The Topeka state journal., 1922-06-24

ftCll Law Made Plain by Justice Jud-
son s. West Of the Kansas supreme
court was published in the Boston sun
day Globe.
Respect for the law has Ions been
considered its due.
But that's not all. The respect has
been mixed in mary peoples minds
with a confused awe.
The law is admittedly intricate ami
technical and has always been sup
posed 10 preclude the possibility of n
average layman completely under
standing IL. Men. specially prepared
by long years of study are provided to
deal with il. and Mr.. Common Man
is tacitly advised not TO bother his
head about il. But he does. neverthe-
less. for he comes in contact with il
frequently.
The law is the accumulated expert
ence under multitude of circum-
stances Of host of persons over the
ages II Is contained in vast num-
Der of bulky volumes to which the
legal profession continually refer. and
which strike holy revolt into the
hearts OF most ordinary folk How can
the average Individual expect to un-
derstand the law2 He can't" accord
ing TO the majority of people
But from out of kansas-that state
OF continual and virile experimental
tion-Justice Judson s West of the
state supreme court has sent another
answer IN a tiny book of 1O2 pages.
published by Edwin Valentine Mitch
ell. Judge West-acCOrding to the
title. Practical Law Made Plain
has declared that even tho the law is
of unmana geable elaborateness for the
ordinary person. vet is there a large
slice of IL for everyday use which can
be readily and thor ~ diSested by him
who will
Not Set TO Dlrge Music.
Such students at the Harvard law
school as cav the book from the out
side-it readily fits into a compare
lively small pocket-eXclaimed with
Ciee. Me fo- IT," and did their best
10 persuade the Globe man to visit
each one Of the Harvard law faculty
and show them how eXcellently the
small volume would serve as text
book: in fact. they insisted that il
ought to be the chief textbook of the
school
Judge West prefaces his breezy lit
tie book with = plea in Self-Defense."
After 40 years experience in the
law" he says. 4 have reached the
state OF mind which has no fear to
say. I don't know and I am re-
solved to write a few chapters on law,
so that students and others can un-
derstand them.
Il see no good reason why this
serious and 7ignified subject need be
dressed in mourning or set to dirge
music. for there is as much fun in
the law as in anything else. and fully
as much manufactured gravity and
skin-deep deccrum.
The road IS cleared right now by
the promise that mis- work will not
abound in definitions which do not de-
fine and eulosies which leave the
conscience of the euloEist in a quaver.
So just take IL easy and let me tell you
a few plain things which you ought TO
know II you do not or which you once
knew and have forgotten"
Kissing According to Law.
In the very first chapter Judge West
gives the reader lavish taste of the
levity which he has found in his 40
years of legal experience. He starts
with a definition of law to the effect
that Il is a rule of action, and then
illustrates with several pointed ex-
amples;.
When you kiss your0 wife goodby
and so to the office" he explains,
''you know you are not to kiss the
steuoErapher when YOU arrive there. ]
There might be germs and besides II
would be sure to be a risk If such a
thing were cone and found out. and so
the law OF infection and the law to
keep the peace both admonish you to
be good"
He defines briefly the difference be
tween the statutory Iaw-that passed
by the government-and the common
law. which IS made up largely of
rules dug ou- of the reports of Eng
lish decisions for the last few hundred
years and put in shape by such writer's
as Coke and Blackstone" He touches
lightly on the influence of the Roman
law
You may cry out that no one can
hoPe TO learn all these different kinds
OF law he suggests, "and how can
one obey a law he never heard of or
how can he know how to follow a
law he does not understand Ny
dear reader. this is just where the
noble legal profess on comes in. Go
70 your attorney and pay him a rea-
sonabie fee and tell him TO find out
what the law is on your point and tell
you
II you think he does -ot earn his
money. just Try finding out for your