The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-08-30

hCdlloH It may De aSkeuI our law, ana indeed the law of the entire Anglo Saxon world, is composed of what Is called, The written and The unwrltten Law. Our constitutions and statutes are the written Law; the unwritten law, which Is by far the greatest part Of our Jurisprudence, consists of the decisions of the courts of last resort, and Is scattered through more than ten thousand volumes. The first great advantage of codification is certainty, clear and definite statement, The Brit ish act has condensed into forty pages, what 1t took usually thousand pages of text book to make clear, and what
 was probably contained in more than
 ten thousand pages of decisions. If we should add to that the decisions in the
 United States on notes and bills it
 might reach a hundred thousand.
 David Dudley Field has stated what
 is undoubtedly the greatest advantage
 of codification. It puts within the
 reach of ordinary men a portion of
 the law which is wholly hidden from
 them. Any man may read and judge
 of a statute, but the so-called unwritten
 IIdW lS dS llluGil lllNlutIl IlOlIl lIG ldlly
 as if it were written in an unknown
 tongue The British act has made the
 law of notes, checks and drafts definite
 and certain and comprehensible to ev-
 erybody. This act has been adopted
 by all the f-governing colonies of
 Great Britain and has been of im- mense value in saving litigation.
 The decision of the various States of our Union differ very considerably in this most important branch of com mercial law. The adoption of this act of codification will not only have all the advantages of definiteness and clearness already mentioned, but it will
 unify the law. The only possible meth cd of the unification of the law is the adoption of the same legislation by the different State legislatures, and this can only be brought about by a Commission similar to that whose his tory we have just sketched.
 The British act, just as it was, could not be adopted. Changes to suit it to American business were necessary, and this required the employment of ex- perts. The work of the commission | LdllGu Ol CbillplcllOll lOl lIlG Walt Ql | the funds necessary to employ experts. Many of the states have not only failed to make an appropriation, but even al lowed their commissioners to pay their own travelling expenses.
 | It is acknowledged that more has been l accomplished at the session just held in Detroit, than in all the sessions that | proceeded it. The money was raised to pay for expert work. A committee, of Ito have an act prepared based upon the | British codification, and to send printed | copies of it to all the members of the 1 commission for criticism, and at the next meeting of the commission an act adapting this great piece of English l Legislation to our American business, will be perfected and presented to the various legislatures for their adoption | If this can be done a great step will
 be taken towards that common commer- cial code, which it is to be hoped will be one day the law of all the American states. It may be well to note here | that the Dominion of Canada already has common system of commercial ! law.
 The commission also appointed a l committee upon insolvency, of which one of our Connecticut commissioners
 is member, and the commission hope | at some future day to present com
 mon insolvency law for adoption by the l various States, or to induce congress to pass general bankrupt act, which by | the constitution it has the power to do Other minor matters are considered by | the convention, but it's work of real value will be an act codifying the law
 of notes and bills. It is of course possi-
 ble that the legislatures of the various States may nullify the work of this commission. It may be a labor all in
 vain to attempt to accomplish by this
 method a unification of the law The | late Justice Miller, In his lectures on the constitution, says 1t was the necessities
 of commerce which forced the adoption of that great instrument, and that loca | jealuosy would have forever prevented | it, if trade had not made 1t necessary | The necessities of commerce will some | day or other force upon this country, as it has upon all other countries of the civilized world, the adoption of com.
 mon system of commercial law. A.