New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-09
ROMAN LAW IN AMERICA.
STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF SPANISH COL
ONIZATION IN THE SOUTHWEST.

and Sociology ir the Kansas state University. Pp
XVI 353. The Johns Hopkins Press
This handsome book is numbered as Extra vol
ume In the Johns Hopkins University Studies
In Historical and Political Science Its specific vame
In comparison with other works upon the growth
and decay Of the Spanish power in North America
lies In the effort 10 connect historically the insut
lions set up by this power m the New "oriu "i'h
those which Rome had enforced on the people OF inc
lberian Peninsula in the times of antique conquest
And colonization "Turning from the Teutonic instu
tions which have been studied with great care Dy
scholars, and from the Germanic politicai alhosPh
with which our Institutions are surrounded ne
impressed with the striking contrast when spa,a
American institutions present The key 10 that oei
ence is found In the Roman influence on inc oeNe'or
mem. OF Spanish Institutions" SO the book Is 10.
history though the copiousness ana 9s'eni "i
which the authors views have bee9 eAci'p""eU -
detail make 1t worthy OF the name iho e ,s
reader who mastered these pages might larry oo'sue
himself wellinformed on the history Oh INC 'p""''"
conquest. .,.r Nit in
A., u,,dnco ~ Baetica some bronze tablets dauhg
from the time of the Emperor Vespasiih' Oh VIM.
were inscribed Tire organic laws vi INC WV 80" -
Malaga and Salpensa. The discovery was
martial one but it served to rehoer uehi''N CIV w
r,ra,e knowledge which had been perhaps only Nay
"a a. ono NAV say traditional, before. The incident
GO. eomnarabie TO that of the recovery OF the ehure
hodv Of Roman law after 1t had been losV lor
ceneraons-cemparable that Is. In Kind though no' m
90. NJ the latter event, Alciat said IN MS
Grafton at Ferrara that after Justinian hao ieuoV
,be laws from the ancient confusion TO SYSTEM
and after this orderly code had been III use io soo
,ne the Latin provinces sorely stricken by te
fury of the barbarans that good ie1oeis "e,is"
persisted and that part OF the law winch reia'u "
dover and inheritance fell into disuse, so tiat even
the books were longer to be found linen came '.0
Huns Vandals and finally the Saracens, ike iocuS's
q new constitution, but many judges ana auvocars
neshed at the hands OF the Goths, who invaded la'
pnder Alaric that IL was hard to find any lett WIZ
understood equity and the laws. In the long wars
that followed not only the professors OF tne d" ou'
the tools of the professors namely, the boohs usup
peared Meanwhile lie added In his hrst orauon d.
Bologna the formulas OF Roman law SO iar rs tie9
we're known were respected not only in the Roman
nrovinces but also among hostile races, ana even
Those who overthrow the Roman power were still giau
nj last to submit to Roman laws, and In MS gay ue
Goths the Alan the Vandals. who settled IN SPAIN
the Gru the Burgurdans and the FranKs' VINO aeVico
I'm Gaul continued to observe the law Oh Tic dhceh'
empire.
directly in line with the cautious statements OF
Professor Backmar The latter will not assert that
the Roman municipality was never entirely oDheraoeu
In SPAIN or that retained its identity throughout e
period of invaslons by the Goth and the MOOR anu VI
feudal turmoil. But he thinks that considering inc
general effects of the northern invasions upon the
Roman law and the Roman government, especially IN
reference TO the municipality, this Is very plausible
and in speakng thus he is certainly we'll within the
bounds OF truth He points TO the evidence that Sp
was from an extremely early time Thoroughly Roman
lied and covered with Roman municipalities aho
colonies The discovery of the tablets mentioned
established the fact that these political orsahiIa
tions were not merely Roman in general
hut
ege from whatever source, concerning the policy OF
the empire respecting Its provinces may safely De ap
pIed 10 the calculation of the Spanish problem Inc
recurrence of the old forms under new Names IL IL
does not prove identity argues al least historic con
tlnuity What was particularly observable both III
Roman and Spanish times was the failure TO dis
tinruIsh in the person of officials between the judicial
legislative and administrative powers OF the govern
ment.
The similarity between the government of provinces
by the Romans and that Of The Spanish colonial ter
rtories, where the executive acted with practically
absolute authority the agent Of the parent power, Is
exemplihed over and again In Professor BlicA-
mars work. Yet manifestly these agreements were
not even in the remotest sense due to any conscious
effort TO reproduce what was ancient III was only
what had retained vitality out OF Roman TRADITION
that was represented by Spain whether in the Old
World or the New The constant tendency to alb
solutism In spite Of love for individual IL edom which
characterized Spain from first to last seems TO be
matter closely related in its origin to that elaborate
colonization system which proved so inefhcacous In
the long run. This, however, may have been due
largely to the Roman Church which was in contact
with the spaniard at every point and which accom-
panied him In the person OF its frars and priests
wherever lie went In the New World. Even Roman
Imperialism would have sunk from the minute over
sight which had become easy 10 its ecclesiastical sue
cessor.
With this tendency to the renewal of what
righf fuIlv flpre 1SSOCaed a
was new and what foreign. The spanish
colonies the direct outcome OF the life OF Ola
SPAIN characterized by the suppression of permanent
advancement and they were tainted with the evils OF
tho mother country" Besides the system was too
artificial. What it lacked in artifciay at the outset
was made up by new laws and new 81 stems OF
laws Every possibility OF self government or OF spon-
tanety of action eliminated such system in
which the element Of individual human force and
activity counted for little bound to 20 down be-
fore tho advance of free race, just as the Roman
Empire itself had fallen. 1t is from the point of view
OF these facts that Professor Blackmar examines in
detail the Roman provincial system Spanish conquest
and colonization in Mexico, Texas. Arizona NcwMcx-
leo and California; the mission systst, the colonial
municipalities the pIesdios and presd!a towns the
social condition of the Indians and the colonists the
political and judicial system the gradual destruction
OF trade and commerce, the methods OF conveying
ownership in land, and the diplomatic controversies
that attended the decay Of Spanish power in the New
World In reckoning up the of failure, he
points to The infexbllty of institutions, the lack among
the coonsts except the part Of few leaders of
vigor enterprise and the power of developing nstiu
tons suited conditions of life, the repression Of
commerce and the national eagerness 10 and
occupy territory too vast for people whose power
was declining Substantially these the conclusions
of the most impartial writers who have Investigated
the subject.
The volume is enriched with numerous iIlustra
tions which, taken together, give good representation
OF the architecture, topography ana features of
the social life alluded 10 in The text. There is also
map of the Spanish possessions in 1888 which subse |
quently became part of the United states. and also