April 1888: Among the state laws newly enacted was Chapter 41, providing for supplying the place of a president judge of a county court by means of a like judge from another county, to be designated by the chief justice or any associate justice of the Supreme Court if such justice were unable to perform the duties himself that he was authorized and required to do. The Law Journal editors queried, "Are we to understand that all the justices of the Supreme Court are authorized and required to fill the vacant place themselves before any one else may be appointed?"
100 Years Ago
April 1913: A law to eliminate railroad grade crossings finally passed after years of resistance by rail carriers, who objected to the costs involved. "Having permitted the railroads originally to place their tracks over public highways on grade and left them undisturbed for a generation or more, these corporations argued that the immense expenditure required for immediate track elevation would be both unfair and ruinous," the Law Journal editors observed. If that were the case, it was well the law came sooner than later, they said, since costs were only going to go up.
