EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT the common law rule generally followed in America by which the wife's property escapes liability for household debts including the cost of her own food and clothing. " Fines were levied in proportion to the wealth of the offender, and the fees of all occupations were similarly regulated. In concluding, he says: "But one cannot review the entire code, section by section. A body of statute law that contains many enact ments of the highest wisdom and equity only in part touched upon here; that distinguished through the lens of testamentary jurisprudence the difference between a gift and an advance ment; that permitted the creation by will of a power of appointment; that adorned the law of evidence with statutes of frauds and per juries; that softened the relation of landlord and tenant with an abatement of rent when storm or drouth destroyed the crop — a conces sion whose legal assurance is unknown in Amer ica; that would not suffer a distress for rent on warehoused goods; or on the means of liveli hood; and that embodied its high jurispru dence in sure and permanent form at the dawn of history as a full precedent of civil justice for the guidance of innumerable gener ations of mankind, must excite our lasting ad miration and gratitude." MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS (Constitutional Law. Special Legislation) Ax interesting examination of the confusion in the law of municipal corporations, intro duced by the modern constitutional prohibi tions of special legislation, is published in the June Harvard Law Review (V. xviii, p. 588) entitled, "Special Legislation for Municipal ities," by Harry Hubbard. The author de scribes the devices by which legislatures construct general classifications which will
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include only a special city. These are usually based on population. • Some states hold that, "A classification according to population is valid which treats alike all cities which now have or hereafter may have a certain population. The pro vision which makes such legislation apply to all cities which hereafter may have the prescribed population, is supposed to relieve it from any objection. It matters not that the cities may not actually grow to have such a population; the mere possibility of such growth is suffici ent. " He objects to this as "a classification of mere possibilities," and because any classi fication by population ' ' is necessarily arbi trary." "Some courts, in attempting to find a prin ciple on which to ground their review of legis lative classification, have announced the rule that this classification must be germane to the purpose of the legislation. " . . . "The courts state that this is a rule which the legislature ought to follow and they will themselves look into the question of the necessity and pro priety of a statute. There are at least two objections to this: First, it is not a proper function of a court to determine what legis lation is necessary or proper; that is emphati cally the function of the legislature; second, it is impossible as a matter of practice for the legislature to conform to any such rule." After describing other devices to evade these restrictions which are productive of equal confusion, the author then pays his respects to "the idealists," who are responsible for these constitutional provisions and indorses a re turn to frank special legislation. WILLS (Construction. Legacies to Servants) IN the Canada Law Journal (V. xvii, p. 425) C. B. Labatt publishes a brief treatise on the law of "Legacies to Servants. "
