JUDICATUEB, LEGISLATION, EEVENUE, ETC. 67 



meant by permanent and temporary Acts, a few words 

 here in explanation may not be deemed out of place. 



A few of our Bermuda laws are passed without 

 any particular time being named during which they 

 axe to continue in force ; and therefore they remain 

 in force until the legislature repeals them. The 

 great majority of them are passed for a few years 

 only, and require every now and then to be con- 

 tinued. For instance, all the laws passed in 1853, 

 however excellent they may be, must, notwith- 

 standing, die a natural death within eight or ten 

 years of their enactment, unless by some subsequent 

 Acts they shall be continued in force. 



We are aware that in former times, in some of 

 the colonies. Houses of Assembly adhered to this 

 temporary mode of legislation with great tenacity. 

 There are " temporary Acts," which continue to be 

 renewed from time to time in Bermuda, that have 

 been in force for half a century ! * 



The result is, that law-making becomes a much 

 more costly affair than there is any occasion for, — 

 since each successive House of Assembly is always 

 engaged in reviving the moribund measures of its 

 predecessor, and saving them from untimely death. 

 Eleven out of twenty-three Acts passed in 1862 

 * Vide Appendix B. 



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