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Does The Power To Alienate In Fee Simple Defeat An Executory Devise?, Bradley M. Thompson

Articles

Under the common law one who held an estate in lands in fee simple absolute was the sole owner of such lands, and his right to enjoy the estate and exercise all the powers and privileges incident thereto could not be restricted by the devisor or grantor. The rights and privileges incident to an estate in fee simple constituted the estate-they were all essential, they were its bone, sinew and blood, and in the absence of any one of them the estate was regarded as less than a fee simple. Among those essential rights were the right of possession, the …

Power To Appoint To Office--Its Location And Limits, Floyd R. Mechem

Articles

At no other time in the judicial history of this country, if the evidence of the reported cases is to be relied upon, have there been so many and so bitter contests over all of the questions growing out of the title to public offices, as during the last ten or twelve years. This is undoubtedly largely accounted for by the fact that within that period a large number of the states have put in operation radically changed methods of conducting elections, based upon or practically incorporating what is popularly known as the Australian ballot system. In making these changes, …

Eligibility To Office--As Of What Time Determined, Floyd R. Mechem

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Eligibility to office under our political system cannot be regarded as a natural right, and some rules or regulations are therefore obviously indispensable to determine what shall be the qualifications which shall be deemed necessary or sufficient. These rules are usually express and written ones, though in a few cases they have been deduced by inference from considerations of policy or propriety

Preferences Arising From Trust Relations, Harry B. Hutchins

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Where property has once been impressed with a trust, the quality inheres therein and in the proceeds thereof so long as the trust relation continues, provided the rights of a bonafide purchaser for value and without notice do not intervene and identification remain possible. The trust impress, in the absence of a superior equity, at once places property in the preferred class. In equity, trust property belongs to the cesiui que trust, and his claim to it cannot be defeated by the insolvency or dishonesty of the trustee, if it constitutes, in an identifiable form, a part of the trustee's …

Authority Of Allen V. Flood, Horace Lafayette Wilgus

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In the case of Allen v. Flood, one of the Lords asked this interesting question, "If the cook says to her master, 'Discharge the butler or I leave you,' and the master discharges the butler, does the butler have an action against the cook?"' This, Lord Shand said, was the simplest form in which the very question in Allen v. Flood could be raised.

Authority Of Allen V. Flood, Horace Lafayette Wilgus

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In the case of Allen v. Flood, one of the Lords asked this interesting question, "If the cook says to her master, 'Discharge the butler or I leave you,' and the master discharges the butler, does the butler have an action against the cook?" This, Lord Shand said, was the simplest form in which the very question in Allen v. Flood could be raised.4 And, like the original question, it puzzled the judges and Lords very much to answer.

The Legal Status Of The Teacher, Floyd R. Mechem

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Prof. Mechem's address on the status of public and private school teachers.

The Consent Of The Governed, Bradley M. Thompson

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The acquisition of the Philippine Islands has aroused a profound interest in certain constitutional questions. This is not to be deplored. One of those questions is the meaning, the force and effect of the statement in the Declaration of Independence that "all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." That doctrine is not embodied in the constitution in those words nor in words of similar import, but some contend that the Declaration of Independence is a great beacon fire kindled by the fathers of the revolution and that in its light the constitution, afterwards adopted by …

The Professional School As A Factor In University Education, Harry B. Hutchins

Articles

The past twenty-five years have witnessed many radical changes in professional education. Here, quite as much as in other fields of learning, the old has given place to the new. This is particularly true of legal and medical education. In these departments the changes have been chiefly in the direction of more scientific methods and greater thoroughness. In the United States, until within a comparatively recent period, professional education in law and medicine was very largely obtained through an apprenticeship in the office of the practitioner. It is true that under the old regime, the medical student, if he aspired …

Contracts Of Sale Of Merchandise--Fraud On The Vendor, Levi T. Griffin

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In a former article (May number JOURNAL) fraud in contemplation of law, or legal fraud was considered. It was contended that a false representation, though honestly made and believed to be true, afforded sufficient ground to the vendor for rescinding a con- tract of sale. We now propose to briefly consider character of statements made, with some reference also to representations made to commercial agencies. It may be regarded as within the common knowledge of the profession, that the false representation must be the assertion of a fact, and usually of an existing fact, although the fact may depend upon …

Contracts Of Sale Of Merchandise--Fraud On The Vendor, Levi T. Griffin

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This is an interesting topic to every jobbing house, and to every attorney concerned with mercantile collections. The law is pretty well settled on the general subject and the Treatises on Sales are plentiful. Among the best is that of Mr. Benjamin. Tiffany on Sales of the Hornbrook Series recently issued assumes also to state briefly the principles which control in these cases. At large commercial and metropolitan points, and among lawyers who have occasion to often deal with this question, there is perhaps not much difficulty in arriving at correct conclusions, and promptly enforcing the rights of a defrauded …

Local Self-Government, So Called, As It Is Found In The Constitution Of Michigan, Otto Kirchner

Articles

It is not my purpose to enter upon a detailed examination of municipal government as it now exists, but to confine myself to the consideration of some of the constitutional limitations that rest upon the legislative power to deal with the matter.

Legal Education: Its Relation To The People And The State, Harry B. Hutchins

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All callings are to a greater or less extent interdependent. One should not be fostered at the expense of another, yet any improvement along a given line is more than local and immediate in its influence. It reaches more than those who are directly concerned. The building up and perfecting of a single industry may add to the wealth and importance of its promoters, but to argue that they are the only beneficiaries, would be to leave out of the case all of the indirect results that naturally and inevitably flow from a very successful undertaking. The fostering of.an enterprise …

Some Remarks Upon The Government Of Municipalities Suggested By The Experience, Growth And Development Of The City Of Grand Rapids, John W. Champlin

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The municipal government of the city of Grand Rapids has not in a11 respects been entirely successful. Dissatisfaction has manifested itself in parts of the community, especially in that portion which has to bear the burthen of taxation on account of increasing bonded indebtedness and the great increase of expenditures in carrying on the affairs of the city. Lack of discrimination in the objects of expenditure, and disregard of legal limitations upon the authority of the council, have caused uneasiness and comment. Notwithstanding these, the city has grown in population and material wealth, and I can say without self-adulation, is …

The Courts Of Judea, Jerome C. Knowlton

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The study of Jewish jurisprudence has become interesting during the past ten years through the efforts of some painstaking scholars, who have not been burdened with any particular dogma, but have been actuated by a true Christian spirit. They have been close students of those portions of the Talmud which throw light on the jurisprudence of the Jews.

A Suggestion Concerning The Law Of Inter-State Extradition, Edwin F. Conely

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While yet the nation was forming-indeed as early as 1643-the impolicy of the colonies' suffering themselves to become asylums for criminal refugees was seen and appreciated by the public men of the time. But, though continued efforts were made in the right direction and much was accomplished, the rendition of fugitives from justice remained, either legally or practically, a matter of comity for nearly a century and a half, or until the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. Then, made mandatory by the organic law of the Nation, inter-state extradition ceased to be subject to State control or …

How May Presidential Electors Be Appointed?, Bradley M. Thompson

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For more than half a century presidential electors have been chosen upon a general ticket in all the states. This was not the uniform practice at first. Judge Cooley in the last number of the JOU11NAL makes it clear that at least four different methods were at first adopted, one of them, the "district system," being that selected by the last legislature of Michigan. Following Judge Cooley's article is one by Gen. B. M. Cutcheon attacking this system on two grounds: First, that it is in conflict with the Constitution of the United States; and, secondly, that it is mischievous …

Embarassments To Legal Education, Jerome C. Knowlton

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In European countries a student is not allowed to undertake the study of law until he has received a degree equivalent to the A. B. degree in American colleges, and the minimum term of study is three years, and in some cases four or even five years are required. With some mortification, we recognize that the profession of law in this country has not approximated this high standard.

Law School Of The University Of Michigan, Henry W. Rogers

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The University of Michigan is one of the two largest universities in the United States, and this position it has attained within a comparatively few years. In June, 1887, it celebrated its semi-centennial ; and the University Calendar this year issued shows a Faculty roll of one hundred and eight professors, instructors, and assistants, as well as the names of eighteen hundred and eighty-two students. Harvard University, founded in 1636, and the oldest institution of learning in the country, celebrating its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary in November, i886, leads it in numbers by only seventeen students. In 1871 the …

The Element Of Locality In The Law Of Criminal Jurisdiction, Henry W. Rogers

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THE Federal Courts have no common law criminal jurisdiction. The question was raised in the United States Circuit Court for the District of Pennsylvania, in 1798, in United States v. Worrall, 2 Dallas, 384, and the Court was equally divided in opinion. Iii 1818, Mr. Justice STORY, in United States v. Coolidge, 1 Gallison, 488, decided that there were common law offences against the United States. But this, as we shall see, was overruled by the Supreme Court. As early as 1807, Chief Justice MARSHALL, in Ex parte .Bollman, 4 Cranch, 75, had said, "This Court disclaims all jurisdiction not …

International Extradition, Henry W. Rogers

Articles

It is a well-established principle of law that criminal prosecutions are local and not transitory. A wrong-doer whose wrong consists in a civil injury, or arises out of a breach of contract, can ordinarily be required to answer for the wrong done wherever he may be found. But a different principle is applied to the case of one who has committed a crime. As one nation does not enforce the penal laws of another, and as the process of the courts of a state can confer no authority beyond its own territorial limits, punishment can be avoided by escaping from …

Law Schools And Legal Education, Henry W. Rogers

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In the February number of the AMERICAN LAW REGISTER, there appeared an interesting article from the pen of Mr. Henry Budd, discussing the relation of law schools to legal education. The motive which inspired the writing of the article, was a commendable one, and the desire of the writer to have a higher standard established, governing admissions to the bar, will be quite generally concurred in. No one could read the article in question, however, without readily perceiving that the law schools of the United States were considered to be, in large measure, responsible for the admission to the bar …

Subscriptions, Henry W. Rogers

Articles

One cannot expect, within the limits of a single article, to exhaust the law relating to Subscriptions. But within the limits assigned, I propose to consider some portions of the law relating to this subject, which seem to me to be of sufficient interest and importance to merit attention in these pages. The subject of Subscriptions is seemingly a narrow one, and yet it has given rise to very considerable litigation, and out of it have come many interesting questions, upon the determination of which large pecuniary interests have often-times depended, especially in the case of Stock Subscriptions.

Davey V. Aetna Life Ins. Co., Henry W. Rogers

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Professor Rogers considers a case where a life insurance policy appears to be voided by the use of alcoholic beverages by the insured, to the degree of cause of death. Rogers notes: "In the particular case the court was asked to give the following instruction: Th expression in the policy, 'became so far intemperate as to impair his health,' does not mean habitual intemperance; but an act of intemperance producing the impairment of health is within the condition of the policy, and renders the policy null and void except as therein provided...."

In the Application for Rule to Show Cause …

Harboring Conspiracy, Henry W. Rogers

Articles

That the American people should naturally sympathize with Ireland in its demand for home rule is to be expected from the very nature of our institutions and theory of government. We in this country are of the opinion that Ireland, in demanding from England the right to regulate its domestic affairs in its own way and by its own laws, presents an honorable and a just cause, which appeals to our sympathy and sense of right. But it makes no difference bow honorable and legitimate a cause may be in itself, if it be supported by means which are not …

Labor And Capital Before The Law, Thomas M. Cooley

Articles

The chief concern of every political society is the establishment of rights and of adequate securities for their protection. In America, it has been agreed that this shall be done by the people themselves; they shall make their own laws, and choose their own agents to administer them. But the obvious difficulty of doing this directly has been recognized, and the people, after formulating the charter of government, incorporating in it such principles as they deem fundamental, content themselves with delegating all powers of ordinary legislation to representatives. Notwithstanding this delegation, much direct legislation of a very effective and important …

Popular And Legal Views Of Traffic Pooling, Thomas M. Cooley

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“Perhaps nothing in respect to the relations between the railroad companies and the public attracts more attention at the present time than the arrangements to which the name of pooling is popularly given. In railroad circles these arrangements are looked upon as necessary to prevent all railroad property becoming absolutely worthless to the stockholders, as a very large part of it is now; and those managers who are hoping to earn dividends are therefore laboring earnestly to make these arrangements effectual…. What is said will refer especially to pooling in freight traffic, but in principle it will apply to passenger …

Sarony V. Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co., Henry W. Rogers

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Commenting in the Federal Reporter on this Opinion, Professor Rogers considers at length this case bearing on definitions of copyright and artistic properties. "This was an action at law for the violation of the plaintiff's copyright of a photograph of Oscar Wilde, which the defendant had copied by the process known as chromo-lithography.... A jury was waived, and the case was argued upon questions of law only, which appear in the opinion."

"The contention of the defendant, briefly stated, is this: That there was no constitutional warrant for this act; that a photographer is not an author, and a photograph …

Detroit Savings Bank V. Zeigler, Henry W. Rogers

Articles

"Such interchanges of assistance between officers of a bank, as temporary need may require, is fairly within the contemplation of the appointment of such an officer, and the sureties on his bond are liable for a default made while he was temporarily filling the place of another officer.

"The receiving teller of the savings department of a bank, while filling the place of the general teller, during the latter's temporary absences, embezzled moneys of the bank: Held, that the sureties on a bond, given by him for so taken."

Compensation Of Experts, Henry W. Rogers

Articles

The law relating to the compensation of experts is somewhat unsettled, and the cases are not numerous in which the subject has been considered. This very fact, however, lends additional interest to the subject, and the question is one of great importance. In some of the States the law expressly provides that when a witness is summoned to testify as an expert he shall be entitled to extra compensation. Such a provision may be found in the laws of Iowa, of North Carolina, and of Rhode Island.