Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1865-08-10
fhaiana aenaFts,


A notice of tie issue Of the twertY-
third volume of these Reports has al
ready appeared in our columns We
have not received copy bat take plea
sure in furnishing our readers with the
views of the Indianapolis Journal, whose
editor is an excellent lawyer, as TO the
value of the work.
The tweuty-third volume of the In
diana Reports has just been issued, con.
tanning the decisions of the last Novem-
Der term. It is made up chiefly of the
opinions of the new Judges, and to the
profession will be one Of the most inter
esting volumes which have appeared.
It is issued under the auspices of the
new Reporters, General Ben. Harrison;
but in consequence Of his absence until
very recently in the military service, the
principal labor in the preparation Of the
volume has, we learn, been performed
by J. T. Dye, Esq, who has executed
the task with commendable care. 1t
contains over seven hundred pages, and
lin consequence of the opinions being
generally coucise) an unusually large
number Of cases. We have not space
to notice many of the questions decided,
but we are glad to see that the perplex-
ing question, Upon whom rests the bur-
den Of proof and Who has the opening
aud closing in civil cases7 is at last set
tied by an Ineligible aud certain test,
and to know, after considerable conflict
of decision, what sort of opinion formed
disquali6es a juror. Many important
questions relating to criminal Law are
also discussed and settled, and some
previous decisions have been overruled
upon grounds which, we are sure, viii
be satisfactory to the profession. The
volume is peculiarly rich in decisions
npon State constitutional law, and we
at last have a sound and satisfactory in
depreciation of the provision concern
the titles Of legislative acts.
We are pleased to observe that the old
rule has been shaken-that a contract
for forbearance cannot be set up as
defence to a suit brought before the
period of forbearance has elapsed, and
that more enlightened doctrine begins
to prevail in relation to actions upon
covenants of indemnity. Numerous in
teresting questions are decided relating
to the measure of damages in suits upon
yarious classes Of contracts; to the lia-
bilities of railroads for injuries to per-
sons and to live stock, and points held
which have not undergone adjudication,
so far as we are informed, in other
courts. We, notice two interesting de-
cisionE relating to married women-the
first that q deed duly delivered BY hus-
band and wife is not void as 10 the wife
merely from not having been ackRowl-
edged by her, and that a deed from
husband to wife, without the interven-
ton of trustee, may be valid One
marked improvement now first intro
duced in our reports, and but recently
into any, is q reference in the syllabus
to the page on which each point abstract
ed is discussed. This viii be q great
convenience to the profession, especial
" in the progress of trials. We can
warmly commend the volume to the pro-
fession. twill be seen by the Report
ers advertisement in another column,
that he offers to send the volume to any
express Office in the State, free of charge,
on receipt of the price. This will en-
able the Bar in distant parts of the State
to obtain the volume at once.