Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 21.pdf/254

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

Review of Periodicals See also Interstate Commerce, Legal His tory, etc. Injunctions. "Injunctions and Pardons— In re Gompers." By Richard W. Hale. 43 American Law Review 192 (Mar.-Apr.). "The executive practice in Massachusetts, for instance, comes pretty near to the rule of law that a consumptive shall not die in jail. . . The Constitution was intended to and does grant the pardoning power in all cases where mercy is applicable, and every one who is being punished may be pardoned, including Mr. Gompers, if he ever gets to jail. . . . Mr. Davenport, attorney for the Manufacturers Association . . . said that Gompers could not be pardoned. ... To sum up, the question is whether a sentence for contempt punitive in its nature is beyond the possibility of pardon. It is desirable that the law should be obeyed. Justice is not possible unless we succeed in getting it obeyed. It is neither desirable nor necessary that justice should not be tempered with mercy. Personally and by the way, if Mr. Gompers obeys the final decision on appeal the writer would prefer to see him pardoned. If he does not, the writer expects to be sorry for him no matter how many pardons he gets. It is especially desirable that no class, either • lawyers or capitalists or trades-unions, should take strong ground against the general prin ciples of law without imagination and without thinking what the rules should be if it was the lawyer's bull that gored the layman's ox. The law therefore ought to be and is that if a sentence be punishment it may be pardoned, if it be a civil process to secure obedience to the law it is not for an 'offense' and is not the subject of pardon." The Bucks Stove Co. case is ably discussed editorially in 7 Michigan Law Review 499 (Apr.). Insane Persons. "La Legislation Francaise des Ali6n6s." By Jacques Roubinovitch. Revue des Deux Mondes, v. 50, p. 671 (Apr.). International Law. "International Law as a Factor in English Law." By Pitt Cobbett. 6 Commonwealth Law Review (of Australia) 97 (Jan.-Feb.). The writer shows that the relation in which international law stands to English law can be thus expressed: English law recognizes international law as a body of rules capable of being ascertained and when ascertained as being binding on states by virtue either of usage or agreement, and English law recog nizes a rule that can be shown to have been accepted internationally and gives it the force of a part of English law, but matters properly to be determined by the Crown, by treaty or as acts of state, cannot be subject to the jurisdiction of courts administering municipal law, nor in matters subject to the jurisdiction of those courts will rules of international law derogating from or in conflict with English law be recognized, English courts always

233

seeking, nevertheless, to adopt such interpre tations of municipal law as will not bring it into conflict with the law of nations. "It will be seen that international law still constitutes an important factor in English law, and that some knowledge of its rules must be regarded as a necessary part of the equipment of the ordinary practitioner." See under special topics, e. g., Aliens, Gov ernment, Marriage and Divorce, Sanction. See also European Politics, Foreign Relations. Interstate Commerce. "Court Review of the Orders of the Interstate Commerce Com mission Under the Hepburn Act." By Charles A. Prouty. 18 Yale Law Journal 297 (Mar.). The writer, who is a member of the Inter state Commerce Commission, expresses the belief that the Supreme Court of the United States will finally hold:— "1. That an order of the Interstate Com merce Commission establishing a railway rate for the future is legislative, and that the Commission in making such an order is a part of the legislative branch of this govern ment. "2. That such orders of the Commission are conclusive unless they contravene either the statutes or the Constitution of the United States. "3. That if the Commission has proceeded in the manner and within the limits prescribed by the statute, its order will not be interfered with by the Courts unless so plainly wrong as to transcend the bounds of legitimate regu lation, or as to amount to a taking of property without just compensation or due process of law." For articles referring to the broadening scope of the national government under inter pretation of the interstate commerce clause, see Government. See Monopolies, Railroads. Jury Trial. "Shall Juries be Dispensed with in the Trial of all Negligence Cases?" By F. M. Field, K.C. 29 Canadian Law Times 271 (Mar.). "The sentimental and constitutional argu ments for the retention of juries in the trial of such actions, should not be lightly passed over. They are worthy of careful considera tion in legislating on the subject. The pro posal to abolish jury trials in negligence actions where corporations are concerned, if pressed, might become an important political issue." "The Democracy of Justice: The Jury." By D. M. Delmas. Kansas City Bar Monthly, v. 11, p. 43 (Apr.). "I give my fullest assent, therefore, to the memorable words uttered by one of the great chief justices of England of the Victorian age, who summed up his judicial experience by saying: "'A jury trial gives expression to the sense of justice of the people, which is the nearest approach to absolute justice attainable in earthly tribunals.'" See Procedure.