Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 13.pdf/68

 Rh

PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT 54.00 PER ANNUM.

SINGLE NUMBERS 50 CENTS.

Communications in regard to the contents of the Magazine should be addressed to the Editor, THOS. TILESTON BALDWIN, 1038 Exchange Building, Boston, Mass. The Editor will be glad to receive contributions of articles of moderate length upon subjects of in terest to /he profession; also anything in the way of legal antiquities or curiosities, facetite^ anecdotes, etc.

THE GREEN BAG regrets much the retirement of Mr. Fuller from the editorial chair, after twelve years of faithful service. His welltrained legal mind, his excellent literary taste and judgment, his sense of humor, and his large and pleasant acquaintance among the men of his profession, have all been important factors in the success which has attended his work. Mr. Fuller had both the good fortune and the responsibility of taking editorial charge at the start, and of carrying out on original lines the attractive, but untried, plan of publishing a magazine devoted to the lighter side of the law. He has worked out this interesting experiment, shaping the course of the magazine with rare good judgment; and it is a pleasure to make hearty acknowledgment in the editorial columns of the important part which Mr. Fuller's work has taken in bringing about the success of THE GREEX BAG. How successful he has been in his task of giving to the profession an enter taining and readable magazine, a glance through the files will show. THE policy of THE GREEN BAG, under its new editor, will continue to be the same, essentially, as it has been in the past. The deeper and more serious problems of the law are dealt with in admirable ways by many contemporary legal magazines and journals. Their province it is to aid the lawyer directly in his work : while our aim is to provide a magazine which shall be of interest to the intelligent lawyer in his leisure moments. We bespeak the help of the members of the profession in accomplishing this purpose; for while it is true that most of the time and the energy of the lawyer in active practice must be given, of necessity and rightly, to his pro fessional work, it is equally true that many members of the bar (even some of its busiest

members) have the inclination, and, in some way, do find the time, for labor in the wide field of what may be called light legal literature. That is the field which this magazine aims to cover; and we beg our brethren at the bar to bear THE GREEN BAG in mind when they have ripe for publication any article, of a not too heavy or technical nature, which would prove of interest to other lawyers. Then, too, there are always current a goodly number of bon mois, witty stories and interesting anecdotes, which, for the credit and the gayety of the profession, should be preserved; to say nothing of the genuine historic value which attaches, oftentimes, to anecdotes of the leaders of the bench and bar. No] one person, not even THE GREEN BAR, can hear, remember, or invent more than a very small number of such sayings, stories or anecdotes — though the seemingly inexhaustible supply of them kept on tap by some of our witty afterdinner speakers seems to disprove this state ment; but if each of our readers, when one of these good things comes his way, will capture it, put it on paper, and send it to THE GREEN BAG, its editor and its readers will rise up and call him blessed. THE question of the punishment and the reformation of persons committing minor of fences is a perennial source of discussion in our State legislatures and among students of penology. There are indications, too, of an increasing public interest in this question. The present methods, varying in different States, of dealing with this problem, are nowhere pro ducing very encouraging results; and there is a widespread doubt as to whether, in lessening the severe punishments inflicted not many years ago for this class of offences, we have not gone too far, swayed by misdirected sentiment, to the detriment not only of the community, but of the law-breaker himself. An interesting and brief discussion of this question is to be found in a report made a few months ago to the New Haven Congregational Club, by a committee of