A.—7

1881. NEW ZEALAND.

REPORT OF STATUTES REVISION COMMISSION.

Presented to hotk Souses of the General Assembly by Command of Sis Excellency.

To His Excellency Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon, G.C.M.G., Governor of the Colony of New Zealand. May it please your Excellency,— We, the Commissioners appointed under " The Revision of Statutes Act, 1879," have the honor to report as follows : — SELECTION OF IMPERIAL ACTS. 1 Since the date of our last report we have been able to complete and carry through the press a volume containing, according to the directions of the Act of 1879, a selection "of such " portions of the statute law of England applicable to and binding in the colony as seem to " us to be of general importance and interest." 2. That volume, which is now ready for publication, contains, in little more than five hundred pages, all the matter comprised in the fifty-nine volumes of the Statutes at Large, which, in our opinion, comes within the terms of the direction of the Revision Act, with certain exceptions indicated in the introduction, which are attributable to the probability of almost immediate legislation on the subjects excepted. 3. Those enactments only of the English Statutes which seem applicable in the colony are inserted, and all merely formal and redundant matter is removed; and indexes and tables are furnished for the purpose of making the volume complete and easily accessible. CONSOLIDATION OF THE STATUTES OF THE COLONY 4. We have prepared, since last session, 17 Consolidation Bills, absorbing 83 Acts from the Colonial Statute-book. They are on the following subjects : — 1. Companies . including 7 Acts. 2. Crown Suits. . „ 4 „ 3. Customs Laws Consolidation ~\ ,p 4. Customs Duties ConsolidationJ* " " 5. Diseased Cattle . . „ 3 „ 6. Employment of Females and others . „ 3 „ 7 Fisheries „ 7 ~ 8. Friendly Societies . ~ 2 „ 9. Inspection of Machinery „ 2 „ 10. Lunatics . „ 1 ~ (And Part 11. of " The Public Trust Office Amendment Act, 1873") 11. Parliamentary Privileges . „ 6 „ 12. Post Office „ 10 „ 13. Public Domains (including 2 Provincial Ordinances) „ 7 „ 14. Public Reserves . „ 2 ~ 15. Public Trust Office . .. .. . „ 3 „ 16. Public Works . „ 5 „ 17 Volunteers ~ 5 „ 83 Acts. Although the number of Acts is not large, it will be seen that the subjects dealt with are comprehensive in their nature, and that the consolidating measures are necessarily lengthy