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457. That the statutes so revised and consolidated shall Revision to be completed ая be reported to Congress as soon as practicable, and the soon as practiwhole work closed without unnecessary delay. Sec. 5, ibid. Sec. 5, ibid.

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cable.

FIRST EDITION OF THE REVISED STATUTES.

Revised Statutes

Sec. 2, June 20,

Headnotes.
Marginal refer

458. That the Secretary of State is hereby charged with Preparation of the duty of causing to be prepared for printing, publica- for printing, etc. tion, and distribution the Revised Statutes of the United 1874, v. 18, p. 113. States enacted at this present session of Congress; that he shall cause to be completed the headnotes of the several titles and chapters and the marginal notes referring to the statutes from which each section was compiled and repealed statutes. by said revision; and references to the decisions of the References to judicial decicourts of the United States explaining or expounding the sions. same, and such decisions of State courts as he may deem expedient, with a full and complete index to the same.

1

ences to original

Index.

to be evidence.

Title of revi-
Sec. 3, ibid.

sion of statutes.

459. And when the same shall be completed, the said Promulgation. Secretary shall duly certify the same under the seal of the United States, and when printed and promulgated as hereinafter provided, the printed volumes shall be legal evi-, Printed copies dence of the laws and treaties therein contained, in all the courts of the United States, and of the several States and, Territories. Sec. 2, act of June 20, 1874 (18 Stat. L.,113). 460. That the revision of the statutes of a general and permanent nature, with the index thereto, shall be printed in one volume, and shall be entitled and labeled "Revised Statutes of the United States;" and the revision of the statutes relating to the District of Columbia; to postroads, and the public treaties in force on the first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, with a suitable index to each, shall be published in a separate volume, and entitled and labeled "Revised Statutes relating to District of Columbia and Post-Roads. Public Treaties." Sec. 3, ibid.

461. That the certificate to the printed volume of the Revised Statutes of the United States required by section

Certificate

to Revised Statutes.

Dec. 28, 1874, v.

18. p. 293.

'The first edition of the Revised Statutes is a transcript of the original in the State Department. It is prima facie evidence of the law, but the original is the only conclusive evidence of the exact text of the law. Wright es. U. S., 15 Ct. Cls., 80, 87. The incorporation of a particular statutory provision into the Revised Statutes, adopted in 1874, was a legislative declaration that the law on that subject was as therein provided; and, in the absence of any obscurity in the meaning, the court can not look to the preexisting statutes to see whether or not they were correctly incorporated. U. S. v. The North American Commercial Co., 74 Fed. Rep., 145; U. S. v. Bowen, 100 U. S., 508. As to the effects of amendments to the Revised Statutes, see U. S. r. Jessup, 15 Fed. Rep., 790.

two of "An act providing for publication of the revised statutes and laws of the United States," approved June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, shall be made by the Secretary of State under the seal of the Department of State, and so much of said section as provides that such certificate shall be under the seal of the United States, is hereby repealed. Act of December 28, 1874 (18 Stat. L., 293).

SCOPE OF THE REVISED STATUTES AND REPEAL PROVISIONS.

Scope of Re

vised Statutes.

462. The foregoing seventy-three titles embrace the statSec. 5595, R.S. utes of the United States general and permanent in their nature, in force on the first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, as revised and consolidated by commissioners appointed under an act of Congress, and the same shall be designated and cited, as The Revised Statutes of the United States.1

Repeal of acts embraced in revision.

Sec. 5596, R.S.

Accrued rights reserved.

463. All acts of Congress passed prior to said first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventythree, any portion of which is embraced in any section of said revision, are hereby repealed, and the section applicable thereto shall be in force in lieu thereof; all parts of such acts not contained in such revision having been repealed or superseded by subsequent acts, or not being general and permanent in their nature: Provided, That the incorporation into said revision of any general and permanent provision, taken from an act making appropriations, or from an act containing other provisions of a private, local, or temporary character, shall not repeal, or in any way affect any appropriation, or any provision of a private, local, or temporary character, contained in any of said acts, but the same shall remain in force; and all acts of Congress passed prior to said last-named day, no part of which are embraced in said revision, shall not be affected or changed by its enactment.

464. The repeal of the several acts embraced in said reviSec. 5597, R.S. sion shall not affect any act done, or any right accruing or accrued, or any suit or proceeding had or commenced in any civil cause before the said repeal, but all rights and liabilities under said acts shall continue, and may be

enforced in the same manner, as if said repeal had not been

The Revised Statutes are an act of Congress. The enactment was approved and became the law on June 22, 1874. Wright v. U. S., 15 Ct. Cls., 80. In case of doubt, ambiguity, or uncertainty the previous statutes may be referred to. Ibid. See also Bowen 7. U. S., 100 U. S., 508. U. S. r. Bowen, 100 U. S., 508; Bate Refrigerating Co. r. Sulzberger, 157 U. S., 1.

made; nor shall said repeal. in any manner affect the right to any office, or change the term or tenure thereof.

Sec. 5598, R.S.

465. All offenses committed, and all penalties or forfeit- Prosecutions and punishures incurred under any statute embraced in said revision ments. prior to said repeal, may be prosecuted and punished in the same manner and with the same effect as if said repeal had not been made.

466. All acts of limitation, whether applicable to civil causes and proceedings, or to the prosecution of offenses, or for the recovery of penalties or forfeitures, embraced in said revision and covered by said repeal, shall not be affected thereby, but all suits, proceedings, or prosecutions, whether civil or criminal, for causes arising or acts done or committed prior to said repeal, may be commenced and prosecuted within the same time as if said repeal had not been made.

Acts of limita

tion.

Sec. 5599, R.S.

and classifica

Sec. 5600, R.S.

467. The arrangement and classification of the several Arrangement sections of the revision have been made for the purpose of tion of sections. a more convenient and orderly arrangement of the same, and therefore no inference or presumption of a legislative construction is to be drawn by reason of the title under which any particular section is placed.

Acts passed since Dec. 1, 1873, not affected.

Feb. 18, 1875, c.

v. 18, p. 329:

Mar. 3, 1875, c. 130,

468. The enactment of the said revision is not to affect or repeal any act of Congress passed since the 1st day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, 84. and all acts passed since that date are to have full effect as if passed after the enactment of this revision, and so far as such acts vary from or conflict with any provision contained in said revision, they are to have effect as subsequent statutes, and as repealing any portion of the revision inconsistent therewith.

SECOND EDITION OF THE REVISED STATUTES.

v. 18, p. 401.

Sec. 5601, R.S.

EDITION OF 1878.

to prepare new

vised Statutes.

Mar. 2, 1877, v.

19, p. 268.

469. That the President of the United States be, and he, Commissioner is hereby, authorized to appoint, by and with the advice edition of Reand consent of the Senate, one person, learned in the law, as a commissioner, for the purpose of preparing and publishing a new edition of the first volume of the Revised Statutes of the United States.' Act of March 2, 1877 (19 Stat. L., 268).

1The second edition of the Revised Statutes is only a new publication; a compilation, containing the original law, with specific amendments incorporated therein according to the judgment of the editor. Wright . U. S., 15 Ct. Cls., 80. The Revised Statutes did not affect statutes passed between December 1, 1873, and June 22, 1874. See note 1 to paragraph 405, ante.

Duty of commissioner.

Sec. 2, ibid.

References,

470. That in performing this duty, said commissioner shall be required to incorporate into the text of the Revised Statutes as published in the year anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-five, under the act of June twentieth, Amendments, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, all the amendments which have been made in the revision so published since the first day of December, eighteen hundred and seventythree, and all that shall be made up to the close of the present session of Congress, with marginal references to such amendatory acts, and to all the decisions of the several courts of the United States (as far as the same may have been published) which may have been made subsequent to those already cited in the margin of the present revision, and may include also citations to such judicial decisions of the various State courts as he may deem important; and he shall also make marginal references to the various statutes passed by Congress since the first day of December, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, not expressly therein declared to be amendments to the Revised Statutes, but which, in the opinion of said commissioner, may in any manner affect or modify any of the provisions of the said Revised Statutes, or any of the amendments thereto, indicating in such marginal notes by a difference. in type the references to statutes of this kind, and he shall Revision of in- revise the indexes and incorporate therein references to the additions herein required. Sec. 2, ibid.

dexes.

Additional matter to be included.

Sec. 3, ibid.

completed. Sec. 4, ibid.

471. That there shall also be included in said edition the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of our National Independence, the Ordinance of seventeen hundred and eighty-seven for the government of the Northwestern Territory, the Constitution of the United States, with footnotes referring to decisions of the Federal courts thereon, the "Act to provide for the revision and consolidation of the statute laws of the United States," approved June twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the "Act providing for publication of the Revised Statutes and the laws of the United States," approved June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, as well as the present act. Sec. 3, ibid.

When to be 472. That said new edition shall be completed in manuscript by said commissioner by the first day of January, anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, and by him presented to the Secretary of State for his examination and approval, who is hereby required to examine and compare the same, as amended, with all the amendatory Mar. 9, 1878, v. acts, and, within two months after having been submitted

20, p. 27.

dence.

to him, and when the same shall be completed, the said Secretary shall duly certify the same under the seal of the Secretary of State, and when printed and promulgated as herein provided the printed volume shall be legal evidence To be legal eviof the laws therein contained, in all the courts of the United States, and of the several States and Territories, but shall not preclude reference to nor control, in any case of discrepancy, the effect of any original act as passed by Congress since the first day of December, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and said Secretary shall cause fifteen thousand copies of the same to be printed and bound at the Government Printing Office, under the supervision of said commissioner, at the expense of the United States, and without unnecessary delay. Sec. 4, Mar. 9, 1878, v. ibid.

473. That an act entitled "An act to provide for the preparation and publication of a new edition of the Revised Statutes of the United States," approved March second, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, be, and the same is hereby, amended as follows, to wit: By striking out from

20, p. 27.

Revised Statutes

to

New edition of be prima facie

evidence.

Mar. 9, 1878, v.

20, p. 27.

1 Under the authority conferred by this statute the Hon. George S. Boutwell was appointed a commissioner to prepare the new edition. The following extract from the preface to the second edition of the Revised Statutes will explain its scope.

By an act of Congress approved March 2, 1877 (v. 19, c. 82, p. 268), authority was given for the appointment by the President of a commissioner, whose duty it should be to prepare and publish, subject to the examination and approval of the Secretary of State, a new edition of the first volume of the Revised Statutes of the United States.

He

The jurisdiction of the commissioner was defined and limited by the statute. was directed to incorporate into the text of the first edition of the statutes all the amendments made since the first day of December, eighteen hundred and seventythree, including those made by the Forty-fourth Congress, with marginal references to the acts of amendment and to the decisions of the several courts of the United States, with like references to all the statutes passed in the same period, which, in the opinion of the commissioner, might in any many affect or modify any of the provisions of the first edition of the Revised Statutes.

He was also directed to include in the new edition the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of our National Independence, the Ordinance of Seventeen hundred and eighty-seven for the Government of the Northwestern Territory, and the Constitution of the United States, with footnotes referring to the decisions of the Federal courts thereon. These papers were not printed with the first edition of the statutes. This edition is not in any proper sense a new revision of the statutes of the United States. The commissioner was not clothed with power to change the substance or to alter the language of the existing edition of the Revised Statutes, nor could he correct any errors or supply any omissions therein except as authorized by the several statutes of amendment. Of specific amendments there are, however, several hundred, which have been incorporated with the text. The portions of the statutes repealed are printed in italics and included in brackets, and the new matter introduced is printed in the ordinary roman letter and also included in brackets.

So much of the work as affects the text of the present edition has been examined under the direction of the Hon. William M. Evarts, Secretary of State, by Hon. Charles P. James, one of the commissioners by whom the first edition of the Revised Statutes was prepared.

The acts of Congress passed since the first edition of the Revised Statutes was issued, and affecting the text thereof, are referred to in the margin of the respective sections so affected.

In this edition full and, it is believed, complete notes of reference to the opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States will be found under the several para

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