20s
The Green Bag
Trust Funds. “Some Considerations Con cerning Investments by Trustees." By Frank G. McKinney.
24 Bench and Bar 57 (Feb.).
"The fact that the creator of the trust was in the habit of investing in certain unauthorized securities does not warrant the trustee in con tinuing thou investments and in claiming pro tection from loss for that reason." The subject is discussed from the point of view, chiefly, of New York law. Uniformity of Law. "The Relation of Judi cial Procedure to Uniformity of Law." By Thomas W. Shelton. 72 Central Law Journal 114
(Feb. 17). "If it be necessary for uniformity, why cannot the Judges or the presiding Jud es, of the different State A pellate Courts exc an e views when a new uni orm statute is enact
and, if
they fail to agree upon its meaning, let the majority rule? A congress of Courts, I venture to suggest, is within the spirit of uniformity. It is no impugnment upon the dignity nor a breach of the ethics of courts to confer together. It is no sacrifice of states’ rights but is an advan tage to state interests." Workmen's Compensation. "Social Insur ance." By Alpheus H. Snow. 59 Univ. of Pa. Law Review 283 (Feb.).
The writer assumes-and it is doubtful whether he will be generall u held in this contention — that employer's iabi ity and work men's compensation acts depriving the employer of his common law defenses are really an exercise of the taxing power, rather than of the general police power.
of the German system and outlines their practical application.
As such, he says, they must be
treated as parts of a general scheme of social insurance, and the question for the courts is whether they are a valid exercise of the taxing power "for a public purpose." The writer does not oppose such statutes, but he does think that they should be framed only in accordance with fundamental principles of social insurance. ' In this connection, we would like to call attention to the article following Mr. Snow's in the same review, on Rylands v. Fletcher.
If
the law of negligence is to be changed so as to deprive the employer of existing defenses, the state may change it without creating a form of liabilit which is radically differentiated from the lia ility in tort at common law, merely be cause it is not the old liability for damage due to negligence. There is something analogous in the ca ing on of a hazardous business which may en anger workmen and in the keeping on one’s premises of dangerous substances which may escape and do harm. No real violence to the principles underlying the common law is done by a workmen's compensation act. It is unnecessary, to justify such a statute, to resort to any theory of the valid exercise of the taxing power. (See under Tort, p. 207 supra.) "German System of Compensating Disabled Workmen." By Ralph M. Busser. 68Legal In telligencer (Philadelphia) 117 (Feb. 24). The writer, who is American consul at Erfurt, Germany, succinctly states the chief principles
Miscellaneous Articles of lnleresl lo the Legal Profession Banking. "The Masters of Capital in America-The Standard Oil Company, Bank ers." By John Moody and George Kibbe Turner. McClure’r, v. 36, p. 564 (Mar.). Dealing with the growth of the financial power of the Standard Oil Company during the past fifteen years, during which, by using their great capital in varied and ingenious ways, these men have dually centralized and increased the contro of ready resources, till this power has become a formidable one "menacing, in many minds, the whole present organization of soci ety." Biography. "A Law Student's Recollection of Abraham Lincoln." By Jesse W. Weik. Out look, v. 97, p. 311 (Feb. 11).
The author was joint author with W. H. Hemdon, Lincoln's law partner, of a Life of Abraham Lincoln. Business Methods. “The Awakening of the American Business Man." By Will Irwin. Cen fury, v. 81, p. 689 (Mar.). Setting forth the principles of “efficiency engineering," which were recently made the basis of Mr. Brandeis's argument that the railways could reduce expenses; the introduction of these methods means the beginning of "a new move ment in American industry." Detection of Crime. "Great Cases of Detec tive Burns: The Monroe-Head Counterfeit." By Dana Catlin.
McClure's, v. 36, p. 542 (Mar.).
Detective Burns here tells of the wonderful ingenuity of Taylor and Bredell in circulating
counterfeit money while they were in prison, and of the methods he used to break into the counterfeiter's workshop. Express Monopoly. "The Great Express Monopoly, II." By Albert W. Atwood. Ameri can Magazine, v. 71, p. 620 (Mar.). Treating mainly of the Adams and American Express companies, which dominate the trans portation system of New England and exercise great power in other sections. Fiction. “Dabchirr v. Tiem." By “Niger." 46 National Review 1031 (Feb.). A very amusing story, racily and slangily told, of a ridiculous dispute between two natives
of Northern Nigeria, over the ownership of a horse which is really the property of neither. The Assistant Resident nonsuits the complainant and directs that the horse be brought into court, only to find that the animal died ‘at the end of last rains." Lawyers. "The Lawyer: Our Old Man of the Sea, III." By Ignotus. Westminster Review, v. 175, p. 73 (Jan.).
