The Territory's Legislative Snake

As the session ends and the advance sheets of the new statutes begin to fall like autumn leaves from the press of the public printer, I hear about me a dirge of comment as biting and uncharitable as the wintry night. Of these laws, the act 'to provide for the assessing and collecting of county and territorial revenue' seems to have attracted the most attention, and rightfully enough, for it is of that peculiar character which delights the critical mind and invites scandal. Interlined, scratched, plastered, marred, ill-written, misspelled, unpunctuated and incomprehensible laws are but the legitimate fruits of hasty legislation. It is notorious that the real legislation of the short session is always, for omnibus purposes, delayed up to the last few days, and the most important bills must go through without being either engrossed, enrolled, or critically examined. The opening section of Chapter VI provides a mode of procuring tax titles that is novel to our Territory. It requires that within forty days after the sale of any piece or lot of land for taxes, the holder of the treasurer’s certificate may commence an action in the district court to obtain a conveyance of the title by the filing of a petition. These proceedings will, I fear, be considered inequitable by the average tax payer, since they seem calculated to deprive him of his property under the forms of law for an inadequate compensation in such summary manner that in case of a resident defendant, the chances are about equal that he will not hear of the suit until after it has been determined. Whoever advised the author of this revenue law to write it, whoever advised the legislative assembly to pass it, and whoever advised the governor to sign it, ought to be—well, it is not best to be too hasty, for after all, these poor laws themselves may have been badly advised.