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Plaintiff had for many years used as a trade-mark for labels upon packages of mustard manufactured by them the symbol of a bull's head, and this symbol had not been previously used for the same purpose by any other person. Held, to entitle plaintiffs to protection in its exclusive use and to an injunction against defendants, restraining them from adopting and using for labels upon packages of mustard a similar symbol, and that the fact that the head upon defendants' labels was not precisely like that upon plaintiffs', but was a colorable imitation, and that the same trade-mark had been used by others upon other kinds of manufactured articles was no defense. (Congress, etc., Spring v. High Rock Spring, 45 N. Y. 291; Newman v. Alvord, 51 id. 189; Millington v. Fox, 3 M. & C. 338; Knott v. Morgan, 2 Keen, 213; Leather Cloth Co. v. Am. L. C. Co., 11 H. L. Cas. 523; Cransey v. Thompson, 4 M. & G. 356; Canal Co. v. Clark, 13 Wall. 311.) Judgment below affirmed. Coleman v. Crump. Opinion by Allen, J. [Decided Oct. 2, 1877.]

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Chief Justice W. B. Draper, of the Province of Ontario, who died recently at the age of 77 years, was the first president of the Toronto Cricket Club and a player in its eleven.

A writer in an English newspaper thus describes the late Samuel Warren's first appearance at the bar: "I observed sitting near the witness box, opposite to the judge, a restless Jewish-looking little man, very pale in the face, but with eyebrows exceedingly dark and expressive. He applied a pair of gold hand spectacles to his eyes, looked at the judge, afterward at a portrait of George the Third which hung above the judge, and then quickly removed the spectacles from his nose. They dangled on his chest for an instant, then he put them to his eyes again, and inspected the jury on his left. He took the glasses once more from his nose, held them between his finger and thumb, raised them a third time to his eyes and looked inquiringly round the court. Such was Samuel Warren, with nothing to do, in his first appearance in the Guildhall, Newcastle."

Warren amounted in Parliament to no more than his famous character "Tittlefat tit-mouse." In fact.he did not do as well, for "Tittlefat once defeated the opposition by imitating a rooster, and became temporarily famous thereby. The writer says: "The roll is very long of lawyers who have failed in the House of Commons. With training, self-possession, and doubtless in many instances, earnest ambition, it seems a strange chapter in our intellectual history that practicing lawyers do not succeed in obtaining the attention of Parliament. There are splendid exceptions, but these exceptions prove the rule absolutely. Warren was certainly no exception. No legislation owes its origin to him; and nobody remembers any speech he delivered. It might have been supposed that so vigorous and so racy a writer would have said or done something worthy of record. He voted steadily with Mr. Walpole and his party. On one occasion somebody proposed a committee to investigate a question appertaining to an extension of the suffrage. Warren rose and said, 'What a preposterous thing, to refer the British Constitution to a select committee! I shall go no further in dealing with a proposition so ridiculous,' and Samuel Warren resumed his seat."

RECENT BANKRUPTCY DECISIONS.

ASSIGNABLE CLAIM.

1. Claim against government: practice.-A claim in favor of the bankrupt against the government will pass to his assignee. A description in the schedule of assets of a claim for the burning of cotton in the enemy's country during the war, as against the officers who destroyed the same, is substantially a statement that the claim is one against the government. Sup. Ct., Dist. Columbia. Phelps, assignee, v. McDonald, 16 Nat. Bankr. Reg. 217.

2. Worthless claim: practice: jurisdiction.-Where a claim is marked in the schedule as worthless, tho validity of a sale of the assets, including such claim, is not affected by it afterward becoming valuable. A bankrupt who has received his final discharge is entitled to his future acquisitions, and may use them to purchase his former assets on a sale thereof by the assignee. The bankrupt court has no jurisdiction over property of the bankrupt in foreign countries, and cannot compel an assignment thereof by him. Ib.

COMPOSITION.

Discharges debts created by fraud.-Provable debts,

although created by fraud, are discharged by a com

position in bankruptcy. Sup. Ct., New Hampshire. Wells v. Lamprey, 16 Nat. Bankr. Reg. 205.

EXECUTION.

When valid against proceedings in bankruptcy.-In Colorado the delivery of an execution to the sheriff constitutes such a lien upon the debtor's property as will be valid against proceedings in bankruptcy filed after such delivery, but before a levy is made. U. S. Circ. Ct., Colorado. Bartlett, assignee, v. Russell, 16 Nat. Bankr. Reg. 211.

JUDGMENT.

Testing validity of: examination of docket.— In ascertaining the validity of the docket entry of a judgment the whole entry is to be looked at, and if from the whole the amount and date of the judgment, the parties and the court in which it was rendered appear, the entry is sufficient. While a judgment record cannot be resorted to in order to supply omissions in the docket entry, it may be examined to test the validity of such evidence. U. S. Circ. Ct., Oregon. In re Boyd, 16 Nat. Bankr. Reg. 204.

PREFERENCE.

1. Notice to creditors of insolvency: what constitutes knowledge of insolvency: oral promise to give security. -Where the bankrupt at the time of giving a mortgage, in pursuance of a previous agreement, to secure a pre-existing debt, requests the creditor to permit him to secure other creditors in such instrument, such request is notice of the existence of such creditors and of the bankrupt's inability to pay them. A creditor who has obtained a preference is chargeable with knowledge of facts, the existence of which he could have ascertained by the slightest effort. It is not necessary that the creditor should know that the law prohibits him from taking the preference; it is enough if he knows such facts and circumstances as bring it within the prohibition of the law and make it a fraud in legal contemplation. An oral promise, made at the time the debt is contracted, to give security if required, cannot be executed after the debtor has become insolvent. U. S. Dist. Ct., California. Lloyd, assignee, v. Strobridge, 16 Nat. Bankr. Reg. 197.

2. Accepting chattel mortgage.-Where a creditor accepts and records a chattel mortgage, correctly describing the note secured, in place of a prior unrecorded mortgage incorrectly describing such note, such transaction does not constitute an illegal preference, but is a simple exchange of securities. U. S. Dist. Ct., Missouri. Player, assignee, v. Lippincott, 16 Nat. Bankr. Reg. 208.

RECENT AMERICAN DECISIONS.

SUPREME COURT OF WISCONSIN.*

FORCIBLE ENTRY AND DETAINER.

1. What constitutes: entry without forcible violence. A, with the aid of six or eight men, hastily tore down a part of the fences around a lot which had been for a year and a half in the peaceable possession and occupation of B, and with great haste moved thereon a shop, in the absence of B and his family from his premises, and without personal violence or intimidation toward any person, but without the consent of B. Held, that the jury were warranted in finding a forcible entry. Steinlein v. Halstead.

2. Forcible detainer.-B afterward went to the shop,

plaint in such an action must show the want of authority. Ib. Decided June 2, 1877.

RAILROADS.

Fencing against cattle: contributory negligence. If a railway company fences its track in the manner required by statute, and such fence afterward becomes defective, an action against the company for injuries to horses or cattle straying upon the track through such defective fence cannot be maintained if it appears that the owner of the animals was guilty of contributory negligence. Brown v. Railway Co., 21 Wis. 39, as to this point, overruled. Whether contributory negligence would be a defense where the company had entirely failed to fence its track, is not here decided. Jones v. S. & F. du L. R. R. Co.

BOOK NOTICES.

BLISS ANNOTATED Code.

The New York Code of Civil Procedure, as amended in 1877. with Explanatory Notes, showing the changes introduced thereby, together with those portions of the former Code of Procedure still in force, and the Temporary, Suspending and Repealing Acts, with Notes of Judicial Decisions on Pleading, Practice and Evidence. By George Bliss. New York: Baker, Voorhis & Co., 1877.

which was occupied by A with several workmen, and WHA

informed A that he had taken possession unlawfully, and requested him to remove without delay; and A answered that "no one could get him away unless he were forced to go by law." Held, that this language imported that A would resist by force all attempts to remove him except through legal process; and warranted the jury in finding a forcible detainer. (Carter v. Van Dorn, 36 Wis. 289, distinguished.) Ib. Decided Sept. 25, 1877.

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION.

1. Notice to, of defective sidewalk.—In an action for injuries to plaintiff's person caused by her stepping through a hole in the sidewalk of the defendant city, where there was evidence that the walk was on one of the principal thoroughfares of the city, and that the hole had existed there for several months, this was sufficient to warrant the jury in finding the city chargeable with notice of the defect. Hall v. City of Fond du Lac. Decided Sept. 11, 1877.

2. Not liable for change of grade of street.-In the absence of a statute creating such liability, a municipal corporation is not liable for damages resulting from an authorized change in the grade of a street, made with reasonable skill and care. Dore v. City of Milwaukee.

3. Liability for unauthorized acts.-In case of injuries to a city lot from the alteration of the grade of a street made pursuant to an unauthorized or illegal order of the city council, the city is liable in an ordinary civil action for damages. The charter also provides that the damages to a lot-owner caused by such an alteration in the grade of a street shall be ascertained by means of an assessment made by the board of public works and confirmed by the council: gives the lotowner the right of appeal to the Circuit Court from such assessment, and declares that "no action at law shall be maintained for such damages or injuries." Ch. 7, § 12. Held, that where the grade of a street in said city is changed pursuant to an order of the council not authorized by the charter, damages are still recoverable in au ordinary civil action; but the comTo appear in 42 Wisconsin Reports.

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НАТ "Voorhies' Code" has been, Bliss' Code will be, to the profession of this State. Not that it would be possible under the ordinary circumstances for a new adventurer in the field of law-book-making to reach, at one bound, the excellence that John Townshend gave to his work through twenty years of careful collation and revision; but here the new Code is the heir, as well as the successor, of the old, and has its wealth and wisdom on which to build a new fortune. Mr. Bliss says in his preface: In the notes upon judicial decisions rendered prior to 1870, I have made free use of the notes of John Townshend, Esq., to what is known to the profession as Voorhies' Code." Yet Mr. Bliss has been no simple borrower, for he adds: "I have, however, gone back to the original reports, not only as to the cases bearing upon the very numerous subjects not embraced in the old Code of Procedure, but as to those covered by it. As to the cases published since 1870, the notes are, of course, entirely new. I have given to such cases, especially to those in the Court of Appeals, particular attention." As the old Code contained but 473 sections, and the new Code contains 1496, Mr. Bliss has had a wide field for original investigation.

Of some of the special features of this work the author speaks as follows: "I have briefly indicated the source from which each section of the text is derived, and have pointed out the essential changes, if any, made by it. Where new words or sentences are introduced into an existing section, with the effect of changing or throwing light upon its meaning, I have indicated them by printing the new mattter in italics." The text of this edition is printed from the standard text of the Code filed with the Secretary of State, and is, we presume, literal, although there is certificate of neither Secretary nor Commissioners. While the text is printed in unbroken lines, the editor's notes are printed in two columns- -a typographical improvement on Voorhies' Code, since long lines in fine type are difficult to follow and trying to the eye.

Much as we had been led to expect in this Code, we confess to some surprise. The deed equals, if it does not outrun, the promise; and seems to be far beyond the possibility of a summer's work. The notes are

very full and comprehensive, and display great industry and research, as well as much care in statement and method in arrangement. The unrepealed sections of the old Code are given and are fully annotated.

In matter and manner, in contents and mechanical execution, this volume is well worth the price which the publishers have put upon it.

P. F. SMITH'S REPORTS, VOLUME XXXI. Pennsylvania State Reports, comprising cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. By P. Frazer Smith, State Reporter. Vol. XXXI. Containing cases argued at January term, 1876. Philadelphia: Kay & Brother, 1877.

This is the final volume of the series of reports prepared by Mr. Smith, Mr. Norris having commenced with volume 82 in the official numbering. Mr. Smith has held the position of State Reporter for a long time, and has performed its duties satisfactorily to the profession and the courts. The present volume equals, in every respect, its predecessors, and contains a number of cases of general interest, among which we notice these: Derbyshire's Estate, Lang's Appeal, p. 19: A vessel in the stocks, before coming under the dominion of admiralty law, does not differ from other personal property, and no title papers are necessary in the absence of special contract. Schenck v. Uber, p. 31: The engine, machinery and cage constituting an elevator are realty when put in by the owner as a part of his building. Ashburner v. Parrish, p. 52: Plaintiff, who was in the employ of defendants, entered into a contract with the United States in his own name, but for their benefit, and they became his sureties. Held, that the contract was against public policy and void, and plaintiff could not recover from defendants compensation for procuring it. Philadelphia v. Scott, p. 80: The State may improve the space between high and low-water mark upon tide-waters, without compensation to the owner of adjoining land, and may bank out the water from his land. De Haven v. Kensington Nat. Bank, p. 95: A man dressed as, and pretending to be a policeman, by imposing upon the officers of a bank, obtained access to the bank and robbed it. Held, that the bank officers were not guilty of such negligence as would render the bank liable for valuables gratuitously kept in its safe. Reserve Mut. Ins. Co. v. Kane, p. 154: A child has an insurable interest in the life of a parent. Abrahams v. Cooper, p. 232: In an action for false imprisonment, sufferings from insufficient food and covering may be proved, and that such sufferings resulted from the neglect of the public officers will not relieve defendant. Mount Moriah Cemetery Assoc. v. Commonwealth, p. 235: A by-law of a cemetery association forbidding burials in the cemetery without a permit from the secretary, held not to abridge the rights of a lot-owner who purchased before the adoption of the by-law. Bunting's Administrators v. C. & A. Railroad Co., p. 254: A corporation bond, payable to bearer, may be sued in the name of the holder. Houseman v. Girard M. B. and L. Asso., p. 256: The recorder of deeds is liable for a false certificate of searches, but only to the party who asks and pays for the certificate. Miners' Trust Co. v. Rosebury, p. 309: Payment of usury is not necessarily fraudulent as to creditors. Gisaf v. Neval, p. 354: A man who had seduced a female, and induced her to submit to an abortion, thereafter, with the avowed purpose of compensating her for her sufferings, gave her money to buy her a house. Held, an executed

gift, and it could not be set aside as being founded on an immoral consideration. Gise v. Commonwealth, p. 428: In an indictment for bigamy, it is not necessary to prove cohabitation with the second wife. Kimmerer v. Tool, p. 467: Mere passive non-resistance to regular legal proceedings will not constitute a preference under the bankrupt law, though the creditor knew the insolvency of the debtor, nor will consent on the part of the debtor to an amicable action, or revival which does nothing beyond passive non-resistance, amount to a preference. The volume is fairly indexed, and well printed and bound.

BURROUGHS ON TAXATION.

A Treatise on the Law of Taxation as Imposed by the States and their Municipalities, or other Subdivisions, and as Exercised by the Government of the United States, Particularly in the Customs and Internal Revenue. By W. H. Burroughs. New York: Baker, Voorhis & Co., 1877.

The subject of taxation is one of growing importance, not only to the legal profession but to all classes, for every individual is, under the operation of the various methods in which the public revenue is raised, compelled to contribute something thereto. The people of this country have had the peculiar advantage, if it may be called one, of experiencing every method of taxation which the ingenuity of governmental authorities has yet devised. Therefore, a treatise upon the subject of taxation, which undertakes to embrace the provisions of law in force in this country in reference to that subject, in its various phases, national, State, municipal and local, must cover a very wide field. That the work before us does so may be seen by this analysis of its contents. It begins with a consideration of the power of the State to tax and the limitations upon that power arising from its nature, and from limitations in the constitutions of the State and of the United States. Special chapters are given to the sub-heads of license taxes, taxation of corporations and exemptions from taxation. Then follows the assessment and collection of taxes, including the sale of land for non-payment. Municipal taxation, or taxation by the subdivisions of a State, is treated in the same manner -- first the limits upon the power and then upon its mode of exercise-special attention being given to the important and vexed questions growing out of municipal bonds and local assessments. Federal taxation is next treated in a similar manner, the constitutional questions involved in its exercise being first disposed of and the details connected with the every-day enforcement of the laws being then considered. The work is brought down to January, 1877, and an appendix gives such cases as are worthy of notice decided between that time and August 1, 1877. Our readers are not entirely unfamiliar with Judge Burroughs' work, as we have, from time to time, printed extracts from advanced sheets thereof, but a just estimate of this volume can only be formed upon an examination of it as a whole. As a legal author he has displayed ability of the first order. The various divisions of the subject, as will be seen above, are systematically arranged, the statements of principle appear to be clear and accurate, and the citations of reported cases we believe embrace every thing of value. The volume covers, exclusive of the index and tables of cases, over seven hundred closely printed pages. The index to the work is excellent; the table of cases cited is carefully prepared, and the book is well printed and bound.

CRARY'S SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS.

In justice to both the author and publishers of this work we should have made the following quotation from the Preface to the Fifth edition in our notice last week, and would have done so had we noticed it:

"The text of the two editions (second and fifth) are substantially the same; the difference in the editions being mainly in the Supplements; in which are noted all the recent decisions and alterations in the practice, including those made by the New Code of Civil Procedure."

This statement entirely removes any appearance of deception, and fairly notifies the purchaser of the ware he is getting-an honesty not always paralleled in the "new" editions of the times.

But, after all, the edition is not what we had a right to expect from Mr. Crary. We have always looked upon his work as one of exceptional value. Such it has been, and such it should be made to be now. Much of the law relating to Special Proceedings has been revised, and something more is needed than a supplement" to each chapter.

66

COURT OF APPEALS DECISIONS.

THE following decisions were handed down on Tues

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day, November 13, 1877: Judgment affirmed, with costs- Wisner v. Ocumpaugh; Pierce v. Pierce; MacAuley v. Potter; Parrott v. Colby; Rose v. Baldwin; Christie v. Gage; Payne v. Hodge; Barkley v. Rensselaer and Saratoga R. R. Co.; Mumby v. Jackson.- Order affirmed, with costs-Crocker v. Whitney; In re National Bank of Genesee v. Bostwick; People ex rel. Slavin v. Wendell; Jones v. Welwood; Thomson v. Taylor; In re Thompson, a creditor. Appeal dismissed, with costs People ex rel. Richardson v. County Court of St. Lawrence county; In re Security Life Ins. Co. on application of Miller v. Wickham.-Judgment affirmed, without costs to either party as against the other in this court-Loden v. Hatfield.- Order affirmed and judgment absolute for plaintiff on stipulation, with costs Outhank v. Lake Shore R. R. Co. · Order affirmed and judgment absolute for defendant on stipulation, with costs Ralph v. Brooklyn City R. R. Co.--Judgment reversed and rehearing ordered - Pollock v. Pollock.- Judgment of General Term reversed and judgment of County Court affirmed, with costs-Mynard v. Syracuse, Binghamton, etc., R. R. Co.- Judgment reversed and new trial granted, costs to abide the event - White v. Miller; Nash v. Mitchell; Dyer v. Erie R. R. Co. Order reversed and application denied, with costsPalmer v. Foley.

MR.

NOTES.

"Com

R. JOHN D. PARSONS, JR., has in press a mentary on the Lunacy Laws of New York," by John Ordronaux, LL. D., State Commissioner in Lunacy, which will literally "fill a want that has long been felt," as the publishers usually phrase it. Mr. Ordronaux has no superior in this country as an authority on the jurisprudence of insanity, theoretical or practical. To him New York is indebted for having its lunacy laws reduced from chaos to a wise and liberal system. The title of the book hardly indicates its wide scope, for while it embraces commentaries

upon the statutes of New York, it also discusses with great fullness the legal aspects of insanity at common law and in equity, and in such a way as to adapt it to the jurisprudence of all the States. The subjects of Contracts of persons of unsound mind, Testamentary Capacity, Testimonial Capacity and Criminal Responsibility are treated with greater discrimination and thoroughness, we venture to assert, than in any other work extant, English or American.

The Journal of Jurisprudence and Scottish Law Magazine, for November, contains the following articles: Professor Lorimer's introductory lecture to the class of public law in the University of Edinburg on the ethics of the Koran; International general average; the continued article upon Procurators Fiscal; Statutes of 1877 affecting Scotland; The position of masters of the public schools under the recent educational acts applicable to Scotland. The number contains but little of interest to the profession in this country.- The Taxation of Personal Property is the subject of a pamphlet treatise, written by John H Ames, one of the commissioners to revise the laws of Nebraska, and published by Mills & Co., of Des Moines, Iowa. The subject of taxation is very carefully considered, and the evils attendant upon the system at present in vogue are very strongly dwelt upon. The pamphlet should be read by every tax payer.

The case of Chanveleau v. Fay, decided last week in the New York Court of Common Pleas, involved a question of practice under the new Code. It was a motion to strike out a demurrer as frivolous. The court thus states the question: "The answer set up as new matter by way of avoidance, that plaintiff had sold and assigned the claim in dispute prior to the commencement of the action. To this a reply is interposed denying each and every allegation set up in the answer as new matter by way of avoidance. I think the reply is sufficient within the meaning of sections 514 and 516 of the Code. It may contain either a general or specific denial. The answer alleges an assignment of the claim by plaintiff prior to the suit. This is denied in general terms by the reply, followed by an averment that plaintiff was the owner of the claim at the time the suit was brought. Plaintiff had set forth the fact and should not be required to plead the avoidance of the fact. The motion to strike out the demurrer to the reply as frivolous should be granted.". - George, the Count Joannes, moved, the other day, for an order of arrest against the actor Sothern. His papers were voluminous, but the court refused the motion on the ground that they were insufficient.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, on the 12th inst., announced its decision in the case of the attachments for Governor Hartranft, and other State officials, and General Brinton, to appear before the grand jury and testify concerning the riots. The decision of Judge Kirkpatrick, granting the attachments, is reversed. The Chief-Justice said, in announcing this as the decision of the majority of the court, that no opinion could be delivered at present for want of time; but he directed the prothonotary to enter the judgment of the lower court as reversed. This relieves the State officials from embarrassment, and from having to reveal State secrets.

ALL communications intended for publication in the LAW JOURNAL should be addressed to the editor, and the name of the writer should be given, though not necessarily for publication.

port, unlawful, the court refuses to make a decree of restoration, on the ground that it might be injudicious to disturb the present state of things in the

Communications on business matters should be ad- congregation. This would appear to be giving the

dressed to the publishers.

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THE annual meeting of the State Bar Association,

on the 20th inst., had a fair representation of members from all parts of the State. The addresses were few and brief, and the exercises were in the main routine. The reports of its officers seem to indicate that the Association is placed upon a permanent basis, both socially and financially. The roll of active membership, though not as large as it should be, is sufficient to authorize the organization to assume to represent the whole legal profession, and its action in any given matter will without doubt be indorsed and aided by the bar generally. A few subjects of practical importance were brought before the meeting and referred to appropriate committees. The time for discussion of the various matters presented was necessarily brief, and only those concerning which there could be no essential difference of opinion were disposed of. The address of Judge Porter, the President of the Association, which appears elsewhere in our present number, will be perused with interest by every reader of the LAW JOURNAL. The old officers were in the main elected.

The Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, have just decided a case which has excited considerable attention among the Roman Catholic population of Pennsylvania, and involves an interesting question of ecclesiastical law and its relations to municipal law. Some six or seven years ago a parish priest named Stack, ministering in at church at Williamsport in the State mentioned, was removed by the bishop of his diocese, forbidden to exercise the priestly function in that place, and transferred to a church in Athens, in the same State. The bishop gave no reason for his action, and the priest refused to obey him, claiming that he could not, under the canon law of his church, as a parish priest, be removed without cause or hearing. The priest appealed to the civil courts for redress, and the case has been in litigation ever since. The court has now decided in favor of the priest, holding the removal unwarranted by the canon law, contrary to the law of the land, and prejudicial to the rights of citizenship. But while declaring the removal of the priest, and the prohibition forbidding him to exercise any priestly authority in WilliamsVOL. 16.- No. 21.

successful party a somewhat worthless judgment, but it is probably the best that can be done for him at the present time.

Very little new business of interest to the profession has been transacted in Congress during the past week. We have only to note the introduction in the Senate of a joint resolution amendatory of the Federal Constitution, providing for a tribunal for the decision of contested issues arising in the choice of electors of President and Vice-President of the United States. The resolution provides for the appointment by the governor of each State of a body of lawyers, who are to determine all disputes in relation to presidential electors in such State. The ways and means committee in the House have appointed a sub-committee, who are directed to prepare a bill, creating a new revenue system. This sub-committee are holding daily meetings, and expect to continue at their work until their bill is perfected, which will not be before the middle of January next.

We are sometimes unfortunate in this country in the selection of our higher judicial officers, whether elected or appointed. Men who should not occupy the bench sometimes get there. When such an unfortunate event happens we express our regret, but submit, and try to make the best of it. Oftentimes the man whom we disapprove of turns out to be an excellent judge, and if he proves otherwise we are not disappointed, and put up with his short-comings, considering the existence of such a judicial officer as a necessary evil connected with our system. Most of us, however, under such circumstances, secretly wish that the English system of selection, which is supposed to be a sort of "survival of the fittest" plan, could be adopted here. Under that system, as it is understood, both here and in England, a superior judicial position is always filled by one among the inferior judiciary, who has displayed the greatest legal learning or ability, or having the longest judicial experience. But that the choice is not always determined by such reasons is evidenced by the recent appointment of a judge of the Court of Appeal, which was mentioned by our English correspondent in our last issue. The present Tory leader, some years ago, for the purpose of favoring a friend and supporter, conferred a high judicial office where it did not belong. This alienated the friends of the one who should have received the position, and, to win back their friendship, he has advanced the son of that one to another high position before his time. This is the explanation of the appointment of Mr. Thesiger as judge of the Court

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