EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

long as he is within its boundaries, the re quirement of a new number and registration, though convenient for purposes of identifica tion, imposes a burden out of all proportion to its advantages. As well might a ship be required to take out a new registry in every port she enters. There should be a provision in every state law upon the subject, exempt ing from registration and license automobiles which have been properly documented in their home state. There is want of uniformity in state laws in respect to almost every particu lar connected with automobiles, such as reg istration, identification, speed, day and night signals, details of mechanism, and even what shall be considered an automobile; — for in stance, whether it shall include motor cycles or not. Uniformity in these particulars is much to be desired." AUTOBIOGRAPHY. " A Scottish Judge Ordinar," by J. Dove Wilson, Yale Law Journal .(V. xvii, p. 232). Conclusion of an interesting autobiography begun in the January number. BIOGRAPHY: " Judah Philip Benjamin," by G. W. Wilton, The Juridical Review (V. xix. P- 30S)COLONIAL LAWS. Colonial Laws and Courts, under the general editorship of Alex ander Wood Renton and George Grenville Phillimore, which was recently published in London, is certainly one of the best contri butions on the subject of recent years. The nature of the work necessitated the cooper ation of distinguished jurists of various coun tries, which makes it on that account more valuable. As the editors tell us the present work is the introductory volume of the new edition of Surge's "Commentaries on Colonial and Foreign Laws." In Part I the authors, by way of introduc tion, after commenting upon the legal system of the world, including the English Common Law, examine in a summary manner the juris prudence and legal system of various civilized and half civilized states and countries. As the laws and codes of France have been the foundation upon which many nations built their juridical system, they naturally occupy a prominent place in the first chapter. On the other hand, the origins of the laws of Euro

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pean countries are traced to their remotest epochs, and their evolutions are sketched with remarkable accuracy. The statement, how ever, that the Turkish civil code is also founded on the Napoleon code does not seem to be correct, because the compilers of the Ottoman code drew nearly all their material from the Mohammedan law in force in the Orient for centuries. The authors were evidently led into error on this subject, on account of the similarity existing between the Turkish and French law of contracts, both having their origin in the Roman corpus juris civilis, from which the early Mohammedan jurists drew also most of their juridical principles during the Arabian conquest of the Greco-Roman provinces of the East. In Chapter II the authors review the laws of the Indian Empire, including those in force in the " Protected States," the Hindu, the Mohammedan and Buddist laws in regard to personal status being also commented upon separately. But what received special attention is the Roman-Dutch law in force in the British colonies. The history, therefore, of the legal system of Holland is treated lengthily in Chapter III, showing the origin and develop ment of the Roman-Dutch law. In fact it is a short dissertation on the subject, with which the first part of the book is concluded. In Part II the authors enter into a detailed examination of the juridical constitution of the British dominions, exclusive of the United Kingdom. In Chapter II the Mediterranean possessions such as Gibraltar, Malta, and Cyprus come under their consideration. Chapter III deals with the so-called political tribunals of some parts of India, namely the judicial authority vested in British officers in the native or protected states under the sovereignty of Great Britain, and also with the political and judicial organization of British India proper, giving a detailed account of its laws and codes. Under the heading of " Eastern possessions" Chapter IV, treats the judicial systems of Aden, Ceylon, Hong Kong, the Straits settle ments, the Federated Malay States, Mauritius, Rodriguez and the Seychelles Islands. In Chapter V an examination is made of the political and judicial organization of the