Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-21

Howell water works bill, authorizing
Omaha 70 acquire and operate its water
works plant under the $4,000 600 bond voted
at the last election.
Nelson Of Douglas, defining his bill,
II. r. 16s, says: ct is a bill to provide for
the Conveyance In proof Of titles to real
estate II is a redraft OF chapter lxxiii Of
the Nebraska statutes relative to deeds,
mortgages, etc. The principal change in
the law IL to provide a law for acknowl-
alignment Of deeds and mortgages uniform
with the laws Of Iowa, Missouri and Massa-
chusetts and some other states. The bill
also l~egalizes all defective acknowledge
ments Of deeds placed on record before
January 1. 1903. and provides that the
record OF such defective deeds shall be val
idated and legalized. and that such record
and duly certified copy Of such record shall
be admissible in evidence.
Another feature Of the bill is a require
ment that the title TO real estate shall
pass by delivery Of the conveyance to the
register Of deeds for record and not by a
mere delivery OF the deed"
Mr.. Nelson claims that his bill will save
much litigation and trouble in examination
of abstracts Of title and will give the state
Ol NeDThthh some OF the DEMENT'S OF the
Torrens system Of registration. So far no
one has proposed to enact the Torrens sys
TEN for this state. The above bill will not
in any way conflict with the Torrens sys-
TEN IL introduced.
Negotiable Instruments Law.
Mr., Nelson has another bill before the
house of similar import. 1t is S. f. 4, Of
which he says:
"Thi is an act relating to negotiable in
struments and is intended to establish q
law uniform with the laws of other states
relating to notes. checks, drafts and bills
Of exchange. 1t is a codihcation Of the de-
cision OF the courts Of all countries using
the English language. The first law Of the
kind was drawn by W.D. Chalmers, counselor
to the treasury Of England. This law was.
taken up and considered by the American
Bar association and the conference Of com
missioners on uniform state laws. They
found the English act not complete enough
for American use, so they employed John
]. Crawford OF the New York bar, who
drafted the present negotiable instruments
law in the form in which 1t has been en-
acted in some twenty-five states.
The advantage OF the codiheatlon Of this
branch Of the law must be apparent to all
laymen. The law OF Nebraska as Il now
stands consists OF the decisions Of this
state and three or four sections Of the
statute and the remaining portion Of the
law consists Of the principles Of the mer-
camille law as laid down in some 1000
American decisions. 1t is estimated that
these decisions must have cost the parties
about 81, 1000 900. Every time that a contro-
verified question arises in the courts Of Ne
braska these decisions must be consulted
in order to determine the law Of the case.
II it is a controverted question the usual
practice is to have the case decided by the
supreme court. The negotiable instruments
law has settled all of these controverted
questions and more than that, has laid down
all Of the main principles Of the law as
gathered from all Of the decisions of the
English and American courts.
Legislative Gossip.
The personnel Of the house OF representa-
tives Of the present Nebraska legislature
is a standing contradiction Of the old idea
that the man who tills the soil has an un-
equal voice In ~lawmaking. Out of a mem
bership Of ninety-nine there are ffty-nve
farmers in the house. So that IL bills
e%manating. from that body are inimical to
the farmers interests, the fault Will rest,
10 some extent at least, with the rural
lists. Lawyers number fifteen and doctors
i've In the house.
THE! house committee on the judiciary, of
which Nelson of Douglas is chairman, is
composed Of eleven lawyers and is regarded
as an exceptionally strong committee. But
there are said to be some strong 'kickers''
tnnthis legal bunch. Their first source of
Acomplalnt 10 that the tables in their COM
inittee room are of insufficient area TO af-
.ord foot room for all the men bers. 1t
is a notable fact that in moments OF deep
est thought lawyers insist on having their
feet higher than their heads ana they pro-
test that this lawerly expedient cannot de-
Gently be practiced under the circum-
stances.