Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-01-12
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.


An Army Officer Resigned Capt. N. J.
7. Dana, Assistant Quartermaster, U. S. A.,
has resigned, to take effect OF the LIST of March
Judiciary Reform Among the many ex-
cellent features Of Mr.. Mays bill, there is
none that ought to commend it to public IA
vor moro than that relating to the codifcation
Of the laws: It must strike every one as as
sorting great principle thas has hitherto
been too much neglected. 49, And the enactment
Of such principle by Congress will mark an
era in the progress of our legal system, and
will, We trust, be followed by its recognition
in the States. We allude to the following
provision:
"And the said code shall be constructed ac.
cording to simple method, and be expressed
Ia language concise and plain; and, as far as
OF person of ordinary intelligence and edu:
cation; and shall contain full and particu
lar index to its contents"
This is our idea of what a system of law,
ought to be. 1t is then provided that dele
gates representing all the people of the Dis.
trict are to have the power of adopting or re
jecting all the provisions of the code; and ther
it is to be printed and bound into volume
and distributed among the people in all tht
public offices, public schools, libraries, and
Offices of the courts and justices of the peace
and be always open to the examination of ev
cry citizen as matter Of right; and then
every free white male citizen of the District
| tov
is entitled to vote upon it's adoption; and if il
becomes ratified and the law, then it is to be
always open to be consulted by even the hum
blest citizen, that he may know the law of his
rights, and govern himself accordingly. How
admirable and truly republican is not this
provision Here, for the first time, we find it
declared that the law shall be so expressed
that every man of ordinary intelligence and
educ0ttom can understand 1t, and a copious
index is to aid him in finding it, and the book
to be always open, in some place near him, to
be consulted upon his demand Nothing can
be more satisfactory to the people than such
code as this, and such an easy mode of read
ing it. This Is new feature of reform, and
one that cannot be too highly applauded by
every citizen. .-
We are told by Roman history, that when
the tyrant Caligula had exhausted all his
plans for expressing his unhappy subjects, he
hit upon the unhappy expedient of making
new penal laws, and engraved them on plates
of brass, and hung them up on high pillars in
Rome, 80 high that no one could read them,
and Jet whoever violated them he caused to be
severely punished.
1t has always seemed to US that our laws in
this District have oppressed our people prett,
much in the same way. No one can now un
derstand them, dispersed as they are through
old British reports, British statutes, old M ary.
land statutes, and acts of Congress, and all OK
pressed in technical and unintelligible Ian
guage. Some Of our principles of the common
law are written in Norman French. or oouc hed
in that uptranslatable tongue called Law
Latin. Not even lawyers or courts can com
preAend our system, if system it can be called
If law Is, as Blackstone says, ca rule of civil
conduct" then it serves no such purpose here
We all, the best Of US, the best learned anon.
us, walk about blindfold until We are sudde ul,
brought up against soma violation of law, ant
stumble over and fall down with some lega
right. We bitterly complain of this state o.
things, and will, till some such plan as Mr.
Mays bill proposes may serve to light up on,
pathway. We might as we'll be the slaves OF
Caligula as citisens of this District, under oul
present legal expressions. If all men are
equal, let all men equally know the laws
which govern them, or, at least, have the op
portunity Of learning them. Mr.. Mays bill
accomplishes this, and if it had no other pro
vision than this we are now dealing with II
recommend it, We should on this account alone
60 for it "heart and soul,''
Fapa1 supremacy.-Thes speech of the Hon
J. X. Chandler, of Pa, which was delivered
in tie House hall yesterday, after we went t
press, will dou btless fall upon the mind of the
country with great effect. We need hardly
repeat here, that Mr. c., in point of standing
and influence, has no superior in the House
Indeed, he is perhaps more revered and con
hded in by all his fellow members without
distinction Of party, than any other gentle.
man who sits in that hall He il learned
wise, temperate in all his actions, and emf.
nontly straightforward in all his conduct
Hence the remarkable influence to which we
refer His effort was to disprove the allega
tons that papal authority, in aught but spir-
itual affairs, is dogma Of the Roman Catholic
Church, Of which he is devout member; or
that there are any Catholics in this country
who admit that they owe aught to the Pope
but allegiance in spiritual matters, aa the
chief authority of their Church; or who would
not take up arms against him if seeking to
invade this country, or to interfere in it's tenn
poral affairs, as willingly as against any
crowned head in Europe.
We were more gratifed than We can express
with the triumph which Mr. c. certainly
achieved on this occasion, as he enforced
views upon the character of the Pope's influ-
ence over Roman Catholic subjects or citizens