St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-14

One of the relics of a bygone age
which has long outlived its usefulness
is the prevailing system of legal adver-
Using. According to the statutes of
Minnesota. for example, there are a
hundred things, more or less, which it
Is impossible to do without the publ
cation of one or more notices about them
for one or more weeks in some neWSpa-
per of what is called general
circulation. Proceedings in the pro-
bate court, the foreclosure of real
property mortgages, the success
i've stages in the administration of
lnsolventS' estates, suits against non
residents and the like are all required to
be heralded to the world in this fashion
The theory presumably is that parties
Interested will thus learn what is going
ON, and have an opportunity to protect
themselves. Once IN while this hap
pens, and it is not inconceivable that a
man in New York looking carefully over
the columns of South Dakota news
paper might CLEAN from it the interest
Ing information that his wife was suing
him for divorce at Sioux Falls. But
this is really no more likely to occur
than any other miracle, and miracles
are so infreQuent in these degenerate
days that it is hardly worth while taking
them into consideration. In point of
fact, the present method of legal adver-
Using accomplisheS nothing that is of
value. 1t brings little income to some
struggling journals; it adds little to
the expense Of litigation; it delays
little the course of justice. But
apart from such results it is no
more effective than would be one
shower i'll the Sahara desert. The no
tees in question can be printed. accord
ing to the law, in almost any newspaper.
Ii city should be big enough to sup
port hundred dailies OF general circu.
lation, only he who examined them all
every morning could be sure that he
had not missed the one containing mat
ter which Concerned him. As it is, no.
body looks at any of them except the
lawyer who caused their insertion, and
he does it simply in the capacity of a
proof reader.
The whole thing is a farce-which con-
serves nouseful end; and it either ought
to be abandoned altogether, or, if that is
not feasible. it ought to be materially
modified. A newspaper might be pub
liShed under state supervision and by
state authority in which all legal adver-
tisements should be printed. They
could be classified by subjects and also
by counties. All foreclosure notices
affecting property in Ramsey coun-
ty could be put together, and
all probate notices affecting estates in
the Hennepin county court could be ar
ranged to follow each other. Such a
paper would circulate among people in
tereSted in such things, and by hasty
examination each week they could learn
whether they were likely to be affected
In any way by any pending proceed
ings. There would be some sense in
such a plan, and it is worthy of
discussion. The chief opposition to its
aetualization would probably come from
the proprietors of journals which de-
pend more or less upon patronage of
this sort for their profit. But this would
not be impossible to overcome. The
benefits from the change would be so
great that a few dollars and cents ac-
cruing to few individuals ought not to
be sufficient to stand in its way.