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The Green Bag
pointed out that the codes we already have do not seem to have hampered the adminis tration of justice at all. On the contrary. Sir Mackenzie Chalmers testifies in regard to the Bills of Exchange Act, 1882, that 'mer chants and bankers say it is a great con venience to them to have the whole of the general principles of the law of bills, notes and cheques contained in a single act of a hundred sections.' "Another eminent judge expressed the opinion that if the bill became law the admin istration of justice in the Chancery Division would be seriously interfered with, adding that 'it appears obvious that equity, which to a very large extent owes its origin to excep tions from common-law rules of universal application, is that branch of law which is least susceptible of codification; or, in other words, of being itself reduced to a series of rules of universal application.' Much the same point was taken by a distinguished Chancery counsel, who is himself the author of an excellent text-book on the law of trusts, and who wrote that the bill was entirely mis conceived in principle, and that 'to crystallise equity (the very nature of which is to modify legal rights in particular cases where they would cause injustice and necessarily implies large judicial discretion) seems to me a nega tion of its first principles.' "It is respectfully submitted that the Partnership Act, 1890, proves these criticisms unfounded. The law of partnership is very largely the creation of equity. The Act has been in operation nearly twenty years, and it does not seem to have interfered with the administration of justice in the Chancery Division. On the contrary, it appears to have proved itself a great convenience to all concerned. This objection to codification is, in fact, of the same character as that so fre quently urged by its opponents, and, indeed, put forward in slightly varying language by several other critics of the Trusts Bill— namely, that a code lacks the flexibility of uncodified law and stifles development. This has always been the main contention of those opposed to codification from Savigny to the present time, but it seems to be sufficiently answered by the test of experience. The growth of law does not appear to have been stifled in those countries which have codes, and Savigny's own country years ago framed and passed into law the completest and most scientific series of codes that have ever been promulgated. No country that has codified its law nas ever indicated the slightest desire to revert to the uncodified system." Contempt. "The Summary Process to Punish Contempt, II." By John Charles Fox. 25 Law Quarterly Review 354 (Oct.). "At the present day there can be no com plaint that this branch of the law is adminis tered in an arbitrary manner by the judges, but there are some blemishes in principle which it might be well to remove. Thus, the power to examine an offender by interroga tories might be entirely abolished; a right
of appeal might be given in all cases of con tempt in which the right does not already exist; a limited power to fine and imprison might be given in the case of contempts punished by summary process; contempts punishable by indictment or information might be clearly defined." Contract. "The Relation Between Con tracts of Service and of Bailment." By C. B. Labatt. 45 Canada Law Journal 537 (Sept.). "In England the distinction between the two classes of contracts . . . has become less important since the passage of a statute under which bailees of chattels, etc., may be found guilty of larceny if they fraudulently con vert such chattels to their own use. Enact ments of the same tenor are presumably in force in most, if not all, of the British posses sions and of the American states." See Accord and Satisfaction, Pleading, Property and Contract. Copyright. "De la Revision en 1908 de la Convention de Berne pour la Protection des (Euvres Litteraires et Artistiques." By Joseph Dubois. 36 Journal de Droit Inter national Prioi 954. "Nous sommes personellement tres convaincu qu'ainsi que l'a declare1 le journal It Droit d'Auteur, organe official de l'Union, 'la Convention nouvelle realise a peu pres le maximum des concessions que peuvent itre obtenues dans la phase actuelle de Involution du regime international en matiere de droit d'auteur.'" "An English-Speaking Copyright League." By W. Morris Colles. Fortnightly Review, v. 86, p. 659 (Oct.). "The revision of the Berne Convention must inevitably involve the whole question of the copyright relations between Great Britain and her Colonies and Dependencies. ... It is, again, perfectly well known that Germany and the United States have entered into an arrangement whereby the patents of each country are to rank as though they were manufactured in the other. There is not, it will be admitted, any prima facie reason why a similar ' discriminating arrangement should not be concluded between Great Britain and the United States." Corporations. "Legal Characteristics of Japanese Business Associations: A Compari son Between such Associations and American Partnerships and Business Corporations." By Yai Hang Yang. 58 University of Pennsyl vania Law Review (Oct.), 61 (Nov.). "The business associations known to the Japanese law are . . . six in number. The partnership of the Civil Law, the four asso ciations recognized by the Commercial Code, and the SoctiU en CommendiU organized under the first Commercial Code. Indeed, this sociiti en commendiU under the Code of 1893 is still the most popular form of business
