COMMERCIAL LAW
PART I
LAW IN GENERAL
1. Rights. Men are endowed with certain individual rights. These rights are principally of two classes, personal and property. Men have the right to live in peace and quietude. In so far as it does not interfere with the same privilege on the part of others they have the right to be unmolested in the pursuit of happiness. They have the right to defend themselves against the attacks of others, to satisfy bodily hunger and thirst, and to preserve their bodies in health and strength.
Besides these personal rights, men have the right to acquire and keep property. This right is also subject to the limitation of not interfering with the same privilege on the part of others. Men have the right to acquire property, both chattel and real. For the purpose of rendering their existence and enjoyment secure, they have the right to keep the title and possession of this property in themselves.
In primitive times, property rights were few. Personal rights were recognized and enforced by might. As the requirements of civilized life became more complex, property rights were needed and recognized. Rules of conduct and rules for the holding and transfer of property were recognized and enforced. Might ceased to be the principal method of enforcing rights. Rules began to be recognized and enforced with regard to persons and property. These rules are known as laws.
2. Law. Law may be defined to be a rule of human conduct. It may be said to embrace all rules of human conduct recognized by courts of law. Laws are necessary to enable men to enforce and enjoy their rights, both personal and property. Customs of men become rules by which human affairs are regulated. Men may disagree as to what their rights are, or as to their exact scope or limitations. In this event, rules of conduct or laws must determine their scope and limitations. Disputes among men arise about their personal or property rights. The rules recognized by the courts in settling these disputes are laws. These rules or laws relate both to persons and property. A law which prohibits murder is a rule by which the state protects the lives of its citizens; a law which prohibits theft is a rule for the protection of property.
3. Sources of Law. Law is derived from the customs of the people and from the written declarations or agreements of the people or their representatives. The customs of the people, constituting a large part of our law, are found principally in the decisions of courts. Each state of this country prints and keeps a permanent record of at least the most important decisions of its court of last resort. Many decisions of lower courts are printed and preserved. Every law library of importance has the printed reports of the supreme court of each state of this country; as well as the reports of the higher courts of most of the countries where the English language is spoken or officially recognized. The reports of the higher courts of England, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and of many of the island possessions of this country and of England, are found in most law libraries. The second source of law is the written declaration of the people or their representatives. These declarations consist of legislative acts, treaties and constitutions. In this country, legislative acts may be either national or state. Many statutes are nothing more than recognized customs enacted into written laws. Other statutes are variations or restrictions of recognized customs. National legislative acts are numbered consecutively, printed and bound into volumes known as the Federal Statutes. Each state numbers its statutes consecutively and prints and binds them into volumes known as the State Statutes.