The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-01-09
CASES OF INTEREST

decided by the Supreme Court of Ala
 gama, whose opdnaon is published in 63 Southern Reporter, 8, brings outzan
 interesting question as to the adnissd- bdlty of evidence relative to the flight
 of a person accused of crime. The evidence went to show that defendant a boy seventeen years old. and an adult companion. had for some time
 discussed going from their place of
 residence at Altoona. Aaa-. to spadra,
 Ark. for the purpose of working In @ mine. On the night of July 3, 1911, a man was murdered in Altoona, and at an early hour on the morning thereafter defendant and hfs compan-
 allowed to show the circumstances
 of their going. that they left the 4rain at Birmingham before reaching the regular station, that one of the par ties registered at g. hotel under an assumed name, that che other failed
 to register at all, chat they gaMbaed and spent money in Birmingham, rode on the top of a sleeping car during
 part of their trip, and other unusual cir-cun1stances. for the purpose of showing that they 8Vere fugdtivess from justice. On the other hand. defen- dant attempted to introduce in ievi-I dence postal cards mailed from Mem phis and Spadra to his mother, beaT- ing his name or initials and giving his whereabouts as tending to show that there was no concealment on his part. The tria1 judge admitted the cards in evidence for the purpose of showing the fact of defendants writing to his mother, but excluded the contents of the cards from the jury. This is held by the Supreme Court to be reversible error. The Court says: s.Regar d1ess of the question as to whether it would have been a. violation by the postal auth critics of the laws or regulations of the post office department to have reaG those postal cards or not, the postal cards were open and defendant must have known when he mailed those postal cards that they could be read by any person in the employ of the United States government, or by any other person Into whose hands they might fall, before they reached his mothe1. On the QueS- ton as to whether the defendant was a fugitive from justice, the contents of the postal cards should have been admitted They have tendency. the weight of which was for the jury, to give quality to the absence of the de- fendaM from Altoona, and also had a
 tendency to show, the weight of which
 was also for fhe jury, that the ab-f sence of defendant from Altoona. was due to his desire for work rather than to his desire to evade arrest .''
 Self discrimination of AutomobtIe Drivers by Requirir2g them to stop and disclose identity in case of acci- deit--The New York Highway Law contains the following provision: ssAny person operating a. motor ve- hicIe, who. knowing that injury has been caused to a person or properfy due to the culpabdHty of said operator or to accident, leaves the place of said injury or accident without stop ping and giving his names residence, ,, etc, shall be guilty of a felony.'' One Roseuhe heianer, being indicted for violation of this staHutes dexnurred On the ground that it was unconstitu- tiona1, as in violation of the provision any criminal case to be a witness against himself. The demurrer was sustained, and on appeal the decision affirmed by the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court in Peo- pde vs. Rosenheimer, 13O New York ] Supplement Reporter, 544. The peo- pie then appeal ed to the Court of Ap- calls, where the decision of the lower | court was reversed, 10E Northeastern Reporter, 5 30- The Count says: teThe l statute does not require the operator of the motor vehicle to state the cir cu1nstances of the occurrence tending to show his responsib ibiIfty, but merely to stop and identify hinself.x Un- doubted1y it does require him to make known a fact which Wd11 be a link in the chain of evidence to convict him of a. crime, if in fact he, has been guilty of one. Whether the -compul- sorry furnishing of such a link is a constitutiona1 violation may be qles- tioned. The learned judge who wrote for the minority of the Appel late Division has presented in his opinion a very strong argument in support of the proposition that the statute is a valid exercise of the po-
 
 Of the peculiar character of a. motor
 car. Since the decision of this case
 in the Appellate Division the question
 has been presented to the Supreme Court of Missouri, which, in a very
 forceful opinion, adopted the view en-
 terfained by the judges who dissented
 in this case in preference to that of the majority. Ex-parte Kneed1er
 243 Mo. 632, 147 s. W. 983. 40 l.. R.
 A. s(lJ. S.) 522. In the opinion of the
 learned court of Missouri reference is made to statutory enactments at
 least partially similar in principle to that before US, the validity of which
 has either been upheld by the courts
 or has never been questioned. As to motor vehicles, laws requiring the registry of the names of their own CTS and chauffeurs and the display of the numbers of the vehicles in a cen spicuous place thereon for the purpose of identifying the car and the person operating it have been upheld. Peo- pie vs. Schneider, 139 Mich, 673, 1O3 N. w. 172. 69 T.. R. A. 345, 5 Ann. Gas. 79O. See Frankford vs. City of Philadelphia, 58 Pa 119, 9S Am. Dec. 242; St. Louis vs. Williams, 235 Mo. 503, 139, S. w. 340.''
 Release of Subscription by Death of Subscriber.-In the course of the ad- ninistration of the estate of MT. John H. Converse, of Philadelphia, a. claim was presented based upon a. subscrip- tion by deceased to the endowment fund of a. college, to be paid when the entire amount of the endowment should be covered by valid pledges or