Digital Commons Network^™

Joint Adventure - Relationship Distinguished From That Of Employer-Employee, Wayne E. Babler

Michigan Law Review

The taxpayer had an arrangement whereby he planned to furnish the Russian Government with shrapnel shells by farming out the various stages of manufacture to several different companies. A Canadian corporation, also having a contract for furnishing shrapnel, made arrangements with the taxpayer whereby the latter cancelled his contract and went in with the Canadian corporation. Under this arrangement the taxpayer was to furnish his manufacturing arrangement, plans, tools, gauges, drawings, etc., and to get fifteen per cent of the profits on the present contract and five per cent of the profits on future contracts of a similar nature. An …

Depletion Of Oil And Gas Properties For Income Tax Purposes, John W. Beveridge

Michigan Law Review

The Revenue Act of 1936 provides that in computing net income from oil and gas properties there shall be allowed as a deduction from gross income a reasonable allowance for depletion, according to the peculiar conditions in each case. The allowance is made under regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

The first problem is to fix the amount the taxpayer is entitled to recover before he is considered as earning income which is not in essence a mere return of his capital investment. The difficulty of clearly defining the difference between a return of capital and of income …

Taxation - Income Taxation Of Stock Dividends, Wallace Mendelson

Michigan Law Review

In 1929 a stock dividend was paid to the holders of common stock in preferred stock of the dividend paying corporation, which had both common and preferred stock outstanding at the time the stock dividend was declared and paid. The taxpayer, as a holder of common stock, received his pro rata share of the dividend and subsequently within the same taxable year sold the preferred stock which he had so received as a dividend. Held, that under the Revenue Act of 1928, (1) the receipt of the stock dividend was not a taxable occasion, and ( 2) the basis …

Wills - Probate - Contest - Appearance By Trustee And Executor Named In Earlier Will, Edward D. Ransom

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, who was the widow of the testator, sought probate of a will dated December 1934 which gave her practically the entire estate. The bank filed opposition to the will. The bank was named both as executor and as trustee in an earlier alleged will. The earlier will contained certain legacies not included in the later one and a trust of the residue for various beneficiaries. The probate court denied appearance of the bank both as executor and as trustee. Held, the bank is not entitled to contest the will as executor but may as trustee. Reed v. Home …

Monthly Periodical Index, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department lists the articles and comments which appear in twenty-four leading law reviews.

Workmen's Compensation - Definition Of Employee - Relief Worker, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

An unemployed workman applied to a local relief committee, and received a work order on defendant city, based upon his needs and the number of his dependents. Payment was in scrip, which was accepted by merchants, who were later paid out of funds appropriated by the state and federal governments. The man was put to work on a "made work" project which was under the supervision and control of the city officials. The work was necessary and proper to be undertaken by the city. While so engaged, he was injured, and brought an action to recover compensation. Held, that …

Corporations - Interpretation Of The "Public Offering" Exemption Of The Federal Securities Act And State Blue-Sky Laws, Gerald L. Stoetzer

Michigan Law Review

Section 5 of the Federal Securities Act of 1933, as amended, declares that it shall be unlawful to use any means of transportation or communication in interstate commerce or of the mails to dispose of securities or transmit a prospectus thereon unless a registration statement as required by the act is in effect and unless the prospectus meets the statutory requirements. However, certain securities and transactions are expressly exempted from application of the act. Among the exemptions set out in section 4 are those "transactions by an issuer not involving any public offering."

Front Matter, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Front Matter for Volume 36, Issue 3 of Michigan Law Review

Recent Developments In The Deportation Process, Reuben Oppenheimer

Michigan Law Review

The process under which the United States, through the Department of Labor, deports aliens found to be unlawfully in this country is one of the oldest in American administrative law. It is also one of the most interesting, for this process deals almost entirely with persons as contrasted with property, and its development has been largely unimpeded by court decisions.

Expansion Of Federal Supervision Of Securities Through The Inquisitional And Census Powers Of Congress-A Suggestion, Kenneth Rush

Michigan Law Review

The Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act, principally through the means of compulsory disclosure of information, are intended to aid the investing public in evaluating securities and to prevent the undue influencing of their value, market price and sale. These ends are undoubtedly worth seeking in their entirety, but such is the nature of our federal system that the acts, being founded upon the powers of Congress over the facilities of interstate commerce and of the mails, purport to relate only to transactions in securities involving use of those facilities.

Interstate Commerce - Federal Motor Carrier Act - Extent Of Supersedure Of State Jurisdiction, William Stout Gordon

Michigan Law Review

Prior to the passage of the Federal Motor Carrier Act of 1935, interstate motor carriers were subject to regulation by the states to a limited extent. This power to regulate may be briefly summarized as follows: (1) a state could not require interstate motor carriers to show that their operation was required in the interest of public convenience and necessity; (2) it could regulate to some extent the service and facilities offered by such carriers but it could not regulate their rates; (3) it could require them to carry liability insurance for the protection of third parties but it could …

Judgments - Default Judgments Rendered Without Jurisdiction - Validating Effect Of A Subsequent General Appearance, Richard B. Maxwell

Michigan Law Review

The effect of a general appearance by the defendant following a default judgment rendered without jurisdiction over the person of the defendant has been again raised by the recent Wisconsin case of Schwantz v. Morris. In this case the original judgment was invalid for lack of jurisdiction over the defendants, but the Supreme Court of Wisconsin held, that by joining non-jurisdictional grounds with jurisdictional grounds in a motion to set the judgment aside, the defendants had waived any defects in or objections to the jurisdiction of the court and that this waiver related back to the time of the …

Judgments - Federal Declaratory Judgments Act, Charles R. Moon Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Underlying the declaratory judgment is the idea that in an organized and civilized society where law and order are thoroughly recognized and established, coercion is normally unnecessary to settle legal disputes between parties. The belief is that in many lawsuits the plaintiff is not seeking a means of coercing the defendant but that the plaintiff and the defendant merely want a final and conclusive decision of a disputed question on which their legal relations depend. The value of the declaratory judgment lies in that it may be used to settle this dispute, in many cases before any other form of …

Bills And Notes - Indorsement Of Renewal Note As Waiver Of Notice Of Dishonor By The Indorser, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In 1926, a promissory note representing money loaned was made, payable to the order of plaintiff. After various renewals, defendant, in 1929, became an additional accommodation indorser of the renewal notes and continued as such until February 4, 1932, when a renewal note, likewise indorsed by him, payable March 4, 1932, was accepted by plaintiff. On its due date, the maker presented another renewal note, again indorsed by defendant, but this plaintiff refused to accept until the maker paid the interest due on the debt. Plaintiff did, however, retain both notes but failed to give defendant notice of dishonor of …

Bills And Notes - Liability Of "Irregular Lndorser" Of Chose In Action, Gerald L. Stoetzer

Michigan Law Review

Trustee bank, for the purpose of refinancing a mortgage on trust property, executed a trust deed and instrument, designated as the "principal note," which disclaimed personal liability of trustee and beneficiaries, expressly providing that the sole remedy upon default of payment of "note" or interest installment should be by foreclosure of the trust deed. Before delivery, the beneficiaries of the trust indorsed the "note" though not parties thereto. Upon default the holder brought this action against one of the beneficiaries on his anomalous indorsement. Held, (1) that the "note" was a mere chose in action; (2) that an irregular …

Bills And Notes - Qualified Indorsement - By Assignment Of "Right, Title And Interest'', Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, payee of a promissory note, transferred it by writing on the back, "For value received, I hereby assign all my rights, title and interest to the within note .... " Held, defendant's indorsement was qualified, and she was not liable for its payment. Fecko v. Tarczynski,. 281 Mich. 590,275 N. W. 502 (1937).

Corporations - Corporate Form Used To Evade Bank Double Liability, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, the receiver for an insolvent bank, sued the individual stockholders of an investment corporation on an assessment to the amount of the par value of the bank stock as provided by the constitution and statutes of South Carolina. The investment corporation had been organized several years previously to secure control of a group of banks. Its holdings throughout consisted only of bank stock, and finally solely of stock of the closed bank. Plaintiff claimed, since the corporation had no assets, that the stockholders of the investment corporation were individually liable, because the use of a holding company for the …

Dower - Power Of Husband To Defeat His Surviving Spouse's Statutory Succession Rights By An Inter Vivos Transaction, Elbridge D. Phelps

Michigan Law Review

Ferdinand Straus died July 1, 1934, leaving a will dated May 5, 1934, which named his wife life beneficiary of a trust composed of one-third of his real and personal property, this being the minimum provision which he could make for her and yet preclude an election on her part to take against the will under the New York Decedent Estate Law. Three days before his death testator executed trust agreements by which he transferred all his real and personal property to trustees, who are defendants herein, and which named plaintiff herein as ultimate beneficiary. In general, all powers granted …

Municipal Corporations - Tort Liability - Applicability Of Statutory Notice Requirement To Infants, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A statute provided "No action shall be maintained by any person . . . against any city" unless the person injured filed notice of claim within three months after the injury. The plaintiff, an infant sixteen years of age, was injured when he fell into an unlighted, unguarded opening in a sidewalk at the city's memorial building, which the city had rented for the evening in question to a boy scout group of which plaintiff was a member. No statutory notice was filed. The court held the statute created a mandatory condition precedent, applying to infants as well as adults, …

Contracts - Specific Enforcement Of An Executory Accord, Benjamin H. Dewey

Michigan Law Review

Sometime previous to the suit in question, defendant had executed a mortgage to the plaintiff, the loan secured by such mortgage to be repaid in installments. After having paid some but not all of the installments, defendant defaulted. As a result of negotiations between the parties and the Federal Land Bank of Omaha, it was agreed that the defendant should pay a lump sum in full satisfaction of the balance of the installments due under the mortgage. Performance was later tendered under this agreement, but the plaintiff refused to accept same, and subsequently brought suit in equity to foreclose the …

Negligence - Duty To Rescue One In Peril - Last Clear Chance, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's decedent was killed when his car, stalled on a grade crossing, was struck by defendant's train. Plaintiff brought suit in a state court, joining with defendant company a resident signal tower watchman, who regulated the movements of two companies' trains at a railroad intersection near the grade crossing. Plaintiff alleged that the individual defendant saw, or should have seen, the stalled automobile on the track, and that he failed to stop the train and neglected to use the signal devices he controlled. The case was removed to a federal court. On plaintiff's motion to remand it was held, …

Negligence - Liability Of Street Railways For Injuries To Alighting Passengers - Duty Of Car Employees, Dan K. Cook

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff passenger, while alighting from the right side of a street car, operated by defendant street railway company in the center of a well-traveled road, was struck by an automobile traveling toward plaintiff from the front of the street car on the same side from which plaintiff was discharged. The automobile was traveling this uncommon course by reason of road repairs which created a temporary situation during which motor traffic in both directions was traveling along the half of the road on which plaintiff was alighting. Plaintiff contended, in an action brought for the injuries she sustained, that a legal …

Trusts - Investments - Amortization Of Bond Premium On Bond Callable Before Maturity, Anthony L. Dividio

Michigan Law Review

In 1929, the trustee, who was also beneficiary for life, invested $11,187.50 in bonds to mature in 1947, subject to prior call, worth $10,000 at par, which were called in and paid off October 1, 1936 at $10,500. Meanwhile, the trustee had amortized to the maturity date, setting aside one-eighteenth the amount of the premium out of interest annually, a total of $461.41, which, added to the $500 paid above par, left a balance of $226.09. In an accounting prior to her resignation in favor of a corporate trustee, held, amortization should have been to the call date and …

Wills - Lapse - Construction - Execution Of Codicil After Death Of Legatee As Indicating Intent To Avoid Lapse, Bertram H. Lebeis

Michigan Law Review

Testator provided in his will for the division of his real and personal estate into twenty-five equal parts, one part for each of his nieces and nephews. One of the nephews predeceased testator by seven months, leaving a minor son. Thereafter testator executed a codicil expressing his desire that a nephew by marriage be a distributee of his estate, and directing that his personal and real estate be divided into twenty-six equal parts in order to include the new distributee. In proceedings brought for construction of the will, held, that the legacy to the nephew who predeceased testator did …

Monthly Periodical Index, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department lists the articles and comments which appear in twenty-four leading law reviews.

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.

Judgments - Declaratory Judgments - Scope Of The Federal Act, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

After the insured had made formal claims for total disability benefits for four years without bringing action to enforce them, the insurer, having at all times denied the total disability of the insured, brought suit in a federal district court for a declaration that it was not liable for the benefits claimed and that the policies had lapsed for non-payment of premiums. The district court granted a motion to dismiss because the insurer failed to present a "controversy" within the Federal Constitution and the Declaratory Judgments Act and because the insurer had no "rights or other legal relations" to be …

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - Approval Of Plan Of Bondholders' Committee In Foreclosure Proceeding In A State Court, Malcolm L. Denise

Michigan Law Review

The question of a state court's jurisdiction to pass on the fairness of a reorganization plan in connection with proceedings to foreclose a trust mortgage and sell the corporate property has been considered in but a surprisingly small number of cases. It would seem that this is a possibility the existence of which reorganization committees and dissenting bondholders have only begun to realize. In the recent case of First National Bank of Chicago v. Bryn Mawr, Beach Bldg. Corp., the trustee under a trust mortgage instituted foreclosure proceedings, and a committee representing a majority of the bondholders purchased at …

Negligence Injury To Child From Defendants Dangerous Chattel On The Land Of A Third Person, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The minor plaintiff, a child of seven, sued to recover damages for personal injuries received while playing upon defendant's road scraper which had been parked near a playground in a vacant lot belonging to a stranger. Held, that the defendant was under a duty to guard against danger of injury to children by tying fast the operating mechanism with a rope, and the plaintiff, even though a trespasser, is entitled to recover. "The defense of no liability to a trespasser is personal to the owner of the premises trespassed upon; it does not inure to the benefit of strangers …

Negligence - Duty To Control Conduct Of Another - Landowner's Duty To Those Outside His Premises, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In violation of its rules prohibiting trespassing, defendant railroad's signal maintenance man invited a third person to shoot ducks from the signal tower. The trespasser, while in the tower, negligently shot plaintiff's decedent, who was shooting on adjacent land. Held, the defendant company did not violate its duty to use care commensurate with known danger, hence was not liable. DeRyss v. New York Cent. Ry., 275 N. Y. 85, 9 N. E. (2d) 788 (1937).