Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-04-08
GIVING UP PARCHMENT.
Order of Court Forbids Its Use in
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Why.

Order of Court Forbids Its Use in
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Why.
Sir Francis Jeune on Monday last
pronounced a judicial separation be-
tween probate lawyers and parch-
ment. There is not an absolute di.
vOrce, because, although grants and
ENDORSEMENTS in the probate division
will be on special paper instead of
parchment, the latter. time-honored
material for legal documents may be
used if it is particularly desired. It
is well that this permission is at
tached to the injunction, for the mind
recoils from the idea of any branch Of
the law being entirely disassociated
from parchment.
Precisely what the object of this
change may be is not quite clear. 1t
is stated that the public will save
something like $4,000 year. This
sum would buy considerable guam
tity of parchment in the ordinary
way, but perhaps things are, different
in the legal market A sheet of parch-
ment would cost threepence or four
pence from a stationer, but when it
finds it's way into lawyers bill of
expenses, for pence read shilllings.
The special paper would cost about a
penny a sheet; it remains to be seen
what its legal value will be. Possibly
claimants Tor probate may have bet
ter idea Of the value of paper than
| they have of parchment.
The question, however, arises
whether the public will regard paper,
/ special as it may be, as a satisfactory
substitute for parchment. Grants in
probate are, of course. not like leases
OF estates, deeds and other classes OF
legal document, and are not often re-
quired to withstand the effects of
| time to the same degree. Still the
| public prefers to have it's law docu-
ments in an enduring form; and, al
though it may save $4,000, the indi-
vidnal will probably save only few
sh.9ings, and would rather have the
~ re expensive but more lasting ma
terial. Fiction writer's would often
be hard put to it if they could not
produce musty parchment documents
of ancient date proving that the poor
but honest hero is entitled to the
family estate. But, in hard fact, the
value OF endurance in the material of
legal documents has too often been
shown to lead the public to r'.: faith
readily in anything but parchment.
Still special paper has been used for
some time now for affidavits and
memorials for the registry of deeds.
Perhaps the time may come when
there will be special kinds of matert,ll
for different kinds of documents. ac-
cordfng to the period over which they
are to endure, ranging from yellum
for leases of estates to tissue paper
for promises in love letters
| An explanation of the change which
has been given in one quarter is that
Somerset House whence issue the
grants and engrossne pts, is at odds
with nature. Somerset House wants
stout parchment of a uniform thick
ness. Nature refuses to supply II It
results from this provision that the
parchment cut from one part an
animals hide is thicker than that
from another. and it cannot be made
uniform. His majesty's stationery of
fee, acting, of course, on intimations
from Somerset House. wants all the
stoutest parchment; but the manu-
facturers would then be left to dis
pose of the thinner material to pri-
vate customers, who naturally grum-
bic. Moreover, the stationery office
does not wish to pay higher price
for the privilege of taking the best.
The manufacturers of parchment
are not greatly disturbed by Sir
Francis Jeune's decree. The probate
grants and ENDORSEMENTS are only a
part Of the vast number of legal
documents, and people will still go ON
acquiring parchment by the more or
less expensive ways of law for more
years than one can foretell.- London
Telegraph.