The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1862-10-15
The Revision of the Statutes.


TIE Joint Committee to fix upon some method
Of action, to be pursued by the General As
sembly, in acting upon the report of the Com
!nit,ee to revise the Statutes, have recommended
the appointment of Committee of seven Sena-
tors and fourteen Representatives, who are to
81, during recess OF the Legislature, and report
70 an adjourned Session Of the same to be holden
"a the 23d of December. The reason given by
the Committee for this method, is that it will
be d great saving of expense to the State, as
well as securing more satisfactory action on the
main subject.
We have some doubts about the expediency,
9r economy of this method Of procedure The
former revision Of the Statutes it is said occupied
zoe attention Of the Legislature, and prolonged
rnc Session three wecke. Assuming that the
present legislature will occupy as much time
with this revision, if they set to work upon it In
a similar way, (although we think they might
~ the work in shorter period,) the expense
Will be about SIS 600. But if they adopt the
Committees plan OF an adjourned Session, how
much can this expense be leeSened La the first
place there viii be an item of at least $4,000 foc
mile age This alone will be equivalent to a
Session Of eight days A Session Of twelve
days will cost the other $4,000; and we do not
believe that it will be possible to accomplish the
work in a shorter time, as this would only al
Nv from Tuesday, the day OF meeting, till
week from the next Saturday to accomplish the
work Our reason for surprising that this
eDgth Of time at least, would be consumed, is
tho belief that no Legislative body could,
with any certainty of acting Understandings,
examine more than $50 pages day of the Stat
ajes as now reported, or as may be hereafter re-
ported by any new Committee of revision and
even to do this, if they sit nine hours each day,
they must examine and approve a page every
three minutes, including all the discussion that
woull Inevitably arise on the various subjects
presented AaG to get through IN twelve days
counting both the days Of meeting and of ad-
iournmeut the Legislature must do this, us the
>uhject is to be acted upon by each House sepa-
rat4y, and rot at the same time. And this e6.i
mate also makes no allowance for the time which
would be necessarily consumed in adopting
amendments proposed by oae House to the other
But it isn't quite clear how the time neccs-
saIy for the intelligent action of the Legislature
N the subject, is to be affected a, all by an ad-
j)urnment, unless 1t he by the exclusion OF other
business; and that rule could be made as we'll
without IN adjournment as with. We are
aware that the Revision will be presumed to
ne in more perfect state, after it has passed
through this Committees hands, than before,
Jut it light also be made 50 by passing through
n hands Of competent Committees during the
present Session.
Ia short, we believe the Legislature had bet
Ter do the work before it now. Economy is
desirable, and we are persuaded that all ad-
Of dollars more than the additional expense Of
this Session, prolonged sufficiently to do the work
well before an adjournment. The Report Of
The Commissioners can be at once referred either
70 the Standing Committees, or to special Com
.nlttees, and the House could proceed with their
reports as rapidly as they should make it. The
Committees might be joint if desirable, and thus
there need be no delay, when one House had
completed its labor, for examination by the Com
!nttees Of the other House. And if in this way
the Legislature would endeavor earnestly to
perform this labor ia the shortest possible time
N which it could be understandingly done, and
also no, waste days as usual in Improbable
legislation, the labor Of the Session, including
the revision of the Statutes, ight be finished in
seven weeks.
The State Medical Society meets at No. 10,
State House, to-day.