Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-02-25
The Law of RAILWAYS

A writer in the New York Ereaing Post in
notice ola work upon the Law of Railways. by
|. +. Redfeld, LII. D. pays very high COM
pliment to our Chief Justice, and from the no
tice we gather of its contents that the work
must be a very valuable one. The writer says ;
A PRACTICAL TREATISE UPON THE LAW OF RAIL
WAYS. By Isaac Red6eld, LII. D., Chief
Justice Of Vermont. Boston Little Brown
& Co.
The name of Chief Justice Redfeld has long
been recognized as a leading authority among
American jurists. lie has given to the legal
profession, in this volume on the Law of Rail
ways, thorough and admirable treatise, and
one which is worthy of his name.
The plan of the work is indicated in the title
and more fully explained in brief preface it
is u SC practical treatise - the author has aimed
to make his work something more than a mere
treatise, and something more than mere digest.
" 1t is the endeavor," he says in his preface,
C of this undertaking to combine the two in
such manner as to render the work Ineligible
and interesting as an exposition of the principle
involved, and at the same time present thor
ough analysis and digest of all the important
enable the reader at once to know the result of
all the decisions upon the several topics dis
cussed"
This excellent design is fully carried out.
Every thing has been melted down in the cruci-
Bile of the authors mind the statements of gen
cral principles and the recital of decisions are
both 50 purged of irrelevant matter, and pre-
sented in form 50 exact, and at the same time
| DO Ga, l..
mere form of their expression great pleasure
to an enlightened reader. In this clear and
condensed statement of decision, Chief JUS
tice Redfeld's work reminds one Of the admira-
BILE abrevations in Judge Curtis's edition of the
Supreme Court reports-at once condenslng and
calculating the statement of point.
The author has wisely excluded from the
body Of the work any extended quotations OF
criticism of reported cases. These, when they
are presented at all sink into the foot-notes a
the bottom of the page, leaving the law, like {
pure liquor, at the top. The notes are full, ant
prepared somewhat upon the plan of those il
Professor Parsons books
Judge Redfeld is too old lawyer not tt
know the value of abundant and easy means 0
reference in law book. He has supplied thi
in thorough and somewhat peculiar manner
Besides a full index at the end of the book, h
has presented at the beginning an UNUSUAL,
minute table Of contents, extending over hft
pages. The work is divided into thirty-eigh
chapters, and each chapter is divided into sec
tons, which in turn arc subdivided into para
graphs that are numbered.
At the same time there is continuous mum
bering of sections carried through the book
each section of chapter making one section o
the larger system so that in citing u passag
reference may be made to it., e. q. as chapte
XIV, section ", 9; or merely as Sl08, 2. Th
table of contents gives us the general title {
the chapter, and also the particular subject q
each section of a chapter and OF each paragrap
in the section. When it is considered tibet eac
page contains on an average, three or four {
these paragraph, some idea is obtained of tn
minutencss of reference Each section of
chapter, also, has prefxed to 1t the subjec
matter of each parag graph it contains.
A work on railways must necessarily treat {
considerable variety of subjects,-the Law
Common Carriers, the Law of Agency, of En-
nent Domain, of Corporations, &c. 80 that
must consist, in fact, of a series of condense
I. commentaries on these several branches of tt
law, so far as they are applicable to the subje
of railways. There may be room for doubt
to the expedicncy of making the subject of raj
ways seperate title in the law, which viii
perhaps, in the opinion of some, SAVIOR of div
ding the law across the grain but if it is to
done at all, it is well that it should be done by
jurist of so mcuh experience, judgment anddl
, crimi nation, as the author of this book, who
well considered sentences carry with them a
most the weight of a judicial decision; and it
perhaps, an advantage that the peculiar cha
acter Of his subject compels him to present
with his opinions upon the heads of several
the leading titles in the law, on the princir
: that the more we can get from him the bette
There is no doubt that this work will ta
, rank as one of the best contributions our cou
try has made to legal literature