John Scott

“ But martial law is not a law in the proper sense of the term. It is the exercise of the will of the military commander, who takes upon himself the responsibility of suspending ordinary law in order to ensure the safety of the state. It is declared, by a proclamation issued by the executive, that ordinary law is inadequate to cope with the circumstances, and provides exceptional means of arrest and punishment of persons who resist the government or aid the enemy. ”

“ Suppose that all the men, women and children on the face of the earth were to keep on tossing coins at the rate of a million a second for a million years, the odds would still be too great for us to realise against any one person succeeding in performing the above feat, and yet the number representing the odds would be only half as long as the one already given. ”

“ Each system of husbandry, too, will give prominence to certain departments of the homestead. Thus in a dairy farm, the cow-house and the dairy offices are the chief feature. On a fattening farm, prominence must be given to boxes and covered yards, and to the arrangements for preparing food. On a mixed farm, which generally partakes of all systems, the buildings must be more numerous, and suited in some respects to all purposes. ”

“ Whilst martial law is the will of the commanders, and is only limited by the customs of war and the discretion of those who administer it, still, as far as practicable, the procedure of military law is followed, and a military court is held on the same lines as a court-martial. ”

“ A non-commissioned officer may be sentenced to be reduced to a lower grade or to the ranks, and where sentenced to penal servitude or imprisonment the tribunal also has power to deprive him of his seniority. The Army Council in England, or the commander-in-chief in India or in either of the presidencies, may also cause a non-commissioned officer to be reduced to a lower grade or to the ranks. An acting non-commissioned officer may be ordered by his commanding officer for an offence or for inefficiency or otherwise to revert to his permanent grade—in other Words, to forfeit his acting rank. ”

“ Father—“You are very backward in your arithmetic. When I was your age I was doing cube roots.”
Boy—“What’s them?”
Father—“What! You don’t know what they are? My! my! that’s terrible! There, give me your pencil. Now, we take, say, 28764289, and find the cube root. First, you divide—no, you point off—no—let me see?—um—yes—no—don’t stand there grinning like a Cheshire cat; go upstairs and stay in your bedroom for an hour.” ”

“ But from the earliest times there was this also which was the law, and is the law still, that when there was a foreign invasion or an insurrection, it was the duty of every good subject, in obedience to the officers and magistrates, to resist the rebels, . . . in such a case as that of insurrection prevailing so far that the courts of law cannot sit, there must really be anarchy unless there is some power to keep the people in order, . . . before that principle the crown claimed the prerogative to exercise summary proceedings by martial law . ”

“ Another modern necessity is the provision of larger accommodation and better arrangements for preparing and mixing food for cattle. The substitution of covered for open yards also progresses, surely if slowly. And in the changes which are going on, matters affecting the ventilation, lighting, paving, and draining of farm buildings are meeting with the full share of attention which they deserve. ”

“ It is needless to add that the homestead should be as near the centre of the farm as possible, and that the buildings should abut upon a hard road. Scattered buildings are very objectionable; for although fieldbarns and yards economise cartage of both crop and manure, they occasion great loss of time in attending to stock, and the stock in the outlying yards can never be so much under the master's eye as is desirable. The best arrangement for outlying fields beyond reach of the dung-cart is not outlying barn-yards, but sheepfolding and green manuring. ”

“ If one of these offences be committed in any place within His Majesty’s dominions other than the United Kingdom or Gibraltar, a court martial can deal with it only if it be committed on active service or in a place more than 100 miles from a civil court having jurisdiction to try the offence. With regard to all civil offences the military law, it is to be understood, is subordinate to the ordinary law, and a civilian aggrieved by a soldier in respect of a criminal offence against his property or person does not forfeit his right to prosecute the soldier as if he were a civilian. ”

“ The sundowners agreed to do the work on these conditions. “Now, mates,” said the laziest of them, “it’s no good all of us doing the same amount of work. Let’s toss up to see who shall work the most hours a day, and who the fewest. Then let each man work as many days as he does hours a day.” This was agreed to; but the proposer took good care that chance should designate him to do the least number of hours of work. How were the 200 hours put in so that each man should work as many hours as days, and yet no two men work the same number of hours? ”

“ Moreover the haulage of materials is a very important item in the cost of a building, and it is only reasonable that if a tenant does this part of the work that he should be paid for it at its value. He might then be able to afford the payment of interest on the building outlay, but he cannot also be expected to undertake the haulage of materials at his own cost. ”

“ A person who has suffered injustice may appeal to the king’s bench division of the high court of justice. But, speaking generally, that tribunal would not interfere with a court martial exercising its jurisdiction within the law as regards the prisoner, the crime and the sentence. In most cases, therefore, the virtual protector of an accused person against illegality is the judge advocate general, who personally advises the sovereign and the military authorities that the law shall be complied with (see Judge Advocate General) . ”

“ And, on many estates—many of the largest estates in the country—it is a very common practice for the tenant to be required to draw all the materials for new buildings at his own cost. He has to do this very often, and in addition pay the rent-charge to redeem the actual expenditure. Now the horses and regular staff on a farm are generally just sufficient for the regular tillage operations of the farm, and if this haulage of material is undertaken, that work must suffer. ”

“ If 100 stones are placed on the ground, in a straight line, at the distance of 1 yard from each other, how far will a person travel who will bring them all, one by one, to a basket placed one yard from the first stone? ”

“ Our law has been declared from time to time and has always been a practical science, that is, the judges have decided so much as was necessary for the particular case, and that has become part of the law. ”

“ The Army Act, on the other hand, is a fixed permanent code. But constitutional traditions are fully respected by the insertion in it of a section providing that it shall come into force only by virtue of an annual act of parliament. This annual act recites the illegality of a standing army in time of peace unless with the consent of parliament, and the necessity nevertheless of maintaining a certain number of land forces (exclusive of those serving in India) and a body of royal marine forces on shore, and of keeping them in exact discipline, and it brings into force the Army Act for one year. ”

“ From what may occasionally be seen of the reports of the proceedings in bankruptcy, it is found that well kept books are regarded as quite a test of honesty, and though assets may have disappeared or never have existed, though large liabilities may have been incurred without any prospect of payment, the bankrupt will be complimented on the straight look of his dealings, if he has shown himself a good book-keeper. ”

“ The air being so much colder than the body, must constantly draw from its heat and tend to lower its temperature. We all know that an animal exposed to more cold will eat more, and one better housed and warmer kept will eat less. The explanation is that warmth is an equivalent for food, and that, therefore, food may be economised by protecting cattle from cold. ”

“ Therefore, whilst martial law is declared illegal in time of peace, it is indirectly declared lawful in time of war and intestinal commotion when the courts are closed, or when there is no time for their cumbrous action. C. M. Clode, in Military Forces of the Crown, argues that the words of the Petition of Right and of the Military Act since the reign of Anne are plain in this respect “that ... the crown possesses the right of issuing commissions in war and rebellion.” ”

“ Whether upon active service or not, a soldier also becomes liable to the punishment of death who mutinies or incites to or joins in or connives at a mutiny, who uses or offers violence to or defiantly disobeys the lawful command of his superior officer when in the execution of his office. Penal servitude is the maximum punishment for various acts and irregularities upon active service not distinctly of a treacherous or wilfully injurious character, for using or offering violence or insubordinate language to a superior, or disobeying a lawful command when upon active service. ”

“ The other day, an article of merchandise which had been purchased at 10 pence a pound was resold at 30 pence a pound—an advance of 200%. Whereupon, a writer in chronicling the sale said that at the beginning of the recent depression several invoices of the same class of goods which had cost over 30 pence per pound had been finally sold at 10 pence per pound—a loss of over 200%! Of course there cannot be a decrease or loss of more than 100%, because this wipes out the whole investment and makes the price nothing. An advance from 10 to 30 is a gain of 200% ”

“ Under the present circumstances of agriculture, however, no land will support that outlay on buildings. At the same time, improved buildings and increased building accommodation is on numerous farms urgently needed. The solution of the difficulty therefore seems to lie in a more economical arrangement of the buildings, and in the discovery of cheaper material and methods of construction. ”

“ Eyre says, “I have come to the conclusion that, looking at what martial law was, the bringing of a person into the proclaimed district to be tried might, in a proper case, be justified.” The learned judge admits that there should be a power of summary trial, observing all the substantials of justice, in order to stamp out an insurrection by speedy trial. ”

“ The prisoner is allowed to address the court in his own defence.
The Army Act prescribes the maximum punishment which may be inflicted in respect of each offence. That of death is incurred by various acts of treachery or cowardice before the enemy, or by, when on active service, interfering with or impeding authority, leaving without orders a guard or post, or when sentry sleeping or being drunk on a post, plundering or committing an offence against the person or property of an inhabitant, intentionally causing false alarms, or deserting. ”

“ Suppose that the world always did and always will contain 990,000,000 inhabitants, and that a generation lasts 331⁄3 years, making in all 2,970,000,000 every century, and that the world will stand 100,000 years, totalling 2,970,000,000,000 inhabitants; then suppose there were 100 worlds equal to this in number of inhabitants and duration of years, making a total of 297,000,000,000,000 persons. There would then be more than 100 rooms 16 feet square for each person. ”

“ Who Bears the Cost?—The landlord is supposed to make the needful outlay in buildings, but in reality he seldom does so. When the outlay is made a rent-charge to be paid by the tenant, it is assumed to be paid by the land. The land, however, is frequently over-rented before the outlay is made, and practically in such cases to charge the tenant interest on the expenditure is to saddle him with the entire outlay. ”

“ When a person subject to military law commits an offence he is taken into military custody, which means either arrest in his own quarters or confinement. He must without unnecessary delay be brought before his commanding officer, who upon investigating the case may dismiss the charge, if in his discretion he thinks it ought not to be proceeded with, or may take steps to bring the offender before a court martial. ”

“ In sultry summer, when to catch a cooling breeze we’ve tried, And carefully have opened every door and window wide, ’Tis then you may be certain as he vanishes from sight, He’ll die but that he’ll shut the door—and close it very tight! ”

“ In time of peace all persons who belong to the military class in most European continental countries are judged by military law and by military courts. There is also in most continental countries an intermediate stage between war and peace, known as in état de siege, which may be declared for a fixed period for a district, or even a city, by reason of domestic insurrection or the presence of an enemy. ”

“ It might surprise many to state, nevertheless it is perfectly true, that it is impossible to buy goods and sell them to show a profit as great as 100 per cent.
The correct method to calculate profit is to reckon on the return—the price received for the goods sold—not on the cost price, and as it is impossible to sell goods at 100 per cent. discount, so also goods cannot be sold to show that percentage of profit, unless they actually cost nothing. ”

“ Outlay on Farm Buildings—It would not be very satisfactory, perhaps, to attempt to lay down any rule as to the proportion of capital per acre which it is necessary to invest in buildings on any particular class of farm. The class of building, the material used, local circumstances, as well as the extent of the farm and the value of the land, all tend to disturb calculation. ”