The Semi-weekly leader. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1905-1941, 1906-09-26
New Code viii Not be Ready.


1t is now practically certain
that the new code cannot be got
ten out before the 18th day of Oc-
tober and it may possibly be
about the Goth of October before
it can be placed IN the hands of
the judges, lawyers and officials
charged with the execution of the
laws. There does not seem to be
any way to avoid this delay and it
is due to the fact that time enough
was not allowed to complete the
work. After the legislature ad-
iourned the manuscript had to be
turned over to the printers and
the proofs aaSa.. Then dummies
of the chapters had to be furnish
ed to General Catchings to have
the sections remembered and va
rious other details perfected, and
the original had then to be chang
ed to conform to these dummies. 4
Then the index had to be made, in
itself a herculean task. The old
index to the code of 1892 contain
ed nearly 300 pages itself and
the new code is much larger vol
ume than the old one. The last
of the proof sheets were read last
week on the text matter, but the
index is not yet quite completed
and the copy for it will hardly be
entirely made up before the 25th
inst.
This delay, unavoidable as it is,
will necessarily result in much
iconfusion. The entire new code
lis made effective on October lst
Eby the enactment of the last legis-
lature. A great many changes
have been made by it in the old
law and numerous new laws have
been inserted. The procedure
in courts is greatly changed as
/ well as penalties and other impor-
tant matters and the judges will
not be able to proceed intelligent
Ily without the new law before
them. 1t will also be especially
embarrassing to the Justices of the
peace throughout the State and to
| the sheriffs and clerks. The lat
ter especially will not know how
to proceed to organize courts and
Iempanel juries under the new
law. Indeed the situation is such
that it would not be surprising if
/ judges did not find it necessary to
| pretermit courts or to adjourn
lover and wait for the code. But
Iit is not only the courts that will
| be embarrassed, the situation will
be embarrassing to almost every
/ business interest in The State as
jail will wish to conform their
transactions to the new code.
| The work is being expedited as
rapidly as possible, but nothing
can be done now to avoid the de.
lay which is inevitable and every
| body will have to make the best
lof the situation. The job was just
simply bigger than was expected.
jackson Evening News.
And yet, strange as it may APP
pear, after all the delay, heavy
expense and inconvenience TO bar,
bench and people Of making 4
,Fnew code, the advocates Of a Con-
Istiutional Convention (of which
1.-THE jackson News is one of the
chief), could they have their
lsweet wills, wou d not only saddle
1.-THE State with the expense Of such
I, q Convention, but the Convention
,lwould necessitate the early cast
>Iing aside of this new code not yet
published and the adoption of still
another, with all that that implies.
The Constitutional Convention
proposition, under all the clrcun-
stances. is nothing short Of pre-
posteroUs.
The Julius Yerger murder case
comes Zip In jackson tomorrow.