Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-12-01

Etical and non-partisan. For ais soon
as politics enter into this bureau faith
fees and leaves a few withersd rem
nants of q life that could have been
Of great service. Il.
The Following conditions are famil-
lar to all of us. Mr.. X comes to the
Legislature. He is an honest man, a !.
man OF ability and good common sense
and we'll liked by his constituents.
Up to this. time he has lived an un-
eyentf,il life in a small town. AT
ones The changes his surroundings All
is hustle and hustle. Here man
wants some n slight favor, another
wants an Office for a deserving rela-a
ton, and still another man vents
political debt paid off. He is put on
number of committees. Mr.. x can't
move but that he feels the strenuous
ness Of his life. He III far away from
his hard headed advisors and his sym
pathetic friends. His constituents
want a bill introduced for the irriga-
ton Of a large tract Of land He must
in some way get the bill drawn up so
that there is no flaw for the courts to
declare unconstitutional or for the
lawyers to find loop holes Of egress.
He goes to the code and is confronted
by thousands of bills on thousands of
subjects. It makes his head swim to-
encounter SO many complex questions
which present themselves In his bill.
Committee meetings keep him busy
and at last he goes to one OF the brill
liant lawyers who is willing to help
him in any way. Some times he is
there for self interest and Mr.. X be-
comes a legitimate prey. He gradual
" gets hold Of him and often his bill
amounts to very little. !, 1. II: 4, n IL
This Situation confronts our ranch.
u, small country attorney, successful
business man and pushes him INTO a
| life where he has. to grasp at once,
entirely unprepared, the problems of
making Law, which is to represent all
sides Of our industrial life. It is al
most in the lifetime of our oldest citi.
zens that legislation was simple and
could be readily dealt with, but now
the railroad, telegraph, telephone, in
surance, great corporation and a vast
| completely of modern inventions
make it impossible for a legislator te
act inteliigently upon half the subjects
which come UP in a session.
| Since there are SO many subjects
and SO many phases of each subject tc
consider in law making, the Legisla
tive Reference Library was establish
ed to help the, legislator It is the
architect for law building. 1t has thu
plans and specifications worked out il
detail. The work is divided into three
main divisions: % The comparative
which includes the gathering of law!
/ and cases from all over the United
States and Canada upon legislative
subjects l2) The critical, which ha.
as a special duty to collect data upor
4 the workings of these laws, all o
which have been indexed and listed
, ca The constructive, for the purpose
Of scientifically drafting Legislation
with the foregoing evidence at hant
for reference. This library becomes {
specialist upon quasi political secono
4 mic subjects. The gathering togethel
of these laws from all over the work
/ is an important part Of the work ant
4 yet the second main division is Of fal
\ more vital interest. The critical stud,
j Of the working of the law REACHES thu
real life of the law For instance: Up
on the face Of a New York law it ma!
4 seem all right. 1t may appear to III
a clear, concise law and yet, is tn,
law of any use to the state. Is. there
j any flaw in the, wording? Is the pow
er to enforce the law put in the pro
per ofics? Is the. law needed or ca,
4 the question be settled in some othe
way? Isn't the law of Illinois upol
the same subject better2 And thous
i and other questions are asked in tn
i critical study of these laws. One-thirt
Il Of the material which they hand owe