Statute Law Revision. 235 



case of other departments of the public service, to possess 

 complete colleftions of the laws of the Colony as issued 

 by authority. If their collections are so fragmen- 

 tary, what is likely to be the state of the case in other 

 public offices whose needs in this respeft are not so 

 general and pressing ? And still more likely to be defi- 

 cient in tbe possession of an authoritative copy of the 

 statute laws are private offices and counting houses and, 

 in a yet greater degree, private individuals. 



But, if the Legislature has been supine in recognizing 

 and discharging its responsibilities in this matter, it may 

 be readily conceded that its omission of duty has been 

 to a considerable extent supplied by private enterprise. 

 Indeed it may be remarked that, in this matter of the 

 writing and bringing out of books and other publications, 

 there is far more of enterprise and successful effort in 

 this Colony than in any West Indian Colony with which 

 I am acquainted, and one must heartily wish such energy 

 a yet further development. To this enterprise we owe 

 several colle6lions of the local laws. The earliest which 

 I have seen is embodied in a little volume called " The 

 Deraerara and Essequebo Vade Mecum" which has been 

 kindly lent to me by Mr. J. THOMSON. This work — 

 which would appear to have been the precursor of The 

 Local Guide — was printed and published in 1825 by 

 A. Stevenson, at The Guiana Chronicle Office, George- 

 town. It contains, with other interesting matter, asele6lion 

 of the laws which were then known to be in force in the 

 United Colony of Demerara and Essequebo. 



The Local Guide of British Guiana — the edition of 

 which for 1843 ^^^^ before me — contains, in a small and 

 closely printed volume, what purports to be "a complete 



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