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THE GREEN BAG

startling frankness " modern " reasons for soliciting accident cases and gives some sage suggestions as to trial methods. " The defend ants' standpoint, " by Samuel S. Page presents fairly his side of the question. PROCEDURE. " Effect of an Order Abso lute for Sale," by H. S. Gour, Allahabad Law Journal (V. iii, p. 8.3). PROCEDURE. " Some Changes in Proce dure," by Geo. Martin Rae, Canadian Law Times (V. xxvi, p. 319). PROPERTY. " Manx Land Tenure," by Reginald D. Farrant, Law Quarterly Review (V. xxii, p. 136). PUBLIC POLICY. " The Corrupt Practices Act," by Richard A. Dana, American Lawyer (V. xiv, p. 163). PUBLIC POLICY. "The Disregard of Law," by Alphonso T. Clearwater, Albany Law Journal (V. Ixviii, p. 82). RAILROADS. American Railroad Rates, by Walter Chadwick Noyes. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1906, 12 mo. pp. 277. The qualifications of the author are obvious from a glance at the title-page. He is a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Connecticut, president of the New London Northern Railroad Company, and author of an excellent treatise upon Intercorporate Relations. And his treatment of the railway rate problem shows the manifold advantages of being able to appreciate all aspects of the problem. Since it does take all sides of the question into account it is one of the safest books to recommend to the general reader who wishes an understanding of one of the most important questions of the century. There are upon this fundamental problem, as upon every vital question which engages the attention of all thinking men, three schools of thought. There are the conservatives who feel that the present situation is well enough, many of them believing that the state is going too far already in regulation; then there are the radicals who know no limits to the extent to which state regulation ought to go; and then, of course, the moderates who believe in state regulation of some sort. Judge Noyes plainly belongs to this last school, or rather to the conservative wing of it; and it is very necessary

that this school should make its influence felt at this time. But if one can judge the spirit of the times, public opinion has carried the law beyond the position taken by the author. Charging what the traffic will bear, for example, is a good enough working principle for a traffic manager perhaps, but it is not believed that any court to-day will justify it. Again it is plain that the only constitutional protec tion which the courts will grant the railroads is to be secured under proper circumstances of a reasonable return upon the present value of the property, regardless of anything else. Judge Noyes recognizes this undoubt edly but he is hardly reconciled to it. B. W. RECORDS. The careless treatment of some English records is criticised by W. P. W. Phillemore in an article entitled, " Our Local Records: A Policy," in the May Law Maga zine and Review (V. xxxi, p. 281). TAXATION. "The Succession Tax," by "T. A. S.," Law Notes (V. x, p. 26). TORTS. Commentaries on the Law of Torts. A philosophic discussion of the general prin ciples underlying civil wrongs ex delicto. Edgar B. Kinkead, of the Columbus (Ohio) Bar, Professor of Law, Ohio State University. Two volumes, pp. viii, 1739. Bancroft-Whit ney Company, San Francisco. These two volumes present in a most excellent way the law of torts within the scope of the author's preface. A clear and logical classification of the law has been adopted by the author, and that, in dealing with so vast a subject, is half the battle. The discussion is thoroughly independent, not bound down by mere precedent, but illumined by those wider considerations drawn from history, reason, common sense, and logic, that make the law what it is, an ever progressive science, an ever advancing art. We demand of commentaries of this kind that they afford a clear survey of the whole field, a thorough but concise discussion of principles, and, last, not least, a style that makes their reading a pleasure, and not an effort. All this we find, and, in addition, copious references to cases, with double citations to the American De cisions, American Reports, American State Reports, and the Reporter System, a feature