Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 24.pdf/229

 200

The Green Bag

Custom is invariably at the bottom of mari time institutions and rules, says Mr. Nys, as well as of the rules of private law. Other instalments are to follow. "Is Law the Expression of Class Selfishness?" By Francis M. Burdick. 25 Harvard Law Re view 349 (Feb.). "It would be a strange situation, surely, if the courts were at the same time enemies and par tisans of the employer class. Is it not more probable that they were neither enemies nor partisans; but that, in formulating the general doctrine of the master's liability to strangers, as well as the special fellow-servant doctrine, they were striving to do what seemed to them right and wise? They may have erred. Is there any evidence that they were actuated by discredit able or selfish motives? "The writer holds no brief for the impeccability of judges or the infallibility of courts. But a careful and, he trusts, a candid study of the decisions of English and American courts during many years, has convinced him that the body of law thus developed is not the expression of class selfishness. On the contrary, it seems to him an honest, and in the main an adequate system of principles under which justice can be fairly administered between litigants without respect to class or rank or condition." "Should Science rather than Precedent Deter mine the Law? — Common Law and Civil Law Contrasted by a Jurist familiar with Continental Practice." By Axel Teisen. 74 Central Law Journal 137 (Feb. 23). "As a matter of fact, I do not hesitate to state that there is more certainty about the law in Continental countries than in either England or America. Each new point raised, be it by a case actually tried, or by a new condition other wise arisen, or by a new statute passed, becomes at once a matter of examination and discussion within the profession and in its schools, which discussion generally leads to a final agreement about the proper treatment of the point. It is more than unlikely that the courts, after such an agreement has been reached, should disre gard it in their future decisions. For this reason, we are generally in a position to tell a client what the law is about a certain point, even before it has been decided by the courts, or at least to give a distinct opinion and advise about it, be cause it probably has been discussed from all sides in the juridical literature." Government. See Public Officers. Immigration. "Immigration and Crime." By I. A. Hourwich. American Journal of Sociology, v. 17, p. 478 (Jan.). "The statistics of crime in the state of New York, which is said to hold more than its pro portionate share of the lawless immigrants, war rant only one of the following two conclusions: Either the new environment enables this invad ing army of immigrants with criminal records to keep within the law; or else the criminal classes of Europe, contrary to the popular belief,

furnish less than their proportionate quota of immigrants — which is quite plausible, since the criminals belong to the submerged portion of the population and are kept at home by want of funds with which to pay for their passage." Industrial Accidents. "The Relation of Fatigue to Industrial Accidents" (concluded). By Emory S. Bogardus. American Journal of Sociology, v. 17, p. 512 (Jan.). Tables are introduced to support the fol lowing conclusions: that continuous work, other things being equal, is accompanied, hour by hour, by an increasing number of accidents; that the increasing muscular inaccuracy which accompanies uninterrupted work results in in creasing danger of accident; and that fatigue is a cause of industrial accidents. Seven judicial decisions are also cited with this comment: "The fact that fatigue has attracted attention to itself as a cause of accidents to the extent that such a conservative body as the judiciary will thus indict it, is noteworthy. The seven cases which have been summarized in the preceding paragraphs are not presented because of any legal points involved or for any reasons other than as a sevenfold argument in support of the thesis that fatigue is a cause of accidents." Insurance. "Parol Waiver under the New York Fire Policy." By George Richards. 12 Columbia Law Review 134 (Feb.). The history of the doctrine of parol waiver is indicated, and the manner in which courts have advanced beyond this doctrine, with some re sulting confusion. A uniform contract patterned after the New York fire policy is favored as the surest protection against fire and against fraud. International Law. See General Jurispru dence, Legal History, Marriage and Divorce, Missionaries, Negotiable Instruments. Interstate Commerce. "The Fourth Sec tion, or the Long and Short Haul." By Jay Newton Baker. 21 Yale Law Journal278 (Feb.). "The idea dwelt upon by the Commerce Court, and apparently controlling in its deci sion, seems to be that so long as the rate at the intermediate point is reasonable, it is a matter of indifference to that locality what rate may be made to the more distant point. This utteriy ignores the fact that the railroad is a public ser vant, owing a common duty to both the long distance and the intermediate point, and that no rate to the intermediate point can be reason able so long as the carrier is maintaining at the more distant point a lower rate, except in so far as that jower rate is compelled by causes which the carrier does not control." Juries. "The Selection and Drawing of Jurors for the City and County of Philadelphia." By T. Elliott Patterson. 60 Univ. of Pa. Law Review 324 (Feb.). Mainly a description of the system of drawing jurors as provided for by law.