The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-12-20


did not recover up to a poit at
which she felt able to offer n ex-
PLANTATION until the following day,
when she announced that, ut OF
regard for the sacrifices the man
had made for her. she would pnder-
take no prosecution for wife leser-
ton.
- Widow With Six Children
Stalnaker was about nineteeIyears
old when he married the pEintiff,
whts was forty years old AMI the
widow of one of his relatives. She
had six children, and, according to
her testimony, was so poor that she
was unable to take care of them.>
The anthorities she said, were about
10 take her CAaagen ETofn rs Y aelt
re yourg man stepped in and for
children. consented 10 marry her and
70 be their supp rter For twenty
years he was the faithful father Of
children naar'v ag Old as himself,
and usbHNg 10 q, woni:lp- cid. ennne &
to be his mother Her explanation of
his disappearance was that he, as
ia contractor, could not raise the
wherewith to pay the men in his
employ, and that their threats OF
bodily harm drove him out Of the
community.
Threats of Mobbing.
The theory of the defense was that
this threatened mobbing of the young
husband never occurred and that he
simply tired of his position as hus
band of a woman so many years
his senior and father of her brood
Hi Parsons, attorney for the
plaintiff, explains that he never
would have brought suit had he
known what his client knew. He
says she told him she had never
heard from her husband since the
time he left her, and she told the
truth in this, but not all the truth;
for she neglected to add that, al
though she had heard of him directly
she had heard of him through
others. Mrs. Stalnaker explained that
she didn't know she should have
told this to her attorney.
Misfortune followed Stalnaker in
his wanderings. Out in the alkali
country, while journeying in search
of work, footsore and penniless, he
attempted to jump a freight train
fell under the wheels and lost foot
He is still employed at his trade
however, and was so engaged when
located at Pueblo.
"lf all the law books in the coun'
try were burned in a single night
we would have better laws in ten
years than we have at the present
tme."-Judge William L. Kelly.
"If attorneys based their areu.
of natural justice, common sense
and fair play, instead of terrifying
themselves with decisions of other
courts, believe we would get bet
ter resuIts."-Judge Fred N. Dick
son. ....
St. Paul. Decent These are
expressions of cninion, not from
laymen who are fond of. criticising
legal procedure, but from two OF
the judges sitting on the Ramsey
county district bench.
Judge Kelly made the declaration
that the country would suffer no Sc
rious loss if all the law books were
wiped out, in commenting yesterday
He referred to the present-day ten
dency of some attorneys to argue
cases by citing authorities and ask
ing judges to rule by precedent
According to Judge Kelly, there is
too little argument in cases today
that is based upon real logic. Courts
are asked to rule a certain way, he
said, because other courts in the
past have ruled that way.
Should Urge Justice.
Lawyers should urge justice from
the standpoint of reason and not
precedent" said Judge Kelly. '1f
destroyed and entirely new ones
adopted for the present needs of So
ciety, believe we would be better
off,"
Judge Dickson was inclined to CO.
incide somewhat in the view eX.
pressed by Judge Kelly. ....
81 agree with Judge Kelly" said
he, "in that the multiplication OF
law books and legal reports in mod
ern law practice has had this tend
ency-lawyers rely too much upon
precedent and not enough on com
mon sense. s-. 49,.
"Rnles of law are about the same
as they were always, but they
should be applied to meet changing
conditions. Lawyers today are toe
apt to consider point settled il
they find reports of previous de-
cisions on similar cases.
Common Sense Life Of Law.
They are apt to forget that the re-
ported decision is not the law, but
that the decision shows only how
the law was applied Logic is not
the life of common law, but com
mon sense is. " ~.
"In the pioneer days lawyers had
fewer law books. Consequently they
based their arguments upon com
mon sense and fair play as between
man and man, instead of fortifyine
themselves with decisions of other
courts. If lawyers could get back
to this ground I believe we would
get better results" -
Judge H. r. Brill would not com
ment upon Judge Kelly's statement
at is the duty of the courts tc
law to the case at hand" he said
reports of other decisions are o.
use to attorneys in so far as they
indicate how the law has been APP
piled in similar cases."
Prominent Lumberman Dead.