Digital Commons Network^™

Corporations-Purchase Of Notes And Mortgages As "Doing Business"

Michigan Law Review

C was engaged in loaning money in Idaho. He sold many of the notes and mortgages which he thus received to the plaintiff, a foreign corporation. It was his practice, nevertheless, to collect the interest on these notes and remit it to the plaintiff. The actual sales of the notes and mortgages occurred in Chicago. In this manner the plaintiff acquired the note of the defendant, a resident of Idaho and his mortgage on Idaho land. The Idaho statute forbids a foreign corporation "doing business" in the State to sue in its courts without taking certain qualifying steps. The plaintiff, …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Right Of Defendant To Accompany Jury On View-Due Process

Michigan Law Review

During the trial of appellant in the Massachusetts courts for murder the jury was sent to view the scene of the crime. The accused asked that he be allowed to accompany them, invoking the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment. Permission was refused. At the view, judge and counsel being present, a stipulation was entered into as to changes which had occurred since the crime. Upon conviction, appellant appealed to the United States Supreme Court asserting that there had been a denial of due process. Held, four justices dissenting, that there had been no denial of due process since no …

The Economic Aspects Of Inflation, Leonard L. Watkins

Michigan Law Review

In every large industrial country there is a considerable group that urges inflation as a path to national prosperity. They have made least impression on monetary policies in countries that experienced severe inflation during the war and post-war years. But in the United States, where war-time inflation was relatively moderate and where losses in the recent depression have been especially severe, inflationary measures have been adopted and agitation persists for the adoption of still more radical policies.

Aliens-Right Of Illegally Present Alien To Sue-Tortsplaintiff's Violation Of Statute

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff was injured when struck by an automobile operated on the public way by defendant Long. He brought two suits in tort, one against Long, the other against Adamski, the owner of the car. Defendants contested his right to sue on the ground that he was in the country admittedly in violation of the immigration laws. They offered the further objection that his illegal presence made him a trespasser on the highway, and hence, under the Massachusetts doctrine, he was ineligible to maintain a suit arising from mere negligence. Held, plaintiff's unlawful residence in the country was no …

Effects Of Inflation On Private Contracts: Germany, 1914-1924, John P. Dawson

Michigan Law Review

The German experience with inflation is unique not only in the magnitude of the ultimate disaster but in the wealth and variety of the record which it left behind. From that experience we may still learn much. The problems presented at successive stages of the German inflation differ in degree but not in kind from those which appear in any major shift in the general level of prices. The devices, legal and economic, for restoring an equilibrium thus destroyed must be essentially the same in any great country organized, as Germany was, for specialized, large-scale production. From a study of …

Constitutional Law - Home Owners Loan Corporation Act - Penalties Clause

Michigan Law Review

An indictment under the penalties clause of the Home Owners Loan Corporation Act, brought before the promulgation of authorization of charges for services rendered, was dismissed on the ground that, prior to such authorization, the act was not sufficiently definite to satisfy the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. United States v. Willard, (D. C. W.D.Mich.No.4057, September 27, 1934) 2 U.S.LAW WEEK, index p. 99.

Contracts - Assignment- Unsealed Assignment Of Sealed Instrument

Michigan Law Review

Defendants sold and conveyed their grocery business by a bill of sale under seal and covenanted not to engage in a like business within a one-mile radius for a period of three years. The purchaser assigned the bill of sale by an instrument not under seal to the plaintiffs. When the defendants opened a competing business in violation of their agreement, the plaintiffs filed a bill in equity asking that the defendants be restrained. Held, that an injunction should issue, notwithstanding the bill of sale was sealed while the assignment was not. Adamowicz v. Iwanicki, (Mass. 1934) 190 …

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.

Constitutional Law - New Deal Legislation - Gold Hoarding Statute

Michigan Law Review

Two cases involving acts of Congress passed in March 1933 to prevent the hoarding of gold' were denied a review by the United States Supreme Court on October 8. Both of these cases involved the same facts. Plaintiff had delivered certain gold bars to a bank for safe-keeping. Later the bank notified him that, pursuant to an executive order by the President of the United States, it would have to surrender the gold. Immediately the plaintiff demanded the return of the bullion, which demand was refused, and he filed bills for specific performance of the bailment contract against the bank …

Practice And Procedure-Scope Of Court Rules Allowing Discovery

Michigan Law Review

The declaration alleged that plaintiff's intestate, a tenant of the defendant, sustained fatal injuries from a fall on the grounds of the apartment house, caused by defendant's negligence with respect to the care of the premises. The action was begun one day before the statute of limitations would have run. Defendant gave notice that under Court Rule 41 she would examine the plaintiff as to the particulars of the event which constituted the cause of action. Plaintiff filed a motion to set aside this order, alleging that defendant's rights under the above rule were limited to discovery as to affirmative …

Contracts --Anticipatory Breach- Denial Of Liability As A Repudiation

Michigan Law Review

A life insurance policy provided that the insured was to be paid a certain sum per month in case of permanent disability. A dispute arose between the company and the insured as to the proper construction of the contract. The company expressed willingness to perform the contract as it construed it, but this was a refusal to pay the monthly disability income. The insured brought an action to recover total damages for anticipatory breach, of the contract to pay the permanent disability benefits. Held, that the insurer had not made such an unequivocal refusal to perform the contract as …

Corporate Reorganization Under Section 77b Of The Bankruptcy Act, Jacob J. Kaplan

Michigan Law Review

In the closing hours of its legislative life the 73rd Congress adopted the amendment to the Bankruptcy Act providing for the reorganization of corporations, and designated as Section 77B. The Act was approved. by the President on June 7, 1934. The statute had had a long and checkered history in Congress. Such legislation barely failed of enactment in the preceding session when Congress first gave to natural persons availing themselves of bankruptcy procedure the right to call themselves "debtors" rather than "bankrupts," and provided a substantially similar method of reorganization for railroad corporations engaged in interstate commerce. The present statute …

Federal Regulation Of Motor Carriers, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

By it's policy of granting financial assistance to the States for roadbuilding purposes - a policy first inaugurated in 1916 - the federal government has made substantial contributions to the development of highway transportation in the United States. In a period of seventeen years ending with the fiscal year 1933, Congress had appropriated and allocated to the several States $1,290,000,000.00 for the purpose of building good roads. Since 1921 the use of federal aid funds has been limited to the improvement of a designated 7 per cent of each State's highway mileage. By May 31, 1933, work was completed on …

Penalties As Affected By Good Faith Litigation, Robert E. Hardwicke

Michigan Law Review

There are many state laws, as well as the so-called National Emergency Acts and other federal laws, providing for the imposition of penalties for the violation of a statute, or an order or regulation of a board, commission, or executive officer. Under, the National Industrial Recovery Act, sec. 3 (f), penalties are fixed for the violation of codes promulgated thereunder. In many instances the penalties are cumulative, each day's violation being a separate offense.

The primary question here to be discussed is whether good faith litigation as to the validity of such a law, code, order or similar regulation gives …

Administrative Law-Judicial Review-Federal Equity "Powers

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's testator, a resident of New York, died there and at the time of his death owned certain oil paintings on temporary loan to an Art Museum in Pennsylvania, on which the State of Pennsylvania levied an inheritance tax. Plaintiff, executor under a will disposing of the pictures, filed a bill in the Federal District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania to enjoin the defendants, tax officials of Pennsylvania, from attempting to impose or collect the inheritance tax. The bill alleged diversity of citizenship and the requisite jurisdictional amount, and further that the imposition of the tax violated the Fourteenth Amendment, depriving …

Corporations--Liability Of Stockholder In Non-Complying Foreign Corporation

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was a stockholder in the A corporation, incorporated in Indiana to go business there, but carrying on its principal business in Tennessee where It had failed to comply with a law requiring foreign corporations to domesticate; Plaintiff, a holder of a trade acceptance on which the A corporation was primarily liable, sued defendant in Indiana, liability on the trade acceptance having been incurred in Tennessee. The A corporation being insolvent, plaintiff sought to hold the defendant personally liable on the ground that the failure of the corporation to comply with domestication statutes of Tennessee made its stockholders liable …

Practice And Procedure - Seventh Amendment- Power Of Federal Court To Increase Inadequate Verdict

Michigan Law Review

A jury in a federal court awarded the plaintiff $500 for injuries received in an automobile accident. The plaintiff thereupon moved for a new trial on the · ground of inadequate damages. The trial judge, having obtained the consent of the defendant to entry of judgment for $1,500, denied the motion. Plaintiff appealed. Held, (Morton, C. J., dissenting) such procedure operates as a violation of the Seventh Amendment, and the only course open to a federal court in a case where damages are inadequate is to grant a new trial. Schiedt v. Dimick, (C. C. A. ·1st, 1934) …

Public Utilities-Street Railway Regulation By State Commission In Home Rule City-Permission To Withdraw From Service

Michigan Law Review

A street railway company, located in a city with a home rule charter adopted in accordance with the state constitution, petitioned the state railway commission and was granted authority to curtail its transportation by buses. The company had been in bad financial condition during recent years; the number of passengers carried had been substantially decreasing, and the company was not able to pay full interest on bonded debt. Upon the insistence of the city, the company had put bus lines in operation several years earlier and these had continually been operating at a deficit. Upon appeal, the court held that …

Partnership-Incorporation-Liability To Previous Creditors

Michigan Law Review

The two defendants, partners in the operation of the Mulkey Motor Co., an automobile sales establishment, had indorsed promissory notes in the name of the firm and had sold them to the plaintiff. Later the defendants incorporated under the same name and continued to carry on the business as before. Thereafter the plaintiff, without knowledge of the incorporation, purchased from the defendants certain notes which were indorsed in the accustomed fashion. In an action against the defendants as partners, based on such indorsements of the latter notes, it was contended that the debt was that of the corporation. Held, …

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.

The Johnson Amendment To The Judicial Code, Edwin C. Goddard

Michigan Law Review

The so-called Johnson bill amending the Judicial Code was passed by Congress and signed by the President on May 14, 1934. The bill was the result of long agitation against the alleged pernicious interference by United States District Courts with rate regulations of the state utility commissions and the state courts. It was charged that the removal of cases from state to federal tribunals was burdening the District Courts and, what was far more serious, was favoring the public utilities and preventing their proper state regulation by submitting controversies to judges having life tenure and who were out of touch …

The Securities Exchange Act Of 1934, John E. Tracy, Alfred Brunson Macchesney

Michigan Law Review

The Congress has enacted and the President has just signed an act for the regulation of stock exchanges, to be known as the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In order that we may understand the nature of the Act and the reasons for its enactment, it will be well first to consider briefly the organization and functions of stock exchanges, the evils that are claimed to have arisen from their existence, and some of the previous attempts which have been made to prevent the occurrence of such evils.

Effect Of Insolvency Proceedings On Creditor's Right To Interest, Fred T. Hanson

Michigan Law Review

Where the claims of all creditors are of the same class and. assets are insufficient to pay in full the amount due on all claims when insolvency proceedings are begun, the general rule is that interest thereafter accruing will not be included in computing dividends on claims. The reasons usually given for this rule are: (a) The delay in payment is not the act of the debtor but is an act of the law for the mutual benefit of all the creditors. (b) In the case of claims bearing different rates of interest, it would be inequitable to permit the …

The Grant Of Rule-Making Power To The Supreme Court Of The United States, Edson R. Sunderland

Michigan Law Review

The determined effort on the part of the American Bar Association, which continued without relaxation for almost a quarter of a century, to place the regulation of federal trial court procedure in law actions under the control of the Supreme Court of the United States, has at last been successful. Senate Bill No. 3040, granting full rulemaking power to the Supreme Court, became a law on June 19, 1934.

Constitutional Law-Validity Of Statute Exempting Insurance Benefits From Process For Debts

Michigan Law Review

C, a judgment creditor of W, instituted garnishment proceedings to recover the amount of the judgment out of moneys owed by the X insurance company to W as beneficiary of H's life insurance. Subsequently the Arkansas legislature passed a statute exempting all moneys paid or payable to any resident of the State as the insured or beneficiary designated under any life, sickness, or accident insurance policy, from liability or seizure under judicial process, and provided that such benefits should not be subjected to the payment of any debt. Held, by a unanimous decision of the United …

Federal Trade Commission-Recent Trends In Interpretation Of The Federal Trade Commission Act

Michigan Law Review

The Federal Trade Commission has never been a favored child of the courts. Beginning with the first case to which the Commission was a party, the attitude of the judiciary has clearly been unfriendly. The Commission gets its powers from the Clayton Act and from the Federal Trade Commission Act. The courts have interpreted the Clayton Act strictly, and there is no sign of a change of heart by the majority of the Supreme Court in that respect; it is believed, however, that a few of the recent cases under the Federal Trade Commission Act, both in the Supreme Court …

Bankruptcy-Debtor Proceedings-Power Of Court To Enjoin State Court Actions

Michigan Law Review

A debtor proceeding was initiated in a Florida federal court and an ancillary proceeding was begun in a New York federal court. The latter court enjoined petitioner, who had obtained a tort judgment against the debtor in a New York state court, which judgment had been affirmed by the Appellate Division, from arguing the case as appellee in the New York Court of Appeals and from continuing to prosecute an action commenced by him (petitioner) against the sureties on an appeal bond filed by the debtor pending the appeal to the Appellate Division. Shares of stock had been pledged by …

Physicians And Surgeons-When Physician Obliged To Disclose Information Gained Through Doctor-Patient Relation

Michigan Law Review

In April of this year a Minnesota physician, Dr. Clayton E. May, treated for gunshot wounds a certain undesirable person, John Dillinger, very much in demand by the police. He further neglected to inform the police concerning his ministrations, and as a result, was tried in a federal court on a charge of harboring a fugitive wanted under a federal warrant, found guilty, and sentenced to serve two years in a penitentiary and to pay a fine of $1,000. Said a prominent English medical journal in commenting on the case: " . . . colleagues in every country will applaud …

Wills-Contract Not To Contest

Michigan Law Review

A testatrix left the bulk of her estate to the plaintiff whom she named as her executor. Defendant, dissatisfied with his bequest, threatened to contest the will. Thereupon, the parties entered into a contract whereby the plaintiff agreed to give the defendant a piece of land and a sum of money in addition to his legacy in consideration of defendant's promise not to contest the will. Shortly thereafter defendant joined relatives of the decedent in opposing probate. In an action in equity to specifically enforce the agreement, held, that the contract was valid and that the defendant be permanently …

Book Notes

Michigan Law Review

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