(Exhibits G and H) purporting to be written by the defendant, and which the witness stated he had received by due course of mail The letters had no relevancy to the issues in the case. The letters were offered in evidence by defendant’s counsel "solely for the purpose of comparison." The court ruled out the letters, and defendant excepted to the ruling. This was not error. The territorial district courts were inferior courts, and bound by precedents made by the United States supreme court, which court holds that, to be admissible for purposes of comparison, a paper must not only be admitted or proved to be in the handwriting of a party whose writing is in dispute, but it must also be a paper "in evidence for some other purpose in the cause." The letters were not in evidence for any purpose, and hence under this rule, which is a strict rule of the common law, the letters were properly excluded. Moore v. U. S., 91 U. S. 270; Strother v. Lucas, 6 Pet. 763; Vinton v. Peck, 14 Mich. 287. In England, and in many of the states, the common-law rule has been expanded by legislation so as to allow comparison to be made of handwriting which is admitted, or proven to the satisfaction of the court to be genuine, whether in evidence for other purposes or not. Again, it is true that a large number of the states have, without legislation, adopted the more liberal rule by judicial decisions, See collection of authorities in 9 Amer. & Eng. Cyclop. Law 283-289. Should the question come before this court in an action arising since the state was admitted into the Union, we should then feel at liberty to adopt a rule for this state untrammeled by our decision in the present case. Defendant's counsel next made the following offer: "At which time defendant, by his counsel, offers to show, by expert testimony and comparison of handwriting, that the paper writings marked 'Exhibits C and D' are not in the handwriting of the defendant, by comparison of handwriting known to be his, which offer is denied by the court, to which ruling defendant, by his counsel, duly excepts." It does not appear by this offer of testimony what particular writing was referred to as writing "known" to be in defendant’s handwriting. No specimen of handwriting was shown in connection with the offer; nor was it stated by counsel that the writing to which he referred was a writing then
