Forensic Quarterly Volume 1 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1909 Excerpt: ... of conference was appointed, of which the self-appointed mediator was made a member." It is impossible to tell of all the conflicting interests and purposes; of the tremendous difficulty of uniting them on any plan that would avoid litigation. The survivors had to be pacified, the company had to be persuaded, for the sum asked in settlement was not a small amount. To give figures, the sum settled on by the St. Paul Coal Company as being "the most" that could be paid for settlement, was $250,000 and a "moral obligation" felt by the controlling railway company, while the sum settled on by the self-appointed mediator as necessary from the corporation was $500,000. How could he get this? How "transmute a moral obligation into its financial equivalent?" As the self-appointed mediator writes, "It was by no means a simple matter. For if we took any arbitrary sum as the measure of indemnity, just as good arguments could be urged for a larger sum. If we suggested $1,500, the largest sum up to that time paid in a large disaster, someone with equal force could urge $2,500, or $3,500, or $5,000. "And then the obligation was not all on one side. The powerful head of a $400,000,000 corporation is by no means a dictator. He is allowed his power only because his stockholders believe he will use it to their mutual advantage. If he acknowledges a moral obligation it must be such a one as they can be brought to sanction and approve. He must satisfy his own sense of right, he must meet the reasonable moral expectation of right-thinking men, and he must do it in such a way as to secure the approval and support of those who paid the bills, and received neither publicity or reward for their contribution. "I shall never forget the...