New-York tribune., 1868-06-15
THE Law DEPARTlfENT OF THE GOVERH-
MENT

THE Law DEPARIMEAI Of IHE UO' Eh'
MENT.
Judge Lawrence of Ohio has introduced III
the House of Representatives bill to create
Department of Law, under the direction OF the
Attorney General. The bill, though as yet very
crude and quite imperfect, contains the germ
of a valuable idea, and suggestions OF import
ant if not indispensable legislation. 1t proposes
that, without adding to the present expenditure
or the present numerical force, TO furnish to
each Department, and each Bureau which acts
independently, such as the Pension Office, Land
Office, Patent Office, Sixth Auditor, &c,
solicitor, who shall have charge of all the legal
matters arising out of the current business OF
the day, such as suits at law or i'll equity for
the recovery of debts on property and prose-
cutions for violations of law, and the recovery
of fines, penalties, and forfetures; who shall
be the legal adviser of the Office to which he
is attached, and perform such duties as may
be assigned to him in drafting contracts,
searching titles, and defining, so far as he can
from the mass of careless and conflicting
and illogical legislation with which Con-
gress has hampered the energies and dis
tracted the brains of our executive
officials, what on the whole is the safest,
most logical, most equitable, and most
| correct course to pursue. These solicitors,
with such clerks as they may employ,
are to constitute separate Department, the
] head of which shall be the Attorney General
who shall prescribe rules for its government,
and, on application, himself decide any point
of departmental law or practice referred to him.
In brief, the Government is to employ in all
| its departments a class of men who shall oc-
cupy toward itself the relation of an attorney
| to his client.
The advantages Of such system carried ont
in good faith are apparent at the first glance.
Every prudent business man has his chosen
confidential counsel, whose advice he seeks in
every matter of difficulty, of whose learning
and skill he avails himself in cases of doubt
or misfortune, or disputed rights, and to whose
guidance in such matters he unhesitatingly COM
mits himself Many reckless scheme has been
nipped in the bud, many passionate plan for
vengeance abandoned, and many a safe escape
made from dangerous dilemma, through the
shrewd, conservative and clear-headed ad-
vice of a confidential legal adviser. The en-
tire Government is compared with other par
ties who seek justice through the courts, as
numerous a plaintiff as Brigham Young would
be if he should undertake to return to state
of single blessedness. Under our system of
making official appointments there is such a
constant change of executive officers that the
very business Of the Government requires the
highest ability and the longest experience in
public affairs-often the most poorly performed !;
and this is especially true of litigated cases.
Our district-attOneys are so meanly paid that
they often refuse to attend TO cases which
require great deal Of time and labor in the
preparation and trial. and assistant counsel
has to be employed at enormous expense. The
clerks in the department who prepare accounts,
and, in many cases, too, the accounting
officers themselves, have no practical knOwl-
edge of the actual progress of litigation in
court of law; so that where the smallest cir
cumstance occurs out of the regular and simple
official routine they are incompetent to meet
the emergency. Again, the management of
the business of the Federal Government is
entirely under the direction of public statutes
and it is the experience of centuries that
statute law is the most difficult in the world
to comprehend or define or harmonic with
itself A clear and unequivOcal Interpretation of
conflicting statutes in pari materia, which will
be generally approved and accepted, is a
mOnumentum @re perrenias Such work
can only be achieved by one who possesses
logical and judicious mind, and has the adj
vantage of good legal training and familiarity
with the leading principles of law and legal
practice.
1t is obvious that the difficulties above limited
at will be obviated in great measure, if not
wholly, by attaching to the Government corps
of good lawyers, each of whom SHALL in addi-
ton to his general legal education, have
speciality in departmental law and practice, and
shall be familiar with the routine of the cleri-
cal business Of bis bureau, and shall compre-
hend the system or theory of the Office in its
integrity and its details, so that he can explain
il to lawyer from lawyers standpoint, and
can understand also the views taken Of it by
lawyer. Such man could point out errors in
the practice of the Office which would never oc-
cur to mere clerk, but which, nevertheless,
would be fatal in case the decision of q court
! or Jury SHOULD turn on them, He could explain