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IX.-CURRENT NOTES ON INTERNATIONAL

LAW.

Jurisdiction in Cases of Judicial Separation.

In a very elaborate judgment, in which all the authorities were exhaustively discussed, Gorell Barnes, J., in Armytage v. Armytage, 1898, P. 178, decided that the bona fide residence of the wife in England is sufficient to give the English Courts Jurisdiction to decree a judicial separation. The petitioner was originally a domiciled Englishwoman who in 1888 was married in Melbourne, to the respondent, a domiciled Australian. In consequence of acts of cruelty alleged to have taken place while the parties were travelling in 1897, on the continent, the wife left her husband and came to reside in this country with her children. She shortly afterwards commenced proceedings for a judicial separation. The husband pleaded a denial of the jurisdiction of the Court. Gorell Barnes, J., held that the Court had jurisdiction. The chief points of interest in the judgment were the following: (1) The learned Judge expressed the view that Niboyet v. Niboyet, 4 P.D. 1, “was opposed to the general current of cases in this Court and "had been practically overruled by the decision of the Privy "Council in the case of Le Mesurier v. Le Mesurier, 1895, Ap.

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C. 517." But he qualified this by the statement (p. 185) that "The Court does not now pronounce a decree of dissolution "where the parties are not domiciled in this country,

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except in favour of a wife deserted by her husband, or whose husband has so conducted himself towards her that she is justified in living apart from him, and who up to "the time when she was deserted or began so to be, was "domiciled with her husband in this country." (Compare Dicey, Conflict of Laws, p. 275-276.)

(2) It was further pointed out (p. 196) that the reasons in favour of domicil being the test of jurisdiction in divorce

cases do not apply to cases of judicial separation. Divorce is essentially a change of status, while a separation only indirectly affects the status of the parties.

(3) The statutory jurisdiction as regards judicial separation is expressly made "as nearly as may be conformable" to the old Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction to grant a dissolution a mensâ et thoro, and it appeared to the Court clear that where the parties were formerly within the jurisdiction, the Ecclesiastical Court would have entertained a suit of this kind (p. 194).

Assignments of Moveables.

The question as to the application of the lex situs to dispositions of moveables arose incidentally in the House of Lords in the recent case of Inglis v. Robertson and Baxter, 1898, Ap. Cas. 616. G, a domiciled Englishman, had stored goods in a bonded warehouse in Glasgow and had taken delivery warrants for them, drawn to his order "or assigns by indorsement thereon." He indorsed the warrants by way of pledge to J, an English merchant, who gave no notice of the fact to the warehouseman. Subsequently R and B, a Scotch firm, claiming as personal creditors, "arrested" the goods, and thereby asserted a preferential right to that of J. If Scotch Law governed the cases this contention was clearly justified. The House of Lords held that it did apply. Lord Watson said: "The present "question does not arise between two Englishmen, nor "does it arise in relation to mercantile transactions which 'can reasonably be characterized as English. The situs "of the goods was in Scotland. This is a "question which I have no hesitation in holding must, in the "circumstances of this case, be solved by reference to the "law of Scotland." The case of N. W. Bank v. Poynter, 1895, A.C. 56, was held to be distinguishable.

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JOHN M. GOVER.

Reviews.

[SHORT NOTICES DO NOT PRECLUDE REVIEWS AT GREATER
LENGTH IN SUBSEQUENT ISSUES.]

Two Chapters in the Law of Torts. By F. T. PIGGOTT. London: William Clowes and Sons, Limited. 1898. Pp. 39. Price 1s. 6d.

It was to a Japanese audience that these two chapters-in the form of lectures—were first addressed, and the author shows in them throughout that enthusiastic pride in the laws and institutions of our own country, which familiarity with Oriental courts and customs is always inclined to foster. The law of England, which is here at home the butt of many scribblers who are altogether unable to appreciate its merits, figures in these two chapters as something grand and wonderful, which the rest of the world must be desirous to understand. And yet, at the same time, the author treats his subjects with a lively wit, which prevents his admiration of the greatness of our law from presenting an absurd aspect, as it must have done in any writer wanting in the sense of humour. The first chapter is devoted to "the reasonable man "-a fictitious legal person who certainly has his comic side. Mr. Piggott discusses his subject in the manner of Aristotle, when in the "Ethics" he discourses on the several virtues. Courage, for instance, is best explained by exhibiting the courageous man, and telling the reader how such an one behaves under various circumstances. Just so does Mr. Piggott discuss "reasonableness." He exhibits the reasonable man, and informs us how such an one behaves under various circumstances. All that he says is most excellent law, and still, for all that, the method of treatment is of such a kind that the study appears a light and amusing one, as, for instance, when we are informed of the limits of the reasonableness of the reasonable man, and how he does not fence his roof for the protection of the man whom he instructs to repair the tiles, or the artist whom he permits to sit there for the sake of the view. Reasonable time is the time which a reasonable man would allow for the purpose in question; but simple as this matter is to lawyers, the lay public-even in England, to say nothing of Japan-do not always find it so easy to understand. We were lately asked by a servant whether, if a dressmaker were an unreasonably long time in delivering

a dress, the purchaser was not entitled to be an equally long time in paying the bill. It was not quite easy to explain to her satisfaction why she was not so entitled, but Mr. Piggott could have done it. The second chapter upon "the unknown workman," and the doctrine of "Res ipsa loquitur," is not less interesting than the first.

A Treatise on the Law of Torts. By R. RANCHODDASS and D. KESHAVLAL. Bombay: R. A. Sagoon and G. Narayen & Co. Calcutta: B. Bannerjee & Co. Madras: V. R. Iyer. London: Stevens and Haynes. 1897. Pp. 550. Price Rs. 5.

Students of law in India will find this a very serviceable treatise : the principles of the English common law are well set forth, and the names of the leading cases establishing them are given in large type, while the modifications of our law, which have been effected in India, are carefully explained. There is an appendix of quotations at the end, which will enable the student to anticipate his examination, and so forewarned is to be forearmed.

The Law of Mines in Canada. By WILLIAM DAVID MACPHERSON and JOHN MURRAY CLARK, M.A., LL.B. Toronto: The Carswell Company, Limited. 1898. Pp. 1294.

The Law of Mines in Canada necessarily differs in detail from that of England, because of the difference in the subject-matter. But it is interesting to perceive how all the main principles of the Canadian law upon the subject depend entirely upon the English common law. No English text-book could give more care and attention, than does that of the present authors, to the right understanding of the judgments in every English case bearing upon the points discussed; and the decisions in well-known cases like Chasemore v. Richards, Harris v. De Pinna, Halker v. Poritt, The St. Helen's Smelting Co. v. Tipping, and Webb v. Bird have evidently been as anxiously scrutinized in Canada as they have been here. The special statutes, however, which have been passed for the regulation of mining in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and British Columbia respectively, occupy altogether more than four hundred pages of the work before us. And the number of these statutes is in itself some evidence of the importance of the industries and the properties now represented by mining-works in those portions of the Queen's dominions. This treatise appears to be admirably adapted for its

purpose, and the manner of indexing and the cross-references are likewise excellent.

Death-Duty Tables, comprising in an expanded form Tables I-III. appended to the Succession Duty Act, 1853, with examples illustrating their use and application. By A. W. NORMAN, B.A., B.Sc. (London). London William Clowes & Sons, Limited. : 1898. Pp. 196.

Price 7s. 6d.

This book is of the "ready reckoner" order, and at first sight it might appear that the labour involved in it was merely of an arithmetical description. But a closer inspection will show that the work could not have been done without a thorough understanding of the different Acts of Parliament involved. It is just one of those plodding books for which some good lawyer must be found, and for which he is seldom wanting, when the elucidation of new and difficult enactments, involving figures, requires his aid. The present writer has already given an earnest that he knows his subject, in his earlier "Digest of Death Duties," and the tables now published will be a useful addition to his former work.

General Digest-American and English-Quarterly Advance-Sheets. Rochester, New York: Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Co. 1898. Pp. 1091. Price $1.

Great industry has been expended upon this compilation, and the result is very satisfactory. Students of comparative jurisprudence, who are desirous of keeping pace with the times in regard to the knowledge of judge-made law, will find this a valuable contribution to their libraries.

Employers' Liability and Compensation to Workmen on the Continent. By A. PEARCE HIGGINS, M.A., LL.B. Edinburgh: William Green & Sons. London: Stevens and Haynes. 1898. Pp. 134.

Second Edition. Employers' Liability under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897, and the Employers' Liability Act, 1880. By A. ROBINSON, B.A., and J. D. STUART SIM, B.A. London: Stevens & Sons, Limited. 1898. Pp. 248. Price 7s. 6d.

Fifth Edition. The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897, with notes. By W. A. WILLIS, LL.B. London: Butterworth & Co. and Shaw & Sons. 1898. Pp. 174. Price 3s. 6d. net.

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