GENERAL PRINCIPLES 17 



10. Judicial Decisions. Inasmuch as legal dis- 

 cussions and text-books deal chiefly with the re- 

 ports of judicial decisions, it is necessary to clear- 

 ly understand what is meant. Discussions of 

 statutes, irrespective of decisions, are of veiy lit- 

 tle practical value, for statutes are often changed 

 as fast as they are made; and one illegal statute 

 frequently begets several others equally vicious 

 before its harmful course is checked by a judicial 

 condemnation. On the other hand, the same court 

 may give seemingly conflicting decisions relative 

 to the same general point, because the statute has 

 been changed in the meantime by the legislature; 

 yet the decisions are really harmonious, because 

 the outcome of the same principle. Though in 

 some states there are provisions for getting an 

 opinion from the court without having a case 

 before it, such conditions are uncommon, and the 

 opinion thus rendered may be inconclusive. To 

 get a valuable decision there should be a full con- 

 sideration of all sides, and this is practically im- 

 possible unless the various positions shall be ar- 

 gued. This happens when a * ' case ' ' is before the 

 court. But the case is generally heard originally 

 before a judge in one of the lower courts. His 

 duty is more particularly to apply the law to the 

 individual matter before him. Plis attention is 

 directed especially to the facts, rather than to 

 legal interpretation, and when he renders his 

 decision he is very likely to be unconsciously 

 biased by personal feelings, or by the surround- 

 ings. The decisions in these lower courts are sel- 

 dom published, and they are of relatively little 

 value. 



