The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1890-07-24
TIE LAST TESElHEEF
a ollIaW Sap Thar s 10 Csztit1tislil
p = iw hiking . VII.

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/ Lawyer Waldorf II. Phillips told ne
soms Interesting legal facts and fancies
about Wills In . talk which ! had with
him D isI days ago, says . New York
Star writer.
: "Do you know, !" he said, "that there d
10 constitutional right to make last will
,snd testament? Tbs power to do 50 &
derived from sfatutes which, II the lesIs-i
.latuis q any time saw Ct, Il could utterly
.repodl and thereby DO away with the
power to make will. There was, under
the common law, power TO make will
regarding personal property, but no
power to make will Of real estate or any
interest in real estate. That power was
ffss granted BY . statnte passed In the
time .. Henry YIN. The law governing
wills b based Ipon the Roman Or eeclesi.
astlcal Law, and was entirely in the hands
Of the hishops and church authorities;
Gnd, In fact, the word surrogate means
substitute, and The surruRafss IN olde6
tines were Substitutes for the bishops.
Prior to the statate Of wills, passed in the
time Of Henry VIII. persons disposed Of
their properly In their lifetime through
the legal eSite known rs u use, or trust,
and the bulk Of real estate vas practically
controlled by thechurch. This could not
30 done now, because tie Legislature Of
New York, for example, has abolished all
the forms Of trust and uses, except the
four specified In the Statutes, and this
hss practically wiped out the whole Sys-
ten Of uses ind trusts which Was EN-.
ployed prior 10 the first statute giving the
power to make . will. So, even in max
ing q viii to-day, all the iormalities re-
;puired by the stStute must be complied
With, or the will will be void, notwith-
standing Il expressed the exact wishes Of
the testator.
: Bearing the historical basis for max
ing q viii and these facts In mind, the
question becomes very interesting, when
viewed In connection with the Henry
George land theories and the doctrines Of
stule socialism, more especially in view
d the collateral inheritance tax law,
passed In 1885 and amended from, 1887 to
1850, under which q large tar las Just
been paid In the Stewart and Vanderbilt
will CASES. II can be readily seen that
here isA perfectly legal and constitutional
loophole through which, without any
revolution or bloodshsd, state socialism
can beeonls an established fact, and the
original theory Of the law that the king
vas the father Of bis subiects-the state
taking the place Of king heFe-ultimately
becomes, not only q theory, but an actual
fact, 90 that the dream expressed In the
Words, The fnthsrhoOd Of God and The
brotherhood Of man, may not Be dream
entirely.
''Ths laws Of primogeni.ure and entail.
mentS, which give rise to 90 many evils,
and which II was the intention Of the
ffameEs Of the constitution to escape, In
this country have been more or less cir
: eumv0ntod By the will-making power, so
that enormous fortunes have accumulated
and remained In kiugls families. precisely
a. they would have done under the pri'
mogenituFp. ard entailment laws. Nov,
u tbS Sllts can impose, A. II does, 4 taz
Of per cent. under the Inheritance taS
law, &c can % On and increase this taz
from time % time until the IaFeest part o.
aman's estate at bis death maybe taxed
into tie state. treasury; and while thu
present law expressly exempts. bequesti
Or devisss 10 fatbeFs mother, brother
sister OF child from the tAx, the lesialatuTG
could apply e to every legacy or devise.
"Agnin," he continued, ''l the lesisla'
tuO repealed the statute Of wills, nc
owner Of real estate could keep It Intact
IN his family. q has been done and d
being done IN cases now, BECAUSE b
could not dispose Of Il BY viii, becausS
the whole means Of uses andtrusis havS
been abolished, and because he toult
have 70 deed Il in bis lifetime, which en-
perienco shows men do not do. TheE
again, even Il . means should b degissC
10 accompllsh the object. under On
power which, Il has been declared, tn
legislature now has 10 tax leRacles dnC
dsvissS, the state could practically boeop,
the successor TO the property Of It's eli
sens upon their death. / do not wish 4
Be construed % fav0ring any Of Ties
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