EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT perform it by an agent. An agent can cross a physical barrier, but not one which exists in legal theory. "It is possible to say of the personality of a corporation that, although it does not come into existence until there has been a concession from the sovereign authority, yet once the concession has been made, it has an objective existence of its own, apart from the con tinued exercise of the will of the sovereign authority; and this is a view which has found favor in France. But in that case it is not a personality which is conceded, but recognition of a personality, and concession is thus re duced to a formality akin to registration in the sense in which a motor car is registered, and the fiction theory is implicitly abandoned in favor of a view which is indistinguishable from the realistic view, that ' within its own sphere and for its own purposes the artificial identity of a corporation is just as real as any other identity.'" The author concludes that: "We must, in short, have many fictions or none. The theory of a fictitious personality applied to the status of migrating corporations leads to conclusions which are in conflict with common opinion and common sense, and, if we reject them, we are accepting the theory of a real personality." CORPORATIONS (Stocks). A recent New Jersey decision is analyzed by H. S. Richards in the May Michigan Law Review (V. iv, p. 526) under the title of " Exchange of Stock for Capitalized Profits." In this case a trust was formed by combining existing corporations and issuing stock to a promoter who distributed it to the vendors. Stock was also given as a bonus on the sale of bonds. "The court ruled that all the defendants who received stock as a bonus or received it through Stein under the promoters' agree ment were liable for the par value of the stock or so much thereof as should be found necessary to meet outstanding obligations of the corporation. All holders of stock who came in on the ground floor, that is, who received stock as a bonus with the bonds purchased, are treated as standing in the same position as original subscribers for stock." The rule as to bonus stock had been pre
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viously settled. While allowed in a reorgan ization for the purpose of rehabilitation of capital, such a bonus cannot be given with a bond issued on the original incorporation. The important part of the case, however, is the refusal to permit property conveyed tor stock to be valued on the basis of future earning power. The court held that the good will of the existing plants was covered by the terms of the original options and that the combined business had no good will as yet. The author concludes as follows: "The rule forbidding the capitalization of speculative profits does not in the least inter fere with legitimate enterprise or prevent the sale of incorporeal rights or good will. It does not in reality question the good faith rule generally accepted. It is in substance an application of that rule stated in a different form." CORPORATIONS (see Municipal Corpo rations). CRIMINAL LAW. " The Doctrine of Pre vious Jeopardy," by G. W. Payne, Central Law Journal (V. Ixii, p. 295). CRIMINAL LAW. " The Prevalence of Perjury," by Hon. Judge Wallace, Canada Law Journal (V. xlii, p. 255). CRIMINAL LAW. "Criminal Anthro pology," by W. P. Archibald, Canadian Law Review (V. v, p. 201). CRIMINAL LAW. "The Bearing of Custom upon the Question of what is ' Mis take of Law,' and what is ' Mistake of Fact,'" by Herbert J. Adams, Central Law Journal (V. Ixii, p. 360). CRIMINAL LAW (Insanity). In the May Law Magazine and Review (V. xxxi, p. 315), "Criminal Responsibility," a criticism of a recent work on that subject by Charles Mercier, is published by A. M. Rickett. Mr. Mercier concluded " that justice will be done if the test is satisfied that they (i.e., the insane) did not know the nature and quality of the act, and that it was wrong; provided that this know ledge includes knowledge and appreciation of the circumstances in which the act was done; and provided also it is held in mind that know ledge is a matter of degree, and that a person
