Page images
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]

TWELFTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION.

THE twelfth annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association will take place at the Capitol, Albany, N. Y., Tuesday and Wednesday, January 15 and 16, 1889.

Monday, January 14, 8 P. M.:

Annual meeting of the Executive Committee at the rooms of the Association in the Capitol. Tuesday, January 15, 3:30 P. M.:

Annual meeting of the Association in the Assembly Chamber.

1. Prayer-Rev. John McClellan Holmes, D. D., of Albany.

2. President's Address-Hon. Martin W. Cooke, of Rochester.

3. Annual Address-Hon. Thomas M. Cooley, of Washington, D. C., Chairman of the InterState Commerce Commission - Comparative Merits of Written and Unwritten Constitutions."

4. Appointment of Committee on Nominations.

Tuesday, January 15, 8 P. M.:

Annual banquet at the Delavan House.

Wednesday, January 16, 10 A. M.:

Meeting in Assembly Parlor, Capitol.

1. Reading minutes of last meeting.

2. Nominatious for membership.

3. Report of Treasurer.

[blocks in formation]

66

'Legal Ethics," by Hon. Joseph Cox, of Cincinnati, Ohio.;

"The Security of Railway Investments," by Daniel S. Remsen, of New York.

Members are requested to call at the rooms of the Association, Capitol, and register their names.

The Assembly Parlors will be open as reception rooms for the members and their friends on the 15th and 16th.

ARTHUR L. ANDREWS, Albany,
WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON, Katonah,
JULIEN T. DAVIES, New York,
MATTHEW HALE, Albany,

SIMON W. ROSENDALE, Albany,
JESSE L. L'AMOREAUX, Ballston Spa.
R. A. PARMENTER, Troy,

E. C. SPRAGUE, Buffalo.
ROBERT T. TURNER, Elmira.
IRVIN W. NEAR, Hornellsville,
Committee of Arrangements.

NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS.

3 AMERICAN DECISIONS DIGEST. This concluding volume contains a digest of cases reported from volumes 61 to 100, with the editor's notes. It contains above 1,400 pages. The head-notes are fre

quently consolidated in statements of principles, and they are well grouped. The book is well printed. With the two preceding volumes and the recent complete table of cases and notes it forms a complete index to the great series.

THE

COURT OF APPEALS DECISIONS.

HE following decisions were handed down Friday, Dec. 21, 1888:

Judgment affirmed with costs-David Kahnweiler, respondent, v. Andrew J. Smith, executor, appellant. -Order in habeas corpus proceedings affirmed with costs-People, ex rel. Marvin R. Clark, appellant, v. Hugh J. Grant, sheriff, and another, respondents. Opinion by Earl, J.

Ordered: That a term of this court for the year 1889 be held at the Capitol, in the city of Albany, commencing Monday, the 14th day of January, 1889, at 10 o'clock, A. M., then to proceed with the call of the present calendar. And it is further ordered that the court meet for consultation at their chambers, in the city of Albany, on Thursday, the 3d day of January, 1889, at 10 o'clock, A. M. Tuesdays, January 15 and 29, will be motion days.

A

[merged small][ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

CORRESPONDENT writes us: "Your remarks in last LAW JOURNAL on The Macdermot, Q.C.', recall a tale that was popular in Toronto when I was a law student there. A Scottish laird was travelling in Canada, and put up at the Queen's Hotel in Toronto, where he signed his name in the register 'The Macnab.' W. Allan Macnab, of Toronto, happened in a few min. utes later, and wrote immediately under this, The other Macnab.' Truly the Canadians are ripe for annexation."

In a notice of Select Pleas of the Crown published by the Selden Society, the Solicitors' Journal says: "The fair print of Mr. Maitland's volume, with its translations and annotations, of course gives no idea of the original rolls, but it is satisfactory to learn that when once the art of recording judicial proceedings had been introduced it rapidly improved. At first the mere drudgery seems to have been too much for untutored human nature, and in one record the real drift of the clerk's thoughts is shown by the interpolation of the line Omnia vincit amor, et nos cedamus amori, while in the frontispiece to the volume is given a grotesque illustration of trial by combat reproduced from a fragment of an Assize Roll of Henry III, a performance very similar to the designs that ornament a schoolboy's copy-book. Walter Bloweberme and Hamo le Stare, who are there represented, seem to be very evilly disposed people, and one would not be sorry to see both consigned to the gallows which is sketched in the background as Hamo's final destination. Eccentricities of this kind disappear as one generation of clerks succeeds to another, but if the rolls become in the original less amusing, it is some compensation that they become easier to read. But the real interest of the work lies in the pleas here selected and translated, and which afford curious glimpses into the life of those early times. Of course trial by battle is prevalent, and has naturally led to the introduction of hired champions, who however were not favored by the judges. One of these in Hertford was condemned to lose his foot, and the court seemed to think he was let off easily (p. 127). The nature of the punishments too, and of the crimes for which they

were inflicted, are full of interest, but these matters may be left for the reader's perusal, and he will then be able to appreciate the industry and ability which Mr. Maitland has brought to his work."

CAHN'T UNDERSTAND IT.-We have recently had occasion to comment upon proceedings of American lawyers showing a disposition to disregard the traditions of English law and to cultivate independent lines of thought and study. There can of course be no objection to this, although we doubt extremely whether Story and Marshall, to mention only two eminent American jurists, would have supported such a suggestion. Knowing what the tendency is, we naturally look with some curiosity to see how the new project is to work out, and we have been attracted by a leading paragraph in one of the best legal journals in the United States, the ALBANY LAW JOURNAL. This will

show that in language and sentiment American lawyers have begun to drift away from the beaten tracks of their forefathers. The paragraph in question begius thus: "The 6th of this month signalized the retirement of a distinguished lawyer from practice, and the return of another to practice or his retirement. Also the lien that the lawyers of this country seem to have on the presidency. Very possibly also the great number of the profession who have been neglecting their professional business, and running up and down the land in the production or direction of public opinion, will now consent to return to their anxious clients and the stagnant courts. Very possibly that great lawyer and statesman, guardian of public morals and champion of public order, Colonel Fellows, will now consent to come off the stump and start a boodler or two on his way to acquittal." This is a graphic picture of the effect of politics upon the courts, the

judges and the practitioners. What is a boodler? But to proceed: "We have not heard what has become of the proposed amendment to the Constitution, providing for a commission to help the Court of Appeals out o' the lurch, but we suppose it has been lost for want of the requisite number of votes on the question. If so, we hope it will never be found, but that our lawmakers will address themselves to the evident duty of furnishing a permanent and efficient number of judges, and thus reducing the surplus of causes." It is satisfactory to see that the young country is as much behindhand as the old one in the matter of legal administration. The writer proceeds: "Nor have we heard whether Judge Gray or Judge Rumsey has been elected, but it probably does not make much difference except to the gentlemen themselves, even if it much concerns them. We hope we have heard the last of tariff for one while, confident that the lawyers are able to hold their own as against the stray British barristers who come here to prey on their commerce, and that the tariff on their prices is not likely to come down. So a truce for four years to torches, banners, spouting, bad language, robust lying, wagering, bullying, chicanery, treachery, forgery, perjury, bribery, prophecy and the pretended enmity of the newspapers. Since writing the foregoing we have learned that the complexion of the court continues gray, and that of the governor continues rumsy." This is remarkable writing for a legal journal. The ordinary legal term. inology has always struck us as bad enough, but this introduction of what we must assume to be jocular slang indicates a downward progress of a very decided kind.-Law Times.

MIRTH IN THE SUPREME COURT.-The usual grave demeanor of the United States Supreme Court was upset the other day by the manner in which John S. Wise, of New York city, argued a case of infringement of a patent. One after another the dignified |

judges relaxed into half-suppressed laughter, and the bar and audience indulged in as much mirth as is ever permissible within the precincts of that august tribunal. The case was an appeal from the United States District Court at Richmond against a manufacturer of men's drawers for infringement of a patent for reinforcement of the seat and crotch. Mr. Wise read the opinion of Judge Hughes of the District Court, and commented on it in a laughable way. Judge Hughes remarked in his opinion: "It strikes me that a patent for a patch upon drawers, designed to remedy the evils of rip and tear, to which they are liable in the crotch, ought never to have been granted, interfering as it must necessarily do, with the prerogatives of the housewives of the civilized world to patch the drawers of their husbands, fathers and sons freely in their own way, with no patentee to molest or make them afraid. It seems to me that this patent is the reductio ad ab surdum of the patent system of the United States. It is impossible that the patch can be novel as to the simple matter of strengthening the seams and the material of the drawers in the immediate region of the crotch; for if drawers do continually give way there, it would be a reflection upon the housewives of civilized society not to admit that for hundreds of years they have been patching garments and the forks thereof, as the patent reads, by lapping the seams and reinforcing the rents in that region. As to the disorder of men's drawers in and near the crotch, which have troubled housewives for centuries, I do not think any person in our day can employ a patch for the purpose of preventing or curing them that can have any real novelty." Counsel for the patentee said the value of the drawers was so increased by being "reinforced" that one pair was equal to two. Mr. Wise, in reply, said that this could not be true, because it was well known every where that "two pair beats one," and this was the only game where a "split" counted against a dealer. The evident appreciation of these references to games of cards seemed to imply a guilty knowledge on the part of the learned justices that was as amusing to the bar and spectators as the witticisms of counsel were to the judges themselves.

A SOUTHERN JUDGE'S PATRIOTIC WORDS.-MACON, GA., Dec. 21.-The United States flag which was nailed Union down on a pole here Tuesday has been unfurled over the United States Court-House, where it now floats. The incident has awakened a strong national spirit, and it is said a new flag will be given the court by a prominent citizen as a Christmas present. On opening the court yesterday Judge Speer remarked that he hoped the published statement that the flag was exposed and reversed, not with the intention of dishonoring it, but from a thoughtless and idle spirit of merriment was true. The judge then said: "There are those who will never behold any apparent indignity to the national colors without the most poignant sensibility and the most gloomy forebodings for the careless and unpatriotic spirit such wanton action inculcates. If there was ever a people whom it behooved at all times to show devotion to the symbols of a great govern ment of law and order, it is the southern people. There is only one solution for all our troubles in the south, and that is a respect for law, its steady and impartial enforcement, obedience to the national law. a devotion to the flag of our country and all those principles of good government which it typifies and represents in the minds of all men. It is well for the youth of the country, the rising generation, to know that there are thousands among us who love the flag and honor its stainless glory, and who will never, without protest most vigorous, see its hallowed folds floating in dishonor, be it intended or not."

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

INDEX-DIGEST

TO

ABSTRACTS, CASES IN FULL AND NOTES OF CASES.

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »