New-York tribune., 1900-05-12
DOMAIN OF WRITTEN LAW.
PROFESSOR ISAAC F. RUSSELLS ADDRESS
BEFORE THE SOCIAL SCIENCE
ASSOCIATION

Washington, May n.-At to-day's session Of the
American Social Science Association the present
officers reelected, and il was decided to hold
the next meeting in this city In April. 1901. The
subject TOR discussion at the morning session
Jurisprudence The first paper was read by
Professor Isaac Franklin Russell the University
OF New-York THE Domain OF the Written
Law" He spoke in part follows:
The end OF the century witnesses the expanding
domain of the written law. The delegates to the
the shape of treaty what really amounts to a
code establishing judicial procedure in cases Of
and ratified by all the nations there represented.
The German = Empire D has put into operation ma,
OF the Negotable INSTRUMENTS law have secured its
the District of coumbIa While. the statntosy Re m
vision Commission in New-York has this year re-
than eleven codes for enactment by the Legislature
Centuries of enactments and adjudications have
made the literature of the law oppressive in its very
make it a vain task to master or even read the
output of Congress and the various State Legis-
ulus of fee Some relief has been obtained by
is b changes n b Gag fGr 6ena S
tpicatton Of reports now numbering tens of tlNou-
fession. Lawyers call aloud for some principles
by which this mass of learning can be generalized
prudence may exhibit the truths of legal analysis;
hstorca fs studies may show the influence Gee of race
and elementary treatises may assist the beginner
Of cases may guide the advocate in the PREPARATION
of his brief through the labyrinths of enactments
except to the skilled jurist Mr. Justice Stephen
says that 'the only thing which prevents English
most most nteEestng in ere and instructive studies in the
a shape which only be described studiously
repulsive.'
REVISION AND CODIFICATION.
The distinction between statutory revision and
chapters of the New-York Revised Statutes are
almost ideal codes The diminutive idea Is found
in the etymology Of the word code; but familiarity
with the mammoth proportions OF So-called codes
has practically obscured this thought The task
e6 @ Ito b 6 b eoer {G
to be Ito exhibit in comPendious, and accessible 9t e
or to effect the conversion o. unwritter into writ
ten law thus arranging the law in a concise ana
orderly form, in a digest" Some bcld attempts
have been made, in the OF the Field Civil
Code. to extend the dominion Of the statute over
OF certainty precision and defniteness, orderly
arrangement, a form adapted to wide promuisS-
tion and prospective operation instead of a
At present there are strong tendencies making
civilization. We are living in an era of codes.
Senseless dversities in legal rules subject 1Hrs-
sion to the scorn of sound and rational think
the enactment of uniform national laws; as history
amply attests And as the markets OF the world
production of great staples is fast becoming a
world circng production, and ethical ana lurlsuc S
the deba tes and controversies of the great sover
eign Powers, may we not hope that Jurlsts VIII
comes from the diversties the conflicts. the qn-
certainties and the mysteries that now ehVeiop
the law?
Papers also were read, prepared by Charles A.
Gardiner OF New York THE Relation OF the
Federal Constitution and Statutes 10 Our New
Possessions" by James B. Dill, of New-York. on
State ito for for Saba Tarv Pet1s
New-YorI;. on Legal Education of Women