Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 16.pdf/87

 46

Tlic Green Bag.

the merits of the cause in controversy. . . . I trust that the odious principle of imprison ment for debt, either on mesne or final pro cess, (except in cases of evident intended fraud),. . . that relic of the barbar ous ages that has been permitted to remain as a blot on the laws of some of the States, will never be permitted to soil the pages of the statutes of Iowa. . . . The com pilation of a criminal code ... is a subject of deep interest. ... It is one which of late has occupied the attention of some of the greatest statesmen and philanthropists ...; and the general conclusion has been, that sanguinary punishments do not tend to lessen crime, and that the general policy of all criminal laws should be to prevent crimes, rather" than to inflict punishment, and that all punish ments should be inflicted with a view to re form rather than exterminate the criminal. In these opinions I heartily concur, and would wish to see confinement at hard labor, for life, substituted in all cases, in lieu of capital punishment, when suitable prisons for the purpose can be had. . . . Being sensi ble of the deleterious effects of public execu tions, I would recommend . . . providing by law for executing capital punishment (should such punishment be necessary) privately, in the county prison, in the pres ence of the sheriff, and such other persons as the court passing sentence might direct. ... I ... suggest . . . the appoint ment of a committee ... to digest and prepare a complete code of laws. . . . By pursuing this method,. . . our system of jurisprudence will be established upon a firm foundation, peculiarly adapted to the situation, interests, habits, and wants of our citizens." And here, with regret, it is necessary to say farewell to Governor Lucas. There is 'much other matter of the same sort in these volumes, besides glimpses of Indian fighting, of the early practice of carrying concealed weapons, and of the embarrassments caused by the presence of slavery in the neighbor ing State of Missouri. These are, in short,

volumes of great interest and value; and it only remains to say directly, as has already been said by implication, that the result has been well worth the editor's labor and that the labor has been performed with admirable conscientiousness and skill. THE LAW RELATING то TRADE UNIONS. By D. R. Chalmers-Hunt. London: Butterworth & Co. 1902. (xxxiii+309 pp.) The nature and importance of this bookmay be better gathered1 from its sub-title : "A concise treatise on the law governing in terference with trade, with an appendix of statutes relating to trade unions." There are few topics of more timely interest; and be sides being timely this book has the advan tage of being done well. Here are discussed elaborately, and with great acuteness and practical wisdom, the Mogul Case, Allen v. Flood, Quinn v. Leathern, and the whole group of subjects suggested by those famous names. The layman's nine days' wonder, the Taff Vale Railway Case, had not yet reached its last stage when this book went to press; in its earlier stages the case is here treated with the brevity appropriate to its technical unimportance. CYCLOPEDIA OF LAW AND PROCEDURE. Edited by William Mack and Howard P. Nash. Vol. VIII. New York: The Amer ican Law Book Company. 1003. (1145 pp.) The eighth volume of the Cyclopedia covers subjects from "Commercial Paper" to "Con temporaneous," inclusive. The two principal articles are those on "Commercial Paper," by Joseph F. Randolph, author of "A Treatise on the Law of Commercial Paper," and on "Constitutional Law,'1 by George Fox Tucker, formerly Reporter of the Su preme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, and well known as a text-book writer. The other more important subjects treated in this vol ume are "Common Lands," "Common Law," "Composition With Creditors," "Compromise and Settlement," "Consolida tion and Severance of Actions" and "Con spiracy."