New-York tribune., 1896-03-29
BENCH AND BAR.
cArt,rpEn AMONG LAWYERS AND IN THE

GATHERED AMONG LAWYERS AND IN The
rbs Annelate Division Of the Supreme Court mas
ors,aorad yy,thn a few days some OF the most
d,ecu,t questions which have been argued oe'ore
u The Rapid Transit act was attacKeu VII" e,e"'
ingenuity by lawyers OF ability. anu ''e eos
t,onal questions raised were OF great i'npor'ah.e.
The arguments in the two n sasus and expeenced law
yers Judges different parts 9a and 5he the Appeiae
nSs,on viii therefore not have the benefit OF the
uniform Judgment by other Judges S IN the Court also
bad some cases Of special interest before 1t last
week.
Soma confusion arises over the similarity OF the
designation OF the two Appellate prancnes ., 'he
Supreme Court. The Appellate DIVISION Is ,ea' "
separate tribunal while the Appellate ler" Il ia"e
I'D OF three Supreme Court Justices assignee ~ '"'
duty The Appellate Term decides si'np'' "e up
neaIs from the City and District Courts. J" ,s "h-
fortunate that a name could not have Deeh cnose"
for II which bore less resemblance 10 'ha' Vi 'he
Appellate Division The rules OF the Supre % nnsa
nnaer rSm the whleh CITY af and formed did
not give any n to acuy hns except the
the judges and of the bar IN using Term or tse
Tanm for az Minor Appeals or by some other desg-
nation which would indicate It's purp0ss and byi yst
sion. many members Of the bar would DE pe''er
pleased.
Just,ce PRYOR who has had charge OF the term
Of the Supreme Court In which divorce cases are
heard has as usual made many ihteresu"s co''-
the ca ses before him One or the most Vaiua-
hla sucvestons which he has made Is that an act
should be passed providing for the service OF 'he
summons and complaint upon the Correspondent !" a
divorce case It does sometimes happen that eVl-
dence NAV be introduced. confession made,
which ~ uncontradicted. would tarnsh the good
name of person who is not party TO the action ana
u-bo has no opportunity TO deny the allegation.
difficulty would arise where he ,n ~ "n
Who NAV be able to explain the appearances against
him or her is brought into notor!ety IN "a, dvorcs
be given for the correction Of any irn
The who appeared before justice er actan IN
which his name was mentioned as Deng Suhy OK nt
immoral acts with married woman tncnsh 1s en me-
titled 10 sympathy.
Litigation over the new liquor tax law has already
begun and will continue energetically until some
of the many doubtful points in he act are cleared
up The social clubs which are affected by the
act will probably have difficulty In securing any
special exemption unless new law Is passed.
Some OF the provisions which have been especially
criticised were taken from the old excise law With
out change and the difficulties are largely I'M
aginary. The provision as to the sale OF nqu9r on
law of 1892 except that hotel keepers are exempted
The fear that the provisions agansi me sa.s $50. OF
Nouor on Sunday might interfere with the admin
stration OF the sacraments might just as wei nave
been expressed while the old law was u, erect AS as
there has been no change IN that resh'ac l @ uoi, u,
struction by the courts may do away with some W o,
the Of ,hc new etoro ,be exact
Ing OF some OF the phrases ana me extent 10 "hcn
the law will affect various interests VIII pe se'"e"
The Law Institute Library. which. under the
efficient management OF William II. Winters. the
courteous and learned librarian. has been IA
vor,e Institution among downtown lawyers. Will
become less popular II the rules which have re-
Gently been made are not speedily altered The
facts that the library Is one for lending books AS
well as for consulting them, and that II is using
public property to n considerable extent make "
impossible that the library should ever be con-
Quoted upon the principle OF those OF the bar AS
sociaton and Lawyers Club. Within the last two
weeks law clerks we'll known TO the Librarians
have been compelled 10 return long asianSes M T, 10
sn ongr nn~ yyea,lr and the fact tina, they have
not been able to use the library ior the az, ~,
~ tho institute as freely as they formerly did mas
ind ~ embarrassn ent. \ large part OF IN" value
n, the library has been that Il was easily ~
and CONDUCTED upon The pge e o' nsi c1sm Of
any misuse OF the PRIVILEGES formerly sI"nI nnIy ead
"a a falling on in membership. and possibly 20 a.. an
attempt take away SOM OF ,ro ,nG sbe pubic
7, e. nnderrtooi that the new rules were ho'
adopted at full meeting Of the inrarS Toin'r n fnr,e
rsy tee anH tn' ,o a@ct the interests 0, ne Institute
which has in The past been an aGt,ye '0r'e III ''o
noting the advancement OF 'he D'''
..r, American LAWYER" which under the fun
editorial control Of Frank c. Smith mas become
more than ever interesting and useful 10 members
n, the bar contains n series OF articles from the pen
., / y Proctor who has written In the past many
granhic sketches OF incidents In the lives OF great
LAWYERS Mr. Proctor has lost none OF his former
literary force and the present articles are i erI,
more eloquent and graphic than ms carrier VOTE
The March number OF the magazine contains from
Mr. Proctor's pen sketch OF "A scene IN me Ihit.n
States Supreme Court on the argumehl over T elkn,y
vears ago OF the case Of The Mercedes The per
sona attack by Mr Pinckncy upon Thomas Addis
given and the effect OF the speeches IS portrayed 50
clearly that the reader 40 awysr
tains in full the address OF Chauncey h Dep"Ww BE-
fore the New York State Bar Association on Patr-
n,ism and Jingoism-the Lawyers Duty" and many
other addresses before bar associations The ed-
tor,al comments valuable part OF the magazine
The Committee on International Arbitration OF the
New-York State Bar Association. which was
formed In response to the address of Mr. Dcpew has
a useful work before It, At its first meeting last
week little could be done because the committee
hsd been in existence for only short time The
secretary Frank c. Smith. has been In the past sue
cessful in collecting and abulating the opinions OF
members of the bar on important matters, and he
energy. He has written 10 the members OF other
State bar associations. and the result VIII probably
be the forma OF some general committee. which
vii! endeavor 10 create National feeling IN favor
OF nennss somewhat Similar work is in
progress In Great Britain and when the bar OF both
effective measure by the Legislatures OF both coun-
tries will not be difficult
A firm Of lawyers In Shelbyvlle. Ill, writes to
1.-THE Chicago Legal News making n complaint
which many country lawyers have privately uttered
concerning the manner in which collection agencies
and wholesale merchants endeavor to obtain in
formation concerning the standing Of business men
without making any compensation. A long list OF
questions Is sent to the lawyer to the financial
condition of a local business man or firm. and he is
expected to answer In detail II he makes full and
| courteous reply he may at time receive from
the collection agent some account against the PER-
son concerning whom inquiry is made. or against
some other local business Arm. Even then his fcc
is restricted and he Is compelled TO pay part Of
II to the collection agency He is importuned to pay
sums OF money 10 place his on LISTS published
] .ialo p,f. md lie M.