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Books Received

Michigan Law Review

A list of books received by Michigan Law Review

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

The Juridical Nature Of The State, Sir Paul Vinogradoff

Michigan Law Review

Of all varieties of social co-operation, one dominates the others. It is the State, and a fundamental problem in every system of law consists in settling the legal relations between the State and its members- both the individuals and the juridical persons.

Admiralty-Seaworthiness-The Harter Act

Michigan Law Review

A vessel strands through negligent navigation and cargo in the forward hold is damaged as a result of a leak due to the tearing on a rock of plates at the forward end of the vessel. This is the typical case of a fault and error in navigation under section 3 of the Harter Act, as to which the vessel owner is exempted from liability. "That if the owner of any vessel transporting merchandise or property to or from any port in the United States of America shall exercise due diligence to make the said vessel in all respects seaworthy …

Carriers-Limit Of Liability In Bill Of Lading Where Carrier Converts Shipment

Michigan Law Review

The Carmack and Cummins Amendments to the act of 1887 have wrought some startling changes in the law applicable to interstate shipments. But the end is not yet. The provision in those amendments which makes the initial carrier liable on a bona fide contract, to the amount fixed in the published tariff, "for loss, damage or injury to such property, caused by it or by any common carrier * * * to which such property may be delivered or over whose line or lines such property may pass", provokes the question as to how broadly that provision is going to …

Book Reviews

Michigan Law Review

A collection of book reviews by multiple authors.

Nebulous Injunctions

Michigan Law Review

The entry of an injunction is, in some respects, analogous to the publication of a penal statute; it is notice that certain things must be done or not done, under a penalty to be fixed by the court. Such a decree should be as definite, clear and precise in its terms as possible, so that there may be no reason or excuse for misunderstanding or disobeying it; and when practicable it should plainly indicate to the defendant all of the acts which he is restrained from doing, without calling upon him for inferences or conclusions about which persons may well …

Legal Standards And Ideals, Sir Paul Vinogradoff

Michigan Law Review

Provisions for the settling of conflicts constitute the greater part of any legal system. These conflicts are not entirely governed by self interest and the idea of ethical duty does not disappear from them: it asserts itself in the shape of the balance to be established ·by the court: while every litigant presses for the satisfaction of his own claims society is called upon to adjudicate fairly between the parties: the moral notion of justice appears as the impartial attribution of what everyone in society ought to have by right. We make distinctions between men in accordance with their greater …

Tort Obligations And The Conflict Of Laws, Herbert F. Goodrich

Articles

"This article is an extract from a textbook on 'The Conflict of Laws,' by Professor Goodrich, now in course of preparation, and is here published by permission of the West Publishing Company."--Footnote

Liability In Tort Of Infants And Insane Persons, Francis H. Bohlen

Michigan Law Review

It is universally held that mere infancy or insanity does not preclude liability for the impairment of another's bodily condition or the physical condition of another's property caused by conduct which, if that of an adult or mentally normal person, would be a wrong of aggression or negligence.

But there is a conflict of authority and a wide divergence of opinion among text writers as to the liability of persons who, because of extreme youth or mental deficiency, are incapable of forming a culpable intention, or whose incapacity to realize the probable consequences of their conduct makes it unjust to …

Constitutional Law-Liberty Of Contract-Regulation Of Loaves Of Bread

Michigan Law Review

A Nebraska statute aimed at short weights in loaves of bread, forbade the manufacture or sale of loaves weighing either more or less than specified standard amounts. It applied only to quantities of 25 loaves or more and a "tolerance" of two ounces per pound was allowed in excess of the standard weights, to be measured by taking an average of the whole consignment. The prohibition of excess weights was explained by the Nebraska court as an attempt "to prevent a loaf of one standard from being increased in size until it can readily be sold for a larger standard". …

The New Soviet Codes And Soviet Justice, Pitirim Sorokin

Michigan Law Review

Up to 1922 it is scarcely possible to speak of any justice, law, court and trial in Soviet Russia if we want to use these terms in their usual meanings. The years 1918-21 were the years of terror. And what this term means is clear from the following statement of Latzis, one of the heads of "The Extraordinary Commission for the Suppression of Counter-Revolution and Speculation" or the "Che-ka." "We do not carry on the war against the individuals: we are exterminating the bourgeoisie as a class. Do not look in the inquest for any material and for any evidences …

Book Reviews

Michigan Law Review

A collection of book reviews by multiple authors.

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

Fishing Expeditions By Commissions, John Leland Mechem

Michigan Law Review

Can Congress, under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, delegate visitorial powers over private corporations engaged in interstate commerce, to the extent of granting unlimited and unrestricted examination and inspection of private papers and effects, with the right to copy them?

Recognition Of New Types Of Negotiable Instruments, Ralph W. Aigler

Articles

“The expression ‘negotiable instrument’ is one of variable meaning, and what is meant thereby often can be determined only by the context… Primarily ‘negotiable’ indicates transferability with a certain facility…..

“It may be not without interest to consider how instruments gain the negotiable quality and to trace, sketchily perhaps, the process of recognition.”

Contracts With The United States, Grover C. Grismore

Michigan Law Review

It has been settled since a comparatively early day in the history of our government that "the United States being a body politic, may, within the sphere of the constitutional powers confided to it, and through the instrumentality of the proper department to which those powers are confided, enter into contracts not prohibited by law, and appropriate to the just exercise of those powers." While this proposition became established without much of a struggle, it has not been so freely admitted that such contracts are to be given the same construction and effect as the contracts of individuals. In Smoot's …

Fair Value Of Public Utilities, Edwin C. Goddard

Michigan Law Review

Such being the decisions, we turn to the practical working of the theories that have been applied. The law is a practical subject. Even in so sacred a matter as protection of property, rules of law should regard the practical results of any theory. A theory that works badly, presumptively at least, is defective, and may be wrong. The guaranties of the Constitution were made for man, not man for the guaranties, and a conception of property that does not work out for the advantage of man may raise a query whether the Constitution demands that conception. It was that …

Arrest Without A Warrant, Horace L. Wilgus

Michigan Law Review

Aiding in Arrest: An officer having authority to make an arrest may, orally or otherwise, call upon any citizen to aid him, and in emergencies, such as riots, mobs, etc., may raise the posse comitatus, or power of the county to help him; or the military force of the county may be called out if necessary. It is immaterial whether the officer acts under a warrant, or under his authority without a warrant; or whether the offense is a felony, or a misdemeanor, or an original arrest or recapture; or whether the person arrested is innocent or guilty, …

The New Colombian Law Of Bills And Notes

Michigan Law Review

The collection of "Laws Presented to the Government of Colombia by the Commission of American Financial Experts, and an Exposition of Motives by the Latter" (Bogota, 1923, Casa Editorial de Cromos; with an introduction by Dr. Cesar Julio Rodriguez), states by way of introduction that Law 60 of 1922 authorizes the government to contract abroad with five experts in public administration to come to Colombia and assist in the preparation of bills for laws or decrees for the reorganization of the national fiscal system. In accordance with this law the Colombian Minister at Washington, Dr. Enrique Olaya Herrera, engaged the …

Simplified Civil Procedure Under The Wisconsin Code

Michigan Law Review

A rare illustration of the possibility of simplified procedure, under the modern codes, is presented by a recent decision of the Wisconsin court. Singularly enough the case was also productive of some very interesting problems of substantive law, and will be commented upon, from that standpoint, elsewhere in this publication. As for the fact situation, it will be sufficient for our present purposes, to note that the plaintiff was injured, while riding as a guest, as the result of a collision occasioned by the negligent driving of her host and the operator of another automobile. The guest and the driver …

To Contribute Or Not To Contribute?--A Basic Inconsistency In The Law Of Negligence

Michigan Law Review

X accepts an invitation to ride with his friend A, in the latter's coupe. B has a party of friends in his new limousine. Both drivers are careless; the cars collide; and X is injured. X brings suit against B, and the latter has A brought into court as a defendant, a proceeding permitted under the provisions of the Wisconsin code of civil procedure. B claims the right of contribution against A, in the event that X is successful in his suit, and also asks affirmative relief against A for the damage done to his limousine. A counters with a …

Book Reviews

Michigan Law Review

A collection of book reviews by multiple authors.

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

Arrest Without A Warrant, Horace L. Wilgus

Michigan Law Review

We shall now consider the circumstances under which a person (D) may be arrested for treason (T), or felony (F), or breach of the peace (BP), or other misdemeanor (M), or breach of a city ordinance (BO), without a warrant, by a private citizen (C), or a peace officer (O), prior to, at the time of, or after the commission of the offense. It is assumed that O acts within his territorial jurisdiction.

Criminal Assault Through Negligence--Bonding Automobile Drivers

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court has recently declared constitutional and valid the New York legislation requiring taxi-cab drivers to file with the state a surety bond or an insurance policy conditioned for the payment of judgments against the driver for personal injuries caused by the operation or the defective construction of his vehicle. Packard v. Banton (Feb., 1924) Adv. Ops. No. 126. The amount of the bond or policy required is only $2,500, though with a continuing liability for that amount during the period of the bond. It appears from the court's opinion that the insurance companies charged a premium of $900 …

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

Books Received

Michigan Law Review

A list of books received by Michigan Law Review

Fair Value Of Public Utilities, Edwin C. Goddard

Michigan Law Review

It has been often remarked that the property of a public utility is privately owned, and it was not until recent years that its owners ceased to insist that they had all the rights of a private owner in the use and enjoyment of the property. Munn v. Illinois was a rude jar, but it has withstood the storm it aroused, at least to the extent that it is no longer questioned that property devoted to a public use is subject to public regulation, especially as to the charges that may be made to the public for the use. During …

Evidence--Admissibility Of Evidence Secured Through Violation Of Constitutional Prohibitions

Michigan Law Review

No other questions are oftener before our courts in these latter days than those which concern the admissibility of evidence objected to under the various constitutional provisions, state and national, providing against unreasonable searches and seizures, and compulsory self-crimination.