New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-08-24
FROM BENCH AND BAR. .
GATHERED IN THE COURTS AND AMONG
THE LAWYERS.

made to do the work of over l5O subdivision of the
first section Of the act may be quoted. 1t reads:
covenant that the crantor will execute pro
cure any further necessary OF the title TO
said prel ses' shall be construed meaning that the
person or persons whomsoever lawfully or cqultaDH
deriving any estate. right title interest Of in or TO
for him or them shall and will at any time or times
thereafter upon the reasonable request, and at the
proper costs and charges in the law of the grantee his
heirs and assigns make. do and execute
cause to be made, done and executed az and every
veyanccs and i'm the law for the better ana
more eiectually vestlng and confirming the premises
thereby granted intended TO be. In and To the
grantee. his heirs. and assigns forever rs
by the grantee HIS heirs successors assigns, or ms
or their counsel learned In the law shall be reasonably
advised required
Short forms of deeds and mortgages annexed to
the act and authorized by IT, but any convcyancer
may of course use as long and complex form he
desires. simple provision Of the law will. however,
be apt TO put end to the Of the old forms in
NcwYork and Kings counties The register or county
clerk in either Of those counties charge for any
instrument containing the long form instead OF the
short form Of any Of the covenants a fec OF 80 IN
addition to the regular fee for recording The act
takes effect on September l.
Why cannot the session laws be published at an
earlier date than they are The Legislature adjourns
I'm May or June and the action Of the Governor on
the bills remaining in his hands IS known within
thirty DAYS from the date Of the adjournment. Yet
weeks and months 60 By before the laws can be OBJ
tanned in convenient printed form. They printed
from time To time I'm the columns Of 'omc newspapers
but the volume containing them is delayed until well
on toward the session. which will again change
the statute law. An inquiry at one OF the large
libraries last week for copy of a particular statute
led TO the overhauing Of newspaper files until the
desired law was found. Many enactments are dis
obeycd because they are unknown TO the persons
affected until the delayed publication appeared. The
clerk NJ Of the courts in this city did not know
until few days ago Of the existence OF a law which
went Into effect last May and which concerned the
duties OF his office The change was not important
enough TO call for extended newspaper notice and the
session laws were unobtanabe.
II Il + a difficult matter to keep track Of the stat
ute law Tow much greater The difficulty Of finding out
the course OF judicial decisions. The recent pubca-
ton Of volumes Of dgests calls attention to the
unsatisfactory condition of this important branch Of
legal literature. The practice OF publishing annual
dgcsts has It's advantages. for a lawyer can thus
obtain quickly an index to the decisions Of the pre-
ceding year. As the annual volumes increase in
number digest Of the digcsts becomes more and
more imperative. Even in this state the general
decsts published 50 infrcquently that several Of
the annual volumes must be consulted rs supplements
TO the larger volumes. The text books save some
time TO the busy lawyer who wishes to obtain in
formation on a given point Of law but II there Is no
text book OF recent date written by careful compiler
Of decisions the perplexcd attorney has 10 make his
way through the numerous volumes Of dgcsts TO
obtain the latest opinions of the courts. If lawyers
do obtain large fees they often earn them By the
hardest kind Of work.
II would be well II by some concerted action tho
secretaries Of OF the various states coud cX
orci,c some supervision over the Commissioners Of
Deed, Of their respective states scattered over the
Union In rcspe 81 the charges made for their Official
services. some Of the commissioner, for other states
residing in this City make moderate charges. 1t /, %
mild way Of stating the fact - say that others do
not. Take FOR instance the of man and
hi, wife I'm This town who have secured commissioner
appointments for all the states. At their down town
offices the husband takes the acknowledgements but At
their uptown residence the wife, especially In the
daytime attends to the business. Complaints have
come 10 lawyers about the size Of thcg charges.
one attorney who wrote 81 the man calling his a'ten-
ton 10 the complaint Of a client that he had charged
s3O for taking the acknowledgements OF five persons
10 four Florida deeds. for which another commissioner
had charged go received rcl,y stating that the
commits Oncr also attorney and expressing
surprise that tho lawyer should attempt 10 cry down
the charges Of another, but refusing TO return
part Of the go.
subsequently another client Of tho same firm Of
lawyers had similar experience with the woman
lie asked her Ia 10 a residence short distance
away and take the acknowledgements Of five persons
10 Texas and Of two Of the Same persons to an
Iowa decd. The whole time spent by the commis
soncr was about half hour and for this she charged
$2l and refused D. l" the owner Of the deeds have
them unless he paid that sum. lie + man of wealth
and the payment of that amount would not have been
Of moment to him. But he determined. a. a matter OF
public interest and protection legally to test the que'
ton whether those who Obliged to use the ser
,r, Of these public oicia could be compelled To pay
such fees. lie wrote Ia the sccrctarc' OF state ~
Iowa and Texas and received replies that lndicated
the legal fees 10 be not more than ~ 80. This he
rendered 10 the commissioner ana demanded the return
of the deeds she refused this and also the tender of
q which he subsequently made through his attorneys
A. the rA.onallc value OF the service for taking the
gmcnt, outside Office Then he paid the
sol under protest and brought ,ut IN the Eleventh
District Court to recover the difference which, 1t is
alleged. She had Illegally charged But The commits
-loncr, did not think IL best b submit 10 the Judca'
test Of the question. and before the return day OF INC
summon, paid up the sum sued for with costs Ihe'o
facts and other data respecting the charges Of these
COMM .ioncr, will now be presented to the Iowa ana
exa, and other sccrctarc, Of state for such action a
bcv may think propcr II all persons under the same
circumstances would follow The SANE course trtc
would soon De cud OF complaint about excessive
commissioners fees
The recent experience II n Ncwlork lawyer OF good
rcnutc suggest, the need Of some reform In procedure
lie is the trustee Of roOyn property ana some
pcr,on, who wished to attack his MANAGEMENT without
ding 20 directly made affidavit 10 statements against
him and pr,cured An order 10 show cause directed To
recrlver of the same c-,aie. such orders. when are
obtained without notice the opposing party are nos
unally made public until the motion /, heard Ia court
Inf I'm this case the attorneys used care to nave the
injurious statements widely published. me accused
trustee, not being party to the fro'eeuh7, 'o"'' ~
torfcre and ihc persons who had obtained the oiuer
itbdr, II before the day when the motion was To be
ar nd The at. rncy o corning whom the statements
were made appeared in court on the return day oil inc
order but the Judge although expressing his sympathy
with him. could DO nothing the proceeding had Deh
ended There should De some method by WHICH, WIN
ont recourse 10 the don5tul remedy Oh sun ior u"
arcs the person Injured by such methods 81 uSins
tic forms OF law could obtain speedy rtuit,9 loI Vc
niure, inflicted. If heavy costs WctS In'oucu , no
In consent Of the party really as,iied TINS lhdrect
method of attack would speedily be stopped