86o Bibliography of Amej'ican Diplomacy the decisions of the Circuit Courts, and of the Supreme Court of the United States are most likely to deal with public law ; and they alone can finally construe federal treaties or statutes, if their validity is con- tested. Cases may be traced through the ordinary digests, and also through footnotes to treatises on international law. Special lists of cases, English and American, may be found in T. J. Walker, Science of Inter- national Law, pp. xiii-xv ; J. B. Moore, History and Digest of Inter- national Arbitrations, I. Ixiii-lxxii. The texts of the Federal decisions are to be found in four series of collected cases as follows : Federal Cases, comprising Cases argued and determined in the Circuit and District Courts of the U. S. from tJie Colonial Times to the Be- ginning of the Federal Reporter, 2,0 s. 3.TA. Digest (Zt. Paul, 1894-1S98). — Over 18,000 cases arranged alphabetically by cases, from 1789 to 1880. Federal Reporter ; Cases argued and determined in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States, 104 vols, and three Digests, to 1901 (St. Paul, 1880- ).
- United States Reports, Supreme Court, 173 vols, to 1898.— Till 1882
published under the names of the official collectors or reporters of cases as follows : Dallas [1789-1800], 4 vols., (Philadelphia, 1790-1808) ; Cranch [i 801-1805], 9 vols., (Washington, 1804-181 7); Wheaton [18 16-18 2 7], 12 vols., (New York, 1816-1827); Peters [1828-1843], 17 vols., (Phila- delphia, 1828-1843); Howard [1843-1860], 24 vols., (Philadelphia, 1S43-1860); Black [1861-1862], 2 vols., (Washington, 1862-1863) ; Wallace [1863-1874], 23 vols., (Washington, 1876-1883); Otto [1875- 1882], 17 vols., (Washington, 18S2); also bears the title United States Reports, Vols, gi-ioj ; United States Reports [18S 2- ]. Since 1882 a parallel edition has been published in an annual volume (at first two volumes a year) under the title : Supreme Court Reports, Cases argued and determined in the United States Supreme Court, 21 vols, to 1900 (St. Paul, 1883- ). Particular questions in international law, and the historical accounts of episodes included in the judges' opinions, may be found through the various digests of cases, and especially through : Rose, Notes on the United States Reports : A Brief Chronological Digest of all Points Determined in the Decisions of the Supreme Court, with Notes showing the influence, followittg, and present authority of each case as disclosed by the citations, 12 vols., (San Francisco, 1899-1901). — Sums up the later attitude of the courts on each decision and the principles involved down to 1898. Without authority as decisions in contested cases, the official opinions drawn up for the guidance of the President or heads of departments, are of much weight as historical documents and as the conclusions of trained lawyers, beginning in 1791 :
