/^lo
 
 > 
 
 0^. 
 
 Document No. 28. J [Session lb69-70. 
 
 Ordered to be Printed. 
 
 REPORT OF THE CODE COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 RAr.KKiii, Marcli l^tb, 1ST<>. 
 
 To the Hun. Tud R. Caldwell, 
 
 TJeutenant Governor and President of the Senate : 
 
 Sir : The Commissioners of the Code have the honor to 
 report to the General Assembly that tliey have nearly reached 
 the end of the labors which were inn>osed on them by the Con- 
 vention of 1S6S, 
 
 The constitution adopted by the people in that year made 
 radical chan<ies in the fundamental law in some most important 
 particulars. 
 
 1. It abolished courts of equity, and all dilt'erence in the 
 forms of actions. 
 
 2, It ])rohibited the old and introduced a new system of 
 punishment. 
 
 '3. It created a number of public officers whose duties had to 
 be defined, 
 
 4. It required that corporations, both municipal and private, 
 should, except in pe(niliar cases, be chartered by i»-eneral laws. 
 
 5. It essentially altered the common law relations of husband 
 and wife, by makiii;:; all the property of the wife separate. 
 
 Such comprehensive chatiiies in accustomed law have rarely 
 been enacted in so short a time. Some of them at least may 
 be justified upon the gn^uiul that a great revolution had oc- 
 curred, as a result of which society stood on u new basis and 
 required different laws from those which were appropriate to 
 the stage which had perished. Others must stand upon their 
 intrinsic merits. What these are it is no part of our duty to
 
 s 
 
 2 C ^4 b ^ Document No. 28. [Session 
 
 decide ; time alone can give a positive answer. For the 
 changes made by the constitution tlie Commissioners are no 
 wise responsible ; we took tliem as accomplished facts ; and 
 our duty was as skillfully and as prudently as we could to 
 brins the law of the State into harmony with them. It was 
 evident that until that was done, there would exist an anarchy 
 and contusion of jirivate rights scarcely compatible with peace 
 and order and incompatible with public happiness or pros})erity. 
 Tlie old system of procedure in civil actions was abolished ; 
 and until a new one was supplied, there were no means by 
 which a private controversy could be determined, or an ac- 
 knowledged right enforced ; the State was practically without 
 law. 
 
 Sensible of the danger arising from tin's state of things, in 
 a very few months the Connnissioners presented to the General 
 Assembly a Code of Civil Procedure which met your sanction. 
 It was, we humbly conceive, the best that could have been 
 framed in obedience to the constitution. At first this code was 
 unacceptable to tlie bench and to the bar, as all changes must 
 be, but we believe it has i^ained in the favor ol both. For 
 over eighteen months justice has been administered under it 
 in civil actions without complaint. Wliile we ourselves can- 
 didly admit its imperfections in some respects, we think its 
 greatest enemies will admit that it has some merits over the 
 former system. However, whatever may be the merits or de- 
 merits of the new system, all calm men must admit that a re- 
 turn to the old is impossible. The onl}- resource is to improve 
 and amend the new. We believe that duty can now be much 
 better performed by the Courts than it is likely to be by the 
 Legislature, and therefore, witli the exceptions of some correc- 
 tions of misprints and clerical mistakes, we have not presented 
 to tlie honorable General Assembly any proposals for a sub- 
 stantial amendment of the Code of Civil Procedure. 
 
 As an essential complement to the changes made by the 
 Constitution, we have presented to your honorable body at 
 this session a Code of Crimes and Punishments. The subject
 
 J 
 
 186l)-'TO]. Document No. 2S. 3 
 
 is one of great importance ; the lives of men may depend on a 
 phrase. We have given it great consideration, but in viev^ of 
 its importance we do not recommend to your honorable body- 
 its adoption ;tt the present session. We prefer that it shall 
 await the (juiet and repeated consideration of those best com- 
 petent to pass on its merits. 
 
 We liave also at this session submitted a Code ot Criminal 
 Procedure, (renerallj, it is a mere digest of the present law 
 as shown by our statutes or decisions ; the few changes made in 
 the present law we think important. We recommend the early- 
 passage of this most important statute. AVe have submitted 
 it to the bar of the State and so far have received a criticism 
 upon one point only, viz : the authority of the Solicitor to 
 enter a nol. pros. The Solicitors desire to retain the author- 
 ity. The opinion of the bench and the bar is against them, 
 and confirms our proposition in that Code. We have there- 
 fore to ask the consideration of your honorable body to that 
 Code, and we think we are justified in saying it meets the 
 appi'oval ot all competent judges. 
 
 The bill which we prepared regulating the duties of the 
 various public officers throughout the State, met your appro- 
 bation and is a part of our law. 
 
 These acts, with many others, such as those concerning the 
 settlement of the estates of deceased j^ersons, guardian and 
 ward, landlord and tenant, fences, draining low land, Arc, 
 prescribing just rules and convenient modes of procedure in 
 all these important subjects, form a body of law, the enactment 
 of which will, for at least a century to come, mark an era in 
 our history. We may be permitted to believe ihat this body 
 of lav,-, by tlic certainty and economy it has introduced into 
 the administration ot justice, has saved, and will save, millions 
 of dollars which would otherwise have been spent in unncccs-* 
 sary legislation, and will go far to compensate the people of 
 North Carolina for all their losses of property in the late disas- 
 trous war. This General Assembly may appeal to those 
 statutes as a vindication from any charges that may be made 
 .against it because of prolonged and exj)cnsive sessions. 
 
 767RfiI)
 
 4 DocuMKNT No. 2s. [Ses. lS69-'70. 
 
 It is said of a certain obscure and l)adlj drawn English 
 statute (of frauds,) tlmt every line of it has cost the people of 
 Euijjland a million of pounds in gettini^ it interpreted by the 
 courts. If this General Assembly had done nothinsr else but 
 to enact those statutes, we feel at liberty to say that in our 
 opinion, the work would ha\-e been worth the M'hole cost of 
 your sessions. It will Ite a source of pride to you, in which 
 we may be permitted to sliare, tl):it your names are forever 
 connected with such just and useful legislation. 
 
 But two of the fijreat subjects embraced within our duties 
 remain untouched ; a general corporation law, and one detining 
 the powers ol married won-ien over their separate j^roperty. 
 Besides that the Constitution positively commands the first, 
 its necessity is obvious. Much of the time of the General 
 Assembly at every session is occupied, at vast expense to the 
 people, in considering special acts relating to private or other 
 corporations, which would be saved by a general act. As to 
 the second subject, probably few have as yet realiijed the dan- 
 gerous uncertainty and confusion of the law at present affecting 
 it. No one can say, witli certainty, what contracts a wife may 
 or ma}' not make, nor how far her husband may be bound by 
 her acts. We propose to present, for your cotjsidt^ration at 
 your next meeting, bills on these two important subjects. We 
 shall also have ready tlien, to submit to you, the complete 
 compilation of all the laws respecting internal improvements, 
 in which the State has an interest, which we were directed to 
 prepare by a resolution passed at your last session, but which, 
 imfortunately, did not come to our knowledge until too late to 
 prepare it for your present session. We shall also submit to 
 you, at that time, a codification ol"tho whole statute law of the 
 State, arranged in convenient form for reference, ami making 
 a single volume about the size of the Revised Code. When 
 this shall be done our labors will have finished. 
 We remain, very resi)ectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servants, 
 
 WILL. B. RODMAN, 
 V. C. BARRINGER, 
 A. W. TOURGEE.
 
 LRfi