The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-02-12

l am still living in hope, but really
it seems much like pulling teeth for
judges and lawyers to try TO get out
of the old ruts of the law. However, the
world moves and we look for bright
er and better day.
Under the old system of holding up
court business to await the coming
of court terms, when an appeal went
over q term, it meant delay of six
months. Under our new system ev-
| cry day is a term day, and when an
appeal goes over a term that means
it goes over till tomorrow. / am so
much pleased with the work and the
progress OF the court that now I am
happy all the day. We are turning
the work into pleasure, and so shall
we turn these letters: / propose to
write so as to appeal to the young
folks and also to the gPown-ups; to
write Of the courts and the laws, Of
morality and religion and of the way
to prosperity and happiness. You are
all invited to read every letter and in
that way join my law and bible class.
The bible is our sacred book and a
person who does not read 1t is by
many accounted an ignoramus or an
infidel. It's narrative concerning the
origin of man is simple and poetical.
We see our first parents, Adam and
Eve, created by God himself and
placed in the bounteous Garden of
Eden. The garden must have been
in salubrious climate near the Med
iterranean sea. We are told that God
made man in his own image and af-
ter his own likeness. And all that
we can readily believe, because we
cannot conceive of an intelligent be-
ing in a form different from man.
And what of woman who was made
of a rib from Adam? One poet writes: :,
Aud Nature swears the lovely dears,
Her noblest work she classes O.;
Her prentice hand she tried on man
And then she made the Lasses o..
Another writes:
The earth was sad. the garden was
wild;
And man. the hermit, sighed till wo-
man smiled.
I wish there were some way of
turning the law into poetry, or at
least making it more poetical and hui
name. This, to some extent, ] propose
to do by writing and publishing de-
cisions and comments on the law, so
as to appeal to the understanding of
my readers with simplicity and clear
ness, the same as the decision in the
Wine case.
Some judges take pride in writing
are never read. And in this state the
average length of a supreme court de-
cision is greater than in ANY other
state. This habit we purpose to re-
verse. In algebra to solve an equa-
ton, you first reduce it to it's simplest
form. And so it is in law: To solve
problem, the first step is to reduce
it to it's simplest form by stating the
facts in such q way that any person
xxYik
lucid statement Of the case should
be found on the first page OF every
lawyers brief and on the first page of
every judicial decision. The first half
dozen sentences should sound the key
and fairly indicate the nature of the
action and the defense.
The Minet Tax Title Case.
This week we have had a tax title
cast from the magic city. The plain
tiff. Mile Botz, brings suit against
the Trustee Loan company to quiet
her title to three lots in the city of
Minot. The defendant claims title
under a tax deed and appeals from a
decision quieting title in the plaintiff.
AS the record shows, the tax deed is
void on its face. It shows that the
three lots were sold to the company
for specific sum and does not show
separate sale of each lot. Under
the law, each lot must be sold for the
precise amount OF the tax and the
tax deed must show the sum for which
each lot was Sold In this case each
lot was sold for the sum total of the
general tax and also special as
sessment for improvements. And in
such case the law Is that there
must be one sale for the general tax
and another sale for the special as
sessment. Hence. OF course, when one
sale was made for the sum total OF
the general tax and the special assess