APPEALS DISMISSED. October 28. No. 5495-Parnell et al. v. Yoakum et al.-On motion of Arick; the order now being vacated that heretofore continued it for the term. October 30. No. 6280- Standard Gold Mining Co. v. Nixon et al.-On motion of Hazard and Heydenfeldt for appellants, the absolute dismissal before entered, amended to a dismissal without prejudice to another appeal. October 31. No. 6189--Perry, Woodworth & Co. v. Hellman-On motion of Brunson for appellants, without prejudice to another appeal. CASES CONTINUED. October 30. People v. Sprague-On motion of defendant, and ordered on calendar for November term at Sacramento. of the cause-to-wit, November 20, 1877— and the remittitur issue forthwith. REMITTITURS ORDERED FORTHWITH. October 28. Nos. 6073 and 6181-Livermore et al. v. Jewett et al.; No. 6138– Livermore et al. v. Webb et al.; No. 6151Livermore et al. v. Green et al.;-all on motion of Godfrey. UNITED STATES BANKRUPT CASES.-WASHINGTON, October 28th. In the case of William Glenoy vs. Solomon Langdon et al., before the United States Supreme Court, on appeal from the Circuit lowing decision was rendered: In this case it is Court of the Southern District of Obio, the folheld that the District Courts of the United States are cousututed Curts of Bankruptcy, and as such they have original jurisdiction in all matters and proceedings in bankruptcy, with power to bear and adjudicate the same according to the provisions of the Bankrupt Act. The jurisdiction of these Courts in that regard exteuds as well to the collection of all assets of a bankrupt as well as to cases and Controversies between the bankrupt and any of DISTRICT COURTS AND November 1. No. 6265-Estate of Barton his creditors, and to all acts, matters and things -For the term, by consent. REHEARING. October 28. No. 6221-McDonald v. McFarlan et al.-Petition for, and stay of proceedings granted, on motion of Chase and Leach for appellants. October 31. No. 6224-Figg v. Price et al. -Petition for, and stay of proceedings granted, on motion of Luce and Smith for appellants. October 31. No. 5997-Winnegar et al. v. Purrington et al.-Petition for, and stay of proceedings granted, on motion of McKune for appellants. REMITTITUR RECALLED, AND JUDGMENT ENTERED NUNC PRO TUNC. October 29. No. 4812-Stanway v. Rubio -"On suggestion of the death of respondent Stanway, prior to the filing of the decision of this Court herein, ordered that the remittitur heretofore issued be recalled." October 30. The remittitur having been returned, and it appearing that after the submission of the cause, and before a decision was rendered, the respondent had died— ordered, on motion of Bicknell for appellant, that the judgment rendered herein be entered nunc pro tunc as of the date of the submission to be done under and iu virtue of bankruptcy until a final distribution and settlement of the estate of the bankrupt, and the close of bankruptcy proceedings. meeting of the Bar Associa on was held MonPLAN FOR REMODELING THE JUDICIARY.-A day and Tuesday to consider the report of the committee, consisting of W. W. Cope, O. S. Evans, T. B. Bishop, R. C. Harrisou, W. W. Crane, E. S. Brooks and J. D. Latimer, appointed a few days since To propose a plan (0 be presented Committee of the Constituto the Judiciary tional Convention for consideration. The report is very voluminous. The more important points are the abolishing of the interior Courts and a reduction of the number of Judges. As the Constitution now stands there are, counting Police, County, Probate and District Judges, nearly one hundred in the State, and yet in some Courts there is much delay at times, because having sole jurisdiction over certain matters they can have no assistance from other Judges. It is proposed to give equal powers to all the Judges, hus abolishing inferior and leaving only superior Courts. One Judge for each county will then be able to transact the whole business in forty-eight Counties out of fifty-two; three Judges each for Mateo -and ten for San Francisco. There will three counties-Sacramento, Alameda and San then be only one Court for the county of San Francisco, with ten Judges of equal powers, wno, for the sake of convenience, will apportion the work among themselves, as, for instance, giving to ore control of prcbare matters, another of criminal, and so on; and then, if any of the special departments get overcrowded, others can assist. It is also recommended that there be one Supreme Court, to be presided over by one hier and six assistant Justices, the latter to be divided into two departments of three each, the Chief Justice to preside in either department, as he may please. The report was adopted by the Association, and John W. Dwinelle was appointed to present it to the Constitutional Convention for incorporation in the new Constitution. Mr. Dwinelle left for Sacramento on Tuesday afternoon.— Bulletin, October 29th. Poetical Reporting. The following appears as a foot note to the case of State v. Lewis, reported in 19 Kansas. The facts as stated in the case were, that the defendant Lewis, imprisoned in the common jail on a charge of burglary, while awaiting his trial, broke jail and escaped. He was afterwards arrested on a warrant for breaking jail, waived examination, and was again committed. After his second incarceration, he was tried on the charge of burglary and acquitted; and on being arraigned for trial upon the second charge, he plead that he had been acquitted of the charge of burglary, and hence had been unlawfully confined, and was not guilty of the latter charge. To this plea a demurrer was interposed by the State, and sustained by the Supreme Court on appeal, whereupon the defendant was sentenced to two years in the penitentiary on the last charge. The following "report," by E. F. Ware, of the Fort Scott bar, was written at the time of the hearing in Supreme Court: IN THE SUPREME COURT, STATE OF KANSAS. GEORGE LEWIS, Appellant, ads. THE STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee. (Appeal from Atchison County.) SYLLABUS. LAW-PAW; GUILF-WILT. When upon thy frame the law places its majestic paw, though in innocence or guilt, thou art then required to wilt. STATEMENT OF CASE. This defendant, while at large, Was arrested on a charge Of burglarious intent, And direct to jail he went. But he somehow felt misused, Mark you, now: Again the law On defendant placed its paw, And resocked him into jail- Then the Court met, and they tried Now you think that this strange case Nay, not so. Again the law This time takes him round the cape He, unable to give bail, Goes reluctantly to jail. Lewis, tried for this last act, When this special plea was heard, But as liberty was dear, All the statements that remain. ARGUMENT AND BRIEF OF APPELLANT. As a matter, sir, of fact, Point it out, sir, if you can. Can you seize us when at large On a baseless, trumped up charge: It is crime to get away- What was wrongfully obtained? Please the Court, sir, what is crime? What is right, and what is wrong? Is our freedom but a song, Or the subject of a rhyme? ARGUMENT AND BRIEF OF ATTORNEY FOR THE STATE. When The State-that is to say, We take liberty away, When the padlock and the hasp Even dreams of liberty- Grow and ripen into crime- Report of Commissioner Williamson--Operations in California. WASHINGTON, October 29th.-J. A. Williamson, Commissioner of the General Land Office, has completed his annual report to the Secretary of the Interior. It shows that during the fiscal year ending June 30th 8,686,178 acres of land were disposed of, and 8,041,011 acres were surveyed, in addition to 721,618,748 acres previously surveyed. The total number of acres of public domain still unsurveyed is something over one thousand million acres. The disposals were mainly as fo.lows: Home-tead entries, 4.418,344 acres; timber culture entries, 1,870,434; desert land entries, 3,105,553; cash entries, 877,555; giants to railroads, 606,340; swamp lands patented, 202,926; other gran's to States, 214,992. These figures show a great increase in quantity of land taken up by the class of actual settlers as homesteads and for the purpose of timber culture. Cash receipts amounted to $2,022,536, being $569,567 more than the receipts for the preceding year. Commissioner Williamson recommends in regard to lapsed railroad grante, that Congress should either declare the grants forfeited and restore the lands to disposal as part of the public domain, or extend the time for the completion of the road. Among other recommendations contained in the report are the following: For legislation to transfer any title the United States may possess in islands and beds of "meandered lands, sloughs and ponds, to the States in which they respectively lie; to allow affidavits in pre-emption cases to be taken before Judges and Clerks of Courts of record anywhere in local districts, instead of compelliug attendance before Registers and Receivers; to repeal the town site law, except as regards applications made under the law previous to its recent amendments; to enable toe Department to extend prompt relief to parties entering public land where a title cannot be confirmed, and also in cases where errone ous and illegal exactions have been made, by refunding them the money paid in erro. The reports exhibits in detail the work done in connection with the suppression of timber depredatory on public lands, and presents a variety of information with regard to abandoned military and Indian reservations, the adjustment of private land claims and miscellaneous matters. In conclusion the Commissioner refers to and earnestly reiterates former representations made by him regarding the need of an increase of the number of clerks and of the amounts of appropriations for the dispatch of the constantly-accumulating business of the land bureau. Southern Pacific Railroad Land Grants. WASHINGTON, October 29th.-The Commissioner of the General Land Office has rendered his decision to the case of the Sauthern Pacific Railroad Company of California, involving an important question as to the proper interpretation of th Act of July 31, 1876, wbich requires all companies, before receiving patents, to pay costs of survey, selection and onveyancing. Commissioner Williamson holds that this requirement was a new burden or condition, imposed upon the original grant, and that therefore it is applicable only to lands earned after the date or the new enactment, and not to any lands earned prior to that date. He also holds incidentally that this provision does not apply to any road in regard to which Congress did not reserve the right to amend the original grant; and also that it is not applicable to lands granted to a State to use in its discretion for the encouragement of the construction of railroads. A Square-Toed Witness. A lawyer sometimes picks up a witness that he is quite willing to drop as soon as possible, as witness the following: A Mr. Lawrence was on the stand in Mil waukee, Wis., during the trial of Russell Wheeler for murder, and had stated that he knew the prisoner well, and knew him to be a peaceable, law-abiding citizen. When cross-examined by the District Attorney, the following colloquy occurred: District Attorney-You have testified, Mr Lawrence, that you consider the defendant a law-abiding citizen? Mr. Lawrence-I have, and I do so consider him. District Attorney-You know that he has been a gambler? Mr. Lawrence--I know he has. District Attorney-Do you consider it exactly proper to call a professional gambler a law-abiding citizen? Mr. Lawrence-So long as the District Attorney allows gambling to be carried on in the city, without restraint of or punishment by law, I consider it perfectly proper to describe a professional gambler as a law-abiding citizen. When the laugh had subsided, the District Attorney blushed “loudly" and said to the witness, "That is all." Vol. II.—No. 6.] SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1878. Legal Notes. IMPORTANT TO AUCTIONEERS.-The Federal Supreme Court announces an important opinion to auctioneers. No State has a right to tax auctioneers who sell goods in the original packages in which they are imported, as the clause of the Constitution regulating commerce between the States forbids such a levy. CASES DECIDED.—In our last issue (No. 57), in the "Supreme Court Record" department, we gave a list of all the cases decided thus far during the October term at Los Angeles, and which we have continued this week, and shall hereafter continue each week, so that it can be seen at a glance what cases are finally disposed of, where we have not yet reached them in reporting; and we trust it may prove a valuable aid to our subscribers. SAN FRANCISCO PUEBLO TITLES.-On the 11th inst. the Chief Justice delivered the opinion of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Palmer v. Low et al., in error to the California Circuit Court, sustaining the grant of title made by the Spanish authorities in possession of Low et al., holding that the grant is sufficient in form, properly evidenced, and that it is good, notwithstanding that it was issued to an infant, as it does not appear that the laws of Mexico forbade grants being made to infants. It also held that, as against these Spanish titles, the Statute of Limitations will not run to sustain the adverse title claimed by long possession. [Whole No. 58. lishes the validity of the grant to Donner. S. O. Houghton, of San Jose, now owns the property. UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT.-Parties burning cotton by Confederate order are not responsible to the owner.-On November 4th the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Washington Ford, plaintiff in error, v. James Surget, error to the Supreme Court of Mississippi, the question being whether the owner of cotton burned by James Surget, under cover of Southern military authorities, can recover from said defendant the value of cotton so destroyed. The Court holds that the destruction of cotton under the orders of the insurrectionary military authorities, in order to prevent its falling into Federal possession, was an act of war, for which the person executing such military orders was relieved from civil responsibility. LIABILITY OF BONDSMEN IN THE CASE OF A DEAD DEFAULTER.-The District Attorney has commenced an action against the bonds$5,000. The supposition has been, from the men of J. Lansing, to recover the sum of long time which has elapsed since the liability death of Lansing sufficient excuse for his commenced, that the officers considered the non-appearance. The bond was made for his appearance to answer the indictment against him, and he did appear; but the Court fixed a future day for trial, during which time that there was a question if they were reLansing fled. The bondsmen, on learning leased by his appearance, offered a reward of $4,000 for his capture; and the matter was THE LAW'S WEARISOME WAYS.-The suit placed in the hands of the San Francisco of Palmer v. Low et al., the last of a series of detectives. About five hundred dollars was cases involving the title to land in San Fran- expended in the search, which was paid by cisco, granted by Alcalde Hyde to George the bondsmen; and Lansing was traced to Donner in 1847, has been decided by the China. While steps were being taken for his United States Supreme Court after twenty- return, Lansing died at the foreign hospital three years of litigation. The decision estab- at Hongkong. The understanding of the bondsmen, through the attorney who had the matter in hand, was, that their liability ceased upon the appearance of Lansing to answer to the indictment; and Lansing evidently so understood when, at the instance of some of his San Francisco friends, he left the State. The bondsmen did everything possible to protece the people in the matter; and nothing but the death of Lansing prevented their accomplishing the purpose. RELATION OF MORALITY AND LAW. This is the subject of a lecture delivered before the students of the University of California on November 6th, by John Proffatt, Esq., of this city. Our space will not permit the full report, which it so well deserves, but we notice a few prominent points. An impression prevails that the relations of morality and law are questionable, and that the administration of law has not always enforced what are called moral obligations. This may be chargeable to popular sentiments and the imperfections of human tribunals, not always in harmony with the best thoughts of the people. There may be corruption among officials, and sometimes slight regard paid by lawyers to moral standards; but this inquiry is how far the supreme laws of a State or community are in accord with its moral sentiments, and how far moral principles can be practically adopted as the test of law. In this light the laws of a State have a supreme significance to the student of history-are the exponent of the social and moral condition of a people. Thus, Demosthenes tells us that the laws of a country were considered as the morals of the State. The people are responsible for the rule of law, however it may have arisen, or in whatever form it may exist. tions by legislation? In primitive society morality and law are identical. Primeval Rome held the most exalted ideas of justice, and laid down principles of morality as pure as were ever found in any system of law. The English common law has never attained as much. Their divergence is shown in contracts as to fraud in sales. Roman law deemed the suppressio veri quite as fraudulent as the suggestio falsi. The English caveat emptor takes their place; but still the seller must reveal internal or hidden defects. principal aim of law is more to make good citizens than good men. The But our Many rights and obligations are binding in good conscience and strict morality which cannot be made subject to law. Futile to attempt to so carry them out. courts discountenance many transactions against which there is no law. Through our jury system the people are directly engaged in the administration of the law. It can enforce or practically nullify the law by the exercise of its average moral instincts. Especially note the cases of libel or slander. The reflected mirage cannot be loftier or nobler than its original; hence our hope for a purified legislation lies in a regenerated and elevated people; and public virtue will ultimately determine the merit of public law. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. THE JURY SYSTEM. The Convention has this week investigated and discussed the jury system most thoroughly, resulting in a recommendation for the adoption of the two clauses (secs. 7 and 8), as before recommended by the Judiciary Committee, and published by us last week, but inserting in section 8, after "shall be prosecuted by indictment or by information," the words "after commitment or examination by a magistrate.” As we now understand it, no material change in the system would directly result from the adoption, as recommended; but the Legislature would be empowered to considerably alter it as it now exists. We look for a speedy condensation and completion Is it practicable to adopt moral standards now of the labors of the Judiciary Committee as the test of laws, and enforce moral obliga-ready for the action of the Convention. The English and American laws forbid certain contracts as being contra bonos mores, but which other systems sanction. Thus, French law sanctions a contract for the payment of money for negotiating for another an advantageous marriage, which our law forbids. The difference lies in the moral standards of the two countries. |