hole unscared, and the Indian warrior wooed his dusky maid; but now, by the labors of these de fendants the Indian has moved away to the barren plains of Dakota, and the gopher scalp hangs upon the cabin walls of these defendants; and where the thistle nodded, the roses bloom." While the " squatter's " attorneys won the case, we are sorry that we can't say that it was won solely on the poetic defence set up.
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than the great influx of population. The company finding that by the exercise of his ability, energy, and zeal the population was to precede the water, was compelled to remove him, or subject a large number of people to the horrors of a severe and long protracted drought." — The Lawyers' Genera'. Digest.
Oriental justice sometimes finds a parallel in Russia, where judges and lawyers see no difficulty in making eccentric decisions and taking the meat In classic antiquity law-givers were honored not of the nut themselves, leaving the shell for plaintiff less than conquerors, and all the most celebrated and defendant. One day, at a village market, a laws of Rome bore the names of their authors. In shoemaker bought a calfskin of a farmer for two later times oblivion seems to await most of those and a half roubles, and having no money with him, who devote themselves to legal reform. We do went home to procure it. not know with any certainty who framed the The farmer, meanwhile, sold the skin to a sec statutes of Westminster in the time of Edward I., ond buyer for three roubles. Then the original the Statute of Fines, the Statute of Uses, the Statute buyer returned, and when he discovered the trick of Wills, or the Statute of Frauds. that had been played, was so indignant that a quarrel ensued, and the matter was brought before a justice. You bought the skin first? " said the latter to A " commissioner of colonization " appointed by a canal or ditch company in Colorado, recently the shoemaker, after listening to the evidence. brought a suit against other stockholders of the "Yes." company, charging conspiracy to wreck the com "For how much?" "Two and a half roubles." pany by discharging him from his position just as he had got started in his efforts •' to populate " the "Have you the money?" uninhabited valley to which the canal was to carry "Yes." "Put it on the table." the water. The court clearly comprehended the Then, turning to the second buyer, the justice situation, and said in its opinion : " The water and the people were both needed. The water without asked : " You bought the skin afterward and paid the people was useless, and could not, as required for it?" by the Constitution, have been regarded as applied "Yes." to a beneficial use. A certain amount of water or "How much did you pay?" fluid of some kind is supposed to be necessary to "Three roubles." support animal life. Ghosts and disembodied "You have the skin?" spirits are supposed capable of existence without "Yes." it, and yet in its absence they are not cheerful. "Put it under the table." 1 Dives ' was anxious to obtain the smallest quan The man obeyed, and the farmer was next tity for ' domestic purposes.' Given plenty of addressed. water, a dense, thrifty population accustomed to "You agreed to sell for two and a half roubles, and as the buyer did not return promptly with the its use for drinking, lavatory, and irrigating pur money, you sold to another for three roubles?" poses was indispensable. It is evident that plain tiff had correct views; both factors, united, were "Yes." needed. His removal just at the time he had "Have you the three roubles?" fully prepared himself to enter upon the proper "Yes." discharge of the duties of his office was an indig "Put them on the table." When this had been done, the judge delivered nity and an outrage, but may have been inspired by the purest dictates of humanity. The water- his decision. " The shoemaker is to blame for supply was needed at a date as early or earlier bargaining without money, and thereby endanger
