Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 22.pdf/98

 _=________‘*’

86

The Green Bag

and for sake of brevity only at twenty year intervals:

Estimated increase of population in the United States Year Population 1910 100,000,000 1930 156,250,000 1950 244,140,000 1970 381,470,000 1990 596,000,000 This represents the increase during only eighty years, less than three gener ations, and had not Abraham Lincoln used this method, I would hardly have

ventured to put it in this memorandum. These ﬁgures are enough to startle and stagger every thinking man in America, even though we make reasonable deduc tions from the calculation by reason of

the possible operation of the Malthusian doctrine. These ﬁgures, or any ﬁgures that are

at intervals of a decade—a work that but needs this incentive to place it in the hands of Bench and Bar within a reason able time, and in a way that will cause it to return to the Foundation every dollar expended in its production?

In other words, this project is one which only needs to be helped to the extent of creating the work.

The pro

fession will then pay for it by purchasing it, and in that way return the funds to the foundation which were necessary for its production. In short, it is a method whereby the profession would be aided in helping itself, and which at the same time would directly affect and improve

the administration of Justice not only in America but throughout the world.

Yet without such an initial aid it is not possible of being produced as it should be—i_f at all. Does not the last century of inaction, despite the urgency of the

warranted on any legitimate basis of calculation, are sufﬁcient to make the

need, make this clear?

point which I want to make, and that is

be available to aid the production of

that it is time our profession was ceasing to talk and dream (as it has been doing

whatever other works for the advance

for a hundred years), about securing

it would, in the judgment of the trus

this great statement of our system of law, but that it should get to work and produce it, no matter what it costs. Nay

tees, be important to have published. Such a Foundation would be a type of

more, I submit that in order to preserve

land and in its meshes would catch the

Such a Foundation would also always

ment of the Science of Jurisprudence,

drag-net that would go out over the

the integrity of our judicial system, it is

man of genius, the man of great mental

an absolute necessity.

ability burning to give a work on juris

We ought not

to delay until it is too late,-—it is in many ways a far more difficult task now than it would have been a century ago.

Can any one aware of the situation doubt that a philanthropist of large means desirious of helping the masses of the people could more advantageously place an adequate fund in the hands of able trustees as a continuing foundation for the purpose of aiding the publication

of the American Corpus juris, while it is practically a possibility to do it, and providing for its perpetual republication

prudence to the world, but who other wise, through lack of means and business acumen, could not escape the toils of the law-publisher producing books only

for proﬁt. The expert judgment of the able jurists who would constitute the Board of Trustees of the Foundation

would always be available to determine what was worthy of publication. Some mistakes, it is true, might be made by the trustees, and a few books might get

into print which would be mediocre, the one class, however, would survive,