St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-07-11
AMONG THE REVIEWS.


The Forum-Prof. Colby, member
of the committee of the American Bar
Association on Uniform Laws. dis
cusses the variety of the laws On similar
topics in force i'll the several states,
their Inconvenience and the remedy.
The common law of England, which
f was the heritage retained by the col
Onies when they became states. has
been changed by statutes in many di-
rections, and, as each state was sOver-
eign, and there was no common motive
or purpose, the result is conflict of
+ laws which IN many important rela-
,tiOns. as that of marriage and its result
hing relations. causes confusion and in
Justice without excuse. This tendency
has been aggravated by the great in
tlastrial development Of the country,
Ethe enactment of laws to regulate
the transportation of persons and
property. which business has entirely
|. outgrewn the laws designed to regulate
the drivers of the carriers cart and
AOther causes. For some years the Bar
association has been discussing this
matter and devising remedies. If this
were the nation with the big N" to
So rapidly drifting since the war, but
which treinl is now happily being
checked. there would be 10 difficulty for
federal laws operating in all the states
would effect complete cure. But the
association has senSibly concluded that
this course is impracticabie and INV iSe,
that it would wipe ont of existence state
autonomy, and that the only manner is
| through state co-operation.s To this
end the members or the association III
all the states are faborihg, and
SO far with some success, enough
TO encourage further efforts. Tire
method adopted is to secure the APP:
p0intment i'll each state of a. COM
mission to examine the laws of the
various states oil marriage and dI-
y0rce, n0tarial certificates. descent and
distribution of property, execution OF
deeds and wills aud other subjects OF
general interest, and to consider ii 1t be
practicable and wise to hold a congress
OF such commissioners for the purpose
of comparing these various state laws
and to prepare uniform code. ms
course is the only wise one and the only
practicable one. Every state will COLI
cede the deSirability of uniformity in
the laws governing the relations of the
people in these affairs of greatest and.
cOmmOneSt Importance, and will with
out much difficulty yield assent to the
recommendations of such congress,
while all would resist tenaciOnsly and
effectively any plan which Involved
their compulsory acceptance OF the
laws under an extension OF the law-mak-
ing power OF the general government.
The president of the Reading COM
pany gladly awaits himself of the offer
of the editor OF the Forum to explain to
the public the case of his company in its
recent extensions by the movement
known as the "Reading leases" This
has only been that corporations, each
with elements of strength and useful
ness to the public not possessed by the
others, have come into closer relations,
the one taking what the others gave
and each giving what it could with all
vantage bestow" In doing this, he
SAYS, 1.-THE Reading has only done what
others have done, and adopted policy
|. made necessary by the growth of the
country and authorized and encouraged
by every state in the union" Its pur-
pose is to bring coal to the consumer
s..up0n Surer ami better terms" and to
/ assure to the thousands of investors
in the Reading securities their I'M
doubted right to some return
for the money invested" Whas
tIiIS ulCdtIS Will DC ptuiifSi VI Soh-
eprenensiOn when it is known that
lines included in this combination reach
all the supplies of anthracite in this
country; that corporations have been
formed acquiring the coal -lands;" that
''the corporations as cOal-mlne owners
are in-close relations with the Retding
and other companies" and that the
president. of this fortunate monopoly
. deciareszit to be its policy tonot ''Sguan-
der this treasure" the coal supply. hut
!, TO preserve it to those who come after
AIS. We have had many instances Of
PENNSYLVANIA philanthropliy. but none
quite as striking as this. This treasure
he proposes to safeguard for the des-
pendants of the owners by economy in
production and-by continuing the sup
ply at moderate prices" This latter
means that prices will be put and main
tanned at point that will dis
courage the growth OF the use of
the coal and thus extend the period
of continuation of the supply. The re-
cent announcement of advances i'll the
price of anthracite and that other adj
vances will follow until the price will
be in our market dollar ton more
than last year, exemplifies in manner
which no consumer of coal can fail TO
comprehend the significance OF the pol
icy which inspired the Reading
leases"
Mr.. Edgar gives the result of his OBJ
servationS OH the causes OF the famine
in Russia made while he was distribut-
ing the -four contributed 10y the millers
of this state. He finds it rooted in the
land tenure system, which is communal
and which, with its insecurity of dura-
ton, tends to the exhaustion of the soil
by the occupant who may leave his
land assigned to some other tiler by
the :smir." 1t is the same eff
feet produced in this country by
our rapidly increasing tenant farm
ing. In neither case is there
any encouragement for those expendi-
lures in fertilizers or fertllizing meth
DDS whose benefits may enure to an
other person. Combined with TINS Is
lack of intelligence and want of the fac
ulty of management and wretched i'm
elements of husbandry. The result is
Soil exhaustion, which promises repe-
titions of the present famine until radi-
cal changes are made in the system or
land tenures. The communal system
came in with and as a result OF the
emancipation of the serfs. The land,
formerly owned by the large proprietor,
was made the common property ana the
mir" or communal council, entrusted
with its apportionment. The, proprle-
tor, before emancipation, held about
the same relations to the serfs who
titled his lands that the planter in this
country did to his slaves: There was
the same condition of dependence on
the proprietor there that there was Of
the negro on his master here. This
bred there, as here, a class of utterly
dependent people who were helpless
to use the freedom given them; who
were entirely wanting in the faculty of
self-help. The Russian land owner
after the emancipation,g generally moved
to the cities to live on the income of the
/ money paid him by the government for
his lands, and the tillers were thus de-
prived of that assistance which our ex-
Slaves had in the continued residence
among them of their own masters. Had
the promises of ''fOrty acres and mule''
l,s,s,, Inc conditions there