The Legal World on the skill of those who drafted the Sherley bill enacted at the last session of Congress. The objects of the bill are three: first, to make the law more just to debtor and to creditor;
second, to reconcile certain con
flicting decisions of the federal courts of diflerent districts; and, third, to correct certain faults in the administrative features of the present act.
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careless act of a fellow-servant done in obedi ence to such agent, or by lack of necessary and sufficient rules for safety. Nor can the injured employee be deemed to have met with hisinjury in consequence of the inevitable risks of his work, if the employer can be shown to have neglected any of the safeguards prescribed by law. Under chairmanship of Col.counsel? Hen L. Stone of the Louisville, as eneral for
The new Mann-Elkins railroad law enacted by Congress has now become effective. The law establishes a Court of Commerce, and laces new duties on the shoulders of the nterstate Commerce Commission, including
that of suspending for four months, or even ten, questionableQrate increases proposed by the railroad companies, on which rs placed the burden of proof of the reasonableness of such increases. Hereafter as common carriers under the law, the tele
ph and
telephone companies will have to e reports with the Commission concerning their business as the railroads now do. Preliminary ste s are being taken by the Department of ustice to put into effect the law enacted at the last session of Con ss for paroling federal prisoners, thus establis ing a practice ado ted by thirty of the states. The first step as been the establishment of rules for the procedure of the board of parole at each penitentiary. These boards are to be subject to the approval of the Attorney General. Each board of parole is to be com sed of the superintendent of risons of the _ partment of Justice, the nited States district judge for and a citizen living in the district in which the penitentiary is located. Federal prisoners eligible for parole must be serving a term lon er than a year, must have served one-third o the period of sentence, must not have been convicted of murder, nor have served a previous sentence in any penitentiary. Federal risoners in state prisons may ap ly to any ard of any federal prison. The rd is given authority to revoke a parole agreement at any time in its discretion, or to modify it in any way.
the Louisville & Nashvi e, a conference of
railway attorneys representing the at railway systems of the country was he d at Portsmouth, N. H., during the first week of August, to discuss the meaning of the pro
visions of the Mann-Elkins railroad bill amending the interstate commerce law. The outcome of the conference has been satisfac tory, as it has served the same purpose as that of the Atlantic City conference in 1906, namely, to bring about common acceptance of the meaning of the more or less ambiguous provisions, and to stimulate a spirit of co-operation with the Interstate Commerce Commission in administering the new law. The most important section discussed was the “long and short haul" clause, to the consid
eration of which two days were given. The conference seems to have reached the con clusion that this amendment is very far reaching, and may prove to be more radical than the public supposes. The new law goes much further than the old law, in prohibiting a greater charge for a shorter than for a longer distance without the consent of the Commission; for the old law merely forbade a greater rate for a shorter haul “under substantially similar conditions," the result
of which was to continue the old system in force. There was some discussion whether the Commission could constitutionally have conferred on it the discretion to determine whether high short-haul rates should be permitted, but the opinion was expressed that the public would be likely to test the uestion of the lawfulness of this supposed elegation of le 'slative power sooner than the railroads. any counsel were evidently of the opinion that the new act takes away all incentive for the railroads to reduce their rates, on account of the difficulty of increasing
Ohio has assed the most advanced em loyers' liability law of any state of the Union. t provides that the term "employers’ negligence" is to be so interpreted as to cover the negligence of his agents, that is, of any person working for him as overseer or director of a department or having charge of repairs, inspection or the transmission of signals. Negligence in the employer shall
them again, and that the public is likely to be the first to demand the modification of the new law on this score. Aside from the short— haul clause, technical questions regarding the filing of tarifis and general administrative matters received much attention. Confidence was freely ex ressed in the fairness and moderation o the Interstate Commerce Commission in construing the new law.
be assumed to exist, without further proof,
if the machinery or plant causing the injury shall be shown to have been in a defective condition which could have been discovered and prevented by the exercise of ordinary care. Fellow-servant’s negligence shall not be held responsible where the injury was in any way contributed to by unsafe machinery or plant, by a negligent agent of the employer, by a
Personal Sanford H. E. Freund, for several years a member of the law faculty of Boston Uni versity, has resigned, to become eastern counsel of the Chica 0, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, with his 0
cc in New York.
