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 EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

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CURRENT LEGAL LITERATURE This department is designed to call attention to the articles in all the leading legal periodicals of the preceding month and to new law books sent us for review.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW. "What is an Act of State," by H. S. Gour, Bombay Law Re porter (V. viii, p. 97). AGENCY. " Ratification of Agency With out Knowledge of Material Facts," in the May Yale Law Journal (V. xv, p. 331) by Arthur L. Corbin, concludes "that whether between prin cipal and agent, principal and third party, or principal and outsiders, whether the principal is suing or being sued, a ratification is never to be based upon the doctrine of imputed notice, although in one case knowledge of extrinsic facts may be imputed to the principal even in the absence of any ratification. The doctrine of ratification and the doctrine of imputed notice have no connection. Ratification re quires actual knowledge of all material facts, and there is no exception." AGENCY. " Can the Authorized Act of an Agent be Ratified by the Principal after the Third Party has Receded from the Contract?" by Wilmer T. Fox, Central Law Journal (V. 62, p. 338). AGENCY. " Character of Servants, Black listing," by C. B. Labatt, Canada Law Journal (V. xlii, p. 289). BANKRUPTCY. " Duties of Receivers in Bankruptcy," by Edw. R. French, The Brief (V. vi, p. 89). BIOGRAPHY (Jay). In the May Columbia Law Review (V. vi, p. 289), James B. Scott publishes an interesting account of " John Jay, First Chief Justice of the United States." Of his capacity, he says: "The cast of his mind was judicial and the course of his life off the Bench was a daily proof of his fitness for the Bench, but the best justification of the appointment is neverthe less the judicial gravity and capacity shown in his conduct of the affairs of State. "Had Jay never sat on the Bench his fit ness for the position would have been as patent to posterity as it was to his contem poraries. Had Marshall remained in active

politics it is probable that we would hardly know that we had lost our greatest judge." The article continues with an interesting account of the part played by Jay in the Revolution and its subsequent diplomacy. His brief experience on the Supreme Bench is then described and some of his important de cisions analyzed, as well as his service in lay ing the foundation for the modern rules of court. Though Jay resigned in the belief that the court was a failure, the author believes that short as his service was, it was of great im portance and that he fully justified the ap pointment. CODIFICATION. " A Code for the New State of Oklahoma," by C. O. Blake, Ameri can Lawyer (V. xiv, p. 195). CONFLICT OF LAWS (see Corporations, Foreign). CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. " Federal Con trol of Life Insurance," by George J. Benson, The Brief (V. vi, p. 116). CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. " The Validity of State Statutes Prohibiting Contracts of Ex emption by Carriers Concerning Interstate Commerce," by J. R. Tucker, Virginia Law Register (V. xii, p. i). CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. " The Next Con stitutional Convention of the United States" by Walter Clark, Raleigh, N. C., 1906. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (England). In the May Yale Law Journal (V. xv, p. 315), D. H. Chamberlin publishes a consideration of the effect of Mr. Balfour's refusal to dis solve Parliament after an adverse vote of the Commons, under the title of "A Recent Chapter of the English Constitution." From an examination of the evidence he finds that on a fair and notified occasion in a full house, on a serious and vital question of administra tion or policy the government was beaten when by-elections had been for a considerable period running heavily and steadily against