THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. TUESDAY, JULY 30, 1901.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 182, 30 July 1901, Page 2

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. TUESDAY, JULY 30, 1901.

rTHE laws of .New Zealaud may btfar ahead of thowe of all oth-v countries, and may I'tion as yet undreamt of by less progressive peoples, still in one particular they are quite in unison" —each set is - so involved, so amended, so altered and bo added to that the mover of the original statute would pass by the creation of his brain without a sign of recognition. But in New Zealand this will soon be as a tale that is told, for Mr William JuliErVba--siys the Christenurch Pres-', almost completed the work of four years' hard work in'c"onsolidatii g the statutes. The Government, who intend to take the matter up ami give it practical shape, have issued a draft copy of volume i which gives the consolidated statutes in alphabetical order up to the letters " C 0 iSL". According to " Chimin's Index," tiiew are in force in New Zealand some 700 public Acts, scattered throughout many volumes <•£ statutes in a most bewildering labyrinth, in which, even the proveibial Philadelphia lawyer might at times ioae his way. The idea which- Mr Jolliffe has bo successfully carried out is to embody the various Acta and amendments in one Act under an appropriate heading. For instance, in the volume under notico, " tk? Agricultural Act" contains all ths legislation relating to agricultural and pastoral matters, the Stock Acta, Rabbit Nuisance Acts, Orchard anl Garden Pest Acts, and such like ail being brought und«r the one heading. Similarly, the the Constitution Act, 19D2, a 3 it will be termed, .embodies the provisions of no fewer than thirtyseven separate Acts, as well as the unrepealed provisions of several Imperial Acts, the provisions of the letters patent for tho appointment of Governor and the Roy.u instructions. The whole, of the statutes will by this plan be compressed into five volumes, and a?. the provisions of each Act wiii blunder its appropriate heading, tk; new departure will be of enormous advantage to laymen and lawyers also. An idea of tho .savins effected may be gained from the fact that the volume under review contains twenty Acts, covering the ground now occupied by no fewer than lA'5 existing Acts. In addition to thin compression, the language - has been modernised where necessary. Of course when Parliament comes to consider the-question, care will have to be taken to see 1 that such alteration of language does not in any way affect ilv.j law. The work is one that the Parliament might very well set about next session, Beeing that the session will be the last one of the present Parliament. The time will be opportune. Once the work is done it would bo comparatively easy to keep *, up-to-date, say once in every ii\o or six years. This ia a work that; has been talked of for a great length of time, and its conammaHon wilV, indeed, be a boon aud & blessing to men—to-the ordinary ' layman at all eventß/foi?\the,buti!-.

•ijors of the legal fraternity will jiut be promoted by unwonted ;:irnplicity of phrasing. But the ;a:ijority will benefit, and will be ah'e to form at leant a fair idea of ;he laws under which they lint, '•, ;d move, and have (heir being.