SCIENTIFIC ASSISTANCE IN LAW-MAKING 15 
presented to the legislature. In England this is not so important as 
whatever Parliament enacts into law remains the law of the land till 
repealed by the body enacting it. The great number of laws declared 
unconstitutional each year in the American states is very good evidence 
that they were presented to the legislature without careful examination 
by an expert. Of the laws passed during the five years preceding 1902 
in New York, thirty-nine had been declared unconstitutional by March 
of that year. It is said that in New York while the members of the 
Assembly make considerable use of the draftsmen’s services, the senators 
disdain to employ them and therefore much of the defective and unsatis- 
factory legislation owes its origin to the upper house.* 
_ There is reason to believe that the legislative reference librarian is 
the logical person to be intrusted with the drafting of bills. As his 
work includes keeping track of and classifying all the laws declared 
unconstitutional in any state, in the course of time his judgment should 
become exceptionally valuable as to the likelihood of any proposed 
measure running the gauntlet of the courts. His constant study in com- 
piling, digesting and indexing statutes should also render him familiar 
with the most concise form in which laws should be drawn, and thus 
make him a most efficient legislative draftsman. It is quite certain that 
if all bills were required to be submitted to the draftsman, as is now the 
case in Connecticut alone, much error, confusion and unconstitutionality 
would be eliminated from the legislative product of the various states of 
the American Union. 
Important as is the work of legislative reference librarians, it is unlikely 
that such assistance will be speedily secured by the legislatures of the 
American states. The office will not be created till the general usefulness 
of this kind of assistance is thoroughly understood. Even then there 
will be much opposition to appropriations for the work. The interests 
seeking special legislation are unwilling that a bureau of information 
should be established for the purpose of furnishing arguments to the 
members of the legislature. A well-informed legislator is harder to 
persuade. That the interests desiring favorable action by the legislature 
understand this is clearly shown by the record of their opposition to these 
t REINSCH, op. cit., p. 328. 
