The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 . Compiled and arranged by H. P. N. Gammel , of Austin, with an introduction by C. W. Raines. Volume X. (Austin: The Gammel Book Company. 1898. Pp. 1502.)

Volume X of the Laws of Texas, compiled and arranged by H. P. N. Gammel, completes the reprint of these laws as originally contemplated.

The labor and expense of these reprints was very great, and a less hardy and enterprising publisher would never have entered upon the task. Mr. Gammel not only undertook it, but carried it out successfully. Prior to the publication of this reprint complete sets of Texas statutes were very rare and commanded a correspondingly high price. Mr. Gammel's enterprise has changed all this, and now the lawyer of even moderate means can command all the Texas statutes and constitutions in their chronological order, and can thus trace historically the written law of the State on all subjects.

The tenth volume of the compilation covers all the laws, general and special, enacted by the Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-fifth Legislatures, extending from the regular session of 1891 through the special session of 1897.

Among the important enactments of this period the following may be appropriately mentioned: the act authorizing the transfer of the Confederate Home to the State and establishing it as a State institution, February 27, 1891; the several acts changing the doctrine of fellow servants as to persons operating railroads within this State, March 10, 1891, May 4, 1893, and June 18, 1897; the separate coach law, March, 1891; the railroad commission act, April 3, 1891; the joint resolution submitting amendments to the judiciary article of the constitution, April 28, 1891; the several acts providing for the organization of the supreme court, court of criminal appeals, and courts of civil appeals, under said amendment, which had been adopted at an election held in August, 1891, April 13, 1893; the alien land law, April 12, 1892, and an act regarding the acquisition and holding of lands by private corporations, March, 1893.

There is a large mass of legislation with regard to common schools and the University showing continued interest and increasing appreciation of public education. There are also many laws creating new counties and new judicial districts and of similar nature which indicate clearly the rapid growth in population and business during this period.

In the series of reviews of the volumes composing this reprint effort has been made to point out some of the interesting and important facts in the development of Texas and her institutions. It has been impossible to do more than suggest the possibilities of profit which the student may find in their contents.

When we consider that the laws of a country are only the authoritative expressions of public sentiment we are forced to recognize that the constitutions and statutes of a people are among the most authentic and valuable records of its progress. In this view these reprints cease to be an uninteresting reproduction of dead enactments and become an authentic register of the advancement of our State during the past century.

Jno. C. Townes .

How to cite:
Townes, John C., "The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897", Volume 005, Number 3, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 258 - 259. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v005/n3/review_14.html
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