in England that does not provide some means for the arbitration of disputes that arise among members or between members and others, and frequently between nonmembers engaged in similar work. The opportunity to benefit by arbitration has been one of the factors leading to the organization of almost every existing kind of trade. In every trade there has been developed a body of experts available as arbitrators, men who have mastered the mysteries and intricacies of their respective trades.1

Among the advantages of arbitration the elimination of questions of jurisdiction, the employment of experts in the business of a given trade, and a flexible procedure which can be adapted to the convenience of the parties and the character of the dispute are probably most noteworthy.

In the United States trades have not, until quite recently, been organized in such form as to develop a plan of arbitration similar to that in England. Progress has been made in educating public opinion by various commercial bodies and by members of the bar. The first definite step to legalize the procedure of arbitration was enacted in Illinois through the efforts of the Chicago Association of Credit Men and of Chief-Justice Harry Olson. It is the aim of the act to join the work of the arbitrators and that of the court so as to secure co-operation which will insure the best service of both. A complete set of rules and regulations for commercial arbitration has been prepared by a committee of the Chicago Board of Trade.2 The municipal courts of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Chicago are aiding in the effort to encourage arbitration. A series of rules to provide by agreement for the submission of disputes to an agreed arbitrator have been prepared by the judges of the municipal court of New York.

The chief defects of the administration of justice-delay, costs, and attorneys' fees-are eliminated in conciliation

1 Consult Journal American Judicature Society, vol. ii, no. ii (August, 1918), p. 43, for details as to the practice of arbitration.

2 Cf. Journal American Judicature Society, vol. ii, no. ii.

and arbitration, which, as a voluntary method of settling disputes, serves to secure an amicable and fair adjustment and thus to relieve the courts of much unnecessary business.

The general principle underlying the establishment of courts of small claims, the extension of arbitration, and the efforts to reform judicial procedure in the regular judicial tribunals, has been characteristically summarized by Lord Chief-Justice Bowen as follows:

I hope to see the day when in every case, whatever its character, every possible relief can be given with or without pleading, with or without formal trial, upon oral evidence or upon affidavits, as is most convenient; when it will not be possible for an honest litigant to be defeated by lack of means, by a mere technicality, any slip, any mistaken step in his litigation; when law will cease to be a mere game which may be won or lost by a particular move.

Another field in which the principles of judicial reform have been applied is that of domestic relations. For cases of this type, unification of jurisdiction and specialization by judges has to a great degree been accomplished in the domestic relations courts of such cities as Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. In these courts as in the small-claims courts and courts of conciliation delays and court costs do not seriously interfere with the administration of justice, and the expense of an attorney is either eliminated or provided at little or no expense to poor litigants.1

Justice Through Administrative Tribunals.-More important than the various courts established to remedy defects in the traditional method of administering justice is the effort to secure justice through administrative tribunals. "Such tribunals have sprung up with amazing rapidity, they have taken over an enormous amount of litigation formerly handled by the courts, and the law concerning administrative justice is the most rapidly growing branch of law in our entire jurisprudence." The two leading types 'R. H. Smith, "Justice and the Poor," chap. xi. * Ibid., p. 83.

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of these tribunals are the industrial-accident commissions and the public-service commissions.

In the settlement of claims by injured workmen, delay and costs resulted in gross injustice. The time and great expense involved rendered it practically impossible for an injured workman to secure justice. Out of this condition grew the contingent system and the ambulance-chasing lawyer.

The contingent fee system brought about a thousand abuses of its own. It attracted undesirable persons to become members of the profession. Because the stakes were high and the players essentially gamblers it induced the unholy triumvirate of lawyer-runner-doctor conspiring together to win fraudulent cases. It has degraded expert testimony and served as a cloak for robbery through extortionate fees. Unquestionably it has done more than anything else to bring the bar into deserved disrepute.1

Under the workmen's compensation acts the contingent fee system has been in large part eliminated. The expense of counsel and other costs have been greatly reduced. The application of the law to individual cases has been put on a systematic basis, rendering an appeal unlikely. The settlement of the claims of injured workmen by industrial-accident commissions has proved so satisfactory that there is a movement to extend the method of such commissions to the adjustment of injuries to passengers on all railways.

The public service commissions, which were established to secure a more effective control over public utilities, have also developed a method of settling disputes through the aid of investigators and experts, which operates to the benefit of the poor litigant as well as to those more fortunately situated. The commissions investigate individual cases and often grant redress with little or no expense to the complainant. Frequently legal advice is given to the parties involved in controversies and steps are taken to effect a settlement by conciliation. Numerous complaints are thus disposed of quickly and satisfactorily which, under former R. H. Smith, “Justice and the Poor," chap. xi, p. 86.

conditions, would never have been presented to a judicial or administrative tribunal or would have dragged on indefinitely through the hierarchy of courts.

The future of such administrative tribunals, and what their ultimate status will be, is a perplexing problem. Some of the advantages of these commissions are due, no doubt, to the fact that they can administer claims and settle controversies free from the harassing restrictions of formal law. But administrative tribunals tend to develop a law and practice of their own. As procedure becomes better defined it tends to follow more nearly the channels of regular judicial procedure and eventually the commissions may be merged with other courts in a reorganized judicial system. If such a union takes place it is quite clear that certain features of the administrative tribunals such as the use of investigators, simple procedure, and the automatic settlement of claims will be retained. Administrative tribunals, it has been well said, "have much to teach judicial tribunals about promptness, inexpensiveness, and limiting the attorney to clearly defined functions." Furthermore the administration of justice is undergoing changes due to the results obtained by other sciences such as sociology and psychology.

Provision for Adequate Records and the Employment of Experts.-The courts of the United States have been slow to realize the necessity of full and complete court records in which the history of criminals is fully analyzed, and to utilize the advice of experts, particularly psychopathologists, sociologists, and criminologists, in examining those apprehended for crime and recommending treatment in accord with their mental, social, or physical deficiencies. The remarkable record of the municipal court of Chicago indicates the possibilities for development in this procedure. Every court will in due time have a complete and adequate system of records which will be in charge of experts trained in the science of criminology, and criminals will be treated R. H. Smith, "Justice and the Poor," chap. xi, p. 91.

in accordance with the developments of modern scientific knowledge as well as with the principles of legal justice and criminal law.

A more extensive use may be made of the parole system and the indeterminate sentence. Many who are apprehended for crime can, under the parole system, be returned to their regular occupations and be held under surveillance until all danger of recurrence of the original breaking of the law may be removed. By the provisions of the indeterminate sentence it is possible for those in charge of the prisoners to examine carefully those who show signs of improvement and to return them to normal conditions. Thus the sentence may be shortened for many who would otherwise be held indefinitely and probably be forever lost, so far as a return to decency and right conduct is concerned. Furthermore, the conditions and quarters of prisoners are being improved, and the former cell system in some instances has been eliminated. Some sort of cottage system with provision for working out of doors and in factories, along with industrial training, will tend to restore to useful and peaceful occupations the majority of those who by some misstep or willful breaking of the laws become wards of society and in need of its protection. The experience of Montpelier, Vermont, and of other cities where those apprehended for crime have been put to useful work under a system of parole and supervision demonstrates that the majority of criminals can be restored to usefulness and effective work, and that this method is far superior to the old plan of incarcerating those apprehended for crime and holding them under conditions which degrade and make it often impossible for them to be restored to respectable citizenship. According to a recent estimate, the United States spends annually $500,000,000 more in fighting crime than on all its works of charity, education, and religion. It is needless to argue that such a condition ought not to continue.

The application of a new science in the administration