GENERAL NOTE

The Board of Statutory Consolidation derived its existence and authority from chapter 664 of the Laws of 1904. The act provides that it shall be the duty of the board to "direct and control the revision, simplification, arrangement and consolidation of the statutes of the state; " that the plan and scope of the work shall follow that "adopted in the general laws, so far as practicable;" that the statutes shall not be changed "in substance" except that as to matters of procedure the board shall report for enactment such amendments as it may deem proper and necessary to "condense and simplify the existing practice and as shall adapt the procedure to existing conditions; " and that the board in its final report "shall suggest such contradictions, omissions and imper fections as may appear in the original text, with the manner in which they have reconciled, amended or supplied the same."

In examining the work of the board therefore it should be kept in mind that the board has not attempted to revise the statutes, but that it presents them in substance as found in the session laws, making such changes only in form or language as was necessary to weld them together. The board has endeavored to incorporate into the Consolidated Laws the substance of every living general statute enacted since 1777 in the language of that statute and the language of the original statutes, particularly of the Revised Statutes, has been changed only where its insertion in the Consolidated Laws made such change necessary and then the notes call attention to the change and the reason for it.

The "Consolidated Laws" are reported by the board in the typographical form required by the rules of the legislature when the laws were drafted. The bracketed words as required by the rules represent matter that is to be omitted from the existing statutes. and the material bracketed will not appear in the "Consolidated Laws" when enacted. Underscored words represent matter necessary to consolidate the statutes with the existing " General Laws," and the words underscored will appear in the enacted "Consolidated Laws." The underscored words therefore do not represent any new law, the statute being presented in the consolidated law without intentional change of substance. When it has been found necessary to compile new "Consolidated Laws" to take care of material that could not be assigned appropriately to any existing "General Law" the brackets and underscoring have been omitted generally as unnecessary under the rules of the legislature, except as changes have been made incidental to consolidation.

In compiling the Consolidated Laws all of the session laws and previous revisions of the statutes of the State have been examined, not by reference to indexes or editorial compilations merely, but page by page from original sources, and each general statute enacted since the organization of the State will be found in the Consolidated Laws either in the text as live matter or in the schedule of repeals as dead matter.

The board has also incorporated into the Consolidated Laws such matter from the Code of Civil Procedure as seemed wise so that the Consolidated Laws might embrace as complete a statement as possible of the general substantive statutes of the State and so that at the same time the Code might be relieved of extraneous matter. The Code of Civil Procedure, with this matter eliminated, and unchanged in practice, will be presented with the Consolidated Laws.

The special private and local statutes have not been classified but they have been examined for provisions of a general nature which might be available in the Consolidated Laws.

The board has not attempted to revise the Code of Criminal Procedure, but any pertinent new matter found in the session laws has been inserted.

In examining the session laws and previous revisions an historical record of all statutes of a general nature was prepared and this record will be submitted to the legislature with the Consolidated Laws.

The term "Consolidated Laws" has been adopted as the name for the new compilation to distinguish it from "Revised Acts," "Revised Laws," "Revised Statutes" and "General Laws."

The "Consolidated Laws" have been arranged alphabetically and numbered consecutively.

In general the plan of the board has been to dispose of every general statute ever enacted in the State, thus making the consolidation of the general statutes complete, making it unnecessary to examine any statute back of the Consolidated Laws for live provisions of a general nature and forming a basis for a new starting point for general legislation in the state.

The board regrets that Judge Landon, who took an active part in formulating the plan for the work, did not live to join in this report.

Respectfully,

June 26, 1907.

ADOLPH J. RODENBECK, Chairman.

WILLIAM B. HORNBLOWER,

JOHN G. MILBURN,

ADELBERT MOOT,

Board of Statutory Consolidation.

PERSONAL PROPERTY LAW

(The original Personal Property Law was Chapter 47 of the "General Laws," being L. 1897, Ch. 417.)

Vol. IV. 1.