The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-06-06
LEGAL ANOMALIES.
ODD CASES THAT OFTEN ARISE IN
ENGLISH COURTS OF LAW.

The Power of consideration" In a
Money Transaction - An Interesting
Point About Tradcsmen's BilIs-"aIen
of Straw In a Criminal Prosecution.
At a time when law reformers are
busy, it may be interesting to notice
some Of the many absurdities which
still exist in English law.
A person buys goods, pays for them
and gets n receipt. The tradesman sends
in his bill second time. The purchaser
protests that he has paid, but cannot
find the receipt. Accordingly, the trades
man brings an action and wins. Soon
after this tho missing receipt is found.
Aud yet tho purchaser cannot by law
bring II new action to recover the amount
he has paid as the result Of the first nc
ton, unless he can prove actual fraud
on the part of the tradesman. And why
is this? Becarsc, according to tho legal
maxim, "lt is to the interest of the state
that there should DO some finality to
litigation" 1t certainly is not, in this
instance, "to the interest" Of the pur-
chaser.
A owes ID an uudisputcd debt of clo0
After much pressure he comes to B and,
dilating on his own misfortunos in par
ticular and the hard times in general,
offers him $50 in full satisfaction. b,
partly through sympathy and partly be-
cause having written off the amount as
a dad debt" is only too glad to get any
thing and accedcs to those terms. Most
people would think that here was an
end to the matter. 1t all depends,
strangely enough, on tho way in which
the money is paid.
If the amount is paid in gold or bank
notes there is no consideration" for d
agreeing to accept less than the full
amount due, and therefore if he after
ward repents of his bargain lie can sue
A for the remaining eco In spite of his
promise to be satisfied with $50. And
yet if an old knife, rusty nail or some
other thing, however trifling, is "thrown
in" then b is bound by his agreement
to take the lesser sum in full discharge
for in this quibbling way Ile legal theory
Of Consideration" is duly satisfied.
Let us suppose that Mr. Smith holds
two houses under one lease from a Mr.
Brown, and assigns one of them to Mr.
Robinson. If Mr.. Smith omits TO pay
his rent, or breaks some other covenant
in the lease, Mr.. Brown-the superior
landlord-can 'distrain" not only OF
Mr.. Smiths house, but on poor Mr.. Rob
inson's as well, though no may be {
model tenant.
A proposes to sell B piece of land
and at the Same timo gratituitously
promises TO keep the offer open for .
week. In spite of this A can revoke Iii,
offer tho very next day if Z has not al
ready accepted it. Legality, again dc
flying all ideas of morality, argues thai
there was no consideration" for the de
lay agreed upon.
Very frequently busybody bringing
criminal charge elects to be "bount
over TO prosecute ut tho assizes, ever
though the magistrate has expressly dc
cided that no jury is likely to convict
Now this can lie dono "on his own rccog
nizances," without any substantial sure
ties. Tho result is that if, rs is oftel
the case, the prosecutor is impecuniols
the accused when acquitted, cannot
except in theory, make him pay his costs
nor does lie feel inclined to bring al
action for malicious prosecution agains
one who, as the lawyers ray, is ''no
worth powder and shot" In this wa.
INSCRIPTIONS ''men Of straw have op
portunitics-whic they not seldom util
ize-of putting people to terrible annoy
nncc and great expense without iucurrin;
amy practical risk themselves.
A lessee always remains Liable on Tn
covenants until the expiration of til
lease, even after he has assigned it witt
the approval and consent Of the lessor.
Quite recently two of the Judges sol
EMMY declared from the bench that i
was huniliating to confess that by tn
laws of England, unlike those Of France
brokers and other agents could not b
convicted Of embeZzlemcnt for misap
propriating money intrusted with then
for investment unless the direction +
invest was in writing. One of them a
the same time tersely and truly summe,
up the history and present stage of GU
law when lie called it "a thing of shred
and patches" This definition explain
the origin of many absurdities and in
, congruities. STILL it scarcely justiiio
their continued eXisteuce.-London Tit
Bits.