lora E. Martin, Judson S. Landon, William B. Hornblower, J. Newton Fiero, Abraham Gruber, John C. Davies and Alonzo Wheeler. J. Newton Fiero, active in the field of statutory reform, was secretary of this committee. The committee made its report to the legislature at the next session after its appointment and made recommendations with reference to the statutes substantially in accord with those suggested by the joint committee of the legislature.

BOARD OF STATUTORY CONSOLIDATION OF 1904

At this stage and in this condition of affairs the legislature again took up the work which had been cut short by the abolition of the Statutory Revision Commission and which had left the statutory law in a confused state and by chapter six hundred and sixty-four of the laws of nineteen hundred and four created the Board of Statutory Consolidation consisting of Adolph J. Rodenbeck, Charles Andrews, Judson S. Landon, William B. Hornblower and John G. Milburn or such other persons as might be appointed by the governor in case of vacancy who should serve without compensation whose duty it should be "to direct and control the revision, simplification, arrangement and consolidation of the statutes of the state" and make a final report in the year nineteen hundred and seven.

This statute, which was introduced in the assembly by Honorable James T. Rogers, actively supported in the senate by Honorable George R. Malby, and signed by Governor Odell, is as follows:

STATUTE CREATING THE BOARD OF STATUTORY CONSOLIDATION. AN ACT to provide for the consolidation of the statutes of the

state.

Became a law May 9, 1904, with the approval of the Governor. Passed, threefifths being present.

The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

Section 1. A board of statutory consolidation is hereby constituted to consist of Adolph J. Rodenbeck, Charles Andrews, Judson S. Landon, William B. Hornblower and John G. Milburn, or such other persons as may be appointed by the governor in case of vacancy. The duty of such board shall be to direct and control the revision, simplification, arrangement and consolidation of the statutes of the state as hereinafter provided.

§ 2. The plan and scope of the work shall follow that adopted in the general laws, so far as practicable. The statutes shall

not be changed in substance except that as to matters of procedure such 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.

§ 3. The consolidation of the statutes herein provided for shall be carried on under the direction and control of said board by such persons as it shall designate and employ for that purpose whose compensation and necessary expenses shall be fixed by said board and paid by the comptroller on the certificate of the chairman or such other executive officer thereof as may be designated by said board from any appropriation that may be made for that purpose. The members of said board shall serve without compensation, but shall receive their necessary expenses and disbursements incurred in the discharge of their duties either at the capital or elsewhere which shall be paid in the same manner as the compensation and expenses of persons employed by said board.

§ 4. The board shall cause its work to be printed from time to time, and distribute copies of the same to members of the legislature, judges of the courts, and such other persons as it may see fit for the purpose of obtaining their suggestion and advice. It shall report annually to the legislature upon the progress of the work and shall make its final report of the statutes so consolidated for enactment to the legislature of nineteen hundred and seven. The printing for said board may be done by the legislative printer and payment therefor shall then be made out of the appropriation for legislative printing. Such board shall not be charged with the duty of advising as to current legislation.

8 5. Such board, in its final report to the legislature shall suggest such contradictions, omission and imperfections as may appear in the original text, with the manner in which they have reconciled, amended or supplied the same. It shall also designate such statutes, or parts of statutes, as in its judgment ought to be repealed, with the reasons for such repeal, and may also recommend the enactment of any acts, or parts of acts, which such repeal may, in its judgment, render necessary.

6. The sum of thirty-two thousand five hundred dollars is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act up to the first day of June, nineteen hundred and five, to be expended in the manner herein provided.

§ 7. This act shall take effect immediately.

Judge Andrews, who had just retired from the court of appeals bench, declined to serve and Governor Odell appointed in his stead Adelbert Moot of Buffalo.

Soon after the organization of the board with Judge Rodenbeck of the State court of claims as chairman and Frederick E. Wadhams as secretary, the board met with a severe loss in the death of Judge Landon, also retired from the court of appeals, whose deep learning, extensive experience and enthusiastic interest in the work promised to be of great assistance to the board.

Judge Landon's place was never filled and the remaining four members of the board, Adolph J. Rodenbeck, William B. Hornblower, John G. Milburn and Adelbert Moot carried on the work imposed upon them by the legislative act until the general substantive statutes were consolidated.

From an examination of the act creating the board, it will be observed that certain limitations were imposed upon it. One of these related to the general plan and scope of the work to be done by the board and provided that the board should follow the plan adopted in the general laws so far as practicable" (§ 2), while another provision restricted the board to the presentation of the statutes as they existed by directing that the statutes should not "be changed in substance" (§ 2). The board, however, was required by another section of the act to "suggest such contradictions, omission and imperfections as may appear in the original text with the manner in which they have reconciled, amended or supplied the same" and to "designate such statutes or parts of statutes as in its judgment ought to be repealed with the reasons for such repeal" (§ 5).

The board made its report to the legislature of nineteen hundred and eight and an examination of the report shows that the board complied with the above requirements of the statute and followed the "plan and scope" of the general laws. It did not 'change in substance" the statutes consolidated by it and suggested in notes and by means of brackets and underscoring such changes as it deemed proper in the text of the laws consolidated and in its schedule of repeals designated "such statutes or parts of statutes as in its judgment ought to be repealed with the reasons for such repeal."

The annual supply bill of the legislature of nineteen hundred and eight required the board to prepare in official form for introduction on the first day of the session of the legislature of nineteen hundred and nine all bills submitted by it and have the same printed in "typographical form as reported" by the board. (L. 1908, ch. 466, p. 1638.) This direction was observed by the board and there was prepared in "typographical form as reported" by the board the bills drafted by it with the legislation of the session of nineteen hundred and eight included ready for the desks of the members of the legislature of nineteen hundred and nine at the opening of the session.

When the board began its labors the condition of the statutory law may well be described as chaotic. No complete consolidation of its general substantive statutes had been accomplished by the state since the Revised Statutes of eighteen hundred and thirty. In the the year eighteen hundred and eighty-nine the state created the Statutory Revision Commission and under this commission various related general statutes were brought together under the name of "General Laws" until fortyeight of these general laws had been enacted when the commission was abolished. In the year nineteen hundred, this commission sought to complete its labor and presented to the legislature of that year forty-nine bills purporting to complete its plan of revision. Some of these bills were new general laws and others were the "code bills" of the commission and still others were amendments prepared to bring the general laws already enacted down to date. The bills reported by the commission to complete its work show in what an imperfect and confused state was the condition of the consolidation of the statutes. The general laws that had been enacted had been amended frequently and it was often necessary to trace these amendments in the session laws, and in addition there were scattered through the pages of the session laws related provisions of general application which had never been brought within the pages of a single statute. The confusion incident to the condition of the statutes of the state is also revealed from an examination of private compilations of statutes such as Birdseye's and Cumming and Gilbert's.

The work of the board, therefore, required an examination. of all of the session laws from cover to cover, and involved an examination of one hundred and thirty years of legislation, beginning with the first act passed in the year seventeen hundred and seventy-eight, and ending with the last act passed in the year nineteen hundred and eight. From this extensive field, covering many thousand legislative acts, the board was required to gather the general substantive statutes, and for this purpose it devised an exhaustive card system. It is not deemed necessary to dwell upon the mechanical part of the work, and for the information of those who may be interested in the subject, recourse may be had to the reports of the board, nor is it possible to refer at length to the many members of the bench and bar who have aided the board in its labors, but special mention should be made of its secretary, Frederick E. Wadhams, its chief clerk, Harry M. Ingram and the members of its office staff, James M. Angle, Franklin S. Hutchinson, Russell B. Burnside, Herbert W. Huntington, Frederick J. Meagher, William W. Bennett and Willard S. Gibbons, who have all labored zealously and faithfully in the service of the board.

The board has been aided in its work also by the following named members of the profession: Everett V. Abbott, Creighton S. Andrews, Grosvenor H. Backus, Leonard B. Bacon, Albert S. Bard, Fletcher W. Battershall, Myron T. Bly, Goodwin Brown, Henry W. Conklin, William B. Crittenden, Albert J. Danaher, Franklin M. Danaher, Edward R. Foreman, Robert Ludlow Fowler, G. Townley Fries, Frank M. Goff, Charles R. Hall, John H. Hopkins, Eugene E. Howe, Ira H. Hyde, W. Martin Jones, Louis E. Lazarus, George E. Milliman, Thomas P. McCarrick, Agnes K. McNamara, Heman W. Morris, Hugh J. O'Brien, Jacob C. E. Scott, William H. Shaffer, Albert L. Shepard, Herbert J. Stull, Andrew E. Tuck, Sheldon T. Viele, Joseph R. Webster, Frank White, Edgerton R. Williams, and Ralph A. Woods.

The board prepared and recommended for enactment sixty-one "Consolidated Laws," this term being selected to designate the new statutes, to distinguish them from the "Revised Acts of 1801," "Revised Laws of 1813," "Revised Statutes of 1830," and "General Laws of 1889-1900," comprising previous

revisions.

Of this number, forty-nine bear the names of existing "General Laws" with four exceptions. The name of the "Domestic Commerce Law" was changed to the "General Business Law," because it did not relate solely to domestic commerce and was a repository for miscellaneous provisions; the name of the "Statutory Construction Law was changed to the "General Construction Law," because it was not confined to the construction of statutes, but related as well to the construction of private instruments; and the names of the "Military Code" and "Penal Code" were changed to "Military Law" and "Penal Law," respectively, to make them conform to the nomenclature of the other laws.

Three of the reported Consolidated Laws were existing statutes placed in their alphabetical order in the Consolidated Laws, namely: the "Public Service Commissions Law," the "Second Class Cities Law" and the "Tenement House Law."

Penal provisions from the Revised Statutes, session laws and Code of Civil Procedure were consolidated in the "Penal Law" and the entire matter was rearranged upon an alphabetical plan and the name of the "Penal Code" was changed to "Penal Law" to make it conform to the names of the other laws.

Eight were entirely new statutes, consolidating existing statutes upon kindred subjects, to wit: "Civil Rights Law," "Debtor and Creditor Law," "Decedent Estate Law," "Drainage Law," "Education Law," "Judiciary Law," "Prison Law," and "State Boards and Commissions Law."