an act to promote habits of temperance, and to prohibit the practice of treating; this law cast such a shadow over the State, and was so repugnant to the good nature of the people, that the first thing which the Legislature did, after providing for the mileage and per diem of its members, was to repeal the preventive treating-law, and to substitute in its place, a punitive act, making it a misdemeanor for a civil officer to become so intoxicated as to render him unfit to discharge the duties of his office; the penalty is a fine not exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment not exceeding one year and removal from office. It appears to me that much difficulty will be encountered in the execution of this law.

New Jersey: But few laws of general interest have been enacted by the Legislature of New Jersey. Habitual drunkards, idiots and lunatics, may be put under the guardianship of a commission. Women are allowed to vote in school meetings; the tax gatherer may intrude into the sacred precincts of the Court of Chancery, and assist in the depletion of litigated estates, by the collection of taxes from moueys or property in the custody of the court; representatives of successions who at sales to foreclose mortgages, forming part of the assets of the estate, purchase for the succession the mortgaged property, hold the title as joint tenants, and are authorized to sell and convey the same without any order of court, the proceeds of sale to be accounted for as other moneys which come into their bands; guardians are allowed, with the approval of the chancellor, to mortgage the lands of minors, lunatics and insane persons, when it is not for the interest of their wards to sell the same.

New Jersey has authorized the formation of companies for mutual protection against damage to glass by hail. It has established a State board of agriculture, and expended money to increase the production of fish in its waters; it has fixed twelve consecutive hours with reasonable time for meals, as a day's labor for employees of street railways and elevated railroads; it has prohibited the transportation of dynamite or other explosives in any boat on the lakes and pouds of the State, in greater quantity than fifty pounds. A law has been passed which makes it unlawful for the governor to commission as a State detective or policeman, any person who has been convicted of, and served a term of imprisonment for having committed the crime of forgery or perjury, or burglary, or arson, or highway robbery, or counterfeiting money, but to prevent trespasses and malicious mischief in the rural districts, the township committee may appoint any one a policeman who will perform the duties of the office for nothing.

New York: No marriage can be registered in New York unless solemnized by a minister of the gospel, a judge or justice of the peace, or a mayor, recorder or alderman of a city, but all lawful marriages contracted in the manner heretofore in use are valid. The Quakers are excepted from the act, nor is the manner of solemnization prescribed in the act necessary to the validity of the marriage.

A husband or wife is not competent to testify against the other, in the trial of an action founded upon an allegation of adultery, except to prove the marriage or disprove adultery; nor can either without the consent of the other be compelled to disclose confidential communications made during the marriage by one to the other; in an action for criminal conversation the plaintiff's wife is not a competent witness for the plaintiff, but she is for the defendant, except she cannot without the consent of the plaintiff disclose confidential conversations. Conveyances of real estate may now be made directly from one spouse to the other. Corporations and joint-stock companies created by general or special law of the State, except literary,

scientific, medical and religious corporations, are required to pay a special tax of one-eighth of one per cent upon the amount of their capital stock, and a like tax upon every subsequent increase thereof, for the privilege of exercising corporate powers, and such powers cannot be exercised until the tax is paid. Banking corporations, and building, mutual loan and accumulating fund associations, are exempted from the tax. The incorporation of bar associations, is authorized, and the trustees who consent to the contracting of any debt are jointly and severally liable for the same. An act has been passed to encourage free libraries in the villages and smaller cities of the State. This act authorizes appropriations to be make by villages and cities having a population not exceeding 30,000, for the support of free libraries, and to raise by taxation the sum necessary for that purpose. Public school boards are empowered, with the consent of the proper municipal authority to establish and maintain evening schools for free instruction in industrial drawing.

Provision is made for the amicable adjustment of disputes between employers and employees by arbitrators, selected by the parties in interest, and by an appeal to, or the mediation of a State board of arbitration. One arbitrator is selected by the employer, the other by the employee or some labor organization which represents them, and the two thus selected choose a third person as chairman. These arbitrators have power to examine witnesses, and their decision is final, unless an appeal be taken to the State board of arbitration and mediation, which is created by the act, and is composed of three persons appointed by the governor for the term of three years; one of the members of this board is to be selected from the political party which at the last general election cast the highest number of votes for governor, the other from the party which cast the next greatest number of votes, and the third from a bona fide labor organization of the State.

Disputes or grievances may be submitted in the first instance to the State board, and in case of a strike or lock-out, the board is directed to proceed to the locality where it occurs, to inquire into the cause of controversy, and to endeavor by mediation to settle it. This act which is similar to the Massachusetts statute, merely provides the legal machinery for conciliation; it does not pretend to impart to the decision of the arbitrators the legal authority of a judicial decree, which is to be enforced by the power of the State.

No child under thirteen years of age can be employed in a manufacturing establishment, nor can a child under sixteen years be so employed, unless the parent or guardian shall file an affidavit stating its age, date and place of birth. Hoisting shafts and well holes are required to be properly enclosed and secured. Twelve consecutive hours, with reasonable time for meals, constitute a day's labor on street, surface and elevated railroads. Every Saturday from twelve o'clock at noon till midnight is made a half holiday. The sale of impure, unwholesome or adulterated milk or cream, as well as any article of food made from the same, is prohibited.

An act has been passed to protect the owners of bottles, boxes, syphons and kegs used in the sale of soda water, mineral waters, ale, milk, beer and other beverage; if the owner's name or mark is stamped or engraved, or etched, or blown, or otherwise impressed on the bottle, box or keg, and he has complied with the law as to registry and publication, the use of such bottle, keg or box by any other person is a misdemeanor; a similar act protects the owner of milk cans, who is vested with the extraordinary power to empty into the street the contents of any of his cans, which he sees in the unlawful possession of another person,

but he must first give notice to such person to empty the can. The law is silent as to the disposition of the can when emptied. If the possessor on notice empties it, can he retain the can? If the owner takes possession of the can to empty it, must he return it to the unlawful possessor, or may he march off with it? I notice this act became a law without the approval of the governor; perhaps this feudal method of righting wrongs by main force may be distasteful to the executive, who in the interest of peace would wish to avert a battle of cans. The sale of goods made by convict labor in the prisons of other States is not allowed, unless such goods are marked or branded with the words "convict-made;" on the other hand, New Jersey requires all goods manufactured in her State prison, and intended for sale, to be stamped with the words, "manufactured in the New Jersey State prison."

It is made unlawful for any employer of messenger boys to put in a disorderly house, or in a place where liquor is sold without a license, any instrument or device by which communication may be had with any office or place of business of the employer, and such employer is forbidden to send a messenger boy on an errand to a disorderly house, or to a place where liquor is sold without license. California has legislated on the same subject, and has made it unlawful to send minors on errands or with messages to houses of questionable repute, or variety theatres. An act has been passed to protect primary elections and conventions of political parties. So many States have legislated on this subject, that we may now regard primaries and conventions as recognized institutions of the country. New York has also regulated the manufacture and sale of wines and half wines; pure wine must contain at least seventy-five per cent of pure grape or other undried fruit juice, and half wine must contain more than fifty per cent of such juice; all half wines must be stamped and sold as such; all wine is considered adulterated, and the sale thereof is prohibited, which contains any alum, baryta salts, caustic lime, carbonate of soda, carbonate of potash, carbonic acid, salts of lead, glycerine or any other antiseptic. Stoves and furnaces inside railroad cars for heating purposes are outlawed, and railroad companies are required to place guard posts in the prolon gation of the line of bridge trusses, so that in case of derailment, the posts and not the bridge trusses, shall receive the blow of the derailed locomotive or car. Druggists are forbidden to refill more than once prescriptions containing more than one-fourth of a grain of opium, or one-half grain of morphine, except on the verbal or written order of a physician. It is unlawful for any person or corporation to exact of an employee an agreement not to join a labor organization, as a condition of securing employment or of being continued in employment.

North Carolina: It has been enacted in North Carolina that in all actions to recover damages by reason of the negligence of the defendant, he cannot rely on the defense of contributory negligence unless it is set up in the answer.

This State has also established a bureau of labor statistics. Laborers and material men are secured by a lien on the building or vessel to the construction or repair of which, their labor or material contributed, and it is made the duty of a contractor to furnish to the owner an itemized account of the sums due for wages, and material, which the owner must retain from the contract price, and pay directly to the laborer or material man; the failure to furnish such itemized account before receiving any part of the contract price, is a misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court. A similar statute protects laborers employed by stevedores to

load or unload ships or other vessels. A divorce is allowed to the wife, if the husband shall be indicted for a felony and shall flee the State, and does not return within one year. It is made unlawful for any railroad to collect for the transportation of freight of the same class, a greater amount as toll or compensation for a short distance than for a longer distance, in the same direction over its road, but the railroad company may make special contracts with shippers of large quantities to be of not less in quantity than one car load. The sale of dangerous explosives has been regulated; it is made unlawful to publish an account of a lottery, whether within or without the State, indicating when and where the same is to be or has been drawn, or the price of a ticket or where it can be obtained. There is a statute to simplify indictments for murder and manslaughter, which abolishes "the fear of God" and "the instigation of the devil." This elimination from indictments of the lecture to the bewildered prisoner will no doubt be regretted by the pious, old-fashioned clerk, who delighted in reading it ore rotundo, as much as modern Plowdens bemoan the loss of John Doe and Richard Roe, of absque and de injuria.

But the most curious statute passed by the North Carolina Legislature, is that which exacts from every company of gypsies, who make a support by pretending to tell fortunes, the payment of $150 to each county in which they offer to practice their craft, and then with extraordinary sang froid, proceeds to declare that payment of the license shall not exempt the gypsies from indictment for practicing their art.

Ohio: The law respecting husband and wife has undergone considerable change in Ohio; this State has given dower to the husband. Tenancy by the curtesy has been abolished, but the widower as well as the widow is endowed of an estate for life in onethird of all the real property of which the deceased consort was seised as an estate of inheritance, at any time during the marriage or of which such consort at the time of death held the fee simple, title in reversion, or remainder, or by virtue of an agreement or other evidence of title; but a conveyance of real estate in lieu of dower to take effect on the death of the grantor, will, if accepted by the grantee, bar the right of dower; but if the conveyance be made during marriage or when the grantee was a minor, the grantee has the right of election. A husband or wife who leaves the other and dwells in adultery is barred of the right of dower unless the offense is condoned. Husband or wife may enter into any contract with the other, or with third persons which either might make if unmarried; but husband and wife cannot contract to alter their legal relations, but they may agree to an immediate separation, and for the support of either of them and their children during the separation. Contracts between husband and wife are subject to the general rules which control the actions of persons occupying confidential relations with each other.

A married person can take and dispose of property, real or personal, the same as if unmarried, and neither husband nor wife as such, is answerable for the acts of the other. Thus State after State has swept away the last vestige of marital law so dear unto our feudal ancestors; and drawing inspiration from a source 80 distasteful to the ancient sages of the common law of England, the modern legislator has advanced beyond the civilian who forbids husband and wife to contract with each other, and does not permit the wife to alienate her real estate or accept gifts without the consent of her husband, or to bind herself as his surety, though she may with his consent become the surety of another.

This State has repeated what are termed in Ohio the

Why maintain the distinction between assumpsit and trespass as to the form of action? Why have any form of action if special pleading be abolished and notice of special matter of defense be substituted in its place, as the Pennsylvanians have done? Forms are the vestiges of archaic fictions, and as legal systems become highly developed, fictions disappear, methods of procedure are simplified, and their importance is lost in the contemplation of rights.

The decisions of the Pennsylvania courts have rendered it necessary for that State to pass an act declaring that in sales by sample there shall be an implied warranty that the goods sold are the same in quality as the samples. It has been held that the exhibition of a sample merely amounted to a representation that the goods sold were merchantable, and that they corresponded with the sample in kind, but not in quality.

An act has been passed which provides that steamboiler insurance companies shall be liable for all immediate loss or damage which the owner of the boiler or his employees may suffer, or be liable for, in case of the explosion of the boiler mentioned in the policy, for the amount specified therein.

A married woman's property act has been passed similar in its provision to the enactments of other States on the same subject.

She is practically a single woman, but she cannot alienate or mortgage her real estate, unless her husband joins in the deed; nor can she become an accommodation indorser or surety for another; the law is silent as to the power of contracting with each other; it however provides that a will executed by her when sole shall not be revoked by subsequent marriage. Another act allows a deserted wife, or one whose husband neglects to provide for her and her children, to appoint a testamentary guardian for them.

If a tenant for life or years fails to apply the rents and income of real estate to the payment of charges or of incumbrances for which he is liable, the court is authorized on the application of the remainderman or reversioner to appoint a sequestrator of the revenues, unless the tenant shall enter into security in such sum, and on such conditions as the court may direct.

When there is a prayer for a money decree in a bill in equity, the court is authorized to issue a writ of foreign attachment against the property of a nonresident defendant.

The trustees of any church or congregation are empowered to abandon a cemetery and sell the same by means of judicial proceedings after due notice, and after purchase of the rights of all lot-holders, and with the consent of such near relatives of the persons buried as may appear. A similar statute was passed by the Legislature of New York.

In case of death of an adopted child intestate, the adopted parents and their lawful heirs and kindred are entitled to inherit from the deceased, as if the adopted were a natural child, to the exclusion of the natural parents and kindred, and the adopted child is entitled to inherit as if it were the child and heir of the adopted parents.

This State has authorized a chattel mortgage upon iron ore, pig-iron, bloom steel and iron rails, steel ingots, rolled and hammered steel, and all steel and iron castings not in place; such mortgage must be recorded in the county where the chattels are at the time of execution, and it ceases to be valid three months after maturity, unless within that time the mortgagee shall file a statement specifying the amount due on the mortgage; then it continues to be valid for such amount, for a further period of one year from the maturity. In case of failure to pay the debt, the mortgagee may in person or by his agent take possession of and sell the property, after thirty days advertisement. It is made a misdemeanor for the owner of

the property to sell it without disclosing the existence of the mortgages upon it, and the penalty is not less than $100, nor more than the entire amount of the purchase-money, and imprisonment not more than one year, either or both, at the discretion of the court. The act which authorized borrowers to contract for the payment of taxes upon loans made to them has been repealed. The detective business has been prohibited except under a license obtained from the court of quarter sessions, on giving bond in the sums of $2,000. An act has been passed to enforce against railroad companies that article of the Constitution which prohibits the creation of fictitious stock by corporations. The act, after reciting that railroad corporations had evaded the Constitution by the formation of syndicates and other devices, proceeds to enact that no stock shall be issued in payment of labor or property, until after the president of the company shall have filed in the office of the secretary of State, a statement sworn to by him and the chief engineer, which shall set forth in detail the prices paid or to be paid for labor done, or property received, and that the prices mentioned were not in excess of the cash value of the labor or property. It prohibits the issue of stock for a larger amount than such cash value.

It further provides, that the company shall not issue its bonds or other certificates of indebtedness less than their fair market value, nor until after the full amount of its authorized capital subscribed for has been paid in money or labor or property, nor for an amount in excess of its capital stock shown by its statement to have been paid for. The employment of children under twelve years of age in any mill, manufactory or mine, is forbidden, and the semi-monthly payment in cash of wage workers is required.

If an employer requires from his employee a notice of intention to quit work under pain of forfeiture of wages, a similar notice must be given by the employer of his intention to discharge the employee, except in case of general suspension of work ordered by the employer or the employees.

Employers are required to provide seats for the use of female employees in manufacturing, mechanical and mercantile establishments.

Twelve hours constitute a day's work for employees of horse, cable, or electric railway companies.

The civil rights of colored people are protected by a law which prohibits their exclusion from railroads, hotels, theatres or other places of entertaintment or amusement, on account of race or color. An effort has been made to preserve the purity of elections, by punishing the election officers who become intoxicated while on duty.

A very rigid license law regulates the dealing in intoxicating liquors; the clause which will occasion most regret is that which annihilates the tavern score, by prohibiting the sale of drinks on credit.

Pennsylvania, for the encouragement of forest culture, gives a bounty in the shape of reduction of taxes on land planted with trees; the amount of the reduction depends on the number of years, not exceeding thirty, that the land is devoted to the culture of timber.

Rhode Island: An adjourned session of the Legislature of Rhode Island commence on January 18, and terminated on the 6th of May. It met again according to law on the 31st of May. My examination of the law of this State has been confined to three passed during the adjourned session.

A constitutional amendment, providing that women should have the right to vote subject to the same qualification as men, was submitted to the people in April last; it was defeated by a majority which surprised those who favored, as well as those who opposed it.