EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT "The Quest for Error and the Doing of Jus tice," that has been noted in these columns, and recommended by President Roosevelt in his annual message as follows: "No judgment shall be set aside or new trial granted in any case, civil or criminal, on the ground of misdirection of the jury or the im proper admission or rejection of evidence, or for error as to any matter of pleading or procedure unless, in the opinion of the court to which the application is made, after an examination of the entire cause, it shall affirmatively appear that the error complained of has resulted in a miscarriage of justice. "This amendment is similar to a provision which has for more than twenty years been in force in the English Supreme Court of Judica ture. It has worked well there, has greatly diminished the number of new trials, has enabled the Appellate Court to dispose of the causes before it upon the merits, and in this way to do justice more promptly and fully than is possible under a more technical system." Other possible improvements in the revision are noted by Mr. Wheeler, who concludes by urging the profession in general to give the matter the attention its importance deserves. 1
123
SURETYSHIP. "Contracts of Indemnity," by T. F. Martin, Commonwealth Law Review (V. iv, p. 13). TELEGRAPH COMPANIES. A treatise on the law of Telephone and Telegraph Companies, by S. Walter Jones, Vernon Law Book Com pany, Kansas City, 1906. Price $6.00. The author states that this is the first work in which the liabilities of both telephone and telegraph companies have been comparatively analyzed, though there have been earlier works on the law of telegraph companies alone. While the differences in the two subjects are not profound in principle they become important in application, and it is well that the entire law relating to the transmission of intelligence by electricity should be thus collated. The work is elaborate and cites many cases, though not all the decisions on the subject, for we noted the absence of several important Massachusetts cases. The text, however, is in general accu rate and the style is clear. The book will be desired by all lawyers who specialize in this subject. TORTS. " Unsoundness of Mind in Rela tion to Torts," by H. Dean Bamford, Common wealth Law Review (V. iv, p. 3).
