Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 23.pdf/50

 The Green Bag

30

this branch of law in the encyclopedias, and in treatises on more general topics. But the courts have given us a great mass of decisions upon labor unions and their affairs in the last few years and it is quite time that they were carefully collected and digested. Mr. Martin's book has done just that. It is a complete and thorough collection and digest of the decisions done in the form of a treatise. Every statement has its authority in the footnote, and in some instances whole pages are given over to citations supporting the text.

There is no effort to make the work a philo sophical treatise upon the law such as we used to have in Kent, Story and many other of the

older writers.

The fundamental whys and

wherefores are not touched, except in so far

as the author ﬁnds them passed upon in some cited decision. There are no deep-lying theories or broad doctrines laid down, and argued and supported by citations. It does not appear to be the work of a great legal theorist on the Subject—but it is rather the work of the industrious library worker and collector of all known authorities. We are not surprised when we find the author described as "Review ing Editor of Cyc, and author of Adverse Possession, Appearances, Costs, etc." The book is written with the most painstaking thoroughness,

with

a

logical

and

com

plete classiﬁcation of topics and with very full and helpful cross references. The scope of the work is very broad. Of course it considers the right of Workingmen to combine and also strikes and boycotts and picketing, in each case taking the topic up historically but laying principal stress upon the present law. In addition we have chap ters on combinations of employers, black-list ing and lockouts, internal administration of

codes of procedure, practice acts and local court rules, to such an extent that a form may

be good in one state and yet bad in an adjoin ing state. For this reason we are inclined to doubt the practical value of these forms for the lawyer who uses the book. Still, they make for the completeness of the book and may be of use to one who is drawing such papers in a jurisdiction where no precedents in point can be found. The book of course has a very complete index and a table of cases. It is impossible to make any criticism, either favorable or adverse, of the author's

theories or doctrines, because he is not lay ing down anything that has not been embodied in court decisions. In true encyclopedic style he does not commit himself except in the case of a conﬂict among the decisions, and then he merely says "the weight of authority" or perhaps “the better view" would seem to be SO and so. We think that such a work is un doubtedly of more immediate and obvious value to the practising lawyer today than would be a philosophical discussion of basic principles. The great and ever-increasing mass of reported cases, and the habits of our judiciary, make it more and more necessary for the lawyer to rely upon decisions of the courts rather than theories or principles, how ever lofty. The present work is built upon that foundation. The casual reader will not care for it any more than he would for a die tionary or a digest, but as a reference book for one who wants to find a decision in the shortest possible time upon some topic relat ing to labor unions or their affairs, it will be of very great value and will save a tedious search through many digests.

general and local unions, union labels and

OSBORN ON QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS

many other subjects—perhaps we should also mention those on obstruction of interstate

Questioned Documents; a study of questioned documents, with an outline of methods by which the facts may be discovered and shown. By Albert S. Osborn, Examiner of Questioned Documents, with an introduction by Prof. John H. Wig-more, author of "Wigmore on Evidence." Illustrated. Lawyers‘ Co-operative Publishing Co., Rochester. Pp. xxiv-l- 475+ 10 (appendix and bibliography) + 13 (index). (85.25 net.)

traffic, obstruction of the mails and contempt,

which have proved themselves to be three troublesome propositions for the labor unions in their controversies with capital. At the end of the text we are given more than a hundred pages of forms of pleadings, injunctions and restraining orders. These forms are interesting because in many in stances they are taken from well-known con troversies. In all there are thirty-four forms taken from ﬁfteen different jurisdictions. It

“

is well known, however, that forms throughout

UESTIONED Documents" is not ‘-_,_a mere treatise on handwriting and for gery, for the expert on questioned documents goes much farther than a mere examination of writing and ink. And in the present work the author, in a clear, frank and convincing

the country are very largely governed by

way, tells us of his art and its powers, limita