The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-04-25
INDEXING THE LAWS.
MEMORizlMG DEVICES IN THE GOV
ERNMENT BUREAUS.

Hne Mcthou by Which the MRss OF
Legislation Which ConSress En-
acts Zach Year Is Untang.ed and
Sent to Itn Proper Department.
In view OF the immense mass Of leg
islation which congress enacts from
year to year. much OF 1t simply in the
form OF half hidden clauses attached !
to appropriation bills, strangers often |,
wonder how any one can keep track |
OF the details and make sure that some |
OF the minor laws are executed. When
q bill Is In the last stages preceding
completion, one member after another
thinks OF something he wishes to
throw into 1t before the final vote Is
taken. It Is perhaps proviso that the
secretary Of the treasury shall do this,
or that the secretary Of the interior
shall do that Up springs another
member, who wishes to make sure that
the duty shall not be neglected and
who therefore adds al amendment
that the secretary shall report TO con.
gress nc each session so and SO. And
thus 1t goes into the permanent law
OF the land. adding one more to the
multitude OF tasks already assigned
to the cabinet officer In question, In.
suring the compilation Of one more
public document which few persons
outside Will ever read and ut which not
one congressman In 80 will ever glance.
But the work will be done and the
report made, as ordered by congress.
for there Is no one to utter q protest.
1t Is not the business of the head of a
department to ask the reason why. 1t
is enough for him that the lawmakinc
power has Issued Its command und fur
nished him with the men and the mon
ey required to do the work. The clerks
who toll painfully through the process
OF collecting the data and preparing
the report do not bother their brains
with the conundrum. Who Is going tc
read It when 1t Is finished and in print?
They nre there simply to obey orders
and draw their salaries. But how does
any one keep truck Of the odds and
ends OF laws tucked awny In budget
bills and the like? When the accumu.
lation of statistics for whole session
is bound up In fat book In the chron-
ological order of their approval by the
president, how Is any one to dig out
the details that the secretary of the
treasury and the secretary Of the In
terror must know?
This Is the work Of digest clerks and.
indexers. who take each enactment
and cut it into bits. One bit In the leg
islative appropriation act. another in
the sundry civil act, third Ia an ur-
gent deficiency act, fourth In q gen.
ernl deficiency net and q fifth perhaps
In special statute, all relate to one
subject and belong together. Each
subject has its proper place under one
of the broad heads. legislative. execu.
tive or judicial, and again under one
OF the subcategorieS as pertaining to
the senate or the department Of the In
terror or the circuit court Of appeals appeals oE
what not. When. therefore, all the
fragments of legislation for O session
are shifted about and regrouped &C.
cording to topics and the topics arrang-
ed In their normal order. we have
very simple but effective digest for ref
erence on any subject touched by con-
gress.
With q pretty exhaustive index add.
ed we can do eitheH OF twC shings-
consult the index eoE ate specific title
0f u certain subject or search the body
OF tue book for she subject itself. In it's
place In q certain invarlable order of
topical sequence. For example. if we
wish to ascertain how much It has cost
to light the New York postofice build
ing for certain year. we may either
look in the index under "New York"
or we may turn In the digest itself to
the executive branch Of the govern
ment. there find the appropriations for
the treasury and in the group OF public
buildings under treasury Jurisdiction
follow the paragraphs down till we
come to the particular building In
which we are interested. .
So much for tho convenience OK the
officers charged by law with sucl. ard
such duties. With the orderly distri-
button Of functions between tho sew
eral Bureaus and divisions Of each de.
partment there is no difficulty in each
functionary's learning from the digest
just what he is to do and usually how
he is to do It.
But what shall keep congress remind
ed OF the reports and recommendation
which It has ordered oil these persons.
to prepare? Here comes another mem.
ori2ing device. A standing rule Of the
house OF representatives requires the
clerk OF that body to submit at the be-
ginning OF every session @ list OF the
reports which any Of the laws say shall
be made to congress during that ses-
SION. He incloses the list in formal
letter Of transmittai to the speaker.
and letter aud list are printed together
as document Each page is ruled in
four columns, the first containing the
title OF the officer and the nature OF the
report required OF him, the second
reference to the volume Of laws author
fzing the report. the third citation Of
section or page and the fourth the date
ct which the report is expected or the
period within which 1t may be present.
ed or the frequency with which It Is al
ways necessary to have certain class
OF reports ready.-Boston Transcript.
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