The news & observer., 1901-01-17
Iredell and VIM. H. Battle. Esqs..

eral statutes in force The second con-
tanned chapters on railroads, banks and
other corporations and the boundaries
of the several counties. To the first
volume ther.i Preface in which is
given an interesting sketch of the leg
islation of the State from its earliest
period. These volumes are known as
the "Revlsed Statufes.'
AT the session OF 1850, provision was
made for another revisal of the statutes
and pursuant thereto, B. f. Moore, Asa
Biggs and r. NJ. Saunders. Esqs., were
appointed commissioners. Judge Saun-
ders resigned and the work was COM
pleted by Messrs. Moore and Biggs and
reported ~ Tie session of 1854.
THE Statutory law as thus compiled
was printed and published under the
supervision of Bartholomew +. Moore
and w. h. 9odman in 1855, and is
known as the Revised Code
In 1873 the General Assembly di-
rected Judge VIM. H. Battle to revise
the statutes of the State, and gave us
in 1873 Battles Revisaf in one volume.
The value of this work was seriously
impaired 1y reason of the failure of
the General Assembly to enact the Re-
visal in one Statute and repeal all acts
not therein contained. See State VS..
Cunningham. 72-469.
AT the session of 1881, by Chapter
las. w. T. T'ortch, John S. Henderson
and John Manning, Esqs., were ap-
pointed Commissioners and directed to
collect and reduce into one act the diff
ferent acts and parts of acts which.
from similarity of subject, ought, in
their opinion, to be so arranged and
consolidated; distributing them under
such titles and sections as they shall
think proper with marginal notes of
such statutes as may be collected and
digested into one section, title or divi-
think proper, with marginal notes of
section to the decisions of the Supreme
Court pertaining thereto. Pursuant to
the duty imposed upon them, the Com
missionerss proceeded to form and at
the session of 1883 reported as a re-
suit of their labors the present Code.
The report was accepted and enacted
as one act and the statute laws of the
State became thus collected, arranged
and digestel in the chapters and sec
tions of the present Code. The work
of these eminent lawyers was in all re-
spects acceptab BILE to the people and the
profession.
Since the enactment of the present
Code there has been held in the State
nine sessions of the General Assembly
and eighteen sittings of the Supreme
Court, and we have a corresponding
number OF volumes of laws and reports.
An examination of two volumes of the
Public Laws shows that an average of
fifty changes have been made at each
session, thereby aggregating about 450
changes by which sections of the pres
ent Code have been repealed, altered
or amended 1t would involve more
time and labor than your committee
have been able to spare to ascertain the
number of cases in which the various
sections of the Code have been CON
strued by the court.
Thus we see that the present statute
law of the State is contained in the two
volumes of the Code and nine volumes
of the Publ. Laws of the State, enact
ed since the Code. By this hasty review
of the subject we may conclude that ex-
perience has shown that at periods
of about tWerty years apart there arises
necessity fo" collecting, compilig and
revising the statute law of the State
There will doubtless be a variety of
opinion when the question comes for
settlement as to the best manner in
which 70 do This work and the extent
of the power 10 be conferred upon the
commissioner
An examination of the statutes
whereby The commissioners heretofore
appointed weie to be guided will show
that they nave been confined to the
duty of collecting, arranging and re-
vising the stn:utes in force.
'Messrs B:ggs and Moore, in their
report to the General Assembly in
1854, stated That they had departed in
very essential respects from the course
pursued by former commissioners
That they had not only compiled and
brought together the different acts and
parts of acts on the same subject, but
they had consolidated them by fusng
them together and giving character as
of single enactment and as to a great
many, indeed most of the acts, they had
expunged the verbiage when it was
cumbersome and impaired no aid to the
meaning of the law
TT has always been conceded that
the Revised Code was the most salts
factory work Of the character which has
ever been dJ51e in the State.
"Of necessity many statutes are hast
lily drawn, and but few of our legisla-
tors are skilled in the art of using the
language of the law, hence it frequently
happens that acts of the General AS
sembly when subjected to the criticism
of the court in their application to
cases fail to effectuate the intention OF
the lawmakers. Say the commission
ers hereinbefore quoted, In not few
cases the known purpose of the laws
have been defeated by judicial decisions
Ca calamity which sometimes befalls
the best considered statutes)'
''The codification of the laws in the
sense of embodying in one statute the
entire body of the law as in the Codes
of those States where the Civil Law
forms the basis of the Jurisprudence, is
hardly practicable at this time. 1t is
by no means uncertain that this will
not be undertaken at some time with
success, 1t would seem that the extent
to which we may codify at this time is
to be measured by successful efforts
in this direction in the past.
1.-THE committee is of the opinion that
the Association should recommend that
the next General Assembly provide for
the appointment of three commission |
ers, eminent lawyers who having the |