Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1899-01-04
Judge Steele On Code Revision.

revise the Idaho Code which has beef
, suggested and which will probably b,
acted upon by the coming legislature
1t will be seen from the interview tina
Judge Steele would like to see such .
commission appointed and believes tina
the lawyers of the state have little t
) gain i'll comparison with the advantage.
a revision of the Code would be to ths
state at large
In answer TO the question what he
: thought as to the advisablitv of such &
commission he stated that he was of the
opinion that Commissioners should be
appointed to revise the code and report
to the next Legislature
The commission should be COMPOSED
of from three to FIVE of the best LAWYERS
in Idaho and above all things politics
should not be considered in making such
appointments.
Have other states i'll the past had com
missioners revise their codes?
YES: All states which l have any
personal knowledge of as to how their
present codes were adopted have some
time i'll the past revised their codes
through the agency of Code Com
mission. Indiana my native state about
1880 followed New York and other good
code states i'll appointing such COM
mission and | am satisfied that the result
has always been satisfactory. have
heard the plan commended always but
have never heard the plan condemned
where it has been tried"
Why not have the legislature appoint
some member from its body to report
such changes i'll the laws as are best?
Commissioners have plenty of time TO
properly examine the laws of different
states and good lawyers already familiar
with the codes OF different states and
with the advancement that has been
made will recommend such code as
will at once place Idaho in the front
work as code state and will at once
advance the interest of many citizens of
the state. The time is too short for
committee of the legislature to act in
and the matter is certainly too important
to be hurried. The appointment of a
code commission being the method
adapted by other states and having been
always successful we can make no mis-
take in following the example of other
states and We should be able to improve
upon their action.
Are the laws of Idaho in such CON
dition as to justify complete revision
and are they not good enough so that
we may not make this expenses to the
state?
Taxes are about as high as the people
can pay as it now is and the people
should not be asked to pay for any
Injuries at this time. While this is no
luxury and I regard it as an absolute
necessity that such a commission be APP
pointed soon. Yet the conditions of the
state revenues should be considered
Our laws are in very bad condition
The code which now is in force is
practically the same code which the state
of California discarded shortly after Idaho
adopted this code. As an Instance show
ing how the passing of some new laws by
our legislature has thrown the code out
of gear look at the laws governing mar
ried women.
We have taken the advanced step of
giving to women the right of suffrage
and yet under our old code she is not
considered capable of making contracts
such as nearly all Of the states has given
her power to make. She is permitted to
sign deed with her husband transfer
ing Real Properly but the officer must
examine the married woman separate
and apart from her husband The
| purpose being to avoid her being con-
troled by her husband. While we have
given her the right of suffrage by recent
legislation yet the code treats the rights
of married women nearer like they were
treated at common law than any state |
know of. Our text book writer consider
the rights of a married woman under the
common law as relic of the Ozark Ages. :"
A great majority of the states bave
reversed the common law rule and give
to married woman the right to contract
the same as if she were role with certain
] sparified eyreptiouc ral;fnrr;o hoe CO
changed her code since we patterned
after that state in drafting our code
Would the adoption of new code be
of more benefit to the lawyers than any
other class?
IL believe that the only interest the
lawyers have or feel in the matter is to
see their state advance to the front rank
and know that our laws are in keeping
with this advanced age. l can not be-
lieve it would be any advantage to the
lawyers as class financially. The object
of all revisions II the code at this age is
to make the laws more single. The
complications which now arise could not
arise under more simple code. No the
lawyers have no mercenary motive in
urging the appointment of a code COM
mission. They favor it because in the
practice of their chosen profession they
have better opportunity to know what
other states have done in this matter and
how our code and also the decisions of