Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-01-17
xrxv conE NEEDED.

,,.z,. "a sadly in need OF new
.oa,aca,,o, ~ her laws. and every at'or-
ney. magistrate. and public omc'ai VIZ"
,ne state will rejoice when the Code u
1881 ,s superseded by an up-'oo"''
volume. an
The d,pnjf,ed tome which decade or 80
ooo was an authority on the laws Vi '"'
commonwealth has now grown Obsolete
o,nco that able trio OF revisors-E. u
purks. w. X. Staples. and Johh W. H'eH
,urned II out fresh from the press'
srccess,ve Legislatures have amen"eo'
80, o,d yridened its provisions lo-
49,. ,,o o,d volume. still presenting
,aoo,, illustration Of typography
,o,,h,nders' skill. is untrust"o''hS
..oocberous. There is hardly sec
,ion IN Il that can be relied upon a.
,r.,t after amendment has sha''e's" 80,
o,,s,nal value. deprived 1t OF i's
,a,ru,h 10 say--made the prese"'
,av ~ virginia a voluminous nSs''
- ,,.ho have not carefully followed 'he
s,.o,v.varving whims Of our solons' o"'
.,ah, almost as well consult blackstone
AZ the Code of 1887 for up-to-date Jaw
Tho provisions of the present adfn'rap''
orranged Code went into force upoi' NV
,st aay OF May, 1883, and since tha' ''nlo'
:, ~. mistake not. there have peeh "'o
so.,,ons Of our Legislature. Each anu
o,o,,, soas,on has left It's mark upon 'n'
Code. At first it was an easy ma =
rote amendments and additions oppo'''.
.,o saot,ons changed, but as the Acts VI
Aesenblv become more nuiieio"''
,osl, grew quite laborious' Anu
60 ,hene ,s always a great deal Oh u''-
.,,.,. abo.,t marginal notes, and IL i
drncult TO classify and index tne
ubich are not amendatory' Inc oi'''
uoble way to meet the diihcui'y - "
.t,so all the Acts Of Assembly s'nO'
,oo- ord this. of course, aside rom Wv
80 makes the law far more diriicu'
o,d Perhaps the lawyers VINO az
compelled to purchase many pooNs 49,,
ar. not so greatly Inconvenience q"
county magistrates and residents Vi 'e
-. se,c,,ons but from what we mean
Tho LEGAL profession is by no means S''''
Ga with the existing state OF aitalrs'
! III,
rn,o or thrS. years ago an enterprlsii'
o,,ornev of this city published
,oronhIet giving ali the amendments y
the code up to that time, ana 'noso WI
could do so purchased the worh a' III
c., ornortunity. The supplement wa
., admirable one. but 1t cost money an
,ras bevond the reach of hundreds WI
o.ad il Immediately after the last se'
! sior ~ the General Assembly two MOI
. excellent works OF the same nature al
neared. and while they have peeh 81
t ranged with great pains ana are We
$ ,nde,ed they are too expensive to CON
= ,,,,,hir the reach Of many who want then
. ,toroover there are hundreds OF person
} unfamiliar with legal literature WIN al
e uns ware OF the existence or these "ooAS'
! Nothing will quite meet the dlfncuiti'
= Of the situation except a new ooue' al
l. that of course, is luxury Which, "a
n only come through the magnanimiy
J. - LEGISLATORS. And. at best we cou
: not hope to get it before the puo'ic ~
g three or four years Another such wo'
r as the present Code was when IN
It pr,me would find ready sale ana u
n G+a+e would soon be reimbursed lor
l. outlay in publishing It. OF course
l. would take months and months OF car
full arduous labor to codify the Ia"
Or but the supplementary works already
re luded to have gone far towards heipn
i IN this direction and their contents Won
y prove OF no little assistance TO the GU
n fers or revisors, as the case might De-
or 1t is needless to say that as long
st LEGISLATURES meet our laws will be amer
~ ed. altered, and amplifed. and though
II Code can forever remain unchanged
On raw one would at least serve many yea