Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-01-26

Up to the present time. however, Congress
has failed to move in the matter, and the
hundreds of people who would be glad to
purchase copies of the compilation, as well
as those officers of the District and general
government who desire to avail themselves
In an official way for official use, are COM
PEELED to await the tardy action of Con-
gress, the work being meantime subjected
to the danger of storage in the admitted
undertook known as the government print
ing office.
The compilation has heretofore been de-
scribed IN The Star, and those who have
examined copy of 1t, as printed, speak
of the work in the highest terms, regarding
1t as one of the most complete and valu-
able volumes of the kind ever issued. AS
completed. it is volume of 1870 pages,
embracing II chapters, including an ap-
pendtx containing the Constitution of the
United States the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, the charter Of Maryland, the act
or Congress establishing the District of
Columbia, and the various acts of Con-
gress and of the states of Maryland and
Virginia to the same
What in Included.
Inc act authorizing the compilation re-
CURED that all statutes and parts of stat
utes In force IN said District, including
the acts Of the second session of the Fiji
tieth Congress. and relating to all such
matters as would properly come within
the scope Of a civil and criminal code"
should be compiled, arranged and classi-
hed, with proper index. The District Su-
preme Court was directed to appoint two
commissioners. persons learned In the law
70 make tuch compilation, and April 2
1855, Messrs. VIM. Stone Albert end Benja-
min u. Loye1oy were appointed as such
commissioners. They soon commenced
their labors. but Mr.. Lovcjoy, dying the
2lst of the following November, Mr.. Regi-
naId Kendall was appointed in his place
6r1fia
vented him from taking an active part in
the work. and Mr.. Albert was therefore
compelled to practically perform the whole
work alone. The labor involved far ex-
ceeded all estimates as to tedious re-
search, almost never-ending consideration
ana asserting OF conflicting laws, and the
work was retarded by inadequate and
tardy appropriations for clerical and other
necessary expenses, valuable time being
thereby lost by Mr.. Albert After four.years
of patient work Mr.. Albert announced to
the District Supreme Court on the 10th Of
last April that the compilation was COM
pleted and ready for the approval of the
court. The compilation was shortly ap-
proved, and on the I'd of June last the
court directed that the 5000 copies au-
thorized by the act be printed. That has
all been done, as above stated, and the
work has loEg since been ready for distri-
button and SALE The statutes included in
the compilation have been selected from
the British statutes in force in Maryland
at the time of the cession of the territory
to the United States, from Magma Charta
to the 18th of Geoge III, in the year 1T73;
the statutes of Maryland from April 28
17O4. to February q, 1901; the Revised
Statutes Of the United States relating to
the District of Columbia, published in
1875; the Revised Statutes Of the United
States and the statutes at large, in which
the District is specifically named, or which
refer to courts of the United States" and
such statutes, civil and criminal, referring
to certain territory of the United States.
and all places or districts under the ex-
elusive jurisdiction of the United States
and which are not locally inapplicable;
also the acts of the legislative assembly
of the District from June 2, 1871, to June
20, 1873.
Additions Made.
That was all which was required by the
act authorizing the compilation, but, in
addition to the appendix above referred to,
Mr.. Albert made the work of much greater
value and Importance by adding to it the
following: 1. Head notes to each chapter,
briefly describing the subject Of each sec
ton. 2. Subjective side notes for each Sec
ton. 3. Marginal references to the text
whence each section was selected. 4. Cross
tanning the same kindred subjects 5.
judicial citations of the federal courts
and of the Maryland court of appeals ex-
planning or constituting the text g. Foot
notes referring to subsequent acts of Con-
gress relating to the District of Columbia
and included in volumes 26 and q, United
States Statutes at Large; also references
to the municipal ordinances in force in
different portions of the District of Column
bia, viz: Washington city, Georgetown
the levy court and ordinances of the board
of health.
In order to make the compilation Of still
greater value. Mr. Albert again went be-
yond the requirements of the act authoriz-
ing 1T, by including in foot-note references
acts of Congress relating to the
District, included in volumes 20 and 81 of
the United States Statutes at Large, en-
bracing the acts passed by the Fifty-first
and the Fifty-second Congresses. The acts
Of Congress referred to in the compilation
cover period from the passage
that of June l. 1889. which statute, by the
way, was signed by George Washington
and prescribed the form Of oath to be
taken by the officers of the government to
the 4th of March, 1888.
Question OF Compensation.
From the foregoing 1t will be seen that
the compilation, as completed by Mr. Albert
and as printed. has gone far beyond the
requirements directed by the act authoriz-
ing 1t, and in so doing he has, in the
opinion of the District Supreme Court and
Of the Bar Association of the District, |
made the work that much more valuable |
and important. The members Of the court |
and of the Bar Association have so ex-
pressed themselves in letters addressed to
and have urged that Mr.. Albert |
be compensated accordingly. The District |
and their attorney as we'll |
as District Attorney Birney, have also in |
dorsed this suggestion. The act authoriz- |
Ing the compilation fixed the compensation |
of the compilers at 81, 500 each. to be paid |
upon the completion of the work If he |
should receive no further compensation |
than that prescribed by the act authoriz- |
ing the compilation. he would receive not |
quite 500 year for the four years he was |
engaged in making the compilation. |
The second edition of the Revised Stat |
utes of the United States, authorized by |
the act of March 2. 1877, occupied the |
over one year in its prep
aration. 1t included the acts of two ses-
sions of Congress passed subsequent to |
December /, 1873. as well as the text of !
the first edition, published in 1875. For his |
services the commissioner was paid the |
sum of 5000. For preparing the supple |
nent to the Revised Statutes of the United |
States, including the laws contained in the |
18th, 10Th, 10th and 2lst Statutes at Large, |
md including clerical services, there was |
paid the editor 5000. For the second edi-
ion of the supplement, including the 1egis- |
alton subsequent to the former edition |
and the acts of the Fifty-first Congress,
here was likewise paid the editor the Sum |