EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT 'to the government or administered by govern ment officials, but that every officer, civil or military, must answer for his acts in the com mon law courts, and that every individual or association of individuals has the right to have their legality tried there, and tried there alone. To submit the judgment of the great right of freedom of contract and association to the judgment of an administrative official would be well on the road to the introduction of the whole European system of administrative law and government by bureaucracy. When a man is responsible for his acts or contracts not to legislatures or courts and juries, but to executive officers, you cease to be American and become European, if not Oriental, and when you give up your care for local selfgovernment and your home courts and juries, you are not far from the state of the kingdom of Italy or the Empire of Russia, where a mighty central government stretches its paralyzing hand between 'the laborer and his daily bread, the merchant and his trade, the citizen and his vote." CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. " The United States Supreme Court and the Commercial Era," by John R. Dos Passes. Yale Law Journal (V. xvii, p. 573). A brief examination of the principles of our Constitution, with observations upon the effect which our great commercial era has had upon the development of constitutional law within the last four decades. The judiciary department has tried in that time to perform its full duty of main taining in form and spirit the federation as formed by the original states. But the new commercial era has forced upon it by legislation questions of a commercial and economic character, and the decisions are unsatisfactory, both from their lack of unanimity and from their being decided on technical grounds. The author is of those who do not believe that these questions of trusts, railroads, capital and labor are proper subjects for legislation at all. If they are, their proper handling requires amendments to the Constitution, giving us a centralized power and a paternalism which will crush out the spirit of individual ambition. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (see Labor Ques tion). CORPORATIONS (see Highways).
CRIMINAL LAW. " Criminal Issues in Civil Actions," by William Steers. Canadian
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Law Times and Review (V. xxviii, p. 430)DIVORCE. " Migratory American Divorces — Their International Status — Is a Central Registry Practicable? " by J. Arthur Barratt. Yale Laii' Journal (V. xvii, p. 589). Calling attention to the firmness with which British courts refuse to recognize divorces where there has been no bona fide domicile in the state granting the decree, and briefly summarizing the points that have been decided. The author offers the following practical suggestion to remove serious difficulties now experienced in ascertaining the marital status of parties: "(i) That all matrimonial decrees (divorce, nullity, or separation) should be recorded, not only in the office of the clerk of the county where the judgment was rendered, but also in the office of the secretary of state of the state in which such 'county is situated; and that it is also desirable that a copy of the complaint and the •summons or writ should be filed in such secretary of state's office immediately after service. (2) All such matrimonial actions should be under the supervision of the attorneygenera! of the state and his assistants, who would be able to intervene in cases of fraud, in much the same way that the king's proctor in England may intervene, and of his own motion take steps to prevent the decree nisi being made final in the states where decrees nisi are granted. It would also be well if he had power to ascertain whether the necessary jurisdictional facts (e.g. bona fide domicile) existed before allowing the action to proceed. (3) The creation at Washington, or some central place, of a central registry for the recording of all such matrimonial decrees throughout the United States — to be done at the expense of the several states agreeing to use such registry." X ETHICS. " The American Bar Association's Proposed Code and Oath," by William A. Purrington. Bench and Bar (V. xiii, p. 98). EVIDENCE. " Examinations Before TrialMost Recent Cases," by Raymond D. Thurber. Bench and Bar (V. xiii, p. in). HIGHWAYS. " The Corporation in the Street," by Charles L. Dibble. Michigan Law Review (V. vi, p. 624). The first part of this paper treats of the corporation and the
