The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-08-10
A Code for the District-Public VS.
Private Interest.

A Code for the District-Public VS..
Private Interest.
To the Editor Of The Sunday Herald:
In your excellent article on the bewildering
confusion of District laws, published in THE
HERALD of the 9th ultimo, you quote Mr..
Albert as saying: "One prominent lawyer some
time since said: Il don't believe anybody ever
did know what the statutes of the District of
Columbia are and don't believe anybody ever
will know. l believe myself that it was this
state of affairs that drove Bob Ingersoll from
Washington. He couldn't stand it, A we'll
known lawyer here-I'n not tell his name
laughingly said some time ago, when | spoke
to him on the question of compilation or
code of District laws, Il don't want a code.
Then some young fellow can come in here and
in fifteen minutes find out all the points of
cases that it has taken me twenty-five years to
become familiar with" The jocular remark
of the lawyer referred to reminds me of an eX-
perence | had during a visit to the Adiron-
dacks. Two of us had engaged guide to
conduct us through the wilderness. Most
of the way it was plain sailing, or
rather rowing, but occasionally in landing to
pass around some shallow place in the passage
between two lakes it was difficult to avoid get
ting mired. In several places there were OBJ
structions from fallen trees, which half an
hours labor with an axe would so far have re- re-
moved as to make passage with boat suffi-
GENTLY easy, but to any suggestion that the
county authorities might do we'll to have such
work done, or might have a few stepping
stones put down at bad landing place, or
might put up a sort of finger-board to help the
boatman in distinguishing between safe and
practicable channel and one which would lead
him into cM de sac, our guide invariably re-
piled, SITS good enough for me-" or 81 can
find ny way" or SIT suits it is" 1t is
doubtless much the same with some of our Dis
trict lawyers. They have learned the way, or
at least are able to find a way of some sort
through the tangle of our District laws, and it
would perhaps be asking of them degree of
public spirit to which the average man is not
yet equal if we should expect them
to favor an improvement by which
their occupation as guides through the
legal wilderness would be rendered somewhat
less indispensable. Congress, however, may
be fairly expected to consider the public, rather
than private interest, and to legislate with a
view to the greatest good of the greatest num-
ber. And from this point of view there can be
no question as to the crying need for the sim
plifcation and systemization of our District
laws. For can there be any reasonable doubt
as to the economy and advantage of securing
every help that can contribute efficiently to
make the code what it should be, and as Mr.
Albert thinks the compilation made by Mr.
Josiah Quincy Kern would aid him in his
work, an opinion which Is we'll borne out by
the high Communications Mr.. Kern's work has
received from many competent authorities, in
Guiding the District Commissioners, it would
be poor economy to neglect the opportunity of
securing it at the price at which 1t can be had.
LAYMAN.