The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1849-03-14

mont State paper II may be designated, from the
office of the Solicitor Of the Treasury. It's inn
portsnce 10 our justification tor having devoted 30
large potion of our space to IT,
The Solicitor furnishes statements and tables, |
showing The great amount Of value at stake and
dete,minsble by the action OF the laws Of the
United States, as between the government and CT
tizens. The obscurity of those laws prevents
heir being understood by even the most practised
jursts and exhibits the necessity for revision and
the possibility Of reducing the undesirable mass,
extending over scores of pages, to an ordinary
sized volume. This vast mass of uadiges.ed
matter, of which none can tell what is In force
and what is not, should and could be digested and
condensed. The Solicitor recommends board
of three persons, "whose duties will permit their
attending to it, and whose practical knowledge OF
the existing evl will best enable them to know
what remedies ought to be applied" TO revise the
national laws, tho codifcatlon "to be incident
and subordinate to Their official duties and under
the general drecti IN Of the President" He then
states IN general TERMS the method OF this revision,
and re fers specimen Of the form to be adopted.
This IL a great work to be accomplished Those
.slaws which cannot be understood without great
learning and ability do not command respect or
ready obedience ;" and If they do not confusion
must inevitably follow. Let our statesmen look to
this. To amend the law, and to take it out of its
present imperfect, obscure, and anomalous state,
would be most remark able event in the Preslden-
rial career OF General Taylor; and at the expira-
ton Of his term OF Office he might say that he had
Nfound the law dear-left it cheap /; found 1t the
patrlmony OF the ricll-lett II the inheritance of
The poor found it sealed book-eft it living
letter found 1t obscure apd unntelligible-let it
clear and comprehensive; found it a twOedged
sword Of oppression and tyraDny-left it the staff OF
innocence and the shield Of lntegrityw
When law reform was first spoken of In ERg-
land, the PROJECT was looked upon almost insane
The term law has received many definitions, but
the following is about the best, because it is more
in keeping with the dictates OF common sense
and common justice. 4" 1t Is nothing more than
| the reduction, by circumstances of time,
| cety, and sometimes even OF climate, of the
great moral aphonsm, DO unto others as you
would they Should do unto you" Bentham and
| Romly commenced the work. In 1926, Sir
| Robert Peel proposed a revision OF the criminal
| code, with a view to reforming 1t. Then came
| Henry Brougham, who was then tribune of the
| peope-a nober, because a better, title than that
| of Lord Broueham and Vaux. His speech upon
the subject of law reform Is admitted to be of
the greatest in parliamentary history. Out of
seventy four papable defects in the law and it's ad
minisI alton, enumerated by him IN 1928, and dwelt
upon with his tremendous oratorical powers, sixty
three had been removed or remedied in 1875
The result of that speech was the issuing of
two commissions; and in 1888, that lawyer,
he being at the time on the wool-sack, a keeper
Of he
assuredly-extended the powers Of the commas
| sioners to the whole criminal law. In the year
ls43, Lord Denman's bill carried into effect the
improve ments which Brougham had suggested in
1929
| The codi6cation of the criminal law, which
Lord Brougham has projected, viz:--to CONSOLE
date, and digest into one Statute, all the laws of
England as far as relate to indictable offences will
take place, and that without much delay. But
what has been effected within the last twenty years.
competent authority affirms, "far exceeds what
still remains to be done, and is hundred fold more
valuable than all that had been done In the five
preceding centuries" These reforms abolished
the Welsh judicature. The Court Of Delegates is
matter of history; the judicial powers Of the
privy council were re-modelled, and real actions,
with one exception, were swept away, as well as
fines and recoveries. The statute Of limitations
was reformed, and arrest for debt on mesns process
was abolished by Lord Cottenham's act Of 1897;
and arrests for sums under ego were done away by
Brous hams acts OF lS44-45. The laws relating
to bankruptcy and insolvency were also reformed.
| We have referred to England, tor the purpose OF
showing what has been done there IN regard to
law reform. It is well to look to any nation where
reform has been introduced. Fas est alb hoste docsr
| With regard to the unwieldy and numbering con-
dltion OF our laws, It may be stated, by way Of IL
| Illustration, that In one suit commenced on treasury
transcripts, there thirteen large trunks filled
| with statements, accounts, and vouchers, which
| have been more than once sent from the Treasury
Department to distant city, to be used if neces-
sary on the ira Four hundred and fifty six suits
OF this class, tor the recovery of $l7, l69 $50,
have been instituted, forty-fve Of which have been
decided against the United States. The aggregate
Of the collection, including costs, is 81, 1867.
The number Of suits duty bonds is $40, OF
which 1862 were brought In the State OF New
York. Ninety-one had been decided against
the Unred States. The amount sought to be
recovered Is Sc, 4s9, 1877. The amount collected
IS g, 229,l30. Two hundred and ninety-four
suits were dismissed, and one hundred and forty
| two RENTED
The act concerning the authentlcating records
may be cited as another proof of the absolute
cess,y for a thorough and searching reform. The
first section Of the bill originally reported con-
tanned power authorizing our Ministers and Con-
suls, at home and abroad, TO take testimony ia
certain cases under commission. which, when
certified under their seals, was to be declared legal
evidence. The second section provided that on
certain records being authenticated IN particu-
lar manner, and certified under the hand and seal
of our said Minister 10 be true copies of the orl-
ginal, they might be filed and used IN certain
manner. In its progress through the House, the
bill was amended by striking out the first withou,
changing the second section, which thereby be.