Review of Periodicals

holders" (see 21 Green Bag 401).

He now

puts forth a complete discussion of "Prin ciples and Authorities Relating Directly to the Obligations of Stockholders. ' Conservation 0! Natural Resources. "The Advance of Forestry in the United States." By Henry S. Graves, United States Forester. American Review of Rwiews,v.4l,p.46l (Apr.).

"In the long run the present system of taxation, if continued. will contribute directly to forest destruction. . . . Forest conser vation is a public necessity. The protection of stream flow, the prevention of erosion, and provision of a permanent suppl of forest products are required for public we fare. It is the national government and the states which must take the lead." See Federal and State Powers, War Claims. Contracts. See Legal History, Public Ser vice Corporations. Corrupt Practices. "Bribery in the Legis latures." By Judge S. M. Gardenhire. North American Review, v. 191, p. 482 (Apr.). A bribe “never would be accepted if the criminal statute was made effective by utting the burden solely on the man who irectly and solemnly assumes it and letting the bribe giver be immune. Bribe-taking would in stantly disappear in the face of such a statute, unless we im ute a criminal stupidity to men worth oflicia status. Immune himself and guilty of no ofiense in so doing, no man would dare approach an officer and ask him to be come a criminal, alone, for any sum which

might be tendered." Corporations. See Conflict of Laws, Federal Incorporation. Cost of "Food Prices and the Cost

of Living."

By J. D. Magee.

journal of

Political Economy, v. 18, p. 294 (Apr.). "As com ared with an increase of 22.8 per cent in a1 commodities in 1908 over the average of 1890499, we find that barley has

risen 61.8 per cent, corn 79.9 per cent, cotton 34.8 per cent, oats 89.5 per cent, potatoes 42.6 per cent, rye 48 per cent, wheat 31.8

per cent, steers 28.1 per cent, hogs 31.4 per cent, butter 24.1 per cent, eggs 42 per cent,

flour 26.1 per cent. . . . “Except in the case of meat, the retailers’ margin in the great staples has remained about the same. So we end with the farmer as we began with him. The cost of livin is high because farm products are high. by farm products are high remains to be ex plained." “The Increased Cost of Living." By Prof. J. Laurence Laughlin. Scribner’s, v. 47 p. 539

(May) "May it not be the psychological hour to call for the creation of a new aristocracy of the simple life, of those who care for the reality and not for the shadow, for the true inward pleasures of the mind rather than for the external, evanescent show? May it not be

339

high time to create a froemasonry of those who do not ask how much one has, nor how much one knows, but what one is? Gold, in the sense of riches, may be the root of all evil; but gold, in the sense of a standard of prices, cannot be the sole root of the evil in our increased cost of living." Criminal Procedure. See Administration of Criminal Law, Procedure. Cross-lamination. "The Art of Cross Examination." By E. F. B. Johnston, K.C. 46 Canada Law journal 233 (Apr. 15).

"I think that in the whole course of over thirty years’ experience I have seen about two traps go off. This is a thing that I would advise my brothers at the bar, and particu larly those who are engaged in litigious prac tice, to avoid.

It is rarely successful, and

if it is not successful it always comes back upon the poor cross-examiner, and through

hrm upon his still “Counsel shoul

rer client. . . . alwa s keep to the level

of his witness; and I wi

illustrate that by a

well-known story of Lord Jeffrey. The coun sel, an academic man, was examining a poor Scotchman at the court in Edinburgh. It was a question of the mental capacity of the testator, and the information he desired to get from this witness was, how well he knew the deceased, and the lawyer put to the witness questions in various forms—‘were you on terms of intimate r'elationshi with the deceased '——and the witness loo ed at him and said, ‘Eh ’; be repeated the same question, using big words, away over the level of his wrtness-—who didn't understand the question at all. "Lord Jeflrey finally became impatient and said, ‘Now let me ask the witness a question,' and he turned to the witness and he said: "‘llamas, did you ken Sandy Thompson in his li etime?' “ ‘WellI I did.’ "‘How well did you ken him?’ "‘Ken him——why me and him sleepit in the same kirk for forty years.’ "Now there was a degree of intimacy that could not be insayed, and develo d be cause Lord Je rey came to the love of the witness." Defamation. See Fair Comment. Direct Legislation. See Legislation. Disarmament. "Attacking the Rush-Bagot Treaty." By Harry E. Hunt. Independent, v. 68, p. 911 (Apr. 28). "The treaty which causes some one incon venience was signed in 1817 by the United States and Great Britain. It placed a limit upon the number and equipment of war vessels which each nation was to maintain on the Great Lakes. . . . "Now that politics and special interests have seized the treaty at one end and the geeaople at the other, in a tug of war, it may surprisin if it snap. If it does, the one treaty that as shown that nations can suc cessfully limit annaments by agreement will have indeed been killed and skinned."