Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 13.pdf/121

This page needs to be proofread.
96.
The Green Bag.

Richmond, Va. : Mr. Justice Horace Gray, of the United States Supreme Court. Parkersburg, W. Va. : Mr. Justice Brown, of the United States Supreme Court. Nashville, Term. : Judge Horace Lurton. Charleston, S. C. : Hon. Charles H. Simonton, of the United States Court. New Orleans, La. : Hon. Joseph P. Blair. Cleveland, Ohio : Prof. Hampton L. Carson, of the University of Pennsylvania. Cincinnati, Ohio : Judge John F. Follett. Columbus, Ohio : Mr. Chief Justice Shauck, of the Ohio Supreme Court. Chicago, Ill. : Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge, United States Senator from Massachusetts. Bloomington, Ill. : Hon. Isaac Phillips. Springfield, Ill. : Hon. William Lindsay, United States Senator from Kentucky . Indianapolis, Ind. : Hon. John C. Black. Iowa City, la. : Hon. John M. Baldwin. Detroit, Mich. : Hon. Luther Laflin Mills. Milwaukee, XVis. : Hon. Neal Brown. St. Louis, Mo.: Mr. Justice Thayer, of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. Yankton, So. Dak. : Hon. Bartlett Tripp. Cheyenne, Wyo.: Mr. Chief Justice Potter. Manchester, N. H.; Prof. Jeremiah Smith, of Harvard University; Mr. Justice Edgar Aldrich, of the United States Court; Mr. Justice Wallace, of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire.

THE sentiment which undoubtedly exists in many quarters in favor of the revival of whip ping as a punishment for certain offences may find support in the provision in the new crim inal code of Canada which allows flogging in the case of burglars found in the possession of weapons of offence. " Formerly," as the Even ing Post points out, " this penalty might be applied when robbery was attended by vio lence; now it is extended to cases in which intended violence is to be presumed. The pen alty is aimed particularly against the tramps who infest the country. For these gentry mere imprisonment is no deterrent to theft and vio lence. It is believed, however, that they value their skins, and that their moral natures may best be reached through their epidermises." The same reasoning applies to an appalling number of brutal and ruffianly crimes which

come constantly before the courts; for example, cases of rape in which the victim is a child of tender years. Or take a recent case in which it appeared that the prisoner had been impris oned several times for assaulting his wife, in one of which assaults her jaw was broken, and that it was his practice to beat her each time he came out of jail after serving a sentence for maltreating her. In a case like this it is anabsurdity to fear that whipping might have a brutalizing effect on the offender. Nor could it have such an effect on the public, if the flog ging were administered in private. Clearly imprisonment had no deterrent effect. But the fear of sharp bodily pain might be effectual; and if, as we believe, it would have a restraining influence, we can see no reason why the threat of corporal punishment should not be held over the ruffian class in the community.

WITH the new year comes the first number of the Columbia Law Rei'teiy, published by the law students of Columbia University. It is a pleasure to welcome the new-comer in the field in which the Harvard Law Review, for nearly fifteen years, has done remarkably good work; and if the initial number is the forerunner of later numbers equally good, the new review has already justified its existence. The leading article is by Professor Keener, who considers the question of " The Burden of Loss as an Incident of the Right to the Specific Perform ance of a Contract," and reaches the conclusion that, in cases where equity -will decree specific performance of a contract for the conveyance of real estate, payment for which is to be made at the time of conveyance or subsequently, the loss should fall on the vendee. This is in accord with the English decisions and those in a major ity of the American States, but in disagreement with Professor Langdell and the courts of Mas sachusetts and Maine. Sir Frederick Pollock contributes an interesting and scholarly article on " The History of the Law of Nature," in which he traces its development from the conception of the Roman jurists down to the foundation of the modern Law of Nations by Grotius, and shows, too, that it is to be found even in the common law. The remaining article is by Edward B. Whitney, who discusses