Review: Road Traffic
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3100400419 |
| Date | 01 October 1931 |
| Published date | 01 October 1931 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
634
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
accomplish much that could be more hopefully and more nobly secured by
unilateral action.’ But, apart from the judgment which individual readers
may form as to the respective merits of the older imperialistic and modern
international conceptions, there will be no doubt as to the interest of this
well-produced and well-illustrated volume. Even those who differ from the
author’s view
as
to our Eastern obligations can hardly fail to recognize the
sterling values of those whose service is eloquently recorded in these pages.
ROAD TRAFFIC. By
W.
T.
HUTCHINSON. 2s. 6d. (2nd edition.)
THIS
small manual supplies a need, in view of the Road Traffic Act of
1930.
It
is a handbook which is excellent for purposes of ready reference,
as
all the
subjects dealt with by various sections
of
the Act are tabulated in a useful
summary. The value of this collection of articles, for which the Chief
Constable
of
Worcester is responsible, may be estimated by the fact that the
book has already run into a second edition.
It
concerns both the duties of
police motor patrols and the supervision of traffic.
A
useful table
is
included
illustrating the treads of the chief makes of tyres.
THE PRINCIPLES OF JUDICIAL PROOF,
OR
THE PROCESS
OF
PROOF AS GIVEN BY LOGIC, PSYCHOLOGY, AND GENERAL
EXPERIENCE, AND ILLUSTRATED IN JUDICIAL TRIALS.
By
JOHN
HENRY WIGMORE, Professor of the Law of Evidence in North-
Western University. 2nd Edition, entirely revised and re-written.
1931.
(Boston
:
Little, Brown
&
Co.)
Price,
$10.
THE
first impression created by
this
remarkable book, which
now
appears in
its second edition, is that it is only suitable for scientists, psychologists, and
those who have
a
flair for symbols and mysterious signs. But this is probably
not doing justice either to its author or to the intelligence of a large body
of
readers who do not fall within these categories. The early chapters, it is
true, make very difficult reading for those who have not the faculty of absorb-
ing formulae and apprehending the significance of algebraic signs. To the
average reader it may at first appear all rather incomprehensible with its
Autoptic Proferences and Interim Probanda, but if he can overcome the first
effects of being plunged into the unaccustomed atmosphere and struggle
through the first three hundred odd pages he will emerge, bruised and bat-
tered perhaps, into a pleasant arena consisting of fascinating quotations from,
and incursions into, many famous trials. Whether or not he has been able
to absorb all that has gone before will necessarily depend on
his
mentality
and tenacity of purpose.
The care and research which have been expended on this
volume
are
past all praise, and one could but wish that the number of those who are really
capable of appreciating it was greater. It has, however, a claim to the serious
attention
of
all who are interested
in
trials of every description, as it puts
before them in the fullest possible manner the theories of proof and the
methods of assessing evidential values.
The Earl
of
Thanet’s trial in
1799,
and that of John Francis Knapp in
Massachusetts in
1830
are freely quoted, while the work contains many
diagrams and a considerable number
of
mysterious symbols whose elucidation
demands a measure
of
mental gymnastics.
The viewpoint of the detective enjoys a special appendix to itself,
wherein the author points out the different standpoint from which the
detective has to work
as
compared with the advocate: the latter has
his
Probandurn, whereas
in
the
case
of the detective it is lacking.
(Police Review Publishing Co.).
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