Neuhoff, Ralph R.

English

Washington University St. Louis: Open Scholarship

Washington University Law Review Volume 20 Issue 1 January 1934 Review of “State Inheritance Taxation and Taxability of Trusts,” By Royce A. Kidder Ralph R. Neuhoff Neuhoff & Schaefer Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview  Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Ralph R. Neuhoff, Review of “State Inheritance Taxation and Taxability of Trusts,” By Royce A. Kidder, 20 ST. LOUIS L. REV. 094 (1934). Available at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol20/iss1/4 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington University Law Review by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact digital@wumail.wustl.edu. ST. LOUIS LAW REVIEWEuropean antecedents. As a consequence the later development of thedoctrine is handled very briefly.As a Spanish professor of law he is able to make a very distinct con-tribution to the antecedents of the Monroe doctrine, going back to Franciscode Vitoria's doctrine of "a new world and a n6w law" and to the dictumof the inalienability of America of Charles V (1519). He finds other ante-cedents of the doctrine in the Spanish-Portuguese treaty of 1750 guarantee-ing the perpetual neutrality of America, in the doctrine of continental unityof John Adams, and in the state papers and addresses of Washington andJefferson, as well as in the major constitutional documents of the nation.The contributions of Lord Castlereagh and of Canning to the doctrine,especially on the diplomatic side, are much better known to us, but they arereviewed here with insight and an admirable clarity of exposition. Wealready know what was up Canning's diplomatic sleeve when in 1823 heencouraged James Monroe to take the final step of declaring the doctrinewhich has had such a marked effect upon the subsequent history of thewestern continent. It is perhaps perfectly natural to identify this doctrinewith insularity and to consider it as an obstacle to a wider participationof the United States in world affairs. One interesting aspect of the con-troversy over the Monroe doctrine-that of the reaction of the Latin Amer-ican countries to it-he would doubtless have treated much more fully ifhis monograph had not already attained such large proportions before hereached recent times. L. L. BERNARD.Washington University.STATE INHERITANCE TAXATION AND TAXABILITY OF TRUSTS, by Royce A.Kidder. The Foundation Press, Inc., Chicago. 1934, pp. xxiii, 544.This book is a welcome departure from the growing tendency for lawbooks to be written by persons who, although technically lawyers, are with-out substantial practical experience in the field of which they write. Anybright person with a legal education, upon being supplied by the publisherwith cards containing the digest paragraphs of a large number of cases ona particular subject, can string them together in a more or less logichlsequence and produce a book, but, unfortunately, this method, althoughsuited to quantity production, is not well calculated to produce a real "lawbook." It needs but a short examination to conclude that the present workwas not produced in any such fashion. The author is a man of long experi-ence in his field, having been assistant attorney general of the state ofIllinois in charge of inheritance taxes for many years. This experience hasbeen invaluable to him in writing the present work.The practising attorney, for whom the book is said to have been primarilywritten, will quickly recognize that here is a book in which needed informa-tion is fully presented, and superfluous matter eliminated.The author does not deem it beneath his dignity to tell you exactly whatyou have to know. For example, he gives a list showing the name of theparticular state official or commission charged with the supervision of theinheritance tax law in each state, with the post-office address.Washington University Open ScholarshipBOOK REVIEWSOn the other hand, it should be understood that the philosophy of thelaw has not been neglected. Quite the contrary is true. For example, theauthor traces the growth of state inheritance taxation in the United States,and proceeds to lay a firm foundation by examining the nature of an in-heritance tax and the principle underlying all inheritance taxation, whichthe author phrases as follows:"The right of the state to levy an inheritance or transfer tax arisesout of the principle that property rights cease upon the death of theholder thereof. The right of one, therefore, to give his property atdeath, and the right to receive such property are not natural rights,but are creatures of the statute. The state may, therefore, levy a taxupon such transfer."As indicated by the wording of the title, the portion of the book devotedto taxability of trusts is not limited to the holdings of the state courts, butis a general treatment of the subject under the latest decisions of all thecourts, state and federal.The chapter on valuation gives the mortality and annunity tables usedin the various states, and tells for each state separately what table is used.Some forms have been included. There is a table of cases and a fairlydetailed index, as well as a detailed table of contents. It is believed thatthis will render the information contained in the book readily accessible tothe practitioner. The volume is about the same size as the current South-western Reporter volumes, but the type is larger and the paper is not sothin. RALPH R. NEUHOFF.St. Louis, Missouri.HANDBOOK OF CRIMINAL LAW, by Justin Miller, Dean of the School ofLaw, Duke University, (Hornbook Series). St. Paul, Minn.: West Pub-lishing Co., 1934. Pp. xiii, 649.The second volume in the well known Hornbook Series was William L.Clark's Handbook of Criminal Law, published in 1894. Well edited secondand third editions of this book were published in 1902 and 1915 respect-tively. These earlier works are now superseded in the Hornbook Seriesby the new Justin Miller's Handbook of Criminal Law, which is originaland modern, although, as the author makes clear in his preface, based tosome extent upon the plan, text and chapter arrangement of the classicprototype. Clark's handbook of 1894 contained 377 pages of text andabout 2720 cited cases. Miller's handbook of 1934 contains 544 pages oftext and about 5600 cited cases. The figures do not indicate a much moreintensive treatment of those particular topics which were recognized aspertinent to the substantive law of crimes in 1894. Rather the figuresindicate that criminal law is a much more widely developed subject in1934 than it was in 1894. Clark had not a word to say about kidnappingas a felony, for the simple reason that kidnapping was not a felony in1894. Miller states that kidnapping "has been made a felony generallyby the state statutes." He also refers to the recent federal legislation onthe same topic. Most of the foot-note cases on kidnapping are felony cases.https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol20/iss1/4

Review of “State Inheritance Taxation and Taxability of Trusts,” By Royce A. Kidder

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Review of “State Inheritance Taxation and Taxability of Trusts,” By Royce A. Kidder

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