New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-06-05
FROM BENCH AND BAR.
r ALTERED FROM LAWYERS AND AM''N'
THE COURTS.

sion OF the Court OF Appears "''u0 e. .,,.,,
Win is last calendar and number OF "c,''. .no
VIZ - he ,bo, tribunal The last term OF inc
g. hoo,,s. Tomorrow Some long ana I'M
,,,t trials may take place, but the courts WIN
h. principally occupied with the disposne Vi 49,
which the lawyers desire to have out Oh inc WY ~
fnr,, thc long vacation begins Inc P"'"' - .
,uac,. and prominent lawyers for their summer '".
, hoys no, vet been announced. but II Is pr9naonc
that there will be usual large nuoe VI r,rone
who Will spend most Of the summer nio nn,inr among
W ,,hnr iorm of vacation seems SO popnnl, 'in ao"r
n o members of the Judiciary the rrsliu, 0IJs
VOYAGE and the certainty thai 'hsy oa." desiring ws
on a ' NV As the warm weather approacnes n ,
Is hcari Of the proposal to shorten m,aw,nter recess
80 ~, courts The IAN three months OF rest i0
court duties. except at Chambers 4n 'pe0"' '"
will remain the rule for the present
An important change in the criminal laws Oh III,
STATE was quietly made by the last LeeiS''"'0 ""-
went into effect a week two ago IT taxes away .'e
minimum formerly prescribed In the punishment io'
mos, criminal offences. Tho punishment Tor cne t"o
degrees of murder. for arson in the hrst uee'e''
BURGLARY in the first degree and some o'ner eri"''
reuluins as before, but as to most ouc' o
while the higher limit of punishment fe''i'h' o0
some the Judges have absolute discretion as " NV
small the punishment shall be- Judges Vi 0''','"'
cours have frequently complained that IN some gases
,sx h,vo hecu forced By the laws as they formerly
exsted TO punish certain crimes with undne severity
, hoy OF sixteen for instance, who sna'ches from
scboolboy Il few pennies without any ulonsN Va ''o
seriousness of the crime, Is technically s"ii's y,
robbery I'm the first degree and under the INV '' IL
formerly stood could not receive imprisonment i'r
less than ten years. lie was ranked IN 'ne o'."0
Grade with the burly mlran who knocked uown az, an
nogensiye citizen i'm the street ut night ailn ailel
seriously injuring him robbed him OF all the propcr
he carried In many other offences tuere VIZ az c
,Inos nitirotInc circumstances which rendered inc
lowest punishment allowed too high The CO c9 tSc
G,ence was that jurors who we're made aware o, t,s
vere penalties would often give yerdicts when were
entirely illogical in order tnat the penay nde oro the
,o ocnar crcumstanCes Of the trial. Jurors
may With greater freedom ana tnc jmugeS ,
thcv shall show The punishment for forgery IN tie
Grsi degree is decreased that 1t will not be nee,
sary hereafter TO have tflai wien Pr''ohei u''
to plead guilty TO this charge.
Many other changes in the criminal laws have been
m,de including of course. the creation OF some new
r,eaeneonors The Legislature always has a passion
for making new misdemeanors. This year 1t seems W
have taken especial delight In amending he cou's
relating to the punishment OF crimes There are Only
thirty three amendments to the voumhous Coue vi
Civil Procedure. while whole chapters Of the shorter
peu,l Code ar, changed The Insertion OF many secuohs
furnishing crimes against the elective franchise Is es'
nocaIlv important Among the new msdemeanors
created Is the making an ascension oy means Vi
houoon with trapeze parachute attachment or
any other device for the purpose OF mhh"e ueSc'
! from, such balloon" The evident Intent vi '"'s
section Is that person who goes up III d p'''o'
,.u he allowed to descend-a just punishment Tor MS
olv Another peculiar law makes IL misuehe"no'
for a householder deach and examine the e'Sine'l
in his house for the purpose Of testing H. lie must
,u ON the inspector Of gs-meters or an employe OK
the gas company do the testing IL Is 70 De no pd
tho the amendment to section 516 OF the fenal Sou
il moi correctly printed In the published psnRhie' VI
amendments to the codes. The WORD who Is ~, ~,
'erted in rh WAY m % for those who tit
ls with intent to sink them and defrand inc usures,
The curious provision compelling every nurse " ieP
10 the health authorities each case IN wich Chn ie
indamed re enacted and Is now part OF tde f ar
or TWO ago under the heading An Act TO prevent
Blindness
Now that the last Of the laws enacted by the recent
Legislature has been passed upon by the "oVerhor ,Ho
question again arises 10 how soon the s'ssioh h"'
will be printed and in the hands OF lawyers III
Illinois the printed book containing the session laws
hos sometimes been published within less than a week
from, the time when the last law had been approved
In New York LAWYERS wait two or three months
before receiving the official copies OF the laws P"Sse"
,y the Inst Legislature. When lawyer deSites !"
know rs 70 the exact wording Of any statute when he
NAV have heard had been enacted by the legislature
he must send % secretary Of states Office ana OBTAIN
, couy Of IL: or he may depend upon printed Sips
,yb,ch orc s,nt ont or on the desiltory printing In
law papers OF the more important s..ucS, VI
Ie may remain in Ignorance to what the statnte law
IL nntil ,nc after tho Legislature has adjourned Inc
.cs,i"n law when finally published stale that
thu number Of volumes sold Is loss than II would be
II thc publication made ut an earlier date pro
tests against the long delay have mus lar eeen M
awaiting. but II = to be hoped tha' inc hecueu iei"
will soon BE- beQ,ri.
Pamphlet publications OF some OF the more important
s,ot,tes indcxcd and in some cases containing also
hcr laws ON kindred subjects have been prepared oy
the publishers the session laws, and serve In some
degree 10 do away with the inconvenience resulting
from the delay the publication Of the full editions oil
the laws Among the pamphlets already issued and IN
the hands OF members OF the profession are the new
banking the Insurance. the town and highway, the
general railroad. tho excise business corporation and
municipal corporation laws and election code. The
work of the Commissioners of statutory Revision rs
adopted by the last and the previous Legislature Is
thus put a readily accessible form. The long list OF
laws repealed appended M the end OF each OF the gen
crul laws on these important matters shows how great
condensation Of statutory provisions has been maze
The game law. FOR instance adoltS1 oy inc R,t Le.S
laure only about twenty-five pages oil BaihS
BROTHERS publication aud yet taxes the pace OF ABOUT
| l75 laws enacted Mt different times within the last
forty years and which all repealed unnecessary
In consequence Of the new enactment The insurance
law makes unnecessary several hundred 6i statutes
enacted b. Legislatures from loi0 To 1871.
Tho contributor T. c. In "The New-lork Law
Journal" Of Thursday gave an entertaining review OF
AN interesting book The Law OF the Theatre II
Is easy to recognize by style as well as by Initials
Theodore COMEDY the Assistant Corporation Counsel
AMI former Editor OF The Journal although the
editor II The Albany Law Journal" who recently
criticised one of r C's" contributions wondered II
fbo Initials did not conceal the personality OF our oil
friend Timothy Cronn.' 80 The Law OF the Theatre
is interesting because the subject OF which 1t treats
Is one OH which little has been written and theatrical
disputes are likely to urn on personal pccuiiartes
and afford eiimpses OF hGmnn nature such rs are com
paiativey IN the law books. Mr.. Connolly mas
collect 4 II number Of humorous abstracts from the
vcIulnc and II is certainly superior To many OF is
class The ,ndency lead down the book shelves OF
lawyers with trcatlscs Oh all possible subdivisions OF
| lnw has however. been carried % excess. some or
the DO ks recently issued have been Of narrow a
rang, that much padding has been necessary 20
make q volume Of Respectable size. The general sub
| irct OF Contracts for Instance, has been SO sub
divided In the last few year, that volumes have been
issued on matters which tho text writer's the gen
rra principles Of that branch OF the law dismissed In
a few pages. The multiplication Of law books, like the