The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1914-05-07
Co0iF1cATloN OF AMERICAN
LAWS MUST BE HAD


sarius, those great generals Of EN-
peror Justinian Of Constantinople,
brought fame to his name, but the last
Ing glory Of his reign is the Justinian
code, institutes and pandccts that
summarized thousand years Of Ro-
man law. The military genius Of Ma
pofeon famed forth In splendor at
Austerlitz. but the supreme and per-
manent achievement OF this wonder
worker was the unifying OF the dis.
cordant laws Of France into the Code
Napoleon.
Some such esteem as Is accorded to
Napoleon and Justinian for their re-
forms of Jurisprudence awaits the
American or Americans who can bring
cosmos out Of the chaos Of laws in
the United States. The laws and
the judicial systems both Of the ma,
ton and OF the as states, resemble
Jungle or a wilderness to the eye Of
the layman. The nation has been
enacting laws for at least 1875 years.
One of the states has been engaged
in juristic activities for more than
three centuries. another fer 293 years
Constitutions by scores have been
cressted, and statutes by the tens Of
thousands. Congress annually grinds
out hundreds of laws, and the grist
of the legislative mills in the states
amounts to thousands OF new laws ev-
cry year. The Philippines and Porto
Rico contribute their quota every
twelvemonth. Courts for 300 years
have been interpreting laws and Gre
ating case-law. English law, the
French law CT the Code Napoleon in
Louisiana and Spanish law in our in
sular dependencies may be mentioned
as all flourishing under the Americao
flag.
The codification Of American law or
at least the making uniform the sev-
eral systems Of jurisprudence is a task
Of measureless difficulty. But it is a
work that must be undertaken some
time, and no season will ever be
more acceptable than the present.
The bench and the bar of the United
States, to say nothing Of private citi
zens and public men, have for genera
tons recognized the necessity. One
means toward this end is the system
izaticn first of the teaching and the ad
of the law. The creation
OF an American Academy of Jurispru-
dence, with William H. Taft at the
head Of it's council, is wise and
timely step toward reform of law.
THE BILLION DOLLAR WASTE
The greatest waste il any single
industry in this country is made with
the corn crop. The grain of the an
nual corn crop of the United States
is worth on the farms one and a hall
billion dollars. In a ripe corn plant
60 per cent of the feed value is cen
tanned in the kernels and 40 per cent
in the stalk and leaves. With the grain
worth one and half billion dollars,
the feed value Of the rest of the crop
is billion dollars. At least 80 per
cent of the feed value of the stalk
s lost under the present system OF
farm management waste with this
crop alone of almost a billion dollars
yearly. No other business but farm
ing could stand such an enormous
loss.
In the New England ard Middle
States most of the stalks are saved as
fodder, and there are many silos, but
with the damage from weathoring,
the waste in handling and the loss in
from drying, the farmers
are very far from utilizing the full
feed value o. the corn stalk. In tho
corn belt, where the blu TX Of the crop
is raised. comparatively few corn
growers harvest the stalks, and the
only rinrns most Of them secure
from the forage is by pasturing the
dead stalks in the cold and storms of
winter. Frequently thu death of
stock pastured in the stalk fields
makes loss that far exceeds the re-
turns from the feed.
Contrast this waste by the corn
grower with the practices of large
business organizations. Fer years the
great packing houses have sold dress
ed meat-for less than they have paid
for the live weight of the animals.
Yet every year these packing
houses return millions of dollars
profit because they utilize to the full
est e1 ,ent the value of their by
prodcuts. The Standard Oil Company
takes crude oil into its refining plants,
puts it through costly processes, using
apparatus that requires an outlay Of
millions, pays the freight and delivers
the kerosene and gasoline direct to
consumers at a lower rate than is