The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-05

NhN NhAN VAN ~ AN ~
their Gases strive to force them on, 90 ~ 10 OBJ
tain . verdict and also q fec before the summer
vacation. June IL therefore q busy time In the
trial courts In New York. The courts Of re-
view also alt throughout tho month. Tho
Court of Appeals convenes at Saratoga to-mor-
row for its usual summer session, but will not
meet In the afternoon, a. It docs in Albany un.
der the practice inaugurated when tho new
Chief Judge came in last January. In Albany
tho hours are from 2 to @ p. NJ. At Saratoga
they will DO from 10 A. NJ. to 2 P. NJ, In ac-
cordAnce with the old custom.
A batch OF interesting decisions camo down
, from the Supreme Court Of tho United States
on Monday. Among them was a reversal in
the case Of the United States against the North
American Commercial Company. In 1890 the
Secretary of tho Treasury leased TO that corpora
tion for a period Of twenty years the exclusive
right to take fur seals on the islands Of st.
George and st. Paul in the Territory OF Alaska.
The rental which the company agreed to pay
annually for tho privilege Of thus engaging in
the seal business was TO consist OF SEQ, 600 cash
In any event, and 97.62]S on each fur sealskin
taken and shipped. A revenue tax OF 81 on each
skin was also to be paid. The Government
sued to recover 1882, 1877 alleged to bO due
from tho company as rent under the lease for
the year 1893. Only 1900 skins were taken
In that year, because tho United States, in the
course Of their negotiations with Groat Brit
ain concerning the BehrinR Sea seal Fisheries.
had agreed to limit the take to that plumber.
The company claimed that 1t wAs entitled to a
reduction in the rent, because the Government
thus lossened its profits, and this claim has
been sustained In the Supreme Court. On the
other hand, tho court rejects tho claim OF the
defendant corporation to be allowed q quarter
Of a.million dollars damages, representing tho
value Of skins which It could have secured in
1893 without injury to the seal herd II the
Government had not interfered. Tho Govern
ment acted in the exercise of It's sovereign
power in prohibiting any further killing, and
cannot be held liable as a mere proprietor. At
the trial before Judge Wallace. he found that
10000 bachelor seals could have been killed on
the islands in 1893. The Judgment which he
rendered In favor Of the United States was S94.-
6s7.5o. Tho supreme Court takes about $751;
900 Off this amount.
In the case Of Badly against Hunter, which
arose in Georgia, the Supreme Court Of the
United States has upheld the p~ropriety Of tho
conduct Of q guardian who invested the money
of his ward in Confed crate securities during the
civil war, under statutes Of the State of Gcor-
giA authorizing such investment. The opinion
Of the Supreme Court Is written by Mr.. Justice
Harlan and affirms the validity Of local legia-
lRtion in the Confederate States relative to tho
preservation Of order, the prosecution OF
crimes, tho protection OF property, the enforce
ment Of contracts, the celebration of marriages.
the settlement Of estates. the transfer and de-
scent Of property, and similar matters Of local
legislative coGnizance. The Supreme Court of
Georgia approved a similar Investment by a
guardian as long ago as 1878. In the case of
Nelms against Summers t54 Georgia Reports.
page 600l. which does not appear to have conc
any higher. There It was said that the stat
Gtes which permitted guardians to invest in
Confederate securities were passed. IL 10 true,
during the war between the Confederate and
the United States. but their passage was in no
sense a war measure or in aid OF it, They were
enacted TO protect wards and minors in their
estates at a time when everything was uncor.
tain and all securities were doubtful" As
matter Of fact, the guardians IN those days in
tho South generally received the estates Of their
wards in Confederate money. which would have
been worth no more II retained until the end of
the war than Confederate bonds were worth.
Even an investment in negroes would have
turned out yalueless.
A few important cases which had been de-
cided in the District Court of the Territory OF
Alaska before the beginning Of the present year
are in a very unfortunate position, so far as the
unsuccessful parties are concerned. Wishing
to have the Judgments reviewed, these parties
took appeals to the United States Circuit Court
OF Appeals for the Ninth (Paciic slope) Circuit.
These appeals should have been taken to the
Supreme Court al Washington and that tribu-
nal has pronounced them Intellectual for any
purpose. Asst is too late under existing laws
TO appeal to the proper tribunal. application for
relief has been made TO Congress-; and a bill has
been introduced in the House of Representa-
tives, with the sanction of the Attorney. Gen
eral. transferring the cases to tho Supreme Court
of the United States for final determination
with tho same effect as though all proper steps
had been duly taken to carry them there.
AwomAn named Camilla Nichols was recently
tried for the felonious killing Of her maid ser
want in London and was found guilty OF imam.
slaughter by prolonged i'll treatment and star.
~vation.' Although there was evidence of
physical violence inflicted by the prisoner upon
the deceased girl, the medical testimony tended
to show that starvation WAS the direct and i'm
mediate cause OF death. The Girl died at the
end Of a term OF service with the defendant last
ing fourteen months. During that period she
had changed from an apparently well.nourishsd
person in good health to II condition Of ex-
treme elnAciation, which was applicable In the
opinion of tho expert physicians who IN
the body only by the continuous eprivation'of
49, N'N' W.
lous, and there WAS q pneumonia of ten days
duration, but the prosecution insisted that
these conditions did not account for tho 70.
markGble HeneralsWasting and had not occa.
stoned doRth, and this view must have been
adopted by the jury. without challenging the
conclusions of the medical men who made the
pOst-mortem examination says the Lancet,
I'VE may acknowledge the gravity and extreme
completely OF thor task. PrimR iacie we should
have been inclined to the view that sven pro-
nounced general wasting might DO explained
by advanced tuberculOus disease OF the lungs
and that death might follow as y consequence
Of such disease supplemented by recent pneu'
moniR." The convicted mistress was sen.
fenced to seven years penal Bervitude. Her
crime, homicide by starvation, Is a very rare
enc In the annals Of the law.
The Supreme Court of Ohio has recently
made u ruling which deserves notice In respect
to what Is not proper proof on the question OF
damages in 4 negligence suit .lu which the in
jury proved fatal. The suit was brought