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The Green Bag

accused, so that, in case of an acquittal, the court may inquire and award damages in accordance with the equities of the case, or that equity be empowered to inquire and enjoin prosecutions where there is, prima facie, merit in the defense which the accused may be enabled to make upon trial." See Contempt, Legal History. Public Health and Morals. "The Impor tance of the Enforcement of Law." By Champe S. Andrews. Annals of the American Academy, v. 34, no. 1, p. 85 (July). "Instead of saying that laws are abso lutely necessary to prevent all public health evils, I would say that in most instances the passage of laws to correct these abuses is a necessity, but that we must not stop with the mere enactment of the law. We must also provide a means for its enforcement. That part of the law which provides the means by which it shall be enforced is of as much importance as the law itself. Many recal citrant and criminal legislators pass laws at the request of the reformers of our commun ity, and the reformers go away satisfied with what has been done, yet we may read the statistics after the passage of that law and find no convictions under it and no good accomplished." Public Libraries. "The Legal Status of the Public Library in the United States." By Bernard C. Steiner. 43 American Law Re view 536 (July-Aug.). Treats of decisions of the courts under the following headings: The Library as an Insti tution of Learning; The Public Library as a Public Charity; Extent of Exemptions from Taxation; Conditions or Directions Connected with Gifts to Libraries; Control of Libraries by Municipalities; Rights of Members of a Library Staff Under a Civil Service Law. Public Service Corporations. "Law Gov erning Telephone and Telegraph Service." By Charles A. Enslow. 2 Lawyer and Banker 101 (Aug.). "In view of the decisions which have been rendered, it may be stated as law that where the agent of a telegraph company receives a message over the telephone for transmission over the wires of the telegraph company, where it is the custom to so receive messages for transmission in that manner, and acts within the apparent scope of his authority in so doing, in the absence of knowledge on the part of the sender that the agent is not so acting by authority, the agent taking the message over the telephone acts as agent of the telegraph company and not as the agent of the sender, and that the company will be bound by his act and liable in damage for loss sustained through errors made by such agent." See Interstate Commerce, Railways. Race Discrimination. "Race Distinctions

in American Law, VII." By Gilbert Thomas Stephenson. 43 American Law Review 547 (July-Aug.). This installment sets forth the effect of the Civil Rights Bill of 1866, of the Civil Rights Bill of 1875, and of the civil rights legislation of the states since the Civil War. A popular as opposed to a juristic treat ment of the problem of the negro vote is given by a Southerner in the following :— "The Negro in Politics." By Judge Harris Dickson. Hampton's, v. 23, p. 225 (Aug.). The author discusses the effect certain to follow giving the negro the right to vote. "As the matter now stands the negro is disfranchised chiefly on the ground of illiter acy. But the educational qualification for suffrage is a barrier of straw that a generation may utterly destroy. For instance, in the state of Mississippi there are 50,000 more black males of voting age than white males of voting age. This, upon the basis of manhood suffrage, would put every state office in the hands of negroes and the renegade whites who fatten on their folly." Railways. "The Railway Situation in Italy." By Filippo Tajani. Quarterly Journal of Economics, v. 23, p. 618 (Aug.). "Under state operation we have liberally reformed our passenger service, we have greatly lowered rates, and we have increased the number of trains and the comforts of travel. Some of these provisions encourage traffic, and may have the effect of increasing earnings; but, in general, such liberality is not consistent with a good financial showing." So favorable a financial showing is evi dently not made in New Zealand:— "Railways in New Zealand." By James Edward Le Rossignol and William Downie Stewart. Quarterly Journal of Economics^ v. 23, p. 652 (Aug.). "Notwithstanding the large financial losses of the railways, practically nobody in New Zealand proposes private ownership as a remedy. . . . While the sale of the rail ways to a private company would probably yield good financial returns and further rather than retard the development of the country, the creation of a great monopolistic corpora tion might introduce a source of corruption new to New Zealand political life." Statute of Frauds. "What is 'Goods, Wares and Merchandise?' " By E. Connor Hall. 43 American Law Review 532 (July-Aug.). "The rules for distinguishing 'goods, wares and merchandise' from 'work and labor,' under the seventeenth section of the Statute of Frauds, have been widely varying in differ ent jurisdictions, and often in the same juris diction at different times. . . . Within re cent years there has been propounded a new test for distinguishing between merchandise and labor. This test is: Is the article, when manufactured, fit for the general market, or