ABSTRACT
Manifestations of mechanical jurisprudence are conspicuous in the decisions as to liberty of contract. Constitutional law is full of natural law notions. For one thing, there is the doctrine that apart from constitutional restrictions there are individual rights resting on a natural basis, to which courts must give effect "beyond the control of the state". Suffice it to say here that the doctrine as to liberty of contract is bound up in the decisions of courts with a narrow view of what constitutes special or class legislation that greatly limits effective law-making. The attitude of many of courts on the subject of liberty of contract is so certain to be misapprehended, is so out of the range of ordinary understanding, the decisions themselves are so academic and so artificial in their reasoning, that they cannot fail to engender such feelings. Thus, those decisions do an injury beyond the failure of a few acts.
