Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 04.pdf/56

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

Published Monthly, at $3.00 per annum.

Single numbers, 50 cents.

Communications in regard to the contents of the Magazine should be addressed to the Editor, Horace W. Fuller, i 5^ Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. The Editor will be glad to receive contributions of articles of moderate length upon subjects of interest to the profession; also anything in the way of legal antiquities or curiosities, facetia, anecdotes, 'etc. THE GREEN BAG. T ~K 7E have numerous inquiries from subscribers

  • " as to the cost of binding the back numbers

of the " Green Bag." We therefore desire to say to those who wish to have numbers bound, that our charge for binding, in half-morocco, is $1.50 a volume. Postage or expressage on parts to be paid by the sender. We deliver the bound vol umes free of charge. The suggestions contained in the following let ter from a Kansas correspondent are excellent, and the Editor trusts that some of the readers of the "Green Bag" may feel inclined to act thereon : — Editor of the " Green Bag " : I thought some time ago of writing to you to make a feature in your magazine of a brief history of law suits, — that is to say, a lawyer shall tell you, in writing, the history of some interesting lawsuit, the ins and outs, what his client said when he came to him, what legal proposition seemed at first to be in volved, — stating the legal proposition the same as it would be stated in the opinion of Jhe court; then the bringing of the action, the legal points that rose in it, the unexpected defence which the defendant made, the law which the defendant invoked, citing the authorities, how the case was conducted, how it got into the Supreme Court finally, was reversed, and so on. In other words, brief legal romance, not written for the purpose of showing how individually smart any lawyer is, because it should be written im personally, but at the same time truthfully. It seems to me that I have had several cases that would make most elegant legal romances, and illustrate novel propositions of law What do you think of opening up such a store house as that? Can you not prepare rules and regu lations, reserving to yourself the right to condense 6

manuscripts? and can you not make a very interest ing series of articles of a really instructive char acter? and can you not build up, by that means, a circulation for your magazine among the law schools? It looks to me as if young law students would appreciate a feature of that kind, and like to read the magazine. Very truly, E. F. W. Here are two good stories, kindly furnished by a Pennsylvania correspondent : — Editor of the" Green Bag " : Dear Sir, — You can use this incident for your magazine if you choose. A country justice who had been asked by one of his clients to prepare a will for him once came to me to receive some information regarding the proper manner of preparing it. Not wishing to display too great an ignorance on the subject, and wishing at the same time to imply an inti mate knowledge of the early history and legislation on the , I subject, 've beenheasked startled to prepare me witha the will query, for a neigh "Mr. bor of mine, and I 've called to find out what are the latest acts of Assembly regarding wills." Another just occurs to me. A lawyer ( God save the mark!) at this bar perpetrated the following in dead earnest. The question was whether the Squire, who was on the stand before a Master, was accus tomed to take the acknowledgment of the wife sepa rate from her husband. " I object," interposed this limb of the law; "you can't prove a custom by one witness." For the following a Florida correspondent is responsible : — To the Editor of the " Green Bag": Dear Sir, — In case you deem the inclosed item of legal " facetiae " worth printing, you are welcome to the same. It struck me as being very funny, for the reason that the J. P. was so perfectly frank and honest in what he had done as to justify me in as serting (which is doubtless the fact) that he believed he had done an eminently proper and usual thing. The story is literally true, and is as follows: — Not long ago a cause was appealed to the Circuit Court of P County, Florida, from a Justice of