Public Documents

The publications printed by order of congress or either house thereof. Mc Call v. U. S., 1 Dak. 328, 46 N. W. 608. In an action involving a title to swamp lands the oilicial correspondence and reports of public officers of the United States relating to swamp lands and published by the authority of the legislature are public documents which the court may consult even if not made formal proof in the case; Kirby v. Lewis, 39 Fed. 66. The term was considered in 5 App. Cas. H. L. 613, not to be taken in the sense of the whole world. The books of a manor are public in the sense that they concern all the world interested in the manor. So of entries in a corporation book of a corporate matter. But it must be a public document and the entry must be made by a public officer and so that all persons concerned may have access to it afterwards. In many of the states tax returns are made by law public documents and open to inspection; Flint v. Stone Tracy Co., 220 U. S. 107, 31 Sup. Ct. 342, 55 L. Ed. 389, Ann. Cas. 1912B, 1312.