The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1874-04-18
THE LATE LEGISLATURE.

- The article Is in reply to some has'y strict
ures of the FREE TRADER on the doings o
sR that body, and is cheerfully given to on
~ readers for what it is worth. We are not con
N tent however, to let it pass wholly withou
&c remark.
l. In reference to the fixing the formal al
NJ iournment on Tuesday, while the real ad
30 Iiournment took place on the previous Friday
. the plea of Mr.. Armstrong that this was nee
Is essary to enable the enrolling clerks to ge
70 the bills ready for signatures, we must bt
% permitted to say, is all bosh, The writer OF
this has in his day served at four different
y sessions of the Legislature rs enrolling clerk
and knows how it is himself" In those
DAYS the legislature was wont to pass some
> 1900 bills at "A session, yet, except during the
last week of the session, two clerks did ak
, the work of engrossing and enrolling the
, bills, and had easy times at that. The late
Legislature passed less than 200 bills, and had
tour enrolling clerks during the whole SEES
sion, with half dozen Of assistants during
the last week II is sheer CANNON to say
that every bill could not haye been ready Tor
signature within two hours after the last one
was passed. Formerly every bill was passed
| by twelve O'Clock at night, and at o'clock
next morning the members were wont to meet
to receive the Governors final message, and
the bills were always ready. The other plea
of Mr. Armstrong, that the four constructive
days, with the $50 per diem added, were to
make up for mileage denied, is doubtless the
correct one, whatever may be thought of the
shamefulness of such dodge.
2. As to the jury law, we are informed that
after the absurdites Of the bill as originally
passed had been pointed out the late session
passed an act correcting these defects, and it |
is from that, we presume, Mr.. Armstrong
quotes.
3. We have not one word 10 take back or
modify of what we said about revising the
statutes. 1t is JOB as wholly useless as it
will prove hereafter fruitful source of legis-
alive wrangling and burdensome litigation.
The laws Of state grow up step by step, "a
rifling change being made here, and another
here, year by year, as the practical workings
f the laws indicate the need of Studious,
areful and laborious men like Mr.. Gross,
arefully colate these laws, note all the
hanges, with date, &c, when made, and
rlnt them in book so arranged that any ,
ian of common intelligence can see at a ,
lance what the law formerly was, and what
now Is on any given subject, with the rea- :
IN for the changes, if any have been made :;
ut now comes pompous and selfsufiicient
Ddy Of wiseacres calling themselves legs- i
ture, nine out Of ten of them as ignorant of :,
w rs OF English grammar, and assuming
lat of course all the laws are wrong and need =
nending, proceed to pull down all that for :,
years of patient legislation had carefully =,
lilt up, and substitute for it revision" in .
hich all the absurd kinks, notions, absurdl- :
es and ideosyncracies Of the ten sensible :.
en- and one hundred and forty blockheads, .
hich compose that particular Legislature, are
nbodied. And ibis crude mass is called -
fevisiOn" For the next 80 years half the
me of the Illinois legislature will be taken
, in passing acts "to amend chapter blank
the Revised Statutes entitled blank" That
what your expensive "revison" will "
Mount to-
Take one example right at hand. La Sale d,
unity, with the other large counties in the il
lte, has County Court in which all com +
W cases including appeals from justices of ~ ~
retofore be disposed of. a party dissats ii
d with the decision Of the county court, 50
uld appeal the case to the circuit court on
c record, and the circuit judge, on eXamin ID
g the record, would decide the case sum 0
arily. Now this wise revision places the
unity court on an exact level with Justices 81
urt. Appeals from both must hereafter be u
ken alike to the circuit court, and the pro N
dings commenced de u0HO. Little s. TO q
90 claims which could therefore, be dcsposcd 'c
in day in the county court, and if APP. !"
aled 10 the circuit court could be exam vi
ed there by the judge in an hour and thus u
ded must now go through the whole long, @
iious and expensive process of two jury !,
als, running through two or three years u
lerc's revision" for you. III
Then the Supreme Court has about as g
uch to do with making laws as the legisla- h
re, for the wisest Bunsby is hardly ever able II
give an opinion as to what Il law really
cans until the Supreme Court has passed
BON it, Most of our laws heretofore passed
I'VE been before the court and received an OF
lthoritative Interpretation. Now all are Ia
iDed out and a new sci presented which "
i'll require another fifty years litigation and Is
ucial examination by the cour to interpret "
4. We have as little respect for the INDUS. g
y" of the late Legislature, which Mr.. Arm g
rong so loudly vaunts, as for their "revis- p
n" 1t is notorious that during the first p
ssion, when each of the members had a p
,ckct full of railroad passes, neither house W
as in session on an average four days in d
week while during the late session the II