Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 25.pdf/250

This page needs to be proofread.

Index to Periodicals "From the standpoint of international rela tions and the position of the United States, as a leader in the cause of amicable relations between the nations, it is hoped that the Supreme Court will take a broad view of these questions un affected by any doctrine of state rights which, where international considerations arc con cerned, should not be allowed to play a role which may cripple the efficiency of our National Gov ernment and tend to isolate us in the family of nations." Contingent Remainders. See Perpetuities. Contracts. "The Rescission of Executory Contracts for Partial Failure in Performance, II." By C. B. Morison. 29 Law Quarterly Re view 61 (Jan.). Continued from 28 L. Q. Rev. 398 (see 24 Green Bag 562). "An absolute refusal to perform is no more than an offer to rescind, though is it sometimes called 'anticipatory breach.' If the offer to rescind is accepted, the contract isrescinded. In cases of repudiation the intention of the default ing contractor is all-important. In cases of actual breach of sufficient importance to justify rescission, the intention of the party in default is quite immaterial, as the question is: Does the breach amount to a sufficient failure of con sideration to justify rescission? It may be that an actual breach sufficient to warrant rescission is not only involuntary, but has occurred in spite of every effort of the party committing it to fulfil his promise." "The Doctrine of Consideration." By Clar ence D. Ashley. 26 Harvard Law Review 429 (Mar.). "After all these years of discussion and adjudi cation, well-trained lawyers are still in doubt as to fundamental questions concerning considera tion. There is not even a full agreement as to what it is. I believe that an able judge might, by an authoritative statement, overrule the entire doctrine, and declare that the commonjaw rule of consideration is not now enforced." See Legal History. Courts. See Commerce Court, Social Legis lation. Criminal Law. See Legal History. Direct Government. " 'People's Rule' on Trial — The Oregon Election, November 5, 1912." By G. H. Haynes. Political Science Quarterly, v. 28, p. 18 (Mar.). "The data clearly indicate that the greater the number of measures upon the ballot, the smaller the proportion that will be approved. This probably results both from the relatively slight importance of some of the measures and from the increasing fatigue and decreasing attention of the voter. An initiative measure stands little chance of enactment unless it is a very brief proposal of a single, simple change in exist ing law. The voters are showing a canny wariness as to involved schemes for the radical

233

'reform' of their system of government, sub mitted for their yes or no." "A Teutonic Institution Revived." By John D. Shafer. 22 Yale Law Journal 398 (Mar.). "Let the people resume the privilege of deter mining directly and in their own persons what they will do or have done, as their ancestors did long ago. The referendum is therefore not a transitory invention of doctrinaires, but a practical, long tried institution, about to be brought back to us on the tide of time." Election Laws. "The Rotten Boroughs of New England." By Chester Lloyd Jones. North American Review, v. 197, p. 488 (Apr.). It will surprise many to learn that anything like the rotten borough system of British par liamentary representation exists in this countryYet a competent expert in political science can point out these conditions: — "Suppose an undeveloped state, such as Illi nois was in 1850, had guaranteed to every town or county a fixed representation in the legisla ture and suppose that these towns, jealous of their rights, refused to give up their 'sacred constitutional right of representation.' If this had been done perhaps some little frontier settle ment which has since been left on one side as a piece of driftwood, untouched by the inflow of population, would now outvote Chicago. That would be un-American, but cases of that nature are not unknown in America. "Nine states are today bound by constitutions which protect just such a situation as this. The worst examples are in New England, where with the exception of Massachusetts not a single commonwealth is established on a true popular basis of representation. Except in Massachu setts, every New England state bases its repre sentation in some degree on localities instead of voting strength. The districts to which rep resentatives have been allotted have changed in population, but the constitutions have not changed. The governments have lost their democratic character and have become in some cases extreme examples of governments by the few — little twentieth-century oligarchies. "The result is not explained by any growth of bossism. This oligarchy is one established by the constitutions, not by parties. How does it all come about?" Evidence. "Declarations in the Course of Duty — Herein of Refreshing Recollection." By A. N. Whitlock. 11 Michigan Law Review 376 (Mar.). The doctrine of declarations in the course of duty receives a logical exposition and Dean Wigmore's extension of that doctrine and of the doctrine of refreshing recollection is cited with approval. Extraterritoriality. See Conflict of Laws. Federal and State Powers. "The Exercise of Federal Authority over Interstate Commerce as a Police Power." By William C. Woodward. 1 Georgetown Law Journal 129 (Mar.).