Los Angeles herald., 1892-06-21
LEGAL ANOMALIES.
ODD CASES THAT OFTEN ARISE IN
ENGLISH COURTS OF LAW.


The Power Of "Consideration" in .
Money Transaction - An Interesting
Point About Tradcsmen's Bills--'.den
Of Straw In 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 receipt. The tradesman sends
in his bill second timc. 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.
And yet the purchaser cannot by law
bring 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, ut is to the interest Of the state
that there should be some finality to
litigation" It certainly is not, in this
instance, "to the interest Of the pur-
chaser.
A owessB an undisputed debt of Gl00.
After much pressure he comes to B and,
dilating on his own inisfortunes in par
ticular and the hard times in general,
offers him ESQ in full satisfaction. B,
partly through sympathy and partly be-
cause having written off the amount as
'bad debt" is only too glad to get any
thing and accedes to those terms Most
people would think that here was an
end to the matter. It all depends,
strangely enough, on the way in which
the money is paid.
Il the amount is paid in gold or bank
notes there is no Consideration" for B
agreeing to accept less than the full
amount due, and therefore If he after
ward repents Of his bargain he can sue
A for the remaining EGO in spite of his
promise to be satisfied with ESQ. And
yet if an old knife, rusty nail or some
other thing, however trifiing, is thrown
in," then B is bound by his agreement
to take the lesser sum in full discharge,
for in this quibbling way the legal theory
Of consideration" is duly satisfied.
Let us suppose that Mr.. Smith holds
two houses under one lease from 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 or
Mr.. Smiths house, but on poor Mr.. Rob-
inson's as well, though he may be
model tenant.
A proposes to sell B piece of land,
and at the same time gratituitously
promises to keep the offer open for a
week. In spite Of this A can revoke his
offer the very next day if B has not al
ready accepted it. Legality, again de-
flying all ideas Of morality, argues that
there was no Consideration" for the de-
lay agreed upon.
Very frequently busybody bringing
o criminal charge elects to be ssbound
over to prosecute" at the assizes, even
though the magistrate has expressly de-
cided that no jury is likely to convict.
Now this can be done "on his own recog.
nizances," without any substantial sure
ties. The result is that if, as is often
the case, the prosecutor is impecunious,
the accused when acquitted, cannot,
except in theory, make him pay his costs,
nor does he feel inclined to bring an
action for malicious prosecution against
ono who, as the lawyers say, is mot
worth powder and shot," In this way
unscrupulous "men of straw" have op-
portunities they not seldom util-
leo putting people to terrible annoy
ance and great expense without incurring
any practical risk themselves.
A lessee always remains liable on the
covenants until the expiration Of the
lease, even after he has assigned it with
the approval and consent of the lessor.
Quite recently two Of the judges SOL
sn, Wy declared from the bench that it
WAS h smiliating to confess that by the
LAWS of England, unlike those Of France,
brokers an, other agents could not be
of embezzlement for misap-
nronriatinp M, uey intrusted with them
For investment ,Npless the direction to
invest was in writing. One OF them at
the Same time tersely and truly summed
up the history and prea@nt stage OF our
law when he called it ga thing of shreds
and patches" This definition explains
the origin Of many absurdiSes and IN
congruities. Still, it scarcely Justities
their continued existence.-London lit
Bits.