El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-04


Collections.
If a man owes another $4,000, and
finally is able to prevail upon his credi-
tor to scale down the obligation to
$4,000, the creditor, or his heirs, after
having accepted the $4,000. can recon
slider the matter and enter suit for the
remainder of the debt, on the ground
that there was no consideration" for
the remission of the balance unpaid.
But if the debtor bethinks himself to
add a rusty nail, red rose, a fish hook
! or some other minute thing, he COM
phys with the law of consideration"
and the debt is satisfied in full, with
/ cut recourse.
| In some states. if one man owes an
other, pays the debt and then loses his
receipt, he can be forced to pay the
money again: and If he should afterward
find his lost receipt he cannot compel
1 the creditor to return the money err
rOneously collected the second time. The
ground upon which the courts hold that
! he cannot recover his money, though
| he holds two receipts, Is that there must
! be an end to litigation. Thus, the
! creditor may, with the full knowledge
| of the court, retain money that he I'M
! justly collected through the machinery
| of the same court.
Judges View of Fight.
! Sometimes there are judges who dis
| like technicalitieS. Not long ago New
York judge was hearing a case Of as
sault and battery. The plaintiff had
addressed insulting language to the de-
PENDANT while the latter was out walk
| ing with his wife, and was severely
! pummeled therefor.
In addressing the jury after the evil
dence was in, the Judge said:
IF had been out walking with
my wife and the plaintiff had addressed
me in such terms as it is not denied
he addressed the defendant, 1 would
have given him such a beating that the
one he got from the defendant would
have seemed like play in comparison.
But, gentlemen, that is net law. Take
the case"
The jury seemed to think it was law,
however, by the character Of the YER
dict it returned.
a Laws On Estates.
In most Of the states the absence
of a will makes the law Of Inheritance
carry out the natural desire of man,
that his property pass to his direct
descendants, but sometimes an entire
estate or a large part Of it is diverted
to people Of no blood relation what
ever. Here is a case in point:
A wealthy man died leaving his prop
erty to an only daughter. She died
and 1T descended to her two sons One
son married and had a fl nily The
other died without children and without
a will. His property reverted to his
father, who in the meantime had mar
ried again and had children by his sec
ond wife. He gave the property to
the children of the second wife. Thus
was half of a large estate diverted from
its natural descent to alien hands,
plainly contrary TO what naturally
would have been the will Of him who
had accumulated it.
Laws are often so contradictory IN
their terms that it is impossible to OBJ
serve them all Sometimes one section
of statute prohibits by indirection
the very thing another section spe-
officially requires A school law in one
state provides that no school shall be
kept open less than a given number of
days in each year. Yet, in the next
paragraph, limit of taxation is given
which is too low to permit the schools
to be kept open that long
Failures of Lawyers.
Even the creates tot lawyers have
sometimes been unable to comply with
the very laws they assisted in making.
Samuel ]. Tilden, candidate for presi-
dent Of the United States, and one Of
the foremost lawyers of his time. wrote
his will in such a way that it failed
TO pass muster when brought into
court mere technicality stood in
the way of the fulfilment of his dying
desire.
Many other instances Of lawyers who
made a dismal failure Of writing their
own wills could be cited.
The delays of the law are no less
proverbial than the defeats Justice sus-
tafns through technicautfes. An In
diana calf case is an instance of how
litigation may survive even the cause
az issue.
Two farmers became involved in
dispute over the ownership of calf
they could not settle their differences
between themselves, so they took their
troubles to court The case went from
one stage to another. Meanwhile. the
calf grew to maturity and died Rut
still the case went on. and the costs
became the issue instead of the calf it,
self.
Years afterward. when the court of
last resort was reached. II was found
that one of the parties to the suit had
died OF old age before seeing the end
Of the litigation.
Higher Court ReversaIs.
Nearly every court in the land is
cloSged with business EspecialIv is
this true OF the courts of appeal If
Is believed that over Onethird of the
cases that are carried from trial courts
TO those of appeal are reversed. and in
nearly every case the reversal is on
tech1icalities.
This reversal Of trial courts has be-
come so serious, in many cases mani
testify thwarting the ends Of sinlplc
justice. that many of the higher courts
have decided that hereafter, un:ess it ]
can be shown that substantial Injustice
has been done by the verdict of the
trial court, Its findings will not be set
aside.
ments.