Page:Revised Codes of the State of North Dakota 1895.pdf/6

vi territory as could be given by the legislative committees. Having been prepared with respect to a system of laws in New York and in many cases referring to other statutes of that state, the codes, as adopted by the territory, were incomplete and contained many provisions wholly inapplicable to the conditions of our people.

In 1875 an act was passed providing for a commission of three to revise the codes and statutes of the territory, (chapter 23 of the laws of 1874-5). Pursuant to this act the governor appointed P. C. Shannon, then chief justice of the supreme court of the territory, Granville G. Bennett, an associate justice of the supreme court, and Bartlett Tripp, as commissioners. They prepared the revision of 1877. In their work this commission was greatly aided by the system of codes which had just been adopted in California and most of the changes made by them were taken from that source.

Chapter 83 of the laws of 1887. provided for a commission to compile the laws of the territory. E. W. Caldwell and Charles H. Price were appointed as commissioners pursuant to this act and prepared the compilation of 1887. The act under which they served limited their powers to compilation and for this reason nothing was done by them either to supply deficiencies in the law or remove its repugnant provisions. By chapter 36 of the laws of 1889, this compilation was declared to be admissible in the courts of the territory as legal evidence of the statutes therein printed.

Upon the admission of the state of North Dakota, the necessity was at once felt of a commission to adapt the laws then in force to the constitution of the state and harmonize the large body of statutes which had been passed since the revision of 1877. Chapter 82 of the laws of 1891 provided for a commission of three to accomplish this object-two of the commissioners to be attorneys at law and one an experienced business man. The governor of the state appointed as commissioners under this act, P. H. Rourke of Lisbon, Robert M. Pollock of Casselton and J. G. Hamilton of Grand Forks. The commission organized at once, appointing J. F. Philbrick of Bismarck, secretary, and on the meeting of the legislative assembly in January, 1893, presented a report showing in detail those provisions of our statutory law which should be continued in force and those which should be repealed. They also prepared a large number of bills for the purpose of supplying deficiencies in the system of laws then in force and adapting those laws to the new constitution. Owing, however, to the protracted contest for the election of a United States senator during this session of the legislative assembly, nothing was done towards carrying the recommendations of the commission into effect.

The same session of the legislative assembly, (chapter 74 of the laws of 1893), provided for the present commission. The appointments were made in March of that year and soon after the commission organized and appointed Charles J. Fisk of Grand Forks, secretary. In carrying out the work, certain codes were assigned to each member. The probate and justices' codes were assigned to Mr. Corbet, the penal code and code of criminal procedure to Mr. Newton, and the civil code and code of civil procedure to Mr. Amidon. The political code was reserved for the joint action of the entire commission, with the assistance of its secretary. When the legislative assembly convened in January, 1895, the commission reported to