The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1852-01-15

they Go through country, the lndIar
title to which is not yet dehnitively extin
guished, are OF such immediate impor
tance 10 our community, as the Other
roads, for the construction Of which ap.
preparations have been made.
The fruit of the labors of the last Leg
islativc Assembly, in collecting, revising
and putting in accessible form the stat
ute laws OF the Territory, is matter o.
sober, but just congratulation. What.
ever difference Of opinion may exist as
10 the merits of the new code, aud the
mode OF procedure it introduces, all will
agree that much has been gaiued by the
compilation in convenient and intelligi-
bic form, of large body Of statutory en-
actments.
AS provision has been made for the
Incorporation by general law, of all asso-
ciatlons essential to the prosecution oi
business, or to the development of the
resources the country, it is to be hop
ed that your time will be occupied as
little as possible with business of a local
character.
Partial or special legislation, is an evil
which elsewhere is attracting much at
tentlon, and to which much wcll-founded
opposition exists in the public mind. In
deed, the legislative journals of many of
the States show that nearly th.ee-fourths
Of the time devoted to legislation, has
been consumed, to the exclusion fire.
quently, from due consideration, of sub
jccts Of general Importance, with busi-
ness of local charater, which might.
with Propriety and advantage, be provi-
dod for by general laws, or transferred d
TO competent, subordinate tribunals. In
Territory so widely extended as ours,
a majority Of the members of the Legis-
lative Assembly can have but little per
sonal knowledge of the merits Of most Of
the local questions upon which they are
called to act, and considerations Of econ
omy, as well as sound policy, direct that
cnactments ofthis class should be brought
more nearly home to those Immediately
interested in their results.
Much mischief has everywhere arisen
from the instability and inconsistency of
legislation. In the new Territories of
the West, especially, loose and tickle
legislation has been much too common.
Laws are enacted one year, without,
perhaps, much consideration; and the
succeeding year modified or repealed
with fully As little deliberation, and in
manner which often leaves the public
and even interpreters of the law, in doubt
what IS abrogated, and what continued
in force. 1t is greatly to be desired, that
IN the carly career Of MINES ota, this
hariequnism Of legislation may be avoid
ed, and that the confusion Of redundant
and Improbable laws may be foreign to
our statute books. The code, which
was prepared at the last session of the
Legislative Assembly, has been pub
llshed at considerable expense; and be-
fore prejudging, without fair trial, its
provisions, and indiscriminately amend
ing or repeating them upon charitable
suspicion that they are wrong in theory
or injurious or inconvenient in practice,
1t may be well TO await the lessons of
positive experience in regard to their de-
fects and merits. Our line should be a
middle course between extremes; not
adopting crude experiments, or pursuing
doubtful novelties; nor yet tresisting with
out distinction all improvement as ill-ad-
vlsed innovation. A cautious and con-
siderate policy, if persisted in for few
years, will gradually become habitual
and to wholesome extent impress itself
upon the Territory, and the future man
agement Of its affairs.
The present division of our judicial dis
tricts seems inadequate to the exigen-
cies of the Territory. The increasing
settlement Of the country has outgrown
the system; and in your deliberations
touching the Judiciary, you are respect
fully requested to provide suitable and
proper remedy for the deficiency. In
the instance of Pembina county, urgent
reasons exist for change IN the consti-
tuition of the districts. The remoteness
of this county from the county to which
the law now attaches it for judicial pur-
poses, operates as Il virtual denial 10 its
inhabitants of the administration Of JUS
tice. From the undetermined state of
the international boundary line, a class
of cases are likely to arise in this coun-
ty of delicate nature, and which can
only be properly settled by judicial in
tervention. A port of entry has recently
been established there, and, in this CON
nection, questions will arise, requiring
legal adjudication. Moreover, there are
resident In the county, hundreds OF
aliens, who are anxious to avail them
selves of the provisions Of the naturali-
zatlon laws, to become citizens Of the
United States. Some provision of relief
is clearly demanded; and | commend
the subject to your early consideration
II is proved in the social economy OF
this country, rather than in any other,
of any time, that intellectual power takes
the place of physical force 1t is here,
therefore, that all are interested in pro-
noting the means for the general difril-
sion of Intelligence. The Territory o.
Minnesota, early recognized the impor.
fance OfeuU -, ftinr unnn lie DoI;cy A., CooI