The evening world., 1894-04-13
f,erwards appeared in sketches Over

the city. 1t would be a gigantic task 70
give a list OF the cases of importance IN
which he was engaged, both in the state
and the Federal courts. Some OF them IN
volved large Interests of property; others
dificult constitutional questions; ana IN
some the litigation was Kept up f6f
years. being finally decided only in the
tribunal of last resort.
To these professional labors was now
to be added a work apart from practice
in the Courts-one that in the course of
years grew to such proportions, and IN
volyed such an amount OF labor, tlht
Is Justly considered the great work ~
his life, viz: that Of the reform OF TIM
law. A work Of such magnitude ana
such results deserves a s@m""h"t de-
When Mr.. Field began tho study OF
the law the first thing which he 1T
tempted was to make himself master Hf
the practice, and so hard Ala h. work
that he had reason to say that IF yer
there was anything which he under
stood II was the practic' AZ. common
the courts OF New York" The extreme
~ technical character nf the whole rvs
tenn impressed him from tho beginning.
He could not see that II was necessary,
and thought he saw that II was 'nju-
rious.
This disposition Of mind was strength
wick. who. having first prnctisod law m
Massachusetts, looked upon the iystem
of New York as absurdly technical and
But neither his student life nor the
FIRST years OF practice in his profession
afforded him an opportunity for tn" er-
law itself. While abroad in 1886 he went
through Great Britain and a large par
OF the, continent This visit, and whnt
he then saw. of the English courts. tho
civil law and the French codes, lid not
tend to increase. hut very much to lessen,
his respect for that technical system Of
our own which he already di5liksi.
On his return to this country In m"
Summer Of 1897. and resuming the prac-
tice Of the law, no began, to consider more
carefully what he could do for the i'm
In the courts. His hTst public effort was
2 Letter to e,S Gulian c, Xcrpismck, Pp6.
judicial system" After, this he went
to Albany. and addressed a committee
OF the Legislature on the subject.
Two years later. at the general cleo
tion in November. 1871 he sought and
obtained a nomination from the Demo
cratic party for the Assembly Of New
reform measures into the Legislature
Being defeated through the interference
Of Bishop Hughes in his opposition f."
the pubic school system then prrvaiI;,
ing In New York. he contentel himself
with preparing the draft Of three bills
to be 3n~trodrred by Mr.. o'Sullivan. h!s
by a long letter In explanation OF, their
provisions. These bills were introduced
but the Judiciary Committee. TO which
they were referred. did not adopt or
recommend them. They were printed.
however. with the letter in the journal
OF the Assembly.
vention. pursuant to an act OF tn" Legs
1ature of 1S45. gave him n new oppor-
tunity. Before the delegates were elected,
and in January. 1916, he wrote and pub
lished a series If articles on The Re
organization OF the Jndiciary' III"
wished to obtain a seat in the Conv"n-
ton, with n view to promoting law re-
form: but the unpopularity. to which h"
had subjected himself by his, hostility t.
the annexation Of Texas ana the exten-
sion Of slavery. made It impossible for
him to obtain n nomination from tn"
Democratic party. then the only ON"
from which he could exncct an election.
But If he was not permitted I" in
fuence the Convention by his voice
within Its walls, he could influence"
II from without. AMI he did so to tn" Ut,
most of his power. by conversation and
correspondence with the members, and
by articles in the NEWSPAPERS. The Con
vention met on the LIST Of June and drew
the general election in November. 1t
contained two law-reforming provisions.
one aiming at a general code. the other
owed their existence to Mr.. Field.
Mr.. Fields nam g was naturally
brought FORWARD an crnn"rtlon with
the conservative feeling was too strong,
he was too radical: and Mr.. NtCh9lns
I'm was appointsd instead Il him. tn"
Mr.. Graham and Mr.. Hill, was formally
established by a law passed April s.,
The Commissi ,ners could no, agree,
however. in carrying out this provision,
and MIR. Hi resigned in Scnt@mh"r.
by that time. the feeling in favor Of
radical reform had gained strength, and
Mr.. Field was appointed In Mr., HiWs
place by a resolution of the tw" Houses,
passed sept. 90; $50. Iron tn r"or..
to work in earnest. and Feb, 20, ISIS. re
ported to the Legislature the first In
stalment OF the Code, Of ,,iyil rrMc"lur",.
very little change. and went into effect
on July J. J., wac h3w wgS, tout an
plated. and the residu" was reported
ports. until Jan. i. 1850, when completed
W WSaes sn 81 Ttxl to "'1 the "T Tnsi.ia,n nroE Th"st
two works covered the whole ground OF
remedial law.
Meantime the other Commission. called
whole body OF substantive law in charge
broke down, and the law appninting Il
1852 to hnd continued hostility to the
Code. In spite OF his efforts, to %r@susci.
tate the Cod Commission T. vas MT
was appointed n Commissioner with MIR
Moves and Mr., Bradford.
The first thing they did after their an
pointment was TO prepare tn" ANALYSIS
prescribed by law. MIR. Moves under.
took to prepare that for the Penal code
MI. Field undertook the res: that is t,
say, the analysis of the Political AN.
Civil Codes. After this they went 10
work on the Codes themselves. The Po
litical Code was the first finished. Tina.
was repaired by Mr., Field alone. Aus
tin Abbott assisting him.
The first drlft was sent out Narcl
10. 1889, and. after a re-cNaminit.on, tn.
revised AM completed work was sub
United 10 the Legislature April 10, lAJ,
On the 16h of that month a provision
was, at his suggestion. intr iuccl int
an act amending Inc code Of Ciyi
Procedure, authorizing the Comm :
sionerS of the code to prepare an up
proprlate Book Of Forms. Tn wa
prepared in the same manner as tn
three codes: first a draft, or. as IN thi
case. ,Jw3 successive drafts were cir
culated. and then the reviscd work W.
reported to tine Legislature MarrA sc
1861. This was done entirely under h,
supervision, sir. 7. q. sherman ASSIST
ing him.
The first draft Of a portion Of tn
Civil code was sent out March u. 1851
Then a draft Of the whole was dis tril
uted April s, 1862, and that of the Pena
Code April 2, 1864. The fun draft Of IN
Civil Code was prepared by Mr.. Flcl
alone. with the assistance Of W. J. \
Fuller. Austin Abbott. Il. w. Abbott
Charles r Stpne and r. q Shparma1