Arizona silver belt., 1892-08-27
ODD CASES THAT OFTEN ARISE IN
 ENGLISH CouRTs OF LAW.

The Power of Reconsideration" in
 Money Transaction - An Interesting
 Point About Tradcsmen's Bills--."SIen
 of straw in Criminal Prosecution.
 At time when law reformers are busy, it may be interesting to notice some of the many absurdities which gtill exist in English law.
 A person buys goods, pays for them and gets a 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 the missing receipt is found. Ard yet the purchaser cannot by law bring il new action to recover the amount he has paid as the result of the first ac- ton, unless he can prove actual fraud on the part of the tradesman And why is this: Because, according to the legal maxim, 1t is to the interest of the state that there should be some tinahty 60 litigation" It certainly is not, in this instance. ito the interest" of tho pur- chaser
 A owes B an undisputed d.bt of el00 After much pressure he comos to B and, dilating on his own nlisfortmes in par ticular and the hard times in general, offers him eS0 in full satiS faction B, partly through sympathy aad partly be- cause having written off the amount as a bad debt is only too glad to get any tl., people would think that here was aH end to the matter, 1t all depends, strangely enough, on the wY in which the money is paid
 If the amount is pad in gGld or bank, notes there is no ''consideTa ion for B agreeing to accept less thal the full amount due, and therefore he after ward repents of his bargain he can sue A for the remaining ego in spite of his promise to be satisfied witl eS9. And yet if an old knife, rusty mi or some other thing, however tIifing is thrown in, then B is bound by his agreement to take the lesser sum in full discharge for ill this quibbling way the leg al theory of reconsideration is duly satisfied
 Let us suppose that Mr. Sm th holds two houses under one lease from a Mir Brown, and assi gns one 0f them to MT, Robinson II Mr. Smith oInits to pay his rent, or breaks some other covenant in the lease, Mr Brown the sWen2r landlord-cau "disUaiu' not only O. Mir Smiths house, but on poor Mir Rob- insons as well, though he may Ate a model tenant
 A proposes to sell B piece of land, and at the same time gratituitously promises to keep the offer oper fer week in spite of this A can revoke his offer the very next day if E has not al- ready accepted it. legality, again de- flying all ideas of morality, argues that there was no consideration fof the de. lay agreed upon
 Very frequently a busybody bringing a criminal charge elects to be bound over to prosecute at the assizes, even though the magistrate has expressly de- cided that no jury Is likely to convict. Now this can bo done "on his own recug. nizauces, without any substantial alre- ties The result is that if, as is often The case, the prosecutor is nnpecunious, the accused when acquitted, cannon, except Hl theory make him pay his costs, ror does he feel inclined to Hiug all action for malicious prosecution against one wh0 as the lawyers say. is not worth powder and shot la this way interruptions men of straw have op- portuuities- which they moi seldom util- tze-of putting people to terrible anndy- aucc and great expense without iucurriug any practical risk themselves
 A lessee always remains liable on the covenants until Lac expiration cf the lease even after he has unsigned it with tho tpproyg! and consent of tas lessor Quite recently two f tht judges sol emldy declared from the bench lhai t was hu1.3ligtiug to rulfc.s that by tho law of Engigad unlike those of France. brokers and other agents could not ho convicted cf cmbczzleueut for mjsaI- propliuIiug money iuraa.ctl with them i5l ,.6 ,tnuut unless the direction t3 invest was ia writing One of them at the same time tersely and truly summed 1 up the history and present stage of ouy ! law when he calla' it "a thing of shred and patches. This dehnitiun explains ! the origin of many ahsuriitics aad ili- i c0ugrnjfics Still, it scarcely justifies ! their continued existence. -LouIga Tt, ! Bis