Batts' Annotated Revised Civil Statutes of Texas . (By R. L. Batts , Professor of Law, University of Texas. Vol. II. Austin, Texas: Eugene Von Boeckmann Publishing Company.
The younger generation of lawyers have heard from Nestors of the bar of the times when a district judge would convene his court in the shade of an oak tree, the sheriff tie his prisoner to a sapling, and the best equipped practitioner pull copies of Blackstone, the constitution and the acts of the legislature from one side of a pair of saddle bags balanced on the other with a black bottle and plug of tobacco; those were days when there was little written law and few reported cases in Texas, when a man's hat covered his library, and men like Hemphill, Moore and Roberts decided cases on broad general principles, establishing instead of following precedents. Those times encouraged, and in fact demanded, original thought and produced great lawyers and judges, and it could well be said of many a one that he carried the law of the land in his head.
Whatever may be said of the advantages or disadvantages of the new order as compared with the old, there can be no question as to the temerity of the modern Texas lawyer who ventures into an intricate damage suit relying solely on the general proposition that a man “must so use his own as not to injure the rights of others,” or embarks on the shoreless sea of equity with “a man must come into court with clean hands” as his only chart.
On the presentation of a given state of facts for his consideration a lawyer's mind naturally turns to some general proposition of law which seems decisive of the controversy, but before he can advise or act in the premises he must see if the general rule has been varied by statute law and to what extent it has been limited or explained by the decisions of our numerous appellate courts; the man who enables the lawyer to do this with the greatest ease and accuracy is a benefactor to the profession.
The second volume of Annotated Civil Statutes of Texas, compiled by Hon. R. L. Batts, Professor of Law in the State University, has been published, and completes what is unquestionably the most perfect and most perfectly arranged digest of laws and decisions now offered to the people of Texas.
The entire work contains 2710 pages and there are 15,077 notes, the latter embracing, in addition to all reported Texas decisions, and those of the United States courts bearing on Texas statutes, complete copies of many repealed statutes and much historical data. It is impossible to review a work of this size and give any clear idea of its scope within the limits of a notice of this kind, but some idea of its magnitude and the amount of labor required to complete it may be gathered from a reference to one or two topics.
The notes on Article 2396 of the Revised Statutes of Texas, relating to “Homestead” cover twenty-six pages of fine printed matter (pp. 64 to 90, Vol. II); the article defining a homestead as amended by Act of April 26, 1897, is first given; next comes note (8620) stating when the above mentioned amendment took effect, and giving its language, together with the title and enacting clause; then follows the first homestead law of Texas, enacted by the legislature on January 26, 1839, with synopsis of decisions construing it; next is the constitutional provision of 1845, the Act of February 2, 1860, the constitutional provisions of 1861 and 1866, the Act of November 10, 1866, the constitutional provision of 1869, the Act of 1870, and the constitutional provision of 1876, in the order named, each followed by notes of decisions construing it. After all legislation upon the topic has thus been treated in historical sequence the decisions on the general subject are exhaustively taken up and grouped under the following heads: Forced Sale, Liens, Incumbrances Existing at or Before Acquisition, Right of Husband to Adjust Incumbrances, Statutory Liens, Mortgages and Pretended Sales, Sale of Homestead by Husband and Wife, Sale by Husband, Sale by Wife, Sale by Unmarried Head of Family, Sale by Surviving Husband or Wife, Executory Sale, Proceeds of Sale, The Family, The Homestead Defined, Head of Family May Select, Intent, Use, Occupancy, When Homestead Right Attaches, Intent and Preparation to Use, Enlargement of Homestead, Abandonment, Limitation as to Value and Amount, The Rural Homestead, Urban Homestead, Urban Place of Business, Combinational of Rural and Urban Homestead, Change of Rural to Urban Homestead, Property in Which Homestead May Exist, Homestead in Separate or Community Property, In Partnership Property, Homestead in Joint Estate, Declaration Against Homestead Rights, Law of Time of Contract Applicable, Limitation Against Homestead Right, Homestead in Case of Separation, Homestead in Case of Divorce, Homestead Rights of Non-Residents, Rights of Heirs in Homestead, Rights of Creditors in Homestead, Effect of Homestead Right on Judgment for Land, Election by Widow, and Suit by Wife for Homestead.
The topic of “Husband and Wife” covers fifty-seven pages (pp. 251 to 307, Vol. II); besides the articles of the present Revised Statutes on the subject with copious notes showing the decisions relating thereto, the author gives the various laws, commencing with the ordinance of January 22, 1836, defining those empowered to celebrate the rights of matrimony; in chapter three (p. 259) he takes up the subject of “Rights of Married Women,” giving in full the Acts of January 26, 1839, and January 20, 1840, Sec. 19, Art. VII, of the Constitution of 1845, the Act of March 13, 1848, Sec. 14, Art. XII, of the Constitution of 1869, and Sec. 15, Art. XVI, of the Constitution of 1876, thus giving in full all legislation on these subjects.
The above illustrations, taken at random, give some idea of the thoroughness of the work. The best digest is, however, of little value unless accompanied by an accurate index, and the author has been peculiarly successful in subdividing his topics and arranging such an index; take the “Estate of Decedents,” for instance, on pp. 1366 to 1375, and the index covers nine pages and contains a reference to partically every point covered by legislation or decision upon that subject.
Such a work is valuable, not only to lawyers, but to merchants, bankers, and contractors and all men who have an interest in knowing what the law is.
The fact that the mechanical part of the book has been done by a Texas firm, Eugene Von Boeckmann Publishing Company, is worthy of note; there are a number of slight errors incidental to a work of such magnitude, but, considering the fact that this is a first edition, author and publisher are to be congratulated upon the success of the enterprise.
T. W. Gregory .
How to cite:
Gregory, T. W., "Batts' Annotated Revised Civil Statutes of Texas", Volume 003, Number 3, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 221 - 223. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v003/n3/review_9.html
[Accessed Fri Nov 21 14:39:25 CST 2008]
