised whether cotenants could take advantage of a judgment obtained by one of them setting aside a deed by their common ancestor for want of men tal capacity on her part to execute it. The court says it is well settled that tenants in common are' not privies. They do not claim under each other, but may claim their several titles and interests from entirely different sources. They are therefore not bound by judgments rendered in actions brought by one of their co-tenants respecting the com mon property, and this is illustrated by the cases in which it is held that they are compe tent witnesses for their co-tenant. The court distinguishes this case from those in which
