Reviews of Books lend itself readily to codification in the in terest of uniformity. The second edition of Mr. Huddy's work on the subject illustrates the Swift growth of the law since 1906, when the first edition appeared. Since then many questions have been settled. Mr. Huddy's work treats of every phase of the law, such as the nature and status of the automobile, the right to use highways, registration and licenses, n'ghts, duties and liabilities of drivers, duties of pedestrians, evidence and proof of speed, and the like. The volume contains a good deal of discussion on taxi cabs, defenses in speed cases, the liabilities
of guests, interstate contracts, speed traps, and so on.
AN ATTACK ON THE ACCEPTED NOTION OF FREE SPEECH Free Press Anthology. Compiled by Theodore Schroeder. Truth Seeker Publishing Co., New York. Pp. viii. 266. (82.)
T is evident from a first glance that this book has been compiled largely for the purpose of ofiering a protest against restraints on the free discussion of sexual sub jects. Extracts from the compiler's writings on this particular topic are included, and apart from the pages dealing with what Mr. Schroeder considers the unconstitutional censorship of obscenity, sex-discussion and sex literature, there is nothing, unless we
except a chapter on freedom of speech for anarchists. to furnish any raison d'etre for such a heterogeneous collection as has here been brought together. It is therefore with surprise that one finds inside the title page the following motto, quoted from Westermarck: "The conceal ment of truth is the only indecorum known to science." Such a quotation is grotesque in its irrelevancy. Had Mr. Schroeder read Westermarck more sympathetically, he might have discovered a sound ethical explanation of the reserve which marks modern society's treatment of certain matters. Obviously the existence of such a volume as this is to be explained only by those quali ties of temperament which array some men in irreconcilable conflict with social conven tion. They are blind to the fact that the dividing line between morality and con vention is indistinctly defined, and they can not free themselves from the delusion that on questions which merely involve good
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taste every man is entitled to express opin ions of his own. This "anthology" contains some extracts from great writers worthy of inclusion in a volume devoted to the literature of free speech, but there is much that should not have been included and which looks ab
surdly out of place beside the classic utter ances of Milton, Spinoza, Locke, and Vol taire. The symmetry of what might other wise have been a well-balanced collection is hopelessly destroyed by an eccentric scheme of selection, and we cannot recommend the volume as deserving our readers’ attention, or as worthy of the great principle which it purports, and utterly fails, clearly to set forth.
NIMS ON THE LAW OF UNFAIR BUSI NESS COMPETITION The Law of Unfair Business Competition. in cluding chapters on trade secrets and confidential business relations; unfair interference with con tracts; libel and slander of articles of merchandise, trade names, and business credit and reputation. By Harry D. Nims of the New York bar. Baker, .Voorhis & Co., New York. Pp. xlvi, 516, index and table of cases 65. (86.50 net.)
HE first book which has ever been pre pared on the law of unfair business competition is now offered to the general practitioner and student of legal principles. Topics that have usually been scattered through different works, such as "Trade Marks and Unfair Competition," “Corpora tions," "Libel and Slander," “Literary Prop erty," "Injunctions" and "Trade Secrets," are here collected in a unified treatise. Mr. Nims shows a firm grasp of the legal princi ples involved. He presents the subject in an orderly and logical form, and has in fact made
a somewhat important contribution to the organization of the prevailing doctrines into a systematic whole. He threshes out every branch of the subject with care and accuracy, and his citation of cases is adequate. The law of unfair trade has developed rapidly during the past few years and is now a very important branch of commercial law. Courts of equity have greatly extended the scope of the relief granted for anything in the nature of fraudulent imitation of the articles of another, and the field which Mr. Nims has
ably covered is one of complexity and wide extent. The book is marked by discernment as well as by completeness, and the results achieved are distinctly praiseworthy. V J
