National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-01-26
THE CODE OF 1878.

our whole civilization and history.
THE CODE OF 1878.
The Americans. pride themselves upon
being aw-abiding people. A nation Of
law makers, it would be sad, indeed, if they
were amenablc TO the charge Of being law
breakers. But perhaps the very idea Of
self government superinduces the love Of
legislation. As rule We legislate too
much and too hastily. Every new legis-
lator seems impregnated with the idea that
1t is incumbent upon him to originate some
new act. The least he can do for his very
reputation q sake is to invent some improve
ment of an old act This he deems requi-
site to the formation of a record upon which
10 base his claim to a re election. And
who that ever served a single term does not
aspire to second ones
Since the adoption of the Constitution the
Congress of the United States has aggre-
gated seventeen large volsmcs of Statutes
at-Large. or course they contain all the
acts which have been passed by the success
sive Congresses since the Inauguration Of
the Government. Many of them Of the
first importance are distributed through the
various appropriation bills in the shape of
provisos. The result is that it takes the
best portion of the life of a lawyer, after he
has acquired the fundamental principles of
law, and entered upon its practice as pre-
fession, to familiarize himself with the stat
utes, State and national. This fact, together
with anotherequally important. the loose and
ambiguous terms in which many of our
laws are couched, determined Congress, in
1866, to provide for the revision, codifica-
ton, simplificAtion, and classification of the
whole mass. Accordingly a commission
was authorized, to lie composed Of persons
Learned in the law" TO run three years,
whose duty it should be 10 revise and
condcnse and improve the whole. AT
the end of this period the work was
not half completed, and Congress, in
1870, extended the time three years
more. In March, 1878, the work was re-
ported complete, and Congress then in
structcd the Committee upon the Revision
of the Laws to accept the same and employ
a suitable person 10 60 once more over the
work and, thoroughly revising it, exclude
all new matter, simply presenting con-
dcnsed report in the shape Of biIl of all
United States statutes in force on the 1st
day Of last December. This work was per
formed by Hon. Thos. J. Durant. and
brings the simple codifcation down TO the
of the. present session of
the Forty third Congress.
We arc enabled 10 form some faint idea
of the magnitude of the labor performed
and the study and comparisons involved by
the clear, able and lucid exposition of the
subject given in the House by Judge Law
renee, of Ohio. He states that those seven
teen volumes were reduced to 2,86S pages
by the commission. Their report has been
still further condensed by Mr.. Durant in
excluding the interpretations of new matter
and separating the treaties with foreign ma
tons and Indian tribes, and that relating TO
postal routes and military offences, from
The general laws, to L. 31 pages.
1t appears TO be a matter for regret that
he Committee on the Revision of the Laws
should have felt constrained to confine
their recommendation and action to exist
ing laws. The occasion seems TO be so
opportune for the formation and promulga-
lion Of q grand American code of criminal
and civil law that would prove to this |
country what the Code Napoleon has been |
to France that very many will protest that it
should be done. Judge Lawrence seems |
10 have been impress ed with this idea, espe-
cially as so much of the work necessary to |
hat end lad been prepared by the commits.
sion. However, the passage Of the bill
drawn by Mr.. Durant, and now under con-
viii be a step in the right direc-
lion, as it will enable all to see at glance |
what laws we have in force. Having
learned this, il will be less difficult to make |
he additions and cancellations necessary to
perfect the national code SO much to be de-
sired. Nor will the extra labors of the
in this respect be thrown away;
hey may at any time be drawn upon for
he improvement and perfection of the
code. ..- /
The instability of legislation in this
country is an unmixed evil That espe-
cially relating to commercial and financial |
affairs should fiuctuate as little as possible.
Disasters resulting from the recklessncss or
indiscretions of individuals are rarely |
proper subjects for Legislation, but are evils |
of that character which may best be left to |
cure themselves. If we could once estab.
lish code of general laws suited to the |
spirit of the age and in accordance with the |
genius of our institutions, such as was so |
felicitously alluded to by Judges Lawrence
and Poland, in their explanations before the |
House, as desirable, and then confine legis.
lation to raising the ways and means and
making appropriations for the current ex- |
penditures of the Government, except upon
the rise of new exigencies, the affairs of the |
nation would 60 on much more prosperously
and surely than now. Business trans
actions could then be prcdicated upon GER
tainties. Men could so into enterprises In
diligently, relying upon well-ascertaincd
rosv,lts 20 Our 1--we ic mn mite 90 fnexora