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THE GREEN BAG
"If a member of one tribe killed a member of another tribe, no distinction being made whether it was willful or otherwise, the heirs or chief of the tribe of the deceased were entitled to demand that the offender might be given up to them to suffer death. But the matter might be compounded by payment of a fine or compensation amounting to a hundred camels. If the two tribes happened to be at amity with each other, and the person accused denied the charge, then on a number of men belonging to his tribe pledging their oaths to his innocence the matter would be dropped." LABOR LITIGATION. " When, if at all, does the law impose liability for preventing the formation, or causing the termination, of business relations, in cases where no breach of contract is involved, and where the methods used do not include defamation, fraud, or force, or reasonable apprehension of force? What constitutes actionable interference with the right to form or maintain business relations?" Under the title " Crucial Issues in Labor Litigation," Professor Jeremiah Smith con siders some of the points arising under the above question in the February Harvard Law Review (V. xx, p. 253). The article, which is to be continued, is the first of a series to be contributed to that review this spring by members of the faculty of the Harvard Law School in tribute to the memory of Professor Langdell. Like all of Professor Smith's work, it is characterized by exact definition and subdivision. Adequate treat ment of the many points taken up is impossible within the space allowed this department, and the best service that it can do its readers is to assure them that this is an article of the highest value in its special and very important line. LANDLORD AND TENANT. " Some Ob servations on the Duration of Oil and Natural Gas Leases," by Sumner Kenner, Central Law Journal (V. lxiv, p. 89). LEGAL ETHICS. " The American Lawyer — As He Was — As He Is — As He Can Be," by John R. Dos Passos, Banks Law Publishing Company, New York, 1907. This is a striking criticism of the profession of to-day by one who knows. He emphasizes the change in social position held by the lawyer arising
from the economic changes that have followed the Civil War. He also shows that these changes are not confined to law but will also be found in the press, the stage, and in litera ture. The author considers the failure to teach legal ethics as a defect in our present system of legal education. He then proceeds to define the duties of the lawyer in his various functions, and suggests specific remedies for the defects he criticises. The reader is unlikely to approve of all the remedies suggested, but they deserve our serious consideration. LEGAL ETHICS. The address of Henry Wade Rogers, on " Legal Ethics," delivered before the graduating class of the Albany Law School last year is printed in the Yale Law Journal for February (V. xvi, p. 225). Dean Rogers regrets that a code of legal ethics has never been formulated by the American Bar Association. He says: "A code of medical ethics was adopted a number of years ago by the medical profession in the United States, acting through its national organization. I shall not venture to explain why the lawyers of the United States have failed to act in a matter of this importance. It is not to the credit of the legal profession that it has been in this respect so much behind the medical profession. Action has, however, recently been taken by a few of the states. A code of legal ethics was adopted in 1898 by the Bar Association of Colorado. And in 1903 the Kentucky State Bar Association did likewise. It is possible that similar action may have been taken in other states. I wish it might be done in all the states and by the American Bar Associa tion as well. I am sure that such action would prove helpful to the profession throughout the country. I cannot yield assent to the proposition that it is better that rules of conduct should not be reduced to exact detail lest the spirit be cramped in the letter. The men of light and leading who do not stand in need of any written code will not permit themselves to be cramped by the letter of it, and those whose conscience is less sensitive and whose ideas of professional honor are not so clear and strong as they might be are likely to find themselves considerably helped by it. Law has in every community an educative force. And a code of legal ethics
