Of equal interest is his discussion of the relative advantages of the policies of neutrality and of adherence to the League of Nations as instruments of world peace. The doctrine of neutrality, he points out, is incompatible with a world organization like the League of Nations. The two policies differ fundamentally in principle; the former aims at the localization of conflicts, while the latter contemplates the united action of all the members of the League against the recalcitrant state. "But if neutrality is to be effective, he admits, "it must be made more wide-reaching in its application than the present" (Section 889 p. 795). "Non-participation, on the other hand, which contemplates the actual withholding of the resources of neutral territory from every belligerent without discrimination possesses a power in that regard which has never been measured because it has never been asserted, and yet which may enable essentially neutral states to maintain international peace." In short, Mr. Hyde is a jurist rather than a statesman in his habit of thought, and a nationalist rather than an internationalist in his political outlook. It can scarcely be expected, in the circumstances, that the supporters of the League of Nations at home or abroad will permit his criticisms or political philosophy to pass unchallenged. In conclusion, a reference must be made to the technical excellencies of these volumes. In no other English or American work will there be found such an exhaustive collection of diplomatic and judicial precedents or such a thorough acquaintance with the literature of international law, periodical as well as monographical, though it is somewhat surprising to find two such well-known works as Huberich "Trading with the Enemy" and Trotter "Law of Contract During War" apparently omitted from the list of references. The footnotes constitute a most valuable commentary upon the text. The whole work is a model of preparation; it represents a remarkable combination of breadth of scholarship with meticulous attention to technical details. In short, Professor Hyde has placed himself at the very forefront of American authorities in international law, and from that place, we may be sure, he will not soon be removed. University of Minnesota. C. D. ALLIN. AMERICAN CITIZENS AND THEIR GOVERNMENT. By Kenneth Cole- An extremely sketchy and popular account of the organization and functioning of government in the United States is that given by Professor Colegrove. The purpose of the author evidently is to give a simple outline of the salient elements without attempting the enumeration of details; and in the main this is successfully accomplished, although an occasional wrong impression, such as classing the committee system of Congress and the custom of "senatorial courtesy❞ as instances of "expansion of the Constitution" is not avoided. An outline is given of the provisions of the national and state constitutions, of citizenship and suffrage, of the powers and functions of the president, Congress, the executive departments, and the courts, and of the structure of the state governments. There is also discussion of the working of the system of political parties, of municipal government and of apparent tendencies in the development of our government. The treatment is on the whole well balanced and with few exceptions accurate. It is, however, scarcely fortunate to give the novice in constitutional law the impression that the decision in Marbury v. Madison that the Supreme Court had the power to declare invalid any act of Congress in conflict with the Constitution was “a judicial pronouncement for the confusion of Thomas Jefferson" "deliberately made" by John Marshall because of his enmity toward the President. Nor is it an adequate account of the genesis of the League of Nations to say that it was proposed at the Peace Conference by President Wilson and was incorporated in the Treaty of Versailles "due almost entirely to President Wilson's insistence." The book is readable and should prove an easy approach for the beginner to a knowledge of our governmental machinery. Thorough dissatisfaction with the governmental system established by the Constitution of the United States is voiced in Mr. MacDonald's book and he outlines a constitution which he considers more in accord with the needs of the country. His thesis is that most of our political ills in this country are directly traceable to the fact that we have an irresponsible government as established by the Constitution. Both the executive and the legislative branch of the government is elected for fixed terms at stated intervals, the result of which, he argues, is to divorce both departments from any close connection with public opinion. "Whatever prevailing body of opinion the president or members of Congress may have represented at the time when they were nominated and elected, they largely cease to have any direct or vital relation to it thereafter. At the earliest none of them can be called to account by the voters until two years after they have been chosen." As their terms are different, Congress and the president may not be of the same party and indeed the Senate and the House may be of different political complexions. This makes for discouragement of serious political thinking and debate among the people and increasing the power of corrupt machine politics. The power of the presidency is the chief point of the author's criticism-"the one-man power which has become its (the nation's) bane." Yet he says it should be remembered that the enormous power which the president has gathered into his hands is the natural result of such a system of government as the Constitution provides. Congress is irresponsible to the electorate, there is no provision for a congressional leadership and none of the heads of the executive departments is responsible to Congress. "Naturally, then, if there is to be national leadership, it must come from the president. Unless the ship of state is to drift while Congress spends time in debate the president must take the helm." Mr. MacDonald's remedy is to substitute the "parliamentary" for the "congressional" form of government; to give Congress the control of policy by creating a ministry or administration which shall represent the majority and give way to another ministry when the majority no longer supports it, taking away from the president of course the power he now has to affect policy. The changes in the present Constitution necessary to effectuate the purpose are set out in detail and seem to be appropriately worked out. The subject is an interesting one. It might be expected that there would be some discussion of the relative merits and defects of the "congressional" and "parliamentary" forms respectively based on experience of their operation in other countries. Mr. MacDonald, however, contents himself with holding our present Constitution responsible for most political evils in this country and assumes that the changes recommended by him would set things right. There is a chapter entitled "Some Objections Considered," but it is perfunctory and the sum of the views expressed in it is that "if, under a parliamentary system, the business of governing goes wrong, the people have themselves to blame." While he is about it the author provides for a number of other improvements in the Constitution. He remodels the voting system and provides a new basis of representation in that he would have the House of Representatives divided between members who represent population and members who represent occupational groups. He would make some radical changes in the functions of the federal and the state governments respectively, provide separate "administrative courts" and have all federal judges appointed by the Cabinet, but subject to removal upon request of Congress whenever "unsatisfactory" on general grounds. This means or includes such things as "a hopelessly reactionary attitude toward public interests" and having a point of view "which the progressive thought of the nation has left behind," it being "the function of the courts to interpret the Constitution and the laws in the light of public opinion." He would take away from the courts the power to appoint receivers or to issue injunctions which could in any way be used to prevent strikes as that is, he says, an unwarranted invasion of the fundamental rights of citizens. There are other suggested changes, none of which are discussed with any detail or insight. The book would have been more interesting if confined to the one proposal to establish a cabinet system with a fuller and more nearly adequate discussion of that topic. Warren, Pa. EDWARD LINDSEY. ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS WHAT AUTHORITY SHOULD GRANT PAROLES? Will Colvin. Jour. Crim. L. & Crim. XII 545. WHAT PRISONERS SHOULD BE ELIGIBLE TO PAROLE? Amos W. Butler. Jour. Crim. L. & Crim. XII 549. WHAT SHOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF PAROLE? F. Emory Lyon. Jour. Crim. L. & Crim. XII 554. PROBATION AND SUSPENDED SENTENCE. Charles L. Chute. Jour. Crim. L. & Crim. XII 558. THE EXTENSION OF PROBATION TO ADULT CASES. Charles W. Hoffman. Jour. Crim. L. & Crim. XII 566. THE RIGHT SELECTION OF PROBATION CASES. John W. Houston. Jour. Crim. L. & Crim. XII 577. CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE IN EUROPE. John R. Oliver. Jour. Crim. L. & Crim. XII 582. CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE IN SWITZERLAND. Ernest Hafter. Jour. Crim. L. & Crim. XII 594. MEDICO-LEGAL ASPECT OF MORBID IMPULSES. Alfred Gordon. Jour. Crim. L. & Crim. XII 604. LAW, INDUSTRY AND POST-WAR ADJUSTMENTS. W. Jethro Brown. Harv. L. Rev. XXXV 223. PERMANENT COURT OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE. Manley O. Hudson. Harv. L. Rev. XXXV 245. FEDERAL EQUITY RULES. Wallace R. Lane. Harv. L. Rev. XXXV 276. CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY. Francis B. Sayre. Harv. L. Rev. XXXV 393. EARLY ENGLISH STATUTES. Joseph H. Beale. Harv. L. Rev. XXXV 519. UNWRITTEN LAW. W. Lewis Roberts. Ky. L. Jour. X 45. CONSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS OF KENTUCKY. Leon P. Lewis. Ky. L. Jour. X 53. REAL PARTIES IN INTEREST. Lewis M. Simes. Ky. L. Jour. X 60. CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE. James O'Connor. L. Q. Rev. XXXVIII 17. DID ULPIAN USE GAIUS? W. W. Buckland. L. Q. Rev. XXXVIII 38. EVIDENCE OF SIMILAR FACTS. F. L. Stow. L. Q. Rev. XXXVIII 63. HISTORY OF REMEDIES AGAINST THE CROWN. W. S. Holdsworth. L. Q. Rev. XXXVIII 141. LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENCES. Frederick Pollock. L. Q. Rev. XXXVIII 165. SOME EARLY LAW COURTS AND THE ENGLISH BAR. Hugh H. L. Bellot. L. Q. Rev. XXXVIII 168. PRACTICE IN CONTEMPT. John Charles Fox. L. Q. Rev. XXXVIII 185. MISTAKEN IDENTITY IN CONTRACT. E. C. S. Wade. L. Q. Rev. XXXVIII 201. PUBLIC POLICY IN ENGLISH LAW. W. S. M. Knight. L. Q. Rev. XXXVIII ILLINOIS LAW REVIEW Volume XVII JANUARY, 1923 Number 5 BRIGANDAGE BY JUDICIAL PROCESS; AN INCIDENT IN ALASKAN JUDICIAL HISTORY BY ROBERT W. CAMPBELL "So live each day that you can look every damn man in the eye and tell him to go to hell." This motto is found irregularly etched upon a rough board on the office wall of "Fighting" Billy Metson, who, at the time of my story, was one of my associates in the practice of the law in San Francisco and played a prominent part in the straightening out of the legal tangle which is the subject of my tale. It is typical of the character of the man, as well as of the courageous and uphill fight he made to frustrate the scheme of one Alexander McKenzie and others, to acquire control and possession of certain mining claims in the Nome mining district, Alaska, in the summer of 1900. Rex Beach in "The Spoilers" has used as a background for his story some of the circumstances involved in my narrative, but only in a broad and general way. In a series of articles, appearing in Appleton's Booklovers' Magazine, entitled "The Looting of Alaska," he has given a more accurate account of these stirring times. Judge William W. Morrow, of the Circuit Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, has also written an article upon the subject, entitled "The Spoilers," which he read before the Law Association of the School of Jurisprudence at the University of California, and which was published in the California Law Review. For the information obtained from these articles I make grateful acknowledgment to their authors. My story, however, is based more largely upon the records, and opinions of the courts in proceedings before them, statements made to me by some of the parties in interest and my 1. January, February, March, April, and May, 1906. 2. January, 1916. |