Page:Revised Codes of the State of North Dakota 1895.pdf/7

Rh that body seven bills providing for seven different codes, embracing the entire statutory law of the state. A special joint committee was appointed to take charge of this work. Many changes were made by the committee and the legislative assembly in the report of the commission. The most important of these changes was the substitution of an entirely new system of revenue and taxation in the political code, which was made by the legislative assembly too late in the session for careful consideration.

In printing the codes the commission has indicated in the margin opposite each section the origin of any statute embraced in the codes, taken from the laws of the territory of Dakota or the state North Dakota. Where entirely new matter was introduced by the present commission no reference whatever is contained in the margin.

In preparing this revision the commission has undertaken a task of great magnitude and difficulty. It involved much more than a mere compilation or rearrangement of pre-existing statutes. Not only have many changes been made in the form of existing law, but in each of the new codes a large number of provisions wholly new in this jurisdiction have been added. The period since our last revision in 1877 has been marked by great activity in legislation and codification. The codes embraced in that revision have been enacted in many other states, and before such enactment were subjected to careful revision and have since been largely modified by amendment. It has been the aim of the commission to bring the codes of this state down to date-to embody in them the improvements of other states, and add such new provisions as were necessary to give effect to our constitution and harmonize and complete our system of law. While fully expecting that experience will discover many imperfections in our work, we also trust that experience will show the revision to be a substantial improvement in the honorable work of our commonwealth in the cause of codification.

BURKE CORBET,

GEO. W. NEWTON,

CHARLES F. AMIDON.