The Alaska daily empire., 1921-07-19

ternational court of commercial ar bitration established in the United States. toward which the interest oi thousands of business men and law yers has been keenly directed, is now one month old and has heard a total of twelve cases.
 Friends of the new trade court point with qualification to this first months record, more especially be- cause of the strenuous opposition which it has encountered on the part of certain elements of the bar and the established courts of law This antagonism sprang from a feel ing that the trade court constituted an encroachment upon their rightful domain.
 Functions of Court.
 The trade court, functioning as an arm of the local association of commerce, distributes justice with much the same informality and di- rectness that characterized the trib- unals of tribal days. Without the aid of hear ye's' or summonses, de positions or bailiffs, the evidence is heard and the case decided. The litigants, such as in one case were manufacturer situated in New York and a retailer located in Chi cago. pursue their respective busi- nesses just as if nothing unusual at all was happening, while the court which is ambulatory,'" gravitates between New York and Chicago gathering the testimony and in the regular course of its business day without pomp, renders it's decision.
 The trade court" was made pos sible officially by the State ,Legisla- ture after it had been advocated by the Chicago Credit Mems Associa- tion, the National Credit Mems As scciation and Chief Justice Harry Olson of the Municipal Court of Chicago.
 Test of Validity.
 The final test of it's validity oc- cured later when a test case was taken to the State Supreme Court through the activity of the Chicago Association of Commerce and a fav- orable ruling resulted
 Advocates of the trade court point out. neither party to controversy has had to appear as witness in open court, no important trade se- erets have been aired before kcom- petitors, no expensive fees have been paid out to attorneys, no obnoxious or harmful publicity has been in- cured, and the verdict has been rendered with the same, dispatch that marks the daily decisions in the conference room of any we'll conducted business. M
 nj Cases to Be Heard.
 Any civil case now tried in the established courts of the United States, except a divorce action, may come before the trade court; the Supreme Court of Illinois has sus- tained it's legality under the new Arbitration and Awards Act, and has defined it's authority as extend ing to any question of fact as dis tinguished from questions of law Should a point of law be involved in a case, a law court may revise the decision. But the trade court also has powers which court of law has not; it may define the rights of both parties under con- tract where no action has yet ac- crued, even though a court of law could not entertain an ordinary suit until damages had accrued for breach or nOn-fullfilment of con- tract; it may disregard the letter oi the law and decide according to the equities of the parties should mu- tual error in. the contract be- found where ordinary procedure would re. quire filing of a bill in equity to enforce the contract. $3
 Scope of Trade Court.
 [ The scope of the trade court jur- isdiction is the wide world. A manu. facturer in Liverpool who has tiff lover a merchandise settlement with g tradesman in Hong Kong may have his case adjudicated in Chicago al though the merchandise did not ever enter the United States. Merely the agreement of both parties to the ac tion brings it before the trade court
 The court manager, J. Kent Green, is the only paid employee and is retained by the Chicago As sociatiOn of Commerce. All fees col lected go to the association; where not more than $200 is involved tht