the University of Florida, a subject of special interest to us by reason of the law of Quebec where community property prevails, as it does also in Arizona, California, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Washington, Porto Rico, and Mexico. It still prevails in Louisiana, but Florida, Missouri, Iowa, and Mississippi have superseded it by the common law. The Article gives a concise and lucid account of the origin, rise, and purpose of the community property system; also what is prerequisite to the operation of the law, on what kinds of property it will operate, what laws govern, and how it may be terminated. There is also an Article on the Cost of Public Justice, by Professor John R. Rood, of the University of Michigan Law School.

The Harvard Law Review for March commences with an Article on Trial by Jury and the Reform of Civil Procedure, by Austin Wakeman Scott, of Harvard Law School, in which he discusses how far the path of simplification of procedure in the Courts of the several States and of the United States is blocked by the provisions in the State and federal Constitutions guaranteeing the right to trial by jury. Other Articles are Law in War Times-1917, by Charles M. Hough, of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, in which he discusses recent legislation; Insolvency and Specific Performance, by H. C. Horack, of the Law School, State University of Iowa; and Indirect Encroachment on Federal Authority by the Taxing Powers of the State (III.), by Professor Thomas Reed Powell.

The Canada Law Journal for March commences with a singularly weighty Article, if we may say so, entitled Federal and Provincial Jurisdiction as to Companies. Without finally passing upon them, we think we can associate ourselves, in all humility, with its criticisms of the recent decision of the Appellate

Division in Currie v. Harris Lithographic Co. The writer has, however, made one obvious slip. He says—

'It is held that the Dominion cannot create a corporation capable of holding lands otherwise than in accordance with provincial laws affecting the acquiring and holding of lands by corporations, and, therefore, provincial laws lelating to holding of lands by corporations must be complied with by companies incorporated by the Dominion. The Dominion and the Provinces it is held are able to confer the capacity on corporations to acquire land, but only in accordance with the law of the Province in which the land may be situate.'

This, of course, is only true of Dominion incorporations under the residuary Dominion power; it is not true of Dominion incorporations under the enumerated Dominion powers, such as banks, or railways extending beyond the limits of the province. Another timely little Article in C. L. J. for March is on that legal anachronism, a husband's liability for his wife's torts.

We have also received The Columbia Law Review with Articles on Government Control of Corporations, by George W. Wickersham, of New York; The Supreme Court's Ambiguous use of "Value" in Rate Cases, by Robert L. Hale, of Washington, D.C.; and The Protection Afforded against the Retroactive Operation of Over-ruling Decisions, by R. H. Freeman, of Newnan, Ga., for March; The Scottish Law Review for February; The Queensland Justice of the Peace for January 31st; Case and Comment (Rochester, N.Y.), for March; Bench and Bar (New York), for February, with an Article by Hon. Edgar J. Lauer on Conciliation and Arbitration in the Municipal Court of the City of New York; The New Jersey Lew Journal for February and March; The Calcutta Law Journal for January; The Criminal Law Reporter (Parvatipuram, India), for January; The Insurance Law Journal (New York), for January and February; and The Madras Law Journal for January.

NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS.

Torrens Title Mortgages, with Chapters on Notice, Fraud and Caveats. By Walter S. Scott. Toronto: Carswell Co. Ltd. London:

Sweet & Maxwell, Ltd. 1918. xxiv. and 322 pp. $5 net.

One of the results of the increasing volume of case law under the Real Property Act of Manitoba and the Land Titles Acts of Saskatchewan and Alberta is the production of text books relating to the system of registration of titles in Western Canada. Thom's Canadian Torrens System, published in 1912, contains an exposition of these statutes somewhat less elaborate than Hogg's well-known treatise on the corresponding Australian statutes. The work now under review is confined to the subject of mortgages. In addition to discussing the Australian and Canadian cases relating to mortgages under the land titles system, the author states in a concise way the general principles of the law of mortgage.

The author displays a commendable spirit of independence in dealing with some of the debatable questions arising under the Land Titles Acts, and his discussion of these questions constitutes the most interesting feature of the book. Incidentally he emphasizes the extremely complicated nature of the problems to which these statutes give rise.

The paramount principle of all Land Titles Acts is that a mortgagee or purchaser in good faith and for value from the registered owner may rely upon, and need not go behind the title as it appears upon the register. Subject to this paramount principle, under the Ontario Land Titles Act, a good deal of liberty is al lowed to the draftsman of mortgages in inserting special provisions. It is permissible to insert special powers of sale and other special contractual provisions. Under the statutes of the western provinces above mentioned, on the other hand, what may be called the common law and contractual effects of a mortgage are overridden to a larger extent than is

the case under the Ontario statute, and to a larger extent the proceedings are subjected to the supervision of the registrar or a judge.

Thom deduces from the case of Smith v. National Trust Co.1 and other decisions the conclusion that in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta the statutory remedies with regard to selling, taking possession or making leases are exclusive. Scott, however, questions the correctness of Thom's opinion. He contends that the mortgage in question in Smith v. National Trust Co. and that in question in the Victorian case of National Bank v. United Hand in Hand, did not contain a sufficient contractual power of sale, and that it has not yet been decided that the mortgagee is confined to his statutory remedies. He is apparently of opinion that, notwithstanding the dicta in the Supreme Court and in the Privy Council, a contractual power of sale coupled with a power of attorney to the mortgagee to execute a transfer to the mortgagee would enable the mortgagee on default to give a good title to a purchaser (pp. 43-48). He also expresses the opinion that a contractual right to take possession and to lease would be effectual (pp. 48, 57).

The author also joins issue with Hogg as to the effect of the provisions of the Land Titles Acts which enact that, except in the case of fraud, a person taking

3

under a registered instrument from the registered owner shall not be affected by notice of any unregistered interest. Hogg, writing in 27 L. Q. R. at p. 436, and relying chiefly upon the case of Port Swettenham Rubber Co. v. Loke Yew, expresses the opinion that the Courts have succeeded in defeating the legislative efforts to insist on the validity of the registered title in the face of actual notice. Scott appears to be technically right in pointing out that in the particular case the Court found deliberate fraud, and that therefore the question remains open

145 S. C. R. 618. 24 App. Cas. 391. 3 [1913] A. C. 491.

whether there may not be cases of persons taking with actual notice and not being guilty of fraud in claiming priority (pp. 250, 254). Such cases will, however, seldom arise in practice, and to a student of equitable principles it seems very inequitable to permit a person to claim priority over an earlier claim of which he had actual notice.

The book will prove useful to western practitioners. We have observed some defects in the arrangement of material and in the citation of cases, which will doubtless be corrected in the more leisurely revision for a second edition. The omission of any table of contents creates an unnecessary obstacle in the way of a reader.

JOHN D. FALCONBRIDGE.

Roman Law in the Modern World, by Charles Phineas Sherman, D.C.L. (Yale), Assistant Professor of Roman Law in Yale University, Curator of the Yale Wheeler Library of Roman, Continental European, and Latin-American Law, etc.: Boston, U.S.A.. The Boston Book Company, 1917. 3 Vols. Vol. I., pp. xxvii.+413: Vol. II., pp. xxxii.+496; Vol. III., pp. 315. Price, $13.

We have here a well-conceived, well-executed and complete work, and one calculated to be exceedingly useful to the ordinary student, although we do not know that we can describe it as a work of profound original research. It covers in its survey a sketch of the historical development of Roman law, and an account of the leading rules and principles of its completed system in its classical period, and of its survival and reception in the modern world. The mass of learning contained within the three volumes is, therefore, enormous, and Professor Sherman very honestly acknowledges his indebtedness to the scholarship and researches of others, and refers throughout to his authorities and texts. The book it makes us think of is Lord Mackenzie's Studies in Roman Law with Comparative Views of the Laws of France, England, and Scotland, but there is no real comparison in point of completeness of treatment. Professor Sherman's