Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-05-02
PUTTING FEDERAL STATUTES
ALL INTO ONE BIG VOLUME
Representative Little Engaged in Task
Aided by Able Committee-Work. Valu-
able to Lawyers. Highly Praised

there is 4 running report with each
section by which any one can trace
its history and ascertain whether 1t
is really the law as heretofore. When
passed the Little book will become.
evidence introducible In all courts and
not CONFERENCE.-The by any other book
so that an attorney advising a client
can he sure what the law is.
Judge Webb Of the North Carolina
federal court. who was for years
chairman Of the House Judiciary COM
mittee. says: "Littles bill is SO plain
and SO simple that it Is remarkable
some one didn't think of this way Of
doing 1t before. 1t is wonderful
work"
Judge Charles NJ Hough of the
United States circuit court of appeals.
New York city. who is said to have
more federal court experience than
any other man in this country. APP
peared before Representative Littlc's
committee. He said: After having
| been daily accustomed to the use or
| the books of at least three states and
many years acquaintance with the
official publications of a statutory ma :
-ure of most of the New England and
all of the middle states. ] consider the
form Of printing. chapterlng. etc. IN
the Little bin to be the best l
know Of
Representative II. Walton Moore Of
Virginia. a democratic member Of the
committee. who is assisting Repre-
sentative Little and who is himaelf
lawyer recognizes the absolute neces-
sity for new code of the federal
| laws. The old revised statutes can't
be had and most of the law has been
made since their publication, anyhow.
1t will be made possible for every
| lawyer to get copy and he can then
locate the laws without the difficulties
now presented"
Second Time Introduced.
This is only the second time in the
history of the nation that such bill
has been introduced In Congress. Prior
to the Forty-third Congress- elected
in 1872. the laws of the United States
by the firm of Little & Brown. Boston,
Mass. In seventeen statutes at large.
i In 1865 the committee on revision Of
laws. Of which Col. Little liz now chair
man. was established. After seven
years work and an expenditure Of
made report to the committee Of
which Representative Benjamin F..
Butler of Massachusetts was then
chairman. Gen. Butler discovered that
the commission had taken consider
able advantage of the authority to
amend and had made many changes
| in the nature of improvements"
| The aid Of the committee was then
as II is now. simply to reproduce the
law as Congress enacted 1t. codified
and consolidated. So the committee
employed Thomas Durant, a Washing
! ton lawyer. who spent nine months in
restoring the original language.
! Revised Statutes OF 1874.
| In the Forty-third Congress. when ex-
j Senator Luke Poland OF Vermont was
chairman of the House committee ana
Roscoe Conklin was chairman of the Sen
| ate committee, the bill was unanimous
| ~ passed by both houses. 1t became a
! law June %, 1874. That book, called
| the Revised Statutes, cost 100000 to
prepare, and is evidence in any court
| The second edition, published in 1873,
however, is only prima facie evidence.
The work Of preparing such book
| is so enormous that during the last
! forty-six years no chairman has cared
to tackle the job until Representative
Little of Kansas undertook it. Some
| twenty-three years ago a commission
was, appointed which expended about
! 100000 and prepared revision which
the committee declined to approve be-
cause an attempt had been made to re-
, wise the laws instead Of reproducing
/ them.
Chairman Little has completed one
third Of the work at a cost Of only
| $1,000, and expects to finish it with
about $4,000 more, besides effecting a
| saving Of $4,000 in printing prelim-
mary drafts Of the proposed law.