tuted by the United States have been entertained by the Supreme Court. Thus in United States v. North Carolina (136 U. S., 211) an action of debt upon certain bonds issued by the defendant was tried and determined upon its merits; and in United States v. Texas (143 U. S., 621) a question of boundary was determined.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

THIS note is by no means intended to be exhaustive. Its aim is simply to suggest the more important sources of information regarding the constitutional law of the United States.

I. Bibliographies.

CHANNING and HART, Guide to the Study of American History. 1896.

A. B. HART, Handbook of the History, Diplomacy, and
Government of the United States. 1901.

A. P. C. GRIFFIN, Select List of Books on the Consti-
tution of the United States (pamphlet). 1903.
W. E. FOSTER, References to the Constitution of the
United States (pamphlet). 1890.

1. United States Supreme Court Reports. The one great source of information regarding the constitutional law of the United States is the reported decisions of the federal Supreme Court. The volumes in which these are contained now (1904) number one hundred and ninety. About four new volumes are added each year. In the more important cases, abstracts of counsel as well as the opinions of the justices are given. Until 1875 these volumes received the name of the official reporting them. Since then they

have been designated simply as United States Reports. Current decisions, in unbound form, are published and sold to subscribers.

The following is a list of the reports, giving their titles, abbreviations commonly used in citing them, the number of volumes, and periods covered.

91-229 U. S.

100

1875-1913

United States Reports
Volumes 91-107 U. S. inclusive are sometimes cited as Otto 1-17.

J. B. THAYER'S "Cases in Constitutional Law" (1895), in two very large volumes, is an admirable selection of condensed cases, illuminated with notes, prepared for use by students following the "Case Book" system of instruction. Smaller collections

are:

C. E. BOYD'S "Cases in American Constitutional Law" (1898);

E. MCCLAIN'S "A Selection of Cases on Constitutional Law" (1900).

2. Reports of the Inferior Federal Courts. Almost all important constitutional questions are carried to the Supreme Court, so that these reports are very much less important than those of the highest court.

3. Reports of the Highest Courts of the States. Many important constitutional questions in state con

stitutional law receive their final determination by these tribunals.

4. Opinions of the Attorney-General of the United States. These opinions, given for the guidance of federal officers, often deal with important constitutional questions that have not been, or cannot be, considered by the Supreme Court.

5. Federal Statutes and Treaties. Each year there is published by the National Government a volume entitled "The Statutes at Large of the United States of America, . . . and Recent Treaties, Conventions, Executive Proclamations, and the Concurrent Resolutions of the Two Houses of Congress." In 1878 there was published "The Revised Statutes of the United. States," which embraced all federal laws, general and permanent in their nature, in force December 1, 1873. "A Supplement to the Revised Statutes of the United States," embracing the laws, general and permanent in their nature, passed since 1873 and in force in 1891, was published in 1891.

"The Compiled Statutes of the United States." 3 vols. 1901. Gives the text of all general laws of the United States, with annotations and index. A supplement to this publication, giving the general laws passed by the Fifty-seventh Congress, was published in 1904. A private publication.

GOULD and TUCKER, Notes on United States Revised Statutes. 3 vols. 1898-1904. A private publication.

6. Messages and Papers of the Presidents of the United States (1789-1897). 10 vols. 1899. Published by the United States Government,

*

III. General Treatises on United States Constitutional Law and Government. Alphabetically arranged.

There exists no single work that is at once modern, comprehensive, and satisfactory in method of treatment. The following treatises will, however, be found the most serviceable.

B. L. ASHLEY, The American Federal State. 1902.
H. C. BLACK, Handbook of American Constitutional
Law. 2d Ed. 1897.

G. S. BOUTWELL, The Constitution of the United
States at the End of the First Century. 1895.
H. BRANNON, A Treatise on the Rights and Privileges
Guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States. 1901.

JAMES BRYCE, The American Commonwealth. 2 vols. 1891.

W. G. BULLITT, Review of the Constitution of the United States. 1899.

J. W. BURGESS, Political Science and Comparative Constitutional Law. 2 vols. 1890. Compares and criticizes from the standpoint of political science the constitutions of the United States, Germany, England, and France.

H. L. CARSON, History of the Supreme Court of the United States. 2 vols. 1903.

T. M. COOLEY, General Principles of Constitutional Law in the United States. 3d Ed. 1898. An accurate work by an eminent authority, but too brief to be of much value.

T. M. COOLEY, A Treatise on the Constitutional Limitations which Rest upon the Legislative Power of