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The Green Bag

Procedural Reform. "The Game of Law." By Morris J. Wessell. Survey, v. 29, p. 138 (Nov. 2). "Even if Congress should pass the Moon, or a similar, bill, only the federal courts would be improved; the situation in the state courts, in which the most numerous instances of technical ity worship occur, would not be affected in the least. Just how this crucial phase of the situation is to be remedied it is insuperably difficult to say. Much depends on the attitude and the energy of the state bar associations; and much upon the character of the press of the various states. Oklahoma and Wisconsin — the one evi dently determined to build a new and sensible system of political institutions; the other trans forming itself into a political laboratory for the nation—have splendid records. New York, Texas, Ohio and Missouri (in which state the sit uation, according to F. N. Judson, a veteran member of the American Bar Association, grows worse and worse), to name but a few, have need to look to their laurels. They have far from clean bills of health." Progress of Science. "The Administrative Peril in Education." By Professor Joseph Jastrow. Popular Science Monthly, . 81, p. 485 (Nov.). A very fine article on the danger confronting the intellectual and research side of university life, owing to the menace of an ostensibly "effi cient" administrative control which may tend to belittle the interests of scholarship. Public Defender. "The Public Defender and What he has Accomplished in Oklahoma." By Dr. J. H. Stolper, Public Defender of the State of Oklahoma. 19 Case and Comment 307 (Oct.). "Up to the present time we had on our books something over 4,000 cases. These cases, most of them, were probate cases, some general civil and criminal cases, misdeameanors and felonies, in the district courts, in the superior courts, in the crim inal court of appeals and in the supreme court of the state of Oklahoma. And, it is with pro found gratitude to the courts and jurors in the state of Oklahoma, that the public defender of the state of Oklahoma is enabled to say that not a single case represented by the public defender of the state of Oklahoma has ever been lost. "We have not entered a single plea of guilty; and, where the public defender of the state of Oklahoma does appear, it is a guarantee to the court and jury that the public defender of the state of Oklahoma represents a just cause; and, it is with profound gratitude to the judges of the Oklahoma courts that I am enabled to say that the courts have given to the public defender of the state of Oklahoma their confidence and, through a mutual respect of the courts and the public defender, work has been accomplished with rapidity, and cases have been disposed of with justice to all concerned, in such a rapid manner that a tremendous amount of time and an enor mous amount of expense has been saved, both to the state and to the various litigants that this office has represented."

Public Service Corporations. "The New York Public Service Commissions." By John S. Kennedy. Forum, v. 48, p. 584 (Nov.). The secretary of the Commission (for the second district) here describes the results of the first five years of administrative regulation of public service corporations in New York State. Recall of Decisions. "The Recall of Judicial Decisions—A Criticism." By Herbert Pope. The Recall of Judicial Decisions—A Reply." By Albert M. Kales. 7 Illinois Law Review 149 (Oct.). Mr. Kales advocates the following proposed amendment to the state constitution: " Upon an act of the state legislature being passed at two different sessions and sustained by the electorate upon a referendum, it shall be deemed not to infringe the 'life, liberty and property" clause of the state constitution." Mr. Pope considers that " If this proposed amendment is a suggestion of what the people really want, the simple and effective way of carrying out their wishes is to eliminate the ' life, liberty and property' clause from the state constitution." Royal Prerogative. "The Exemption of the Crown from Charges in Respect of Land." By W. W. Lucas. 28 Law Quar. Review 378 (Oct.). A digest of the law relating to taxation of crown lands as defined in recent British cases. Social Reform. "The Influence of Socialism on the Ohio Constitution." By Hon. Daniel J. Ryan. North American Review, v, 196, p. 665 (Nov.). "There are far-reaching purposes and wide influences in the adoption of the amendments relating to the initiative and referendum and the ' welfare of employees.' These two articles in their design and operation are socialistic and revolutionary. They are part of a plan adroitly consummated which at the proper time can be used to strike a fatal blow at the stable property and business interests of Ohio. The initiative and referendum amendment, now a part of the con stitution of Ohio, is more radical and misrepresentative in its operation than the similar meas ure in any other state in the Union. . . . "Another socialistic principle engrafted into the constitution was deceptively labeled on the ticket as ' Welfare of Employees.' It received support on account of its apparently generous purposes and well-sounding title. This amend ment is as follows: Laws may be passed, fixing and regulating the hours of labor, establishing a minimum wage, and providing for the comfort, health, safety, and general welfare of all employ ees; and no other provision of the constitution shall impair or limit this power.' ' Status. "The Jew in His Relations to the Law of the Land." By Max J. Kohler. 46 American Law Review 714 (Sept.-Oct.). "As to the United States, special Jewish juris diction never had any excuse for existing and never made real headway. Under our federal