Search

This article discusses various issues related to law and theories of overdue negotiable paper. There are three theories of overdue negotiable paper, no one of which has been consistently adopted by the common law. It is consequently difficult, if not impossible, to get either a correct perspective from which to view the cases or an absolute standard by which to measure their correctness. It appears to the article author to be impossible to follow the ordinary method and test the correctness of a case relating to overdue negotiable paper by the application. of the logical deduction and modification of the principles which, underlie the law of negotiable paper before maturity, because to do so would be to condemn almost every case to the limbo of legal error.

Reveals why it has become usual for bank loans, even if secured by collateral, to contain numerous provisions for the acceleration of payment. Conversion of a negotiable instrument into a substitute for money; Origin of the rule requiring certainty in commercial paper; Failure of the courts and law textbooks to distinguish between the requisite of certainty of time and that which forbids the instrument to be conditional.

The article presents an endeavor to test a theory of negotiable instruments by its application to the abnormal conditions of overdue paper. Examination of the decisions and text-writers shows not only a wide difference of opinion as to which of these two innocent persons should prevail, but also great uncertainty as to the theoretical nature of an overdue negotiable instrument. An overdue note is consequently negotiable within the terms of a statute exempting debts secured by negotiable promissory notes from garnishment.

Focuses on the legality of the draft of corporate documents in corporate joint ventures. Categories of situations where a corporation lacks necessary skills and resources needed in corporate expansion; Forms of business associations; Conditions in which analogous difficulties can arise.

Discusses the legal issue of donatio mortis causa of negotiable instruments in the United States. Distinction between the case of a bill of exchange and that of a check payable to bearer; Case of "Rolls v. Pearce"; Ruling in "Clemen v. Cheesman" that the gift of two checks of a third person, owned by the donor, is a valid donatio mortis causa; Ruling that promissory notes made or the bills of exchange drawn by the donor himself are not valid donatio mortis causa.

The article focuses on fraudulent alteration of commercial papers negligently drawn. The English decisions on the concerned subject establish two principles. First, as between drawer and acceptor, the former owes a duty so to draw as not to facilitate alteration, and he must answer to the latter for any loss resulting from failure to observe that duty. Secondly, as between the drawer or acceptor and subsequent parties there is no such duty, and, consequently, no liability for a failure to observe it.

Reports on the ruling of a court in Massachusetts on a case regarding the validity of a contract between Nashua River Paper Co. and Hammermill Paper Co. which contains a stipulation that no action should be maintainable against the foreign corporation except in certain courts of the foreign state. Reason behind the ruling of the court; Other court cases with similar ruling.

Presents information on several books on law. 'The Paper Chase,' by John Jay Osborn Jr.; 'The Future of the Oceans,' by Wolfgang Friedmann; 'Cope and Rebels: A Study of Provocation,' by Paul Chevigny; 'The Invisible Resource: Use and Regulation of the Radio Spectrum,' by Harvey J. Levin.

Presents information on books on law. 'The Papers of Adlai E. Stevenson: Washington to Springfield, 1941-1948,' volume 2, edited by Walter Johnson and Carol Evans; 'America's Public Lands: Politics, Economics & Administration,' edited by Harriet Nathan; 'How the Government Breaks the Law,' by Jethro K. Lieberman.

The article reports that the U.S. Supreme Court, in Times-Picayune Publishing Co. versus United States, upheld a tying arrangement for newspaper advertising as not violative of the Sherman Act, while enunciating criteria which may make it easier to eliminate tying arrangements under the Clayton Act. The defendant, publisher of the only morning daily newspaper in New Orleans, the Times- Picayune, and one of the two evening papers, the States, adopted a unit system requiring that classified and national display advertisements be placed in both papers. The Supreme Court reversed the District Court's finding that the unit system was a tying arrangement violating Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.

Presents a list of law casebooks. Legal accounting; Administrative law; Admiralty; Bills and notes; Business associations; Civil procedure; Code pleading; Commercial paper; Commercial law; Community property; Conflict of laws; Constitutional law; Contracts; Corporate finance; Criminal law; Domestic relations; Evidence; Equity; Federal anti-trust laws.

The article discusses issues related to the practice of law in Italy. As in most civil law countries, lawyers in Italy are divided into two classes — avvocati and procuraiori. The procuratore subscribes all pleadings and other papers submitted to the court, is present at the taking of depositions, and must sign the briefs, with few exceptions all papers during litigation are served on him rather than on his client. The avvocato in general performs broader and more responsible functions: he advises the client, drafts all papers and briefs and argues the case.

Examines the clauses of the Constitution relating to money. Description of the specifications of the power which is given to the Congress of the United States in the Constitution relating to money; Analysis of the clauses of the Constitution about the emission of bills and making paper a legal tender; Explanation of the power of Congress in making a paper currency.

The article discusses the Rhode Island admiralty documents and papers. In 1703, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island were constituted one district, and the Rhode Island court was held by a deputy appointed by the judge in Boston. The Vice Admiralty papers start in 1727, run with tantalizing gaps to 1772, and are most complete for 1740-52. After 1752, the papers are extremely fragmentary. With the Revolution and the establishment of a state court of admiralty, the records begin again, and for the period 1776-83 they are substantially complete. In a sense, therefore, the Rhode Island papers complement those of New York, since the latter, in the Vice Admiralty period, are most full for 1754-74, and in the state court run from 1784 to 1788.

The article presents information on various amendments to the Constitution of the U.S., and different laws related to searches and seizures of property and papers. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the U.S. discusses about the right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures and issue of warrants. Constitutional provisions more or less similar to this one exist in all the states, except in New York where such a limitation appears in the Civil Rights Law. It is well known that the adoption in 1791 of the first ten amendments resulted from the agitation for a Bill of Rights which attended the ratification of the Constitution.

The article presents information on abstracts of various papers related to the legislation. One of the papers discussed is "Injuries by Trespassing Animals." In the simple conception of liability that refers everything to the human will, one is held legally upon a legal transaction, in which he willed liability, or because of a wrongful act, in which he willed something culpable. But liability at one's peril for situations dangerous to the general security, without regard to culpability, was an obvious fact in the administration of justice. Another paper discussed is "Effect of Ownership of All the Stock of One Corporation by a Second Corporation: Liability of a Parent Corporation for the Debts of a Subsidiary Corporations, Subsidiary Corporations As Agents."

The article presents various U.S. court cases and their judgments. In the court case People cx rel. Argus Co. v. Hugo, I68 N. Y.Supp. 25, a statute provided that the state printing board should award the state printing contract to the lowest responsible bidder. The board awarded the contract to the second lowest bidder, and the lowest bidder seeks to have the proceedings reviewed on certiorari. In the court case Carr v. Maine Cent. R.R., 192 AtI. 532 (N.H.), defendant informed plaintiff that if he would execute the necessary papers it would procure such consent. Papers were executed and delivered to the defendant, but it failed to act further during the period for securing the rebate. The court held the decision that the plaintiff is entitled to damages caused by defendant's failure to secure consent to the rebate.

The article presents a list of book related to laws of the United States received by the journal. Some of the books included in the list are: "City and Regional Planning Papers," by Alfred Bettman; "Constitutional Law: Cases on," by Noel T. Dowling; "The Province and Function of Law," by Julius Stone; "Shares in Mutual Investment Funds," by Alec Brock Stevenson.

Presents several cases in the U.S. United States v. St. Regis Paper Co. on civil penalties for violation of Federal Trade Commission order; Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese for the U.S. and Canada v. Ocokoljick on chruch property disputes; Garden State Dairies Inc. v. Sills on commerce clause.

Presents a Command Paper, the Fourth Report of the Law Reform Committee, recommending substantial legislative changes in the Rule Against Perpetuities. Period of the rule; Basis for the validity of a limitation under the rule against perpetuities; Rejection of the power of courts to remodel limitations which infringe the rule.

The article presents a memoir of U.S. legal scholar Thomas Reed Powell. The article author states that although Powell founded no school and espoused no doctrinal creed, his teaching and writing were distinctive, unmistakable, and inimitable. His published papers, numbering close to two hundred essays, are marked by that relentless analysis of judicial rhetoric, that irreverent uncloaking of disreputable logic, that playfulness in the service of intellectual morality, which made him a fearsome delight to students and friends. If one were to revert after all to the language of science and identify a phenomenon with his name, it would have to be called the Powell Effect.

The article informs that the American political tradition and the antitrust laws make competitive free enterprise both a norm in practice and an ideal of national policy. Those who favor this policy do so on various grounds. They believe that rivalry among competing sellers will lead to improvement of product and reduced prices. The downward pressure on selling prices will also compel a striving for increased efficiency and reduced costs. It is the purpose of this paper to review the work of these administrative agencies and the courts in formulating national economic policy in this area. The central and recurrent problem will be the relative weight to be accorded to the policy of maintaining competition in an industry which by hypothesis is to be governed by competition only to a limited extent.

The article informs that a well recognized general proposition that upon request sovereign States are granted immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign courts. Under this doctrine States claim, and expect to receive, immunity regardless of the nature of the dispute in which an attempt is made to name them party defendant. This paper will consider the applicability of this doctrine to state trading organizations and state commercial activities, with particular reference to the Soviet Union. Immunity from jurisdiction means that, upon a proper motion, a court of one sovereign State will declare itself incompetent to pass upon the merits of certain causes of action brought against a foreign sovereign, its representatives, or its property

Reports on the publication of leading legal articles. Case involving the nature of a bank's interest in paper deposited for discount or collection; Case involving the preference given to the legal estate over the equitable.

This article presents information on some books and periodicals that contain research papers on legal topics. A writer in a recent periodical maintains that a judgment for the defendant in an action by an administrator should bind another administrator of the same deceased in another jurisdiction, because there exists between the two an official privity. Some of the books listed are, "Blackmail and Extortion," by James W. Osborne; "The Development of International Law," by Edwin Maxey and "Growing Conception of Neutrality," by Hannis Taylor.

The article presents information about papers related to the U.S. law published in various journals. The provisions of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Federal Constitution guaranteeing common law procedure, including the right of indictment and trial by jury do not extend to the inhabitants of our insular possessions. It would seem that this applies equally to all the territories of the United States. It is suggested, there can be no distinction between the organized and the unorganized territories. The privileges guaranteed by the Bill of Rights in fact extend to the former only by virtue of an Act of Congress or a treaty provision.

The article presents information on the gage of land in medieval England. The English gage of land with possession of the debtor until default is to all seeming developed later than the gage with immediate possession of the creditor; the origin of this later form of security for loans being directly connected with the history of the process of judicial execution. It will be seen that whether the medieval creditor take immediate possession or only on default of the debtor, the principle is the same. In either case the security is a usufructgage or it is a property-gage, or it is indeed a combination of the two. Though the tracing of the development down to the present lies beyond the scope of the present paper, it is believed that this very same conception lies at the basis of much of the modern English law.

The article comments on the advancements in the agreement on rules to prevent a conflict of laws. The inconvenience resulting from a conflict of laws between the states of the U.S. on the subject of commercial paper has of late been largely avoided by the general adoption of the Negotiable Instruments' Act, framed by the Annual Conference of the States for Promoting Uniform Legislation. It is from the action of this body that the most is to be hoped for in the future in smoothing the way to general agreement within the United States as to matters of private law.

The article focuses on the supremacy of the town in Rhode Island. In Rhode Island everything is done by the towns and nothing by the counties. The only county officers are the clerk of the Supreme Court and Court of Common Pleas, who has the custody of the papers of these courts when they meet in the different counties; the sheriff of the county, whose writ, however, runs throughout the state; and the keeper of the county jail, who, in other than Providence County, is the sheriff of the county.

Presents several court cases and rulings in the U.S. published in the November 1896 issue of the "Harvard Law Review." Preference of veterans in the Massachusetts civil service; Certainty as a formal requisite of negotiable paper; Common law pleading; Physical suffering resulting from mental shock.

Comments on the paper by Judge Seymour D. Thompson entitled "The Doctrine of Ultra Vires in Relation to Private Corporations". Review of the ancient doctrine of ultra vires; Outline of the modern doctrine; Arguments against some views of Thompson; Observation that there it is not clear than any tribunal ever gave a consistent adherence to the doctrine which Thompson calls the "ancient doctrine"; Argument against Thompson's assertion that modern developments of the law of Corporate Power are to be explained upon a principle of moral evolution.

Presents the author's reply to comments on his paper on the Rule against Perpetuities published in the sixth volume of the "Harvard Law Review" periodical. Criticism citing that the true object of the Rule against Perpetuities is to restrain the creation of future conditional interests that is not aimed directly at preventing the non-alienation of property; Remoteness of charitable gifts; Implications on law.

The article focuses on a paper on the relation of the reports of cases in the Year Books to the records of the same cases found among the Public Records. The report was intended for the use of the legal profession, including the judges. It was designed to show general principles of law, pleading, or practice. They were not the facts which the lawyer wished to know, and would not help to guide him in his pleading, except in cases in which an argument turned upon a description or a misdescription. There are in the reports innumerable matters of interest, legal, historical, constitutional and social which have no counterpart in the rolls. In the reports are living men, dealing with the facts in their own language, in the spirit of their own age, in tones which reveal what manner of men they were.

The article discusses principle of contradiction rephrased by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. he held that the criterion of truth is thought; this permitted him to substitute, in place of the dominant theological attitude of the time, a rationalistic approach to natural law and the positive-law deductions made from it. His method resulted in the construction of one of the great philosophical systems, of which his legal theory forms an integral part; but that system was never expounded in any unified form and must be put together from many papers and letters.

The article presents a profile of justice Louis D. Brandeis, who has been considered as a great contributor to the American history, through his writings on various legal issues. The article notes that, despite his impersonal and almost ascetic style, Brandeis furnished a map of his mind in his occasional papers, in his testimony before legislative committees, and, above all, in his more than five hundred opinions. Brandeis has shown the way to several others, by his passionate dedication of great gifts to great purposes, by his use of the versatile resources of law for the liberation and enrichment of the potentialities of man.

This article explains the misunderstandings of the civil law. A rule of law that has been gradually developed can only be understood by knowing the course of its development; and that is more or less known by good lawyers, if the rule took its rise in England. So far as the American jurisprudence reaches back to an earlier date, there are the same reasons for tracing it to its source. Again, not only would it be hard to name any one who has thrown new light on such general problems of jurisprudence as the arrangement of the law, who has not known something of the labors of the civilians; but the paper tries to show that an ignorant misunderstanding of the Roman classification has led to confusion.

The article focuses on the progress of the law on no par value stock. The device of stock without par value may be regarded as the result of efforts to mitigate the frauds on investors sometimes attending the sale to the public of par value stock. It has been strongly attacked and warmly defended. Without analyzing in detail the arguments advanced by its opponents or friends, it seems sale to say that it increases the difficulties of selling a piece of paper to the gullible for more than its real worth. From the legal point of view a certificate of no par value stock is closer to truth than one alleging a fixed value.

This article presents information about recent law cases. In United States v. Ferger, however, it has recently been held that section 41 of the Pomerene Act, which makes criminal the forging of an interstate bill of lading, is unconstitutional, since the forged bills of lading were nothing but pieces of paper fraudulently inscribed. They were not receipts for goods. They did not affect interstate commerce. The court excluded from contemplation, as possibly presenting a different question, the counterfeiting of an existing genuine interstate bill of lading.

The article focuses on the effect of World War I on international law. The law must take them into account, no matter what the theories of doctrinaires and Utopians. The world is familiar with the successive laws through which the U.S. has protected its population against the disagreeable results of immigration. The the decree of October 2, 1888, followed by the law of August 8, 1893, required foreigners residing in France to make a declaration to the police authorities and to carry papers which should be vise, in the commune to which they moved, each time that they changed their residence. The moving about of individuals which will be caused by military operations is likely to contribute to the exchange of knowledge and the comparison of law. Sometimes it will cause a case of conflict.

The article discusses various lawsuits in the U.S. One of the lawsuits discussed is Moore v. Empire Land Co. The plaintiff's grantor took possession of certain land without any paper title and held it adversely for seven years. He then conveyed the surface of the land to X., reserving the minerals; and X. and his grantees entering held possession of the surface for the remainder of the statutory period, no one meanwhile operating the mines. Thereafter the plaintiff bought the minerals from the grantor, and brings this bill to quiet his title to them. Another case discussed is Condon v. Exton-Hall Brokerage and Vessel Agency. The defendant, at the plaintiff's request, undertook gratuitously to procure the immediate cancellation of an insurance policy issued by the plaintiff. The defendant directed its local correspondent to investigate the risk with a view to action in the future.

The article discusses a paper and various books related to the lawsuits in the U.S. The paper discussed is "The Legal Nature of International Law," by George B. Scott. In this paper, the writer maintains two propositions: first, that the quality of enforceability and the existence of a sanction are not essential to the definition of law; secondly, that assuming a sanction to be requisite, one is present in the realm of international law. Some of the books discussed are "The Abuse of New Trials," by Everett P. Wheeler, "The Act of Congress Permitting Suits Against Federal Receivers: Injunctions From State Courts," by W.A. Coutts and "Dissenting Opinions," by V.H. Roberts.

The article focuses on the paper "De quelques questions relatives dl'assurance des risques de guerre," by Emile Audouin. It was formerly the practice, he says, for the same policy to cover both ordinary perils of the sea and war risks, for a single premium. But gradually a change was made, until in 1900 the principal marine insurance companies operating in Europe adopted the principle of a special policy for each kind of risk. The change makes necessary an exactness in the legal definition of ordinary and war risks not required before. If the insured has to cover the two in different companies, it is important for him to see that there are no gaps to leave him without protection, as will happen if the war risk contract is held not to cover a loss, which the law governing the ordinary risk contract would not consider the result of an ordinary peril.

The article focuses on the paper "The Doctrine of Anticipatory Breach," by Colin P. Campbell. In a late article upon this subject, the writer, while disclaiming any effort to justify in theory the general rule allowing recovery by one party before the time of performance, on repudiation by the other, discusses the grounds on which that doctrine seems to rest. He points out that these decisions have been based on two different views of the situation. The first, which is illustrated in Hochster v. De la Tour is that the action is based on an implied undertaking in the original contract, to do nothing inconsistent with the contractual relation before the time of performance.

The article presents information on the paper "A Brief History of the Parol Evidence Rule," by John H. Wigmore. The doctrine was unknown to the Germanic invaders of Rome and Western Europe. A general ignorance of letters and the existence of a "legal system of formal oral transactions " combined to strip the carta, or document of that period, of further value than as a means of effecting a formal symbolic delivery of land, and of preserving the names of witnesses upon whom alone reliance was placed for proof of the terms of the transaction. A notable advance in the status of written documents appeared with the rise of the seal. The principle that the king's word is indisputable gained for a document bearing his seal incontestability.

The article presents information on the paper "Extrinsic Evidence in Aid of Interpretation," by Sidney L. Phipson. The article is a clear discussion of scholar Isdole Wigram's classic work and the many criticisms thereon, and offers independent ideas of value as well. Phipson stands by Wigram's treatment of interpretation as a question of evidence. As to the object of interpretation--whether, as Wigram maintains, it is to ascertain the meaning of the words, or to learn the intention of the writer. Phipson declares that in reducing the various rules and principles to seven working propositions, Wigram seems to have done all that is possible to secure condensation without sacrificing adequacy or exactness.

Discusses the value in the law of negotiable instruments. Provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Law; Existence of the difference between negotiable paper and other property; Merits of New York case of Stalker v. McDonald.

The article presents notes from lectures delivered as part of the regular course of instruction in the Law School. To incorporate in a will a document, which is not duly attested, the latter must be so described in the will as to be capable of identification. This identification, as is pointed out in Allen v. Maddock, will always be to some extent a question of parol evidence; but the document must be referred to as one then existing; if there is not such a reference, it is immaterial that there is already in existence a paper which satisfies the description.

Presents list of books on law. 'The Aftermath of Sabbatino,' by Richard A. Falk; 'The Curse of Bigness: Miscellaneous Papers of Louis D. Brandeis,' edited by Osmond K. Fraenkel; 'The Golden Age of American Law,' edited by Charles M. Haar; 'Sex Offenders: An Analysis of Types,' by Paul Gebhard, John Gagnon, Wardell Pomeroy and Cornelia Christenson.