Θ LAWS OF THE Legislature. 1821-31. STATE OF MAINE. VOL. III. PUBLISHED ACCORDING TO A RESOLVE OF THE STATE, PORTLAND: PRINTED BY THOMAS TODD, FOR THE STATE. 1831. The Resolve providing for the publication of the third volume of the Public Laws, authorised the Secretary of State to cause them to be arranged by transposition, so as to connect and bring together as near as inight be practicable, all laws relating to the same subject; but in the opinion of the Governor, the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court, and other eminent Jurists, who were consulted on the subject, there were insuperable objections to this course. It was thought that the giving of new numbers to the Chapters of Laws, many of which, as published in the pamphlets from year to year, had been referred to in the Reports of the Decisions in the Supreme Judicial Court, would occasion much inconvenience and perplexity. The original arrangement has, therefore, been preserved; and it is hoped, that, in the methods adopted of connecting the laws by references, will be found all the advantages contemplated by a transposition of them. The following communications, received from the Governor and the Reporter, in reply to letters addressed to them on the subject, with the concurrence of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court in the opinions therein expressed, are respectfully submitted. ROSCOE G. GREENE, Secretary of State. ROSCOE G. GREENE, ESQ. Secretary of State. bation. Roscoe G. GREENE, ESQ. Secretary of State. PORTLAND, July 25, 1831. Considering that the chronological order has already become familiar to those who have most occasion to refer to the Statutes which are cited in all the volumes of the Reports by their present numbers; and that any other classification of them will soon be rendered useless by subsequent legislation, I think the public will be best satisfied with the publication of the new volume of statutes, if they are placed in their present order, to which I see no insuperable objection. S. GREENLEAF We concur in the above opinion of the Reporter. P. MELLEN, A. K. PARRÍS. NATHAN WESTON, Jr. W Preface. The arrangement of the present volume of the Laws of Maine, combines three distinct methods of connecting by references, all the Public Laws of the State, enacted between the years 1822 and 1831 inclusive. The first of these methods is the Table of Contents, which enumerates the titles of the Acts, and exhibits, in connexion with each chapter, every additional Act, and with each additional Act, every preceding Act, relating to the same subject, passed within the period before mentioned; enabling the reader to see at a glance, the whole number of Acts which have been passed on any given subject, since 1821, and the pages on which each Act may be found. The second consists of marginal references, affixed to the Laws. These not only embrace the chapter next preceding and succeeding, relating to the same subject, contained in this volume; but those also contained in the first and second volumes of the Laws of this State; and the chapters are not only referred to by their numbers, but in every instance, the pages of the respective volumes are cited; so that, if any error has occurred in the reference or typography of the one, it will be corrected by the other. The third is the Index, which exhibits, also, the year in which each principal clause in the volume was enacted, or the progress of legislation upon each topic. The average number of distinct references in each exceeds two thousand. Those Acts and parts of Acts which have been absolutely repealed, and particularly designated in the repealing Act, are distinguished in the body of the volume, by small type. Such Acts, or parts of Acts, as are only partially or indirectly repealed, are not thus marked, on account of the uncertainty which exists, as to how much and what parts were intended to be thus repealed by the Legislature. |