The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-05
MEXICAN PECULIARITIES

It IS interesting to note IndL NIT [ dl- mer, as a result of his study of Spanish law, the system of which the Mexican is an ff-shoot, reached and declared the conclusion that the Mexican is a m1 re scientific system-in theory-than the American system. In the conclusion of his paper he stated very pointedly that the American system is concerned more directly with precedents than with logic, and declared it to be the conclusion of the first-thinkers of the profession that a fundamental revision of the American sys- tenn is inevitable.
 Peculiarities of the Mexican law as pointed out by MT. Palmer, appealed with striking force to the members of the congress. The speaker declared that in default of an express statute covering the case in point, the controversy in Mexico must be decided in favor of the party seeking to avoid a loss. He declared that newly enacted statute was in force on the day it was posted, and in force ir, villages in the environ of the place of posting, on a period governed by tho following-one subsequent day for each 70 kilometers of distance.
 He declared it to be an improvement on our system that in Mexico the parent, guardian school teacher or husband was held to strict accountability for the in discretions of children and wives; and that in Mexico, officials and judges were held responsible for improper arrest, un- necessary detention. or their own incom- potency.
 Unclaimed chattel, he declared, is, when no owner. as a result of advertising, is found, sold at auction, the finder receiv- ing one-fourth of the proceeds and a charity three-fourths. He declared, too, that ownership of property was deter mined by the length of time it had been possessed.
 MORE SCIENTIFIC SYSTEM
 MT. Palmer concluded his argument
 Tn discussing the Mexican law, the institutions and some of the specific provisions in the codes have been pointed out as strange to the Anglo American lawyer One often hears it said in the southern part of the United States that the Mexican law is ex- actly opposite to ours. that if one thing is true with us, its contrary exists with them However that may be- the actual result, a determination of rights be- tween parties based on justice, is iden- tical.
 Tn comparing the two sytems, one cannot help but see that in theory the Mexican is the more scientific. With us, the ever-increasing mass of Judicial de- cisions, with the reckless, haphazard promulgation of legislative enactments, has caused our system t0 become un- wieldy The determination of the law of a case in actual practice is a con- tinuous search for a precendent, case in point being more valuable than thousand sound, logical reasons. The vast number of decisions in the books renders it we'll nigh impossible to read and reconcile them alr, and the result ing uncertainty of the law is easily apparent. The demand for executive boards and commissions With summary and plenary powers, freed from Judicial review, are but only outward evidences of public dissatisfaction with the sys- tenn, and the advanced thinkers among the profession predict fundamental change.
 OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY
 While Mexican laws is possibly at times defective, it is the offshoot of a system scientific and lasting, and of fers fruitful fields for comparative study The continued political turmoils that ravish the country have caused many to believe that there exists no s~. k- fO~ woo