516 



IOWA. 



cow immediately before and immediately after 

 the injury ; and they were to take into consid- 

 eration the enhanced value of such a cow with 

 calf, as well as the blood of the cow. 



In a case decided by the Supreme Court in 

 June, raised notes were declared a forgery, and 

 therefore the maker was released from liabil- 

 ity. The State has for some years been over- 

 run with agents and peddlers of every kind, 

 who would get a note from a farmer for a small 

 sum, raise it a hundred dollars, sell it to a bank, 

 and the farmer would be obliged to pay it. 

 The lower courts held that there were no de- 

 fenses of fraud as between the innocent pur- 

 chaser of a fraudulent note and the maker; 

 and in several cases it was held that where the 

 maker of a note left the blanks unfilled, so that 

 it could be raised by writing in a larger amount, 

 it was negligence of the maker, whereby the 

 fraud was permitted to be made, and he could 

 not take advantage of his own laches. Usually 

 the decision of the lower courts was sufficient, 

 and the maker paid the note rather than con- 

 test it further. In one county alone $20,000 

 was paid over last year by the victims on the 

 advice of their own lawyers. In the case 

 above referred to, the Knoxville National Bank 

 vs. John Clark, appellant, the appellant gave a 

 note for ten dollars, leaving the blank uncan- 

 celed, and the name of the bank at which it 

 was payable entirely blank, because the person 

 to whom he gave it said an agent would be 

 around to collect it when due. The payee 

 then wrote in " one hundred dollars " before 

 the "ten," and inserted "Knoxville National 

 Bank, Knoxville, Iowa," in the blank, and sold 

 it to that bank. Several other like notes were 

 also sold. When due, the bank brought an 

 action to recover, and under the general rule 

 of negotiable paper the lower Court gave judg- 

 ment for the bank. The Supreme Court, how- 

 ever, reversed the decision, holding that the 

 case did not come within the rule that where 

 the blanks are left unfilled in a note the pre- 

 sumption of law is that the payee has authority 

 to fill the blanks, and if he exceeds the amount 

 agreed upon with the maker, it is simply a 

 breach of trust, and does not release the maker 

 from liability. In the case at bar, the altera- 

 tion of the amount was a forgery, and the law 

 would not make a person civilly liable for the 

 criminal acts of another, or perform a contract 

 he did not make. 



In a case for "civil damages,' 1 Mary J. Loan 

 vs. Peter Hiney, the Supreme Court held that 

 in an action at law for damages against the per- 

 son who has caused the intoxication, the plain- 

 tiff may, if he chooses, join the property-owner 

 by proper averments, and pray for a decree for 

 1 a lien ; and if a judgment for damages shall be 

 rendered, the Court may transfer the action as 

 to lien to the equity docket. 



The criminal returns for the State, compiled 

 by the Secretary of State, show that in 1878 

 there were 1,491 convictions, on which the ag- 

 gregate imprisonment adjudged was 728 years 



in the penitentiary and 17 in the county jail. 

 Of the 1,491 persons sentenced, 1,304 could 

 read and write, 37 could not, and the educa- 

 tional advancements of 142 were unknown; 

 690 of them were native-born citizens of the 

 United States, 597 were foreign-born, and the 

 nativity of the remainder was unknown; 440 

 were classed as "moral," 754 as "immoral," 

 and 289 as " unknown." The total amount of 

 fines unpaid was $52,966.68; fines collected, 

 $24,839.97. The total cost of criminal prose- 

 cutions was $325,933.48. The cost to the 

 counties of the State for criminal prosecutions 

 during the last four years has been as follows : 

 in 1874, $188,846.38; in 1875, $180,890.03; in 

 1876, $235,187.42; in 1877, $318,322.70; in 

 1878, $303,668.13 ; in 1879, $401,659.39. The 

 District Attorneys' fees in 1874 were $18,- 

 368.19; in 1875, $18,890.03; in 1876, $22,- 

 071.87; in 1877, $25,996.70; in 1878, $23,260.- 

 35 ; in 1879, $24,891.73. Total cost, $1,762,- 

 052.92, being nearly $1,000 per day for each 

 working day. The Governor, in the discussion 

 of this subject, thus alludes to grand juries: 

 " The judiciary of the State are, almost with- 

 out exception, of the opinion that it is desir- 

 able to do away with the grand jury system. 

 This can only be done by amendment to the 

 Constitution. The number of the grand jury 

 is now fixed at fifteen, costing the counties 

 thirty dollars per day during its session. Could 

 not the work of this jury be as well done if it 

 were reduced to five ? This would save twenty 

 dollars a day and the mileage of ten jurors to 

 the respective counties during the time of ses- 

 sion." 



The lawlessness of tramps in the State during 

 the last two years has been so great that the 

 Governor determined to prevent it. As the 

 time approached for their appearance, he issued 

 orders to the military clearly defining their du- 

 ties when called upon, and also the following 

 to the sheriffs of counties : 



The season of the year is approaching in which, 

 judging from the experience of trie past few years, it 

 may be expected the State will be visited by numbers 

 of lawless characters commonly called "tramps." It 

 is believed that by prompt and efficient measures taken 

 early, much of the evil arising from this cause may be 

 averted. You are therefore required to use all due 

 diligence in arresting tramps and vagrants, and bring- 

 ing them before the proper authorities to be dealt with 

 according to Chapter 69 of the acts of the Sixteenth 

 General Assembly. If they visit your county in 

 bands, as they have heretofore many of the counties 

 of the State, and commit depredations either on the 

 property of private citizens, or by taking possession of 

 railway trains, you will use all the power vested in 

 you by the laws of the State for the dispersion of such 

 riotous gatherings, and the apprehension of the indi- 

 viduals concerned therein. 



Chapter 6, Title XXV. of the Code, to which chap- 

 ter your attention is specially invited, empowers you, 

 whenever necessary, to summon a posse to aid you, 

 and also to call put any military company in the coun- 

 ty, to whom will be given instructions promptly to 

 respond to any call made on them by the civil author- 

 ities. 



The time for the election of members of 

 Congress has been a subject of dispute in the 



