186 PETER H. BURNETT. adopted." The term organic does not necessarily mean con- stitutional, because whether the laws were constitutional or not, they were equally organic. We were aware of the fact that there were no lawyers among the members of the com- mittee, and that there were then no law-books in the country, except one copy of the statutes of Iowa ; but we knew that the members were Americans, and that all Americans competent to read a newspaper must know that the fundamental laws of the United States, and of the several states, were called con- stitutions; and hence we supposed that the committee would surely have used the plain, ordinary, and appropriate term constitution to designate their fundamental law, had they in- tended it as such. But, besides the want of proper language to designate a constitution, the nature of the laws themselves seemed to show a different intent. From the face of the code, no one could tell where the constitutional laws ended and the statu- tory began. It was either all constitution or all statute. All were adopted at the same public meeting, and were recom- mended by the same committee. That committee "recom- mended that the following organic laws be adopted." Now, whatever laws were recommended by them were all of the same character, or they failed to distinguish one portion from another. There being no mode of amendment provided, these laws, if constitutional, could only be amended in violation of their own terms; that is, by revolution. If considered as statutory provisions, then there was a plain mode of amend- ment provided in article VI, section 2, which enacts that "the legislative power shall be vested in a committee of nine per- sons, to be elected by the qualified electors at the annual election." The code goes into the most minute provisions, such as fix- ing the fees of the recorder and treasurer, and for solemniz- ing marriage. It also contains a militia law, and a law on land claims, and a resolution making the statute laws of Iowa the laws of Oregon. Such provisions, in their very nature, are but statutory.
