This key is intended to provide a systematic reference to the numbers of the U.S. Congressional bills and joint resolutions which became law from the 1st Congress (1789) through the 57th Congress (1903). The number assigned to a bill when introduced in the Congress provides the most direct historical reference for tracing legislative history. It should be noted that by its very nature this study is tabular in form with annotations and explanation whenever necessary.
No legislative bill numbers were used in the Statutes at Large prior to March 3, 1903. With the exception of the date, which always has been used, the only identifiers given the laws in the Statutes at Large were the chapter numbers. These were assigned in one sequence to all laws upon receipt and the numbering was started anew each session. Therefore, when the two categories — public and private — were classified and separated for publication in the Statutes at Large, discontinuity occurred in the number sequence of each. Since this checklist includes only public laws you will find breaks in the numbering sequence of the Chapters caused by the omission of the private laws.
The line of demarcation to determine the private and public laws is not easily defined until the publication of the Statutes at Large was transferred to the General Services Administration by Reorganization Plan No. 20. (Federal Register, Volume 15, Number 101, May 25, 1950, p. 3178).
Prior to 1950 no rules determined the division of laws into private or public acts. There are, however, certain considerations which have been followed in order to determine the class into which a law should be placed. In arriving at the conclusion, an act was always examined and considered as a unit, rather than paragraph by paragraph, in order to identify the intent of Congress when the act was passed. That determination was based upon the debate of the legislation as it appeared in the Congressional Record; the nature of the legislation; its effect and scope; whether it amended previous classed legislation; and upon personal opinion.
Legislation classed generally as public may be listed as that in which the interest of the government are paramount, particular, or outweighs the other considerations of the act and/or the interest of the public as a whole is affected. Legislation classed generally as private may be stated to include that which is passed for the particular benefit of an individual or group of individuals, in the enactment of which the government of public has no direct or immediate interest. In borderline cases the general practice is to classify the law as public; that is the present practice of the General Services Administration.
Even though the assignment of numbers of bills is extremely important in tracing their legislative histories, "The numbering of bills apparently started during the 15th Congress. It seems that beginning with the congress House bills were numbered continuously through a congress, and remained alive beyond the first session. Until the 30th Congress, Senate bills were numbered beginning with 1 for each session and appear to have died at the end of the session". (1)
(l) Schmeckebier, Lawrence F. Government publications and their use. 2d rev ed. Wash., D.C. Brookings Institution 1960, p. 169 xii
While the House, in 1817, adopted the policy of numbering the bills consecutively, it was not until 1847 that the Senate began using the same numbering system as in the House and some uniformity achieved. However, the key identifier, the bill number was not included in the U.S. Statutes at Large along with the chapter number, brief title/synopses, and approval date of law. Bill numbers were (and are) important to the committees and the Members of Congress because they consider, report, and debate the bills primarily on basis of the assigned number. In the absence of bill numbers assigned at the time of introduction, searchers must rely upon other sources and identifiers. However, the House and Senate Journals, which are the only official record of Congressional activity required by the Constitution, are excellent sources for tracing legislative histories, especially for the period from 1789 to 1903. These were the sources used in compiling this checklist.
The House and Senate Journals are also excellent supplementary tools to be used with the Indexes to the debates as explained in the "Users Guide" to this checklist.
The difficulties, caused by the omission of bill numbers prior to 1903, have been recognized by those interested in developing histories for academic, legislative or judicial reason. Each legislative history had to be developed on a case by case basis, there being no overall finding list which could be used. Hence, this publication should create a significant and expedient source for beginning legislative research for the period covered, making it possible for librarians and re- searchers in the legal community to save a significant amount of time.
Legislative histories can be essential to any individualwho needs to understand the statutory intent and meaning of the law.
Eugene Nabors