CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMON LAW 287 



America law has become a practical science, and the problem of 

 adjusting the ideals of the expert to the comprehension and needs 

 of the common person is being worked out with the aid of the dis- 

 position of the American to favor common sense rather than abstract 

 theory. 



It remains to inquire whether there has been developed in America 

 an entirely different system of law, to ask whether there is a system 

 of federal common law. It is not within the scope of this paper to 

 try to answer this question, even if there were data enough on 

 which to base an answer. If the courts should deem it necessary to 

 affirm that such a body of law exists, and on the old theories there 

 seems no difficulty in imagining this, the gradual disclosure of it 

 through successive decisions will be one of the most interesting 

 phases of the growth of law. 



