sary there is always the danger of losing both although the liability of one of the two defendants is certain. The New Jersey procedure is perhaps liable to abuse but such has not come to the knowledge of the writer, who believes that provision to be beneficial.

Much of the simplification introduced by the act is a simplification of nomenclature rather than of procedure. The substitution of motions for demurrers and pleas, and of appeals for writs of error is of this character. The preliminary reference or "omnibus motion" introduced by the rules does not seem to have been frequently used by the bar and little, therefore, can be said of its practical usefulness.

A simple and expeditious method of examining adverse parties before trial before a commissioner without first securing an order for the purpose has been added by the legislature.

The liberal rules as to joinder of parties plaintiff form a valuable part of the new system. As an example, a case in the litigation of which the writer is now 'engaged, was brought in which father and son were both joined as plaintiffs in a complaint for personal injuries to the boy. The difference between this single suit and two separate suits may not be in itself very considerable, but each instance of the kind constitutes a saving in efficiency which in the aggregate may be quite appreciable. Much more striking instances of this advantage may undoubtedly be found such as might occur in case of a railroad collision injuring many people.

In the domain of pleading the advance toward simplicity attained under the Practice Act has been noticeable. It is here that as an improvement of the practice of the state the reform has been most successful. At first there was a widespread impression among the bar that a complaint henceforward was to consist of a kind of newspaper report of the occurrences including all the circumstances and evidence. This false impression corrected, everything has worked well. Lawyers have had the benefit of the precedents of the English practice, and judges have repeatedly recommended a study of the forms of Bullen and Leake. The result has been a clear, simple method of pleading which must in every way have fulfilled the hopes of the reformers.

It may be too much to claim for the act that it solves the problem of procedure in courts of law, a problem that has engaged the L. 1914, p. 151.

attention of the best legal minds for centuries. Whether the brevity and simplicity of the system which constitute its great merit will prove permanently successful cannot be determined until after a considerable period of years, during which the system has manifested its ability to meet new demands and new conditions as they arise, but certainly thus far the results amply justify the expectations of its framers that the simplification of procedure by a concise and flexible body of rules formulated and applied by an able judiciary will be a great aid to the proper administration of justice.

PROGRESS OF THE PROPOSAL TO SUBSTITUTE RULES OF COURT FOR COMMON LAW PRACTICE

BY THOMAS W. SHELTON,

Chairman, Committee on Uniform Judicial Procedure of the American Bar Association, Norfolk, Va.

Governmental improvement in republics, or a departure from long standing policies or customs, is so correlated with a popular understanding of its merit and need as to render the latter a condition precedent to achievement. Inasmuch as that condition is a true reflex of representative democracy it is not to be criticized, but should be recognized, preserved and wisely used in the interest of the general welfare. It is visualized in the processes of garnering intelligence by an intellectual free people. So it is that time profitably lapses while the conscientious legislator seeks his constituents' views on proposed new legislation. Preparing these constituents by imparting and popularizing the necessary knowledge thereby becomes the key to the door of success of any proposal, as it is the measure of the strength of a democratic government. Obviously then, this duty rests with those citizens best prepared and possessing the confidence of the people, the performance of which is evidence of the most supreme public spirit.

THE THREE NECESSARY STAGES

It is the fate of every new measure proposed to a democracy to pass through the three distinct ordeals of investigation, education and legislation. Once approved by the accepted leaders of national and state thought, specially circumstanced to pass judgment upon it, and whatever its origin, the idea is properly credentialed for presentation to the masses, whereupon, the serious, highly responsible and patient work of education begins. The thoroughness and earnestness with which this is done, in the absence of some catastrophe impelling immediate legislative action, will measure the chance of successful, or speedy enactment into law. There is one exception to this rule, the cause of which is obvious to every lawyerthe reform of the procedure of the courts-the American history of

which we shall now outline, intermingled with a little philosophy and preceded by a short introduction. In this matter the people must trust their trained lawyers instead of politicians, just as in medicine they follow their experienced doctors.

SIMPLICITY ITS FEATURAL MERIT

There are few functions more highly technical and scientific than judicial procedure and which, when improperly applied, can become more wicked in results. There are few agencies that demand less simplicity in form and use or are worse impaired by mystery or technicality. Illustrated in nature, there is no element more useful and at the same time more deadly than electricity, and none requiring simpler methods of application. The vision of the unthoughtful never reaches or measures the research, concentration and highly perfected program of the philosophers and engineers who came so to understand the science of this necessary danger to mankind as to make it safely its servitor. But, once the scientific hand is removed from control, and the influential novitiate occupies the seat of experience and wisdom, it would revert to destructive methods, for it is axiomatic that ignorance meddling with science always brings its own punishment. Here is visualized investigation followed by education, resulting in economic utility.

DANIEL WEBSTER'S APPRECIATION

There is no human consideration of more importance than an acceptable administration of justice and few that are less appreciated and understood. Said Daniel Webster,

Justice is the greatest interest of man on earth. It is the ligature which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together. Wherever its temple stands, and so long as it is honored, there is a foundation for social security, general happiness and the improvement and progress of our race. And whoever labors upon this edifice with usefulness and distinction, whoever clears its foundations, strengthens its pillars, adorns its entablatures, or contributes to raise its august dome still higher to the skies, links himself in name, fame and character with that which is, and must be, as durable as the frame of human society.

SOCIAL HISTORY RECORDED IN THE COURTS

The world history of ethnogenic sociology may be traced through the courts, for there evolution leaves its trail in the last resort of all serious disputes and the interpretation of statutory

rules of conduct. Advancement is translated in England's Judicature Acts of 1873, when scientific court rules were established in the place of technical common law procedure. It was a spiritual revolution translating a matured sense of civic responsibility. Deliberate education and evolution is evidenced in the propaganda, beginning about 1821 and ending in 1835, to simplify pleading and procedure. It is then the seeds were sown that fructified forty years later. So it is seen that the commercial and ethical, as well as the social standards of every government and people, are reflected by their courts.

THE GENIUS OF THE JURIDICAL STATUS

Inasmuch as a reasonable and uniform justice depends upon the scientific and logical limitations and regulations thrown around the human element of these tribunals, their juridical status was, is and always will be, of first importance. More important than the form of government is the spirit that animates government. Judicial procedure fixes the condition, the time and manner as to which one may seek the use of the courts; it prevents surprise, oppression and a subsequent attack on the same issue; it makes the humblest man the equal of the strongest, and it confines the oppressive hand of the government to the orderly method open as well to every citizen. It thereby becomes the measure of civil liberty and of property rights. The history of the common law procedure and the substitution of rules of court, as has been said, is the history of the evolution of a great nation from a people, declared by Macauley to have been "outcasts and a by-word" following Cromwell's protectorate. Indeed, it reflects the very genius of government itself.

THE ATTITUDE OF LAYMEN TOWARDS JUDICATURE

The history of all time shows that qualifications for self-government are not innate in a people. Therefore associated with their absolute power in a democracy is a concomitant duty of obedience and respect for the authority they have found necessary to vest in certain individuals, if not for the individuals themselves. The abandonment of the arbitrament of arms for judicial settlement of disputes connotes the necessary individual submission. But, the consciousness of surrender of these natural rights breeds an almost