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The New Federal Equity Rules, Robert E. Bunker

Articles

On November 4, 1912 the Supreme Court of the United States, by formal order, adopted and established a code of rules for the courts of equity of the United States, which should take the place of all rules theretofore prescribed by the Supreme Court and then in force. Rule 81 provides: "These rules shall be in force on and after February 1, 1913, and shall govern all proceedings in cases then pending or thereafter brought, save that where in any then pending cause an order has been made or act done which cannot be changed without doing substantial injustice, the …

Admiralty Jurisdiction And State Waters, John B. Waite

Articles

The case of Ex parte Boyer1 closes with the statement that it "does not raise the question whether the admiralty jurisdiction of the district court extends to waters wholly within the body of a state, and from which vessels cannot so pass as to carry on commerce between places in such state and places in another state or in a foreign country; and no opinion is intended to be intimated as to jurisdiction in such a case." Nor does any other case appear directly to intimate such an opinion, unless it be that of Stapp v. Clyde2 wherein a state …

How To Beat The Rule Against Perpetuities, John R. Rood

Articles

Many people seem to think that the lawyer's problem is not so much to know what the law is as to know how to get all they want while obeying the law to the letter. In the case of perpetuities the history of nearly a thousand years of our law shows an almost unbroken series of disastrous failures of the best-laid schemes to violate the public policy of freedom of alienation.

Book Reviews, Edwin C. Goddard, Ralph W. Aigler

Michigan Law Review

This work, which is practically an annotated and well arranged selection of extracts from leading cases and from the rules laid down and followed by various railroad commissions and public service companies, puts in extremely convenient form a great deal of very valuable material. There has been such a diversity in the rules laid down by the courts as to the methods of valuation and the elements that should enter into a determination of the value of a public service plant, that it requires a large amount of investigation to bring together and analyze the various important cases. One can …

Editorial Preface To This Volume, Joseph H. Drake

Other Publications

"American juristic thinking at the present time needs a von Ihering. Our jurists, our legislators and our courts, both bench and bar, are still holding fast to an historical 'Naturrecht' built up on the precedents of the Common Law.... The public is crying out against our crystallized and inelastic theory and practice of law. The practical application of the idea of law as purpose would, in many cases, loosen our legal shackles and open the way out of our legal difficulties ...."

"The days of 'laissez faire' in legal matters have gone by in America as well as in Germany. …

A Historic Judicial Controversy And Some Reflections Suggested By It., S. S. Gregory

Michigan Law Review

Probably most well informed persons of the present generation associate the notion, once maintained, that a state might secede or nullify an act of Congress, with the South and its earlier statesmen. And it is time that the resolutions drawn substantially by Jefferson and adopted by the Legislature of Kentucky in 1798, and similar resolutions drafted by Madison and adopted by the General Assembly of Virginia in the same year, together with some similar and more explicit declarations by the Legislature of the former state in 1799, seem to furnish some warrant for this impression. Yet it seems to be …

Bank Deposits And Collections, Ralph J. Baker

Michigan Law Review

In the first portion of this paper-it has been shown that the character of ja deposit is determined by the contract made between the bank and its customer. It now remains to point out the various conditions of fact and combinations of circumstances which are useful in ascertaining the true character of the contract when the subject of the deposit is commercial paper, as drafts, notes, or cheques.

Note And Comment, Ralph W. Aigler, Wilson W. Mills, Sidney E. Doyle, Joseph J. Kennedy

Michigan Law Review

The Renvoi Theory Repudiated as a Test for Determining the Negotiability of a Note - A recent case decided by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma (Bell v. Riggs, 127 Pac. 427) involving, among others, a question as to what law governs the negotiability of a note made in one State and payable in another, though of little intrinsic value so far as that point is concerned, is of some interest because the attorney for the holder of the note made a curious attempt to adapt the renvoi theory to his case. The term renvoi is used as a convenient descriptive …

Book Reviews, Joseph H. Drake

Michigan Law Review

These two volumes, published simultaneously in the fall of 1912, are the first fruits of the labor of the committee which 'has been working since 19o9 to make available to American lawyers the 'works of the best legal historians of Continental Europe. The Series is to contain' a volume on the "History of Germanic Private Law," one on "Italian Law," one on "French Public Law," one on each of the subjects,-"Continental -Criminal Procedure," "Continental Criminal Law," "Continental Civil Procedure," and "Continental- Commercial Law," with a concluding volume on the "Evolution of Law in, Europe," and an extra volume (to be …

Book Reviews, John R. Rood

Michigan Law Review

The appearance of these two works in the Classics of International Law, the publication of which has been ,undertaken by the Carnegie Institution of Washington under the general editorship of Dr. James Brown 'Scott, is an event of great importance in the history of the literature of International Law. Several years ago Dr. Scott called the attention of the authorities of the Carnegie Institution to the need of reprints .of the texts of the great classics of International Law, each to be accompanied by a readable English translation. The Carnegie Institution undertook the work as outlined by Dr. Scott, and …

What Is The Law? Ii, Joseph W. Bingham

Michigan Law Review

I shall now discuss briefly the nature of the causal effects of precedents upon judicial decisions and the justifications for those effects. One frequently hears laymen scoffing at the respect which courts pay to precedents and sometimes displaying a lamentable ignorance both of the nature of the influence which precedents have on the law and of the reasons for the existence of that influence. The influence of past example on human action pervades all human conduct and endeavor at all times. That influence is fundamental. It occurs through instinctive as well as intelligent processes and sometimes runs to unreasonable extents. …

Bank Deposits And Collections, Ralph J. Baker

Michigan Law Review

Insolvency, no less than natural death, is a tragedy which comes into the midst of business transactions, fixing the claims of parties, and calling for the application of legal principles to determine the nature and extent of their rights. Perhaps no business relationship is more frequent than that of banker and customer or depositor. And while insolvency of banking institutions is happily less frequent than in the ordinary business, it is not so uncommon that questions therein are not often in the courts for adjudication. It would, therefore, be a natural deduction that the legal principles applicable should be comparatively …

The Liability Of A Principal For The Penal Or Criminal Acts Of His Agent, Floyd R. Meechem

Michigan Law Review

What Here Involved. In a previous article the question of the liability of a principal or master for the wilful or malicious acts of his servant or agent, was considered. It is proposed here to consider the liability of a principal or master for the penal or criminal acts of his agent or servant. This will involve two aspects: (a) The civil liability of the principal or master, and (b) His penal or criminal liability.

Note And Comment, Joseph J. Kennedy, Samuel H. Morris, Burke W. Shartel, George S. Burgess

Michigan Law Review

Attendance at the Law School; An Extreme Case in the Application of the Safety Appliance Act; Advisory Opinions; Refusal of Specific Performance Where Subsequent Unexpected Events Render it Inequitable; Is Vasectomy a Cruel Punishment

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Adverse Possession--Railroads--Effect of Change of Line; Bankruptcy--Extension of Time for Filing Petition for Discharge; Bankruptcy--Voidable Preferences--Proceeds of Fire Insurance Policy; Bills and Notes--Liability of Irregular Indorser--Questions for Jury; Bills and Notes--Negotiability--Law Governing; Boundaries--Street--Land Made by Change in Street; Commerce--Interstate Commerce on Route Between Two Points in Same State; Criminal Law--Dead Bodies--Proper Burial; Constitutional Law--Involuntary Servitude; Deeds--New Grantee in Habendum--Construction; Deeds--Parol Reservation of Growing Crops by Vendor of Land; Evidence--Admissibility of Statements of a prior Holder of Negotiable Paper Against Transferee; Evidence--Right to Introduce Secondary Evidence of Contents of a Document When the Original is Beyond Jurisdiction of the Court; Guardian …

Judicial Criticism Of Legislation By Courts, Charles G. Haines

Michigan Law Review

In the application of the doctrine of judicial review of legislative acts, the federal courts of the United States have not infrequently been criticised for usurping part of the functions of the legislature. The criticisms have increased to such an extent as to raise an issue of national significance. Recently, charges against the judiciary for the usurpation of legislative functions have been made rather frequently by the justices of our federal Supreme Comt. The late Associate Justice Harlan, dissenting in part from the reasoning of the majority of the court in the Standard Oil case, brought such a criticism against …

The Need Of A Scientific Study Of Crime, Crimninal Law, And Procedure--The American Institute Of Criminal Law And Criminology, Eugene A. Gilmore

Michigan Law Review

The multiplying instances of the delay or seeming miscarriage of justice, together with the indications that crime is not diminishing in this country, as it is in most progressive European countries, are responsible for the widespread feeling that American Criminal Law and Administration are ineffective as a corrective system, and thus fail adequately to protect society; that as President Taft puts it, "The administration of criminal law in this country is a disgrace to our civilization." Defective organization of courts, cumbrous and costly procedure and excessive emphasis on technicalities afford an undue advantage to the law-breaker of means and deepen …

Note And Comment, Ralph W. Aigler, Robert L. Mayall

Michigan Law Review

The Law School; Possession Under Mistake, as Adverse Possession; Limitation of Carrier's Common-Law Liability; The Force and Effect of State Insolvency Laws Under the Bankruptcy Act of 1898;

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Animals--Abuse--Malice Toward the Owner; Assault and Battery--Apparent Ability; Bankruptcy--marshaling Assets of Partnership and of Constituent Firm; Banks and Banking--Checks--Fictitious Payee; Bills and Notes--Bona Fide Holder; Carrier--duty to Protect Passengers; Constitutional law--Division of Powers--Infringement on Executive; Constitutional law--Eminent Domain--Supersedure of Ordinance of 1787; Constitutional law--Special Legislation--Automobiles; Corporations--Issue of Stock--Corporation of Two States; Courts--Jurisdiction--Damage to Real Property Without the State--Negligence; Damage--Personal Injuries Contributing to Disease; Deeds--Assignment o fright of Entry Between Heirs; Deeds--Restrictive Covenant--"building" Defined; Equity--Infringement of Trade Marks--"Clean Hands"--Husband and Wife--Estate by Entirety--Conveyance of Husband's Interest; Judgment--Effect of the Transcript of a Justice's Judgement Filed in the District Court; Judgment--Estoppel--Homestead; Marriage--What …

Some Unscheduled Liabilities Of Trust Companies, Henry M. Bates

Articles

"The modern trust company, with its varied and highly developed functions, is a characteristic product of our present complex civilization... The trust company, as some one has said, has become the corporation's corporation, a sort of super-corporation.... The question then naturally arises, is there any law peculiar to trust companies?"

Note And Comment, Sigmund W. David, Newton K. Fox, Harold R. Curtis, Aquilla C. Lewis, Albert R. Dilley

Michigan Law Review

Civil Liability for False Testimony; Review by the Courts of the Decisions of the Land Department; Right of One Partner to Sue His Co-Partners in Conversion; Does a Tax Deed, Void on it Face, Give Color of Title; Interference With Employment by Trade Union;

Book Reviews, Joseph H. Drake, Joseph H. Drake

Michigan Law Review

The Modern Legal Philosophy Series; Borchard: Guide to the Law and Legal Literature of Germany

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Agency--Fiduciary Relation--Right of Principal to Agent's Acquisitions--Patents for Agent's Inventions; Bankruptcy--Insurance Policies as Assets; Carriers--Duty Toward Alighting Passenger; Commerce--Conflicting State and Federal Regulation; Constitutional law--Restrictive Labor Laws for Women; Contributory Negligence--Children; Conveyancing--Covenants--Construction of "Business" in Restrictive Covenant; corporations--Director's Meetings--Effect of Surprise, Trick, or Fraud in Securing a Quorum; Corporations--Eleemosynary--Liability of Educational Institution for Torts; Corporations--Fraudulent Organization--Corporation a Nullity; Criminal Law--Wife Abandonment--Proper Venue; Damages--Breach of Contract--Value of Unmatured Crops; Damages--Master and Servant--Wrongful Discharge of Servant; Dedication--requisites, Sufficiency and Acceptance; Deeds--Rule in Shelley's Case; Equity--Temporary Injunction--Function and Effect; Garnishment--Possession of Garnishee--Safety Deposit Box; Husband and Wife--Power of Wife to Dispose of Her …

Front Matter, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Front Matter for Michigan Law Review Vol 10 (1911-1912)

Restrictions On The Use Of Patented Articles, Edward S. Rogers

Michigan Law Review

The case of Henry v. Dick recently decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, has occasioned considerable unfavorable comment in the public press. It seems to be the opinion of many that the decision lays down a new principle of law, particularly adaptable to the working of a monopoly, and that the public is, under the supposed new principle, exposed to a practically unlimited exploitation by any patentee. It is believed that neither of these contentions is correct.

The Pelatiah Webster Myth, Edward S. Corwin

Michigan Law Review

For several years Mr. Hannis Taylor has been endeavoring to persuade the American public that the Constitution, instead of being the work of the Convention of 1787, acting under the guidance of men like Madison, Hamilton, Pinckney, Patterson, Ellsworth, and others of similar caliber, was really the invention of a single individual, Pelatiah Webster by name, whose fame, till Mr. Taylor's resurrection of it in The North American Review for August, 1907, had dropped quite out of historical notice. Since this first publication of his discovery, Mr.Taylor has returned to the attack time and time again, now in a memorial …

Note And Comment, Dean L. Lucking, Paul P. Farrens, George E. Brand, Walle W. Merritt, Albert E. Merder

Michigan Law Review

Concealing a Secret Trust by Making an Absolute Testamentary Gift to Testator's Solicitor; Conflict of State and Federal Regulations of Interstate Commerce Before the Latter Becomes Operative; Adverse Possession by an Alien and the Effect of Statute Removing an Alien's Disability to Inherit; The Rescission of a Pre-Corporate Contract on the Ground of Promoter's Fraud; When is an Agreement "Not to be Performed Within a Year"

Procedural Law Reform, Willis B. Perkins

Michigan Law Review

It is said that under our present practice, no matter how just the verdict and judgment of the court below may be, no lawyer can guarantee that his case may not be reversed by the Supreme Court. Is this criticism well-founded in fact; and, if so, is it a reflection upon our present methods of legal procedure? The statisticians tell us that no less than twenty per cent of all the cases taken to our appellate courts relate to questions of practice, and that throughout the country in forty per cent of these cases new trials are granted. In our …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Bankruptcy--Actos of Bankruptcy--Partnership Preferences; Bankruptcy--constitutional Protection Afforded by the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution; Bankruptcy--Interest--When Payable After Date of Filing Petition and up to date of Payment; Banks and Banking--Payment of Check to Wrong Person--Estoppel; Bills and Notes--Construction of Instrument--Negotiable Notes; bills and Notes--Indorsers--Notice of Dishonor by Telephone--Sufficiency; constitutional Law--Due Process of Law--Criminal Insane; electricity--Interfering Currents; Equity--Injunction Against Unfair Competition; Fishery--In Gross or Appurtenant; Homestead--Abandonment--Removal From State; Insanity--Court Cannot Interfere if Defendant has Refused to Set it up as a Defense at the Trial; Insurance--Foreign Insurance Companies--Liability on Losses Occurring After Dissolution; Libel and Slander--Qualified Privilege--Priest and Congregation; …

The State Governor Ii, John A. Fairlie

Michigan Law Review

The power of the governor over the executive administration includes on the one hand his general control over the whole administration, and on the other hand the special authority conferred in certain particular branches of administration. His general authority is based on his control over the personnel of the administration, by means of his powers of appointment and removal; and by his power to see that the laws are executed, and more specific authority to direct and control the actions of subordinate officials. His special administrative powers include those in relation to military affairs and the external affairs of the …