Digital Commons Network^™

Book Notes, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department undertakes to list and, when possible, describe briefly current books on law and matters closely related thereto.

Key Problems In The Apportionment Of Increase Between Successive Interests In Personalty, Erwin Esser Nemmers

Michigan Law Review

It has been said with some amount of truth that "Perhaps no other question in the law of future interests has called forth such a voluminous literature as the question of the allocation of dividends and the other accruing benefits as between the life tenant and the remainderman of shares of corporate stock."

The present writer's purpose in adding to the material on the subject is to show the relation to the case law of the rules set forth in the Restatement of Trusts and the Uniform Principal and Income Act. While difficult problems of apportionment arise in regard to …

The Story Of A County Prosecutor: A Review, Henry M. Bates

Michigan Law Review

During the later years of the last century the writing about law began to undergo a profound change. Generally speaking, prior to the period indicated it had been largely a statement of what the law was supposed to be as found in legislation and, in Anglo-American countries particularly, in the decisions and opinions of courts. Relatively, it was dogmatic, technical, often too general to be of much use in particular cases and gave a very imperfect picture of the law as actually administered.

Constitutional Law-Validity Of Marketing Program Established Under The California Agricultural Prorate Act, Malcolm M. Davisson

Michigan Law Review

Appellee, a producer and packer of raisins in California, alleging that enforcement of the proration marketing agreement established under the California Agricultural Prorate Act would prevent him from fulfilling sales contracts and from purchasing for sale and selling raisins in interstate commerce, brought suit in the district court to enjoin enforcement of the program for marketing the 1940 raisin crop. The marketing program was challenged as in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and the commerce clause of the United States Constitution and as in conflict with and superseded by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. The district …

Constitutional Law - Validity Of Rent Provisions Of Emergency Price Control Act, George T. Schilling

Michigan Law Review

The administrator of the Office of Price Administration brought an action in a federal district court to enjoin defendant from violating the rent provisions of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, and orders and regulations issued pursuant thereto. Defendant, by way of counterclaim, challenged the constitutionality of the act and Regulation No. 10 and sought an in junction restraining plaintiff from enforcing against her the provisions of the act, from interfering with the use and occupancy of her premises and her right to invoke the jurisdiction of the state courts, and requesting the suspension of the penal provisions of …

This Issue Is Dedicated To The Late Professor Edwin C. Goddard, Grover C. Grismore, E. Blythe Stason

Michigan Law Review

Edwin C. Goddard, a professor emeritus of the University of Michigan Law School, died in Ann Arbor, after a brief illness, on Friday, August 14, 1942. Those of us who were associated with him during his many years of service to the Law School feel that we have lost a wise adviser, a capable and faithful associate, and a loyal friend.

The Legal Status Of The Netherlands, Bartholomew Landheer

Michigan Law Review

The transfer of the Netherlands Government to London involves a number of legal aspects which are of great interest. In the first place, the term "government" deserves a closer scrutiny. Under an absolute monarchy or a totalitarian form of government the king or ruler combines the legislative, executive and judicial powers. Under a democracy or a constitutional monarchy the situation becomes far more complicated.

It is stated in the Netherlands Constitution that the executive power is vested in the king. The legislative power, however, is exercised by the king and States-General together. Thus, if, as in the case of the …

Libel And Slander - Absolute Privilege - Affidavit To Support Petition To Set Aside Judgment

Michigan Law Review

Judgment in a case against Dorothy Mann by the administratrix of a certain estate was rendered in April, 1934. Action to vacate this judgment was instituted in September, 1936. In May, 1936, Irving Mann, defendant in the principal case, executed an affidavit which contained libellous matter defaming the present plaintiff; this affidavit was used to support the petition to set aside the earlier judgment. Held, the defamatory affidavit would not support plaintiff's defamation action; the occasion was one of absolute privilege. Schmitt v. Mann, (Ky. 1942) 163 S. W. (2d) 281.

Trade Restraints - Resale Price Maintenance - Use Of Competitors As Agents, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Masonite Corporation, the principal defendant, manufactured and sold for construction purposes a patented wood product known as "hardboard." The other defendants sold, and many of them manufactured, building materials, several having patents that competed with Masonite. After a short period of patent litigation between Masonite and one of its chief competitors, a plan was devised and gradually extended to the other defendants, by which the latter were constituted the del credere agents of Masonite to sell its product at prices and according to terms which it should establish. The agents were not to use the trademarks of Masonite; and the …

Abstracts, Katherine Kempfer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Book Notes, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department undertakes to list and, when possible. describe briefly current books on law and matters closely related thereto.

Commissioner Benjamin's Report On Administrative Adjudication In New York, Gilbert H. Montague

Michigan Law Review

In his annual message to the New York Legislature in January, 1939, after recalling that at the 1938 election the people had rejected a proposal that would "freeze into the Constitution a rigid procedure" for "the judicial review of the facts as well as of the law of virtually all decisions of administrative officers and agencies," Governor Lehman announced: "Modification of procedure, if needed, should be undertaken only after careful study of each administrative process on an individual basis. As part of my plan always to improve and perfect the administrative branch of government, intend to appoint a commissioner under …

What Constitutes A Fair Procedure Before The National Labor Relations Board, Clyde W. Summers

Michigan Law Review

No administrative body in recent times has received as much criticism, both favorable and unfavorable, as has the National Labor Relations Board in its administration of the National Labor Relations Act. Such a vast amount of material has been written on the procedure before the board that any further discussion would seem superfluous. However, the discussion of the board's procedure has been related more to the wisdom of choice which the board has made in setting up its procedure than to a determination of the line that separates legality from illegality in its determination of cases.

Legal Techniques And Political Ideologies: A Comparative Study, Alexander H. Pekelis

Michigan Law Review

The problem with which we are going to deal is one of comparative law, a discipline probably even more illusory than legal science itself. A body of laws represents in itself neither a social reality nor a social ideal. One of the difficulties that every historian faces in trying to reconstruct a period of the past with the help of legal monuments is due to the great variety of relations existing between legal rules and social reality. So, e.g., legal monuments generally contain in an inextricable confusion at least two contradictory types of rules: rules which are a simple restatement …

Admiralty - Actions Against Shipowners For Loss Of Cargo - Burden Of Proof Of Seaworthiness, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A recent decision of the United States Supreme Court has laid to rest a number of complex problems involved in allocating the burden of proving seaworthiness between shipowners and injured cargo owners. While these general problems are by no means peculiar to maritime law, one plausible explanation for their unusual importance here might be found in the inherent difficulty which confronts the fact-finder when he attempts to accumulate information regarding accidents at sea. Fathoms of water may separate him from his evidence, and even where the source of injury is more accessible, the complex science of navigation and ship construction …

Conflict Of Laws-Refugee Government Property Conservation Decrees In The Courts Of The United States, Robert D. Ulrich

Michigan Law Review

In the Feuchtwanger case, a French government decree of April 24, 1940, as amended May 10, 1940, defined as prohibited exportation of capital "the acts of allowing to remain outside of French territory, or keeping in foreign exchange or foreign currencies, or of not collecting within the territories fixed by decree or instruction of the Minister of Finance, all or part of the proceeds of the exportation of merchandise, or of the remuneration for services, as well as all or part of all proceeds or income abroad."

In May 1939, plaintiff, then a resident of France, purchased a number of …

Attorney And Client - Malpractice - Accrual Of Action - Statute Of Limitations

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, in March, 1934, while in the employ of a manufacturing concern, suffered severe injuries. In September, 1935, he employed the defendant, an attorney, to present and prosecute a claim for compensation. The claim was filed in March, 1937; it was dismissed by the Industrial Commission on the ground that it was barred by the two-year statute of limitations governing such claims. Apparently the attorney, continuing his efforts on behalf of his client, persuaded the employer to make a voluntary settlement, for the plaintiff alleges that, in May of 1940, he endorsed the employer's check over to the attorney, accepted …

Constitutional Law - Constitutionality Of Tire Rationing, Malcolm M. Davisson

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, Price Administrator, sought to enjoin defendants from selling rubber tires and tubes to consumers without tire rationing certificates as required by the tire rationing regulations. Defendants contended that the regulations were void under the Fifth Amendment as taking of property without due process of law and without just or any compensation. Held, judgment for plaintiff. The tire rationing regulations, a proper exercise of the war powers vested by Congress in the President or some duly constituted department, agency, or officer of the federal government, are not in contravention of the prohibition of the Fifth Amendment against the taking …

Current Periodical Index, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department lists the articles and comments which appear in twenty-five leading law reviews. The index embraces material published since the last issue of this REVIEW.

Current Periodical Index, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department lists the articles and comments which appear in twenty-five leading law reviews. The index embraces material published since the last issue of this REVIEW.

Constitutional Law-Trial By Jury-Conditions Of Valid Waiver

Michigan Law Review

Until the rendition of the Supreme Court's lengthy opinion in Patton v. United States the consequence of a defendant's waiver of his constitutional right to trial by jury in criminal cases, and his resultant trial without a jury of twelve persons, was matter for vigorous disputation. The decisions from various jurisdictions are conflicting and confused. Some courts have declared flatly that the right cannot be validly waived and that conviction following an attempted waiver is a nullity. But their reasons for so holding are widely variant.

The Revenue Act Of 1942: Federal Estate And Gift Taxation, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

The Revenue Act of 1942 marks important changes in the substantive law. Most of these changes have been obscured by the publicity accorded the higher rates and other features that distinguish it as the first great taxing measure borne out of the travail of the present conflict. Yet it is remarkable that despite the urgency of the need for war revenues, time and effort should have been expended by Congressional committees and Treasury officials in working out with care and thought revisions that constitute a notable contribution to the clarification and restatement of the substantive law of federal taxation. Important …

Some Legal Aspects Of Guaranteed War Loans, William B. Cudlip

Michigan Law Review

Of the many innovations in the field of commercial banking since 1933, one of the most important introduced as a result of the war emergency is the "guaranteed" war loan plan which was authorized by the President under Executive Order 9112, dated March 26, 1942. Under the plan any loan made by any financing institution, including specified government agencies, to a borrower engaged in the production of war materials may be guaranteed by the War or Navy Departments or the Maritime Commission of the federal government, in those cases where the borrower is unable to obtain adequate financing without such …

The Validity Of Conditions In Patent Licenses, John Barker Waite

Michigan Law Review

In discussing this subject one can still begin with the premise that in this country a patentee possesses the absolute right to preclude anyone, except the United States government, from making use of his invention.

Conflict Of Laws Relating To Installment Sales, Robert E. Lee

Michigan Law Review

The most perplexing problem in the field of installment contracts probably occurs when property sold by a title-retaining instrument (conditional sale, chattel mortgage, or bailment lease) in one state is removed to another state where rights of creditors of, or purchasers from, the buyer attach. Inasmuch as the possession of the article has been permitted to be in the buyer, so that outwardly, and with nothing more, he is the apparent owner, the important question arises as to whose rights are higher, the secret owner (the conditional seller, the chattel mortgagee, or the bailor) or the creditor of, or purchaser …

Constitutional Law-Saboteurs And The Jurisdiction Of Military Commissions, George T. Schilling

Michigan Law Review

The jurisdiction of military tribunals in the United States has troubled political and legal writers since the days of the Revolution. Decided cases are not numerous. The boundaries separating military and civil jurisdiction are not precise. Observations of the plight of oppressed peoples in other lands as well as the conception of total war and the course of action necessary for survival warrant a reexamination and reappraisal of our constitutional guarantees, which were in part based upon and reflect a fear of tyrannical military rule. A pronouncement of the Supreme Court of the United States in this field is, therefore, …

Taxation - Federal Gift Tax - Integration With Income Tax, Katherine Kempfer

Michigan Law Review

Beck in 1935 created an irrevocable funded insurance trust of $172,000 in securities together with seven policies of insurance on his life. The income from the securities was to be applied to pay the premiums on the policies and any surplus was to be distributed to his wife and daughter. At grantor's death the proceeds of the policies were to be added to the corpus of the trust and all income was to go to the same beneficiaries for life with remainders over. There was no possibility of reverter in the grantor and no right to alter, modify or revoke …

Recent Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The recent decisions consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Torts-The Duty To Rescue-"Am I My Brother's Keeper?

Michigan Law Review

A recent case, decided by the Supreme Court of Indiana, and commented upon elsewhere in this issue, involved the interesting question as to the existence of a duty to go to the aid of a person who is in helpless peril through no initial fault on the part of the defendant.

Book Notes, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department undertakes to list and, when possible. describe briefly current books on law and matters closely related thereto.