228

The Green Bag

at Railway Stations." By G. Addison Smith. 35 Law lllagazine and Review 177 (Feb). "The point is one of great interest and im ortance, and with two apparently con ‘cting decisions of the Court of

Session,

although twenty-nine years a art, it seems to be one eminently suitable or decision by the House of Lords." Codification. See“American Corpus juris,” Uniformity of Laws. Contract. “ What Law Governs the Validity of a Contract?" By Prof. Joseph H. Beale 23 Harvard Law Review 260 (Feb). In this third installment the author takes up theoretical and practical criticisms of the authorities, reaching the conclusion that "the principle which is both sound theoreti cally and most practical in operation is the principle that contracts are in every case governed as to their nature and validity by the law of the place where they are made.” “Assignment of Contract." By Clarence D. Ashley. 19 Yale Law journal 180 (Jan.). "It is a characteristic of commercial paper that legal title can pass, which is not possible where contracts are of common law origin. The latter are said to be assignable and not negotiable. An assignment does not pass legal title, negotiability does. . . . “In some jurisdictions statutes enable the assignee to bring the action in his own name. These statutes affect procedure only, and the legal title is not affected and still remains in the assignor. Thus su ose a New York contract assigned in New ork. Should the assignee, in such a case, bring an action in a state adhering to the common law he must sue in the name of his assignor. The New York statute affects procedure only, and hence does not make any change in the legal title. Such a statute does not change the substantive law." Corporations. “Purchase of Shares of Corporation by a Director from a Share holder." By H. L. Wilgus. 8 Michigan Law Review 267 (Feb.). In Walsham v. Stainton (1863, 1 De Gex, J. & S. 678, 66 Eng. Ch. R. 527), where two

confidential agents of the partnership, Joseph Stainton and Henry Stainton, conspired together to obtain fraudulently for themselves the shares of the partners in the concern, by

so keeping the accounts as to conceal the true value of the shares, and by this means forty shares were obtained by Henry Stainton at a price far below their real value, it was held that "though J. S. got no benefit of the sale to H. 5., yet he stood in a fiduciary position toward the shareholder and was a party to the fraud." After reviewing a large number of cases presenting a similar point to be ruled upon, the writer says:— "That the director may take advantage of his position to secure the profits that all have won, offends the moral sense. . . . Would

it not be well to go back to the original theory

of Walsham v. Stainton, followed by several later cases and ably contended for by Judge ohnson in the Philippine Supreme Court? he writer believes it would." Courts. "Contributions of the State Judiciary to the Federal Bench." By Gardi ner Lathrop. Read before Chicago Bar Association, Feb. 15, 1910. Chicago Legal News, v. 42, p. 230 (Feb. 26). Contains a mass of statistical matter gzthered by the librarian of the United States nate, showing how many have had ex perience on the state bench before their appointment to the federal bench. “A Court That Does Its Job: How the Municipal Court of Chicago Has Met ‘The Greatest Need in our American Institutions.’ ” By William Bayard Hale. World's Work, v. 19, p. 12695 (Man). “In the course of the day, a judge might find that he was throu h with his docket. He didn't adjourn. e reported to the Chief Justice's clerk that his was _ex hausted, and cases were immediately with drawn from other judges who had been able to work less rapidly, or from the calendar.

Last year an average of twenty-five cases per day were thus transferred. "In the same way, jurors are so em loyed that their full time is used. . . . Un er_the Chicago Municipal Court plan, each jury judge is provided with a jury as he needs it, from a general assignment room, where one set of jurors for each jury judge, together with five or six extra sets, are kept on call. On discharge, each jury returns to the general assignment room and is ready to go out to any other court room when _needed. ‘The economy of time and expense is evident. Criminal Procedure. "Private Prosecu tion.” By W. Guy [G. }W. {Wilton} 21 juridical Review 348 (Jan). ‘ a The writer commends certain features of the recent Scots private prosecution of Coats v. Brown (High Court of Justiciary of Scotland, Oct. 27, 1909) in which the accused was found technically guilty of fraud, without proof of any injury to the prosecutors; and the hope is expressed that this case may bring about a regulation ‘of procedure under private prosecution "which will make this ancient right consistent with modern notions. This article really continues the discussion of the same writer in the October, 1909,

number of the juridical Review (see 22 Green Bag 28). Declaration of London. “La Declaration de Londres de

1909 sur Divers Points dc

Droit Maritime." By N. Politis, Professeur a la Faculté de Droit de Poitiers. 37 journal dé Droit International Privé 35. Defamation. “Absolute Immunity in De famation: Legislative and Executive Pro