The People vs. Wintermute.
Section 3. "And he it further enacted, That whenever an act shall be repealed, which repealed a former act, such former act shall not thereby be revived, unless it shall be expressly so provided."
This section is from the Act of February 25th, 1871, and is claimed as a rule of legislation, or legislative construction within this Territory.
The power making this section operative within the Territory, is claimed to be found in the following provision of the Organic Act, section 16: "That the Constitution and all laws of the United States which are not locally inapplicable shall have the same force and effect within the said Territory of Dakota as elsewhere within the United States."
The question under these sections is: does the Act of Congress obtain force within the Territory so as to control legislative action? In deciding this question we must look to the title and body of the act to discover its scope and intention. Such examination shows conclusively that this act, not only has no binding force within the Territory, but was never intended to have.
The caption of the act is, " An act prescribing the form of the enacting and resolving clauses of acts and resolutions of Congress, and rules for the construction thereof."
The very purpose of the Act by Congress, as plainly expressed by the enacting power, is to furnish rules of construction for themselves, and the words of the clause fixes the definite limitation.
"Though the title of an act," says the author of the notes in Dwarris, 102, cannot control the plain words in the body of the statute, yet, taken with other parts, it may assist in removing ambiguities. The intention of the law makers, it has always been held, is the best guide for the construction of statutes.
The body of the act is in harmony with the enacting clause. It gives the form of the enacting words of a Congressional law or resolution, and the definition of various words which may be used therein; and then comes the section cited above as to repealing acts, and the law of construction, which, by this section, Congress adopted for itself.
