, 1877-12-29

dSdIHSt ulIll, Gue CIducoo are db
ninety and nine to one that it
will fall to the ground for the
want of proof,-as may be seen :
by reading
/" Section [Gi]. At the time
stated in the notice or as soon
thereafter as practicable the
coart shall hear the case and at
such hearing the original tax
list with the warrant. appended
delivered to the treasurer and
the treasurer's return Of the sale
and the notice of the sale and
affidavit of the publication and
posting thereof and the treas
urer's certificate issued to-sthe
purchaser shall be prodxced and
admitted as evldspee #, the same
be then in existence or if not In
vxtErence then satisfactory proof
Of the material facts must be
maSe
III the first place,it is question
ablf i whether any court, proceed
ir aucprding to,the rules and
prsnripfes governing equity ca
SCI, or any other ases, in this
Territory could compel the Gus
todians:of county records to pro-
.duce, the originaIs-ir -cuur ,<and
Under this section other prooF
such as coftified copies, can not
be admitted until the required
Foundation has been laid by es-
tablisMhg the fAet that the orig
inals are>not in Existence, and in
that case, whefan conceive of a
mere human mind capable Of
furnishing satisfactory proof"
from memory OF the material
facts" necessary to establish a
tax title.
And then again, even granting
that the courts can compel the~
production of the original rec
ords, Mould 1t be practicable to
have the assessors, collectors
and auditors Of the remote com
ties Of the Judicial district dane
ing attendance, upon the places
Fof holding court, with their pub
Eiic archieves under their arms,
for the purpose Of giving evi-
dence in these cases?
Whatever construction it may
final y receive from the courts,
it is atleast certain that this new
frevenue law, as it comes from
the hands Of the printer, diffuse,
turgid, unprecedented, and so pa
renthical that it cannot be pune
tuated, IS a scandal upon the law
making power of our goodly
Territory. y
AS u mere composition it is
beyond criticism. Like The ira
ditional glass sralfeA of which
all have heard, and Which few
have seen, though YOU dissect it
into thousand pieces and re-
verse its parts in everyp ypossibIe
manner, they will still join to
reproduce the same old headless
tailless snake.
& Those who are curious to have
particular proof Of the fallacy
Of attempting to doctor laws by
Supplying clerical omissions, are
referred to the last section Of the
chapter, "51 [67T' which refers
to 4" section 52," reciting It's
subject matter in general terms.
The only "Sectlon So" to be
found in the revenue law occurs
in the preceding chapter. Its
number "52" is one of the
clerical omissions supplied by
the Secretary, and contains not
one word to connect it with
"Section 81 [67]" Of Chapter VI.
It is quite evident that the law
giver's Section SO has been lost or
misplaced, and it is by no means
impossible that some acute legal
mind-perhaps that Of the learn
ed codifer, may yet discover it
into the civil practice
aca. or the new school law.
Though I have too high a
sense of the respect due those in
authority to hold them up as
personally responsible for this
set of laws, feel that am strict
tly within the bounds of propri-
ETY. when say that whoever ad-
vlsed the author Of this revenue
law to write it, whoever advised
the Legislative Assembly to pass
It, and whoever advised the gov,
enorat to sign it, ought to be
We'll, well, it is not best to be
TOO hasty, for after all, when |
come to think Of It, these poor
fellows themselves, may have
been badly advised. SoREHEAD.i