The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1876-02-17


Again, the body would be less
cumbersome and could act more read |
lily and rapidly. This reform would |
render possible another, that of short.
ening the sessions from sixty to forty |
days. The excuse offered for the
great amount of time now wasted is
that it takes so long for members to
become acquainted with each other. |
It must be self.evident to all that if
there were fewer members the time
required for forming this preliminary
acquaintanceship could be lessened.
If the member from Shutdown were
dropped out it would not be necessa.
~ for the members from Podunk and
Crab Hollow to devote precious hours
to familiariziug themselves with his
idiosyncracies preparatory to joining
hands in turning the legislative crank.
In this way one-third of the sixty
days could easily be dispensed with,
equal to another $4,000.
Again, there would be much less
useless and worse than useless legis.
lation. Every member feels that he
must either tinker with the statutes
or worry through the Legislature
some local bill. He must do some
thing for his "deestrict." He cannot
60 home without his "woodchuck."
He must make "a record" This in
wolves incidental expenses to the
State aggregating several thousands
Of dollars, which mi ght we'll he add
ed to the many other thousands
which could and should be saved to
the people.
For proof that the present repre-
sentation is too large we need but
look at home. Stearns county has
one Senator and four Representatives.
This is out Of all proportion to the
needs of the county. There are no
interests which could not be as we'll
served by one Senator and two Rep
resentatives as by the present num-
Der. No part of the county would
need to suffer, and the quality of the
ability secured would doubtless rank
fully as high as it does now. The
effect of an increase of repre-.
sentation too often and in too many
counties is to multiply ignorance.
The Senate is uniformly an ADLER anf
finer-looking, and we might a Id 8
more respectable, body simply be
cause being more limited in numbers
the people select from among thu
best men in the county or distric
their candidates for It. Too Otter
with the candidates for the House
fitness is the last thing considered
The remedy for this is to reduce the
representation and thereby compel q
closer scrutiny of the character and
ability of the men selected
J. The staple argument in favor o
large legislative bodies is tina
they are less easily corrupted
than smaller ones. This ma,
be or may not be true; but
. it not humiliating confession: for
, member to make that he can only
maintain his integrity and keep s.
cred his oath Of Office by including
with himself such numbers as
render bribery impossible becaus
D too expensive His vote cannot
r bought because, by dividing the Co
|. ruption fund by one hundred an
forty-seven, the average price pc
member does not quite come up
: his figures! Divided by say ninet,
G five, the temptation would be to
f great, his price would be reached an
q he would fall! But we doubt if
l. legislative body Of a reasonable slz
=. is any easier corrupted than a large
G one. A reduced representation secure
: men who if not more honest are higf
r. er priced and their greater demand
fully make up for their lack of mum
bers.
d Reform lies in the direction of
J. smaller Legislature and shorter Sc
g siona.
| ST AUGUSTA