, 1872-02-08
3aw department.
Opinion of Judge Jacobs

sion 1S67-6S, p. 53) the Legislative assembly of
laws of general nature should take effect six
ty days after the sitting of the Legislature has
EXPIRED fair construction of the language
this act gives it prospective and not retro
spective operation. The amended practice act
of 1871 in terms prescribed no time in which
it shall take effect.
The question presented for decision is: When
does tho ameuded civil practice act Of 1871 take
effect?
LIST. 1t must be conceded that if the law Of
laws, where it is not otherwise provided in the
act itself, must take effect from and after their
approval by the Governor. But why does not
the act of January 18th, 1868, apply? 1t is rU.,,
tended'that the Legislature of 1878 possessed
no rightful authority to pass any such restrain
ing act. No one doubts the power of the 1egis-
lLture to say in the act ITSELF when it shall take
effect. To denyj this power to the Legislature
would be to render it impotent to prevent the
grossest injustice. Communities in distant
portions of our territory would be subject to the
pe.ations of laws, of the existence of which
they could know nothing. Then if they possess
ed ihe power to fix in each act Itself, by express
terms, when it should take effect they can insert
the same time in all acts end thus in fact estab-
Fish gene'al rule by the aggregation of par.icu-
lars. Now if they can establish rule by such
Indirect means, they ce,tainly can do it by a
: ha o1,
simpler and 1e-s cumbes some and more logical,
no one can question. Then there can be no
foubt that ct least e4ch legislature can, by a
general rule. say when FL, OF its laws shall go
into effect, EMO such enactment is ri2htiul and
valid est of le ,isl.. I've power,
I'd. Cut coueeGing, saws the le- rled counsel,
that the above is true OF each legislature. "cap
any legislature make rule for me government
of succeeding legislatures answer, in a GER
tain sense it canpot, and in cert3in Cense it
can. No legislature can pass law over which
succeeding legislatures possess no power of re-
peal, either directly or by implication. Each
legislature c.n amend or repeal, as a general
rule, all or any of the enactmeutc of its prede-
cessors. Its power over previous enactnents is
ample and absolute. But suppose it does not
exercise this emple power, and does not directly
or by implication repeal the laws of its prede-
cessors, are thiy not valid and living laws? We
are not contending that the legislature possesses
no power to sweep them from the statute book,
but we are stating case where it does not deem
it expedent and therefore hes not exercised that
power. That the unrepealed laws of 1S67-8 are
the living laws of to-day are too plain for argyll
ment. They are laws, not because they could
not be repealed, but because they were not. If
there was anything in them that did not meet
with the approval of the legislature of ISL, it
would have been repealed. If they were not,
they must stand as the expression of the le9is-
lative will of 1871 as well as that of 1862 and of
that of every succeeding legislature until re-
peal does take place.
We have already shown that the time III which
an act shall go into effect is an incident of every
act, and therefore rightful subject of le9isia-
tion and can be fixed by The act itself er by spe-
cial statutory rule, and if net fixed by either
mode, the common law rule is incorporated i'll
it by necessary intendment.
Sd. As the laws of congress. in all cases where
they apply, are paramount in their obligations
to the laws of this territorv, it remains to in
quire if any different rule Tor the government of
the legislature has been established by such par
amount law. The act OF Congress approved
June II, 1864 (Xin. U. S. SIT. 3: Large. 1851,
giving the veto power to the governor of the
Territory g, h.,a been cited by the lerred counsel
filing this motion. The first section of this act,
with two verbal alterations to make it apply to
our territorial situation, is an exact transcript
of the national constitution upon the exercise of
that power. The only object of this statute was
to place an additional check upon hasty legisla-
ton, by giving the governor of this territory
veto power, to be exercised in the same manner
as that possessed by the President of the United
States. Every bill passed by the legislature
must receive the signature and approval of the
governor before it becomes law. 1t has all
the formal elements of law as soon as it pos
sesses all the statutory requisites; but it does
not necessarily go into operation as soon as
it receives these requisites. Such is not the
declaration, nor is it a necessary inference from
the language of this statute. True, If no other
eral statutory provision, such would be the rule
by necessary intendment. But suppose Con-
gress had established general rule by statute,
would the passage by Congress of bill, and its
subsequent approval by the President, override
this prior rule? think not For Congress GER
tainly can say when an act can go into operation
by terms in the act ITSELF If it can do so in one
law it can in all, and thus establish general
rule; and what it can do by indirection, it GER
tainly can do directly. and hence it is part Of
the Legislative power; and if part of the legis-
lative power, then it can be exercised i'll any
manner that the Legislative will may deem expe-
dent.
If this is Just reasoning so far as Congress is
concernet under this same provision, it Is diff
cult to see why it does not apply to the case In
hand. The motion must be overruled.
WOMAN PRoGREssING.-Ala lady in re-
cent letter from Liverpool says :: Here,
as in every hotel in England I found Ia
dies at the bar, keeping the register of
arrivals, and assigning rooms to guests,
receiving payment of bills, &c. So in
the telegraph Office, and in all the shops