MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS-POWER OF THE MUNICIPALITY TO EXPEND PUBLIC FUNDS FOR MUNICIPAL ADVERTISING

A statute allowed any city to set aside a certain amount annually from the general tax fund, which money might be expended under the direction and control of the city council for the purpose of aiding and encouraging the location of industry and other purposes which would increase the population, taxable property, and business prospects of the city. The Burlington City Council appropriated $2,000 to the Chamber of Commerce, a private non-profit corporation, which was organized for the purpose of advancing the commercial, civic, industrial, and monetary interests of the city. No specification was, made as to use, and the Chamber of Commerce used it for general expenses. Plaintiff demanded that the Chamber of Commerce restore the money and that the City Council bring an action to recover it. On refusal, plaintiff brought a taxpayer\u27s action1 against the Chamber of Commerce and a judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff. On appeal, held, affirmed. Expenditure of the funds was left to the discretion of the Chamber of Commerce rather than that of the City Council as required by law and was therefore illegal. Horner v. Chamber of Commerce of the City of Burlington, Inc., (N. C. 1952) 68 S. E. (2d) 660

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS-EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS ACCRUING FROM PARKING METERS

Panama City proposed to issue bonds to finance the reconstruction, paving, and improvement of city streets. The bonds were to be secured by and payable from the revenue of the city\u27s parking meters. A petition for validation of the bond issue was submitted and was refused. On appeal, held, affirmed. The city may not use the revenue from the parking meters to finance the reconstruction, paving and improvement of streets since this bears no reasonable relation to the regulation of parking and is therefore an illegal exercise of the police power. Panama City v. State, (Fla. 1952) 60 S. (2d) 658

CORPORATIONS-APPOINTMENT OF RECEIVER SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BRINGING SUIT

An ex parte petition was filed by a minority stockholder of a foreign corporation requesting the appointment of a special receiver for certain claims of the corporation against resident fiduciaries. The claims, which had not been prosecuted by the corporation, were about to be barred by the statute of limitations. A receiver was appointed and brought suit. The corporation appeared specially requesting that the order be set aside. Held, motion denied. A court of equity has inherent power to appoint a receiver for the assets of a foreign corporation in an ex parte proceeding instituted by a minority stockholder. Application of Burge, (N.Y. 1952) 118 N.Y.S. (2d) 23

LEGISLATION-MICHIGAN VETERANS\u27 RE-EMPLOYMENT ACT

A recent Michigan statute provides for the re-employment of former employees of the state or the subdivisions thereof who left their positions, voluntarily or involuntarily, for service in the armed forces of the United States and have been honorably discharged. No opinion as to the interpretation or effect of the statute has been rendered by the Michigan courts or by any official state agency, but an examination of the very similar federal statute, and the litigation which it has fostered, indicates that a number of problems may arise. An insight into some typical problems and their possible solutions may be obtained from an examination of the federal decisions

Civil Procedure - Judgments - Exceptions to the Rule of Res Judicata

A land contract provided for a conveyance to Pearson from Adams and his wife. The wife was not a party to the contract and refused to execute the deed. Pearson sought specific performance requesting relief of a type not then available in Illinois and when asked if he would accept a deed from Adams alone, he refused. The action was dismissed. Adams then brought this action in ejectment and Pearson counterclaimed requesting a deed executed by Adams alone. The trial court found that the judgment in the previous action was res judicata as to the counterclaim. On appeal, held, reversed. The equities in favor of Pearson so far outweighed the basic policies of res judicata that the counterclaim was not barred. Adams v. Pearson, 411 Ill. 431, 104 N.E. (2d) 267 (1952)

NEGLIGENCE-RES IPSA LOQUITUR-JUSTIFICATION FOR A DIRECTED VERDICT IN FAVOR OF THE PLAINTIFF

Defendant was driving his car along a straight and unobstructed stretch of gravel road when it ran off the road, overturned, and injured the plaintiff, who was a passenger. There was some conflict in the evidence as to the speed of the car and the only evidence that the defendant could offer as to the cause of the accident was a statement that it could have been the gravel or a tie rod. The trial court directed a verdict for the plaintiff. On appeal, held, affirmed. The car left a straight and unobstructed highway and there is no showing of an intervening cause. An explanation of the accident is essential if the defendant will avoid liability. Fannin v. Lewis, (Ky. 1951) 243 s. w. (2d) 60

Observations and Scaling of Tidal Mass Transport Across the Lower Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta Plain: Implications for Delta Management and Sustainability

The landscape of southwest Bangladesh, a region constructed primarily by fluvial processes associated with the Ganges River and Brahmaputra River, is now maintained almost exclusively by tidal processes as the fluvial system has migrated east and eliminated the most direct fluvial input. In natural areas such as the Sundarbans National Forest, year-round inundation during spring high tides delivers sufficient sediment that enables vertical accretion to keep pace with relative sea-level rise. However, recent human modification of the landscape in the form of embankment construction has terminated this pathway of sediment delivery for much of the region, resulting in a startling elevation imbalance, with inhabited areas often sitting \u3e1 m below mean high water. Restoring this landscape, or preventing land loss in the natural system, requires an understanding of how rates of water and sediment flux vary across timescales ranging from hours to months. In this study, we combine time series observations of water level, salinity, and suspended sediment concentration with ship-based measurements of large tidal-channel hydrodynamics and sediment transport. To capture the greatest possible range of variability, cross-channel transects designed to encompass a 12.4 h tidal cycle were performed in both dry and wet seasons during spring and neap tides. Regional suspended sediment concentration begins to increase in August, coincident with a decrease in local salinity, indicating the arrival of the sediment-laden, freshwater plume of the combined Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna rivers. We observe profound seasonality in sediment transport, despite comparatively modest seasonal variability in the magnitude of water discharge. These observations emphasize the importance of seasonal sediment delivery from the main-stem rivers to this remote tidal region. On tidal timescales, spring tides transport an order of magnitude more sediment than neap tides in both the wet and dry seasons. In aggregate, sediment transport is flood oriented, likely as a result of tidal pumping. Finally, we note that rates of sediment and water discharge in the tidal channels are of the same scale as the annually averaged values for the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. These observations provide context for examining the relative importance of fluvial and tidal processes in what has been defined as a quintessentially tidally influenced delta in the classification scheme of Galloway (1975). These data also inform critical questions regarding the timing and magnitude of sediment delivery to the region, which are especially important in predicting and preparing for responses of the natural system to ongoing environmental change

Kinetics of Intramolecular Chemical Exchange by Initial Growth Rates of Spin Saturation Transfer Difference Experiments (SSTD NMR)

We report here the Initial Growth Rates SSTD NMR method, as a new powerful tool to obtain the kinetic parameters of intramolecular chemical exchange in challenging small organic and organometallic molecules