Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 20.pdf/608

 EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

467

CURRENT LEGAL LITERATURE 7%it department it dtrigntd to call attention to the articles in all thi leading legal periodicals of the preceding month and to new law books sent us for review

Conducted by WILLIAM C. GRAY, of Fall River, Mass. A practical article of merit and much present-day interest reviewed this month is that on the subject of the union label by W. A. Martin. A question of considerable importance is discussed by L. Oppenheim in his article on the meaning of coasting trade, and his criticism of the action of the United States in declaring commerce with our far-distant island posses sions to be coasting-trade seems correct in holding that it implies a great change in the meaning of that term. Lovers of theoretical jurisprudence will be interested in Thomas Baty's article on the theory of private international law put forth by Dr. Jitta. BILLS OF LADING. " What Liability does a Bank Assume as to the Quality and Quan tity of the Goods Described in a Bill of Lading Indorsed by It? " by J. T. Woodruff, Central Law Journal (V. xlvii, p. 105). BIOGRAPHY. " The Victorian Chancel lors," Volume II, by J. B. Atlay; Smith, Elder & Co., London; Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1908. With the lives of Lords St. Leonards, Cranworth, Chelmsford, Campbell, Westbury, Cairns, Hatherley, Selborne, Halsbur}' and Herschell, Mr. Atlay concludes the work so admirably begun in volume one. In the selection of material, avoidance of partisanship, sympathetic treatment and bril liant portrayal the author has reached very happy results, fully sustaining the high standard set by the first volume, and given a series of vivid pen and ink pictures of Vic torian politics and statesmen. The long and wavering struggle for reform in the practice and procedure of the common law and equity courts is of particular interest, while the many glimpses of personal ambition, foibles and frailties add that human interest so essential to successful biography. The life of Lord Campbell comprises the best chapters of this volume, due largely to the subject himself. His " Lives of the Lord Chancellors," which caused his contemporaries to remark that Campbell had " added a new sting to Death," and particularly his auto biography, had provided' such a wealth of material, had thrown such a glare of too high, or false, lights upon the men of his times that

the task confronting Mr. Atlay was greatly increased. Less racey, but more concise, more evenly sustained, better balanced and infinitely more accurate, than the " Lives of the Lord Chan cellors," " The Victorian Chancellors," will rank among the best legal and political con tributions to biographical literature. COASTING-TRADE. "The Meaning of Coasting-Trade in Commercial Treaties," by L. Oppenheim. IMW Quarterly Review (V. xxiv, p. 328). "After having acquired, in 1898 and 1899, the Philippines, the Hawaian Islands, and the Islands of Porto Rico, the United States of America has declared trade between any of her ports and these islands to be coastingtrade, and has exclusively reserved it for American vessels. Russia has by Ukase of 1897, operating from 1900, enacted that trade between any of her ports and that of Vladivostock is to be considered as coasting-trade, and therefore to be exclusively reserved for Russian vessels. At the first and the second Colonial Conference, held in London in 1902 and 1907 respectively, the question has been raised whether Great Britain would be justified in following these examples set by America and Russia, and in giving the term coasting-trade, as used in British commercial treaties, such an extension of definition as would allow her to exclude foreign shipping entirely from the carrying trade between the United Kingdom and Australia, India, South Africa, and other