The Editor's Bag tion hereby declares in favor of the enactment by the national Congress of a Federal Com mercial Code, embracing in one uniform legis
lative Act all titles and subjects of interstate and foreign commerce, superseding thereby the conflicting regulations of the several states, tending to induce the several states to adopt the same regulation for their internal commerce, thereby securing a practiml uni formity of legislation on commercial matters throughout the country, and placing the United States on commercial equality in point
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such a code doing more to arrest than to advance the work undertaken by the Commissioners on Uniform State Laws? The Uniform Acts drafted by these Com missioners are in the main admirable, and they have been evolved by processes of scholarly research and mature de liberation which we can by no means be sure that Congress would be in a
position to continue in the spirit of the
of legislation with the enlightened commercial
Commissioners, with the same careful
nations of the world; and Resolved: That this Resolution be referred to the Committee on Commerce of this Asso ciation for its consideration and report, for the purpose of securing effective action in the premises.
marshaling of all the data necessary for a model draft. Moreover, if the pro posed federal code is to be not simply a
confirmation of the work already done
by the' Commissioners, buta model for
has the authority to enact a code of the
state legislation on subjects not yet covered by the Uniform Acts, it could
character contemplated by these resolu tions, because the powers granted by the
only have the effect of throwing a wet blanket on the work which the Com
interstate commerce clause, as judicially interpreted, are sufficiently broad to
missioners now have under way, and the usefulness of this body would prob
If one can
suppose that Congress
embrace nearly all the subjects of com
ably come to an end.
mercial law, it must, however, be borne in
lost than would be gained, in our judg ment, by taking the work of drafting
mind that the boundary between federal and state power is still too vaguely de
fined for Congress to enact a comprehen sive code dealing with the entire field
More would be
model uniform commercial statutes from the Commissioners and giving it to Con gress.
of commercial law, as applicable to
interstate transactions, with the positive assurance that in doing so it will not tread here and there on controversial ground, and that the proposed code will
not be attacked in some of its provisions by protracted and eventually successful litigation. The work is one that would demand of Congress much caution and circumspection, and we have much doubt
of the wisdom of Congress proceeding at this time to undertake the drafting of such a code. A better draft would
CRITICISM OF THE “AMERICAN CORPUS JURI ” PLAN HE project for a logical, co-ordi nated statement of the American corpus jun's is arousing continued inter est, and it seems only fair to ask that
whatever criticism be directed against it be fair, and be free from any mis representation, even though unconscious, regarding the nature of the undertaking
proposed.
This plan is now opposed by
undoubtedly be the outcome later, when
two of our esteemed contemporaries as
the powers of the federal government have been defined with greater precision.
a scheme for the unification of law. As a matter of fact it is nothing of the
There is another possible objection to
kind. This hostile attitude is based, as all who have studied the project will instantly perceive, on a grave miscon
the adoption of such a federal code at this time. Is there not the danger of
