ΤΟ

WILLIAM G. HAMMOND, LL.D.,

CHANCELLOR OF THE LAW DEPARTMENT

OF THE

STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA,

IN RECOGNITION OF

THE ABIDING INFLUENCE FOR GOOD

WHICH HE HAS, THROUGH HIS INSTRUCTION AND

EXAMPLE, EXERTED UPON THE GRADUATES OF HIS DEPARTMENT, AND THE ESTEEM IN WHICH HE IS HELD BY THEM; AND ALSO AS A TOKEN OF PERSONAL REGARD FOR HIM AS A MAN, A TEACHER, AND

A FRIEND, THIS BOOK IS MOST RESPECT

FULLY INSCRIBED BY

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

THE object of the author has been to present in this work the general statutory law of Iowa, consisting of the Code of 1873, as amended and added to by subsequent enactments, together with a concise digest of the decisions. of the Supreme Court of the state, construing, explaining or applying such statutory law

The Code, as presented to the legislature by commissioners previously appointed for its preparation, consisted of a number of separate bills, each bill comprising a title, which, after some amendment, became laws through the usual form of enactment, the engrossed bills, as passed and approved, being preserved, as other acts, in the office of the Secretary of State. At the same session, one of the commissioners was appointed to edit the Code and sperintend its publication; to prepare an index, marginal notes, etc.; to ar range and number the divisions and subdivisions; to change the references from one section or subdivision to another, so as to conform to the numbering as printed; "and to examine and correct the proof-sheets, and cause all clerical, typographical and grammatical errors of punctuation to be corrected." (See act printed in appendix.) There is nothing to show what changes the editor thus appointed intended to make in the original acts as passed by the General Assembly. It is apparent that the re-arrangement of the order of some of the parts, the consecutive numbering of the sections, which in the orginal acts were numbered independently in each chapter, and the uniform substitution of such terms as "district attorney," "county auditor," etc., respectively, for "prosecuting attorney," "clerk of the board of supervisors," etc. (in accordance with the plan of the commissioners, which does not seem to have been fully carried out in their report), and of simpler phrases for such cumbrous ones as, "It shall be the duty of," etc., were made by him; but it is not to be presumed that he felt authorized to make any other than such merely formal alterations of language.

It is, however, generally known to the profession that the printed Code varies from the language of the original in some cases so materially as to affect the entire meaning of some of the sections, and in such a way as to preclude the idea that the change was intentional. To correct such errors, evidently made either in preparing copy for the printer or in proof-read

ing, was a matter of course, but it seemed quite unsatisfactory to notice. only such as were apparent, while other, and more important ones might be overlooked; and therefore a careful comparison of the printed Code with the original thereof, as existing in the office of the Secretary of State, was determined upon and made, for the purpose of this work, and a larger number of omissions and evident errors was brought to light than was at first anticipated. All changes which could be properly considered as introduced by the editor, have been passed over, and only those noted which seem to be such as it is not supposed that, under the authority of the act above referred to, he could have intentionally made. Of the latter, however, there are over one hundred, many of them, as the author believes, of considerable importance, as for example those noted in sections 464, 1415, 1844, 1890, 2666, 2807 and 3320.

It has been held by the Supreme Court, in regard to printed copies of the statutes, published under authority of the state, that "the original act in the Secretary's office, is the ultimate proof of the law, whatever errors there may be in what purports to be copy thereof, and the court will inform itself and take cognizance of the true reading of the statute:" Clare v. The State, 5 Iowa, 509; and to the same effect, see Duncombe v. Prindle, 12 id., 1, 11. And the same principle has been applied to the Code itself in Selz v. Belden, 48 Iowa, 451, 457, and Weller v. Hawes, 49 id., 45, 47, where the court refer to the original rolls to show that the word "filed," occurring in Sec. 2961 of the printed volume should be "fixed."

Therefore, while to follow the language of the original in all cases would be to reject the proper editing which the legislature authorized, it has been considered necessary, in case of such alterations or omissions as are evidently the result of mistake or oversight, to adopt the language of the original acts. But in all such cases the change made in the language of the printed Code, and the reason therefor, has been preserved in a note following the section, so that any one referring to the work may judge for himself of the materiality or propriety of such change.

All acts of a permanent, general and public nature, passed by the legislature since the enactment of the Code of 1873, including those of the Eighteenth General Assembly, lately adjourned, are embodied in this work. Where they are amendatory of previously existing provisions, the change made is incorporated directly into the text; where they are additional to the Code, they are inserted under the proper chapter or title, according to the arrangement of subjects therein made. The text is intended to show the law as it will stand on the fourth day of July, 1880, being the date when the acts of the last General Assembly, which have not previously taken effect by publication, come in force; but in each case where there is an amendment or where new matter is inserted, the fact is indicated in a note in smaller type. The merely formal parts of the acts, such as the title and the enacting clause, are omitted, though where, as in one or two cases, there is no enacting clause in the original act, that fict is noted. Publication clauses are also omitted, but a table is given at the end of the second volume, pre