The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-28
NOVEL POINTS OF THE LAW.

for him the Court OF Appeals said:
1T Ia no concern OF ours that the con-
troversy at the root OF this lawsuit may
seem to be trivial That fact supplies,
indeed. the greater reason why the jury
should not have been mised into the be-
lief that Justice might therefore be denied
TO the suitor. To enforce ones rights
when they are violated Ia never a legal
wrong and may often be a moral duty.
1t happens In many instances that the
violation passes with no effort to redress
II, sometimes from praiseworthy forbear-
ance. sometimes from weakness, sometimes
from mere inertia. But the law, which
creates a right. can certainly not concede
that an insistence upon its enforcement is
evidence Of a wrong"
The London Ldto Journal tells Of a re-
cent case In which the Court of Criminal
Appeal quashed conviction on the
ground OF mistaken identity. The de-
fendant was soldier indicted on four
counts on woman's charge. The prose-
cutrix had complained of an assault By a
soldier and described her assailant as a
man with fair hair, inclining to ginger,
and with fierce ginger mustache. The
whole garrison of 3.4O0 men was paraded
Tor identification. and after passing about
100 the prosecutrix Identified the prisoner
as her assailant The other witnesses to
identification agreed with her that her as
sailant had a mustacSe. 1t was proved
and admitted by the prosecu-
ton on appeal. that the prisoner never had
possessed mustache. He also put for
ward an abb which was uncorroborated.
NN..
sault, obviously compromise verdict,
since they were evidently In doubt as to
the accused's guilt. But the chairman
passed the maximum sentence OF twelve
months hard labor. Evidently on the facts
this verdict was an improper one and
amounted TO a miscarriage OF justice. The
court quashed the conviction. and Lord
in delivering its judgment.
pointed out that juries in doubt should
acquit the prisoner: they should not en-
deavor to hunt with the hounds and run
with the hare by convicttng him of some
lesser offence by way OF n compromise.
The Supreme Court OF North Carolina
held in State VS.. Sanborn that on the trial
of a husband and wife for selling intoxi-
eating liquor the trial Judge properly re-
fused to instruct the jury that II the wife
made the sale In the presence of her hus-
was acting under his coercion and with
his consent and approval she should be
acquitted. The court said:
"If the wife acted voluntarily she ought
to be held liable. whether her husband
was present or not. II she acted under
his compulslon she ought to be exempt
from punishment not because OF the mar
iial relation, but like any one else acting
under compulsion. At common law there
was a presumption that when a crime was
committed by the wife in the presence OF
her husband she acted under compulsion.
but that presumption does not comport
with twentieth century conditions. The
contention that wife has no more intel
ligence or responsibility than CHILD Is
now out of date. No one believes it
The mower OF courts of equity to re-
strain the prosecution of actions at law,
and the fact that such power is exercised
only when other remedies are inadequate
and the equities invoking the power are
clear and strong. Is the subject OF an
editorial article in Bench aud Bar which
refers to n notable instance in which this
equitable power was invoked and eNer'
cised. The case was Dale vs. Roosevelt.
decided in 1921. in which the plaintiffs
were executors of the estate OF Robert
Fulton. the steamboat inventor, and the
defendant. Nicholas I. Roosevelt. member
of the New York family OF the name and
OF steamboat plying on the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
The facts In the case were that Capt.
Roosevelt persuaded Fulton that ne hhd
discovered on the bank OF the Ohio coal
deposit 80 rich and 30 easily accessinie
that all he had 10 do was to navigate his
boat up to the coal bank and there with
the aid OF Ratchet and few wooden
wedges" he had split or enough coal In
squares las large as two mel cou.d
handle" to keep n constant fire under his
boilers all the way down the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers to NatcheZ, Fulton
believed the story and paid down sum
for the land In which the coal was said
to lay and agreed to pay Capt. Roosevelt
an annuity for twenty years. The heirs
OF the steamboat inventor declined 10
make the payments on the ground that
Can't. Roosevelts story vas untrue, and
they sued him to prevent him from prose-
cutting an action at law for the recovery
Of the annuity. Chancellor Kent en-
Joined Can't Roosevelt IN a decision in
which he said:
'Upon the whole I consider the rep
made TO Fulton as altogether
fallacous. and that the consideration for
the stipulation OF such an eNtravagant
annuity 81 ,000D did not exist In point
OF fact Whether the defendant made the
sta tements in his letter to Fulton through
mistake or under the decisions Of his
own Imagination or by design I am not
able to say. II Is sufficient for the de-
cision OF this case that the representa-
tons arc not supported, hut are contra
dcted by proof and that the claim OF
the annuity upon such A state of the case
Is unconscientious apd unjust"
The Court OF Errors In affirming the
decree said
"The description is certainly given in
glowing colors. | think a purchaser would
not he considered very sanguine In believ-
ing the acquisition to he mine of wealth,
I think this presents case in
which, II there was no mistake or fraud.
there would be no difficulty in obtaining
proof A coal mine so accessible, so
productive. In the midst OF inhabitants,
cannot be an obscure object, It's exist
ence Is susceptible of the most satisfactory
proof. Numbers must have been en-
ployed In raising the immense quantities
OF coal stated to have been found on
the surface. as well as many persons to
transport IL as an article of commerce
Something more than-the scanty proof
OF n coal mine bearing a resemblance
to the original is justly expected"
An insane person IL canahlc OF mental
suffering AS well as sane person
under a ruling by the Supreme Court Of
Texas In Tweed VS.. Western Union Tele-
graph Company. until 1t is proved that
such abnormal mental condition existed
as 10 pravant bo r,ar frpr,, pxppripnpiDp