The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1872-04-04
For the Clarion.

AArh Miss. alias Norris Vol HI.
whatever progress has been made In the
Art Of Printing within the last three hun
dred years, an inspection OF the subject oil
this article would convince the most skepti-
cal that the art of reporting has sadly de-
generated. And by Reporting include the
entire process through which IL Is necessa-
~ to take the cases from the time they
leave the Supreme Court room 10 their
appearance in 4 priHted volume OF Reports
for certainly none other than the Repor-
ter is responsible for the manner In which
the work is done from its inception TO the
end. Upon him IL devolves To make
statement Of the facts OF each case, To pre-
pare the syllabi, which should contain
brief statement of the principles decided
and to examine carefully and correct the
proof sheets as they come from press--so
that he thus becomts as much responsible
for that part of the work which Is of neces-
sity committed to others as for the part he
does himself. To him belongs tho manage
ment and supervision of the entire job, and
the manner in which il is done depends al
together upon the manner in which the
Reporter does his duty. The position l.
one OF 10 lltNit AhR NNAAh-N"
gotten up by him, it matters not how care
lessly the work is done, are indispensable
TO every lawyer in the State, and hundreds
of copies are purchased by lawyers OF other
States, and copies of them are TO be found
in every State Library in the Union. They
will be preserved and handed down to the
remote ST generation, and will be regard ed
in all time As rejecting, in n measure, the
character of the age that gave birth TO
them. Their pages contain the principles
which are to govern man In his dealings
with his fellow Tor all time to come, and so
important IS the matter contained In them,
that a single error might result ia the es-
cape of guilt or the punishment of inno-
cence.
How careful. then, does IL behooye him to
be, in whose hands is placed the responsible
trust of their publication. And besides its
importance, there are other considerations
which should strongly influence the Report
er to do wen his part, and see to il that the
result of his labors is not such as that the
State, the Supreme Court and the profess
sion need feel ashamed of IL. Professional
pride, personal pride, respect for the court
which appointed him, and a desire to return
an equivalent for their money TO those who
purchase his volumes. all urge "A strict and
| conscientious discharge of duty.
But upon our present Reporter, ! regret
to say, these considerations have been lost.
| feel no hesitation in asserting that there
are in I'D Morris more errors, blunders
aud inaccuracies than in the entire 81 vol
umes reported Nby his predecessors. This
volume, as it comes from the press, bears
upon it the marks of most indecent haste
and criminal negligence, or else the grossest
ignorance and stupidity. ! eau hardly con-
ceive it possible that the proof sheets were
ever read over by an Intelligent 8aaH-cer-
tainly not by a lawyer-with "A view to
their correction. There l. scarcely page
which does not contain All error, In punctu-
ton. spelling or construction. In many in
stances the blunders are SO great that Il Is
next TO impossible TO conceive the real mean
ing and occasionally entire sentences are alb
solutely unintelligibe The sylldJtof seve-
raj cases are, as printed, sheer nonsense.
Statements of the facts are inconsistent and
confused. Briefs of the most learned coun-
sci, in one or two instances at least, are
made so absurd by mistakes of the printer
as to be really laughable. Nor has ne (the
Reporter) any more respect for the opinion
OF the Court. The disciples OF Socrates, the
great lawyer Of antiquity, might have be-
come great by reporting the sayings Of
their master; but could Socrates have en-
joyed the privilege OF having his sayings
repotted by our State reporter, and printed
by Messrs. Kimball, Raymond Il Co., both
master and reporter would have been es-
81. 4
by posterity.
My article is already longer than | intend
ed, but L cannot close without calling atten-
ton to few of the blunders which do not
appear in the list of ''errata" published with
the book-which list, by the way, though a
long one, is hardly IA drop in the bucket"
Passing by cumbersome of them i'm
portant-tbe first error which i would note
particularly is contained in the 4th, 9th, 9th
9TH, Sth ana 9th line on page 80, being an
extract from the opinion of the Court
though by no means lucid one. No
thing short of revelation would ena-
bic one 70 perceive just what the learned
Justice meant 10 say. In thu 9th line on D.
Il, and the 9th line p. 40. the meaning l.
reUefSed by the omission OF the word not
"a mistake that occurs in several other
places. In the "a line of p. 43, a gentleman
Is stated to have sold tract of land for
$4,000 in Confederate money, in eighteen
hundred and sixty-siI, whicf Judge Simrall
thought "a fair price at the time" In the
syllabus of the case of Lambeth VS.. Elder.
blunder Oft grossest sort occurs-sec par
agraph ], on page 81. On p. IS in Sth line.
we have surrender" for SUBJ endee. In
the case Of New VS.. Wright, Geo. l.. Potter
makes an elaborate argument on both sides.
IL was decided IN his favor (Of cOurse.) See
pages z03, 204 and Dos. The first or 4 lines
on p, 31S, as they stand, are unintelligible.
In the first paragraph of the syllabus. on p.
406, and in the 4th line on p. 400 the gross
est earelessness appears. For remarkable
specimen of punctuation the reader is re-
ferred to the first five lines on p. 5Os-in the
opinion of the court. The reporter has per-
mitted the printer to make first-class nom
sense out of IL. The opinion OF the court on
p. 547, in the 18th. 18th, 18th, l4th 18th, 10th,
18th and 18th lines from the bottom has
been punctuated i'm like mannur, and mon
sense" manufactured with the same success.
AS history 44th Mississippi Is unreliable.
According to the syllabus on p. 5lS, New
Orleans was captured by the Federal troops
in May. 1862. but according TO the court. IL
fell in May. 1852. In paragraph Of sylla-
bus, on p. 6S3, the reverse of the law IA laid
down. But on the next page-6Sl-- In the
last two par graphs Of Colonel Georges
Brief, the caTelessness OF the Reporter
his ignorance and stupidity, is attended
with the most iudicrOus result. IL reads
much like one of Horace Greeley's manu-
script letters-the usually pointed and lucid
reasoning of its learned author being trans
formed by the printer into "a conglomerated
maSs of heterogeneous nonsense"-to use
the favorite expression of al old and highly
esteemed friend.
For remarkable punctuation see d. 7GI-
in last three lines. For more nonsense see
p. 776, beginning at 18th line from the
bottom. And lastly: For "A browning ex-