The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1917-01-11
HIS SUBJECT WAS TRUST"
he Pointed Out the Advantages Of the
Wisconsin Statutes Over That of
New York From Which They
Were Copied.

citations, astute references to the de-
cisions Of the greatest Of New York
1urists and supreme court judges and
containing technical dissertations quite
beyond the lay mind to grasp or under
stand, Villas p. Whaley, district attori
ney Of Racine county, speaking before
the Kenosha Bar association Friday in
the Hotel haywood, threw bouquets to
the Wisconsin legislature which made
tie statutes authorizing the creation,
aud designating the manner of creation,
of public trusts in the state, outside of
those for purposes of charity.
The members were enthusiastic In
their enjoyment Of the wisdom of the
paper and it caused lively and inter
ested discussion afterward. t
Mr. Whaley considers that the Wis
consin lawmakers, advised as they were
hy prominent members of the bar of
Wisconsin, used great wisdom in avoid
ing the mistakes of the trust laws of
the state of New York and by this
evasion, avoiding also the continuity of
n
in the wake of the New York laws.
One might be led to believe, /" said
Mr. Whaley, "after all the agitation
ever the subject of trusts in that state
that it would be next to impossible in
tile tate Of New York to create trust
that would be considered as valid. But
today in drawing up wills the wording
used makes but little difference. The
purposes for which trusts were created
may be gained just as well through
Powers. The only difference comes in
the vesting of the legal title. In the
former case it is in the trustee while
in the latter it vests in the heirs of
tn testator. A bad trust created in
tie form of power is good as power;
I; power in the form of trust is good
* a trust; while a bad trust in the
form of trust will be upheld as a
power. So it may be said that since the
result is practically the same so far as
beneficiaries are concerned, it is imma-
terial whether it be considered by the
court as trust or power 1t car be
SAID with accuracy that all common law
trusts may be executed In New York,
if not as trust then as power in
trust
Down to the present time no cases in
Wisconsin have been decided as powers
in trust; the reason is self-apparent--
profiting by the troubles experienced in
New York, the Wisconsin legislature
in adopting the New York statutes on
uses and trusts, added to that statute
subdivision 5, which is found in the
Wisconsin act today, and which has
admirably taken care of all trusts, not
provided for in the other subdivision of
section 2081, chapter 90 r. S. 1885,"
The care experienced in making the
Wisconsin trust laws is considered to
reflect much credit upon the legislature
that enacted them, because the bill was
fashioned upon the New York law and
only through careful consider ltior of
the many pitfalls that the New York
statutes had created was it possible
for the greatly improved Wisconsin
law to be fashioned.
In introducing his subject, Mr..
Whaley said
q The subject of real property trusts
in Wisconsin could not be fully under
stood and appreciated if we did not go
back to the time when uses and trusts
were first Incorporated into the law of
real property. In this discussion it will
be attempted to treat of the origin of
uses and trusts; what effect upon them
was had by the statute of uses; and the
portions of the statute that were incor-
porated into the New York statutes in
1880. After having taken up the effects
of the New York revision of 1880, the
Wisconsin cases on the subject viii be
taken up in detail showing wherein the
scatutes differ and the very noticeable
effect of such difference
"The law of real property has been
the source of endless trouble in both the
courts of England and this country.
The real cause for such confusion can
probably be accounted for when we ae-
quaint ourselves with the rules and
principles laid down for the purpose of
evading the old common law, with its
n doctrine Of tenures, which was meant
to maintain the old feudal system in all
It's vigor The feudal system with it's
many impositions upon real property
could exist only in barbarous age and
rnder despotic government. The date
Of the origin of uses is unknown, all
though they appeared as the result of
al established custom. The use came
to be an interest wholly separate and
distinct from the land itself. If one