The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-06
CODE OF ALABAMA IS ALMOST READY Theft of Deg Will Hereafter Be
 Larceny SOME OF THE PROVISIONS One of the Important Features Is That the Statute of Limitations As To
 Lands No Longer Runs
 Against State.
SOME OF THE PROVISIONS

The new code of the state of Alabama is nearing completion.
 Volume 1 is now in print, and will be issued in the immediate future. Volume II, the civil code. is two-thirds in type and one-third in print. This volume will be issued during next March, or about April l.
 Tn code will consist of about 5000 sec tions, and contains the laws of the state through the regular session of the legsla- ture this year. The acts of the legisla- ture in extraordinary session are not contained.
 In addition, the code contains certain provisions and amendments not made law by the legislature
 The publication of the new code is awaited with a great deal of interest by members of the legislature and attorneys especially. and by great many citizens. The publication of the two volumes is quite an immense task. The codifier, as is known, is Judge James J. Mayfield, the well-known Tuscaloosa jurist. He has been state codifier for the last four years.
 Judge Mayfield passed through Bir- mfngham yesterday en route to Nashville, where the code is being published, the Nashville firm having been awarded the contract by the state, after winning in competitive bids. By law, the codlfer has to go through the third reading of the proof in the city wherein the code Is being published. This was the occasion of Judge Mayfeld's visit to Nashville.
 Code Committee Makes Changes.
 In the extraordinary session of the leg islature, as is remembered, the commit tee on the code, consisting of Messrs. John. Foster Lusk, Stegall, Carmichael. and Gardner. rewrote the chapter on the hiring of convicts. The code provided that the state would hire the conyicts. The committee changed that provision so that the counties could continue to hire the convicts, as has been the case for the last several years. This was the only change of any note made by the house There is an amendment to the employers liability bill modifying the rules of the assumption or risks. This is in line with the report of the codifier made to the governor some time ago.
 A departure of wide interest made bv the new code is making of a dog the subject of larceny Hereafter it will be larceny, therefore, to steal a mans dog. Heretofore dogs could be stolen Wlth lmpunity in spite of the natural admission that the crime is none the less great than had a horse been the subject of the larceny. This provision of inc code will hn wal CTS of the state and the people in gen eral' who take pleasure in owning a dog.
 Change Affects Lands.
 Perhaps the most important departure made by the code is that the statute of limitations as to lands no longer runs against the state or any of it's subdivis- ions This covers lands owned by the various schools and universities of the state. sixteenth section lands and school indemnity lands. Heretofore the statute limited the state to twenty years in which to recover lands. It has so hap pened heretofore that any man settling on property and assessing it for taxa tion could get title in ten years if the land was the property of a school or corporation, and in twenty years in case the property belonged to the state. It is pointed out, too, that it was quite easy for a "squatter' to settle on land owned by a corporation or a school and remain there for ten years without the owner Knowing it.
 Hereafter, however, the state and the schools can recover, it matters not how long the "squatter' has had residence on the property or paid taxes. This abo- lition of the statute of limitations oper- ation against the state is not a law of the legislature, but comes in the shape of an amendment from the pen of tne codifier.
 The statute, too, relating to the ad- verse possession of land is also changed. The time of appeal from final decree is also changed. The appeals hereafter must be taken in six months instead of one year.
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