Litchfield enquirer., 1880-01-15

this is much the most economical method that 1 can be adopted for the care of the large num-
 Der of poor insane people now needing hospi-
 tai treatment. repeat that do not see why | the poor insane who are out of hospitals are
 not entitled to your attention as fully as those who are in.g Nor do see how you can be
 consistent if you refuses at a, moderate, ex- pense, to provide for the former while at l large outlay you have made provision for the
 latter. The fact that at all times for the past
 three years applicants at the hospital have 1 been obliged to wait from two to three months
 until their turn could be reached, simply be-
 cause Cat alltimes) the hospital was dangerous iy, over-crowded, makes it your duty to adopt,
 as speedily as possible, some reasonable plan
 of further provision for this dependent class. WOMAN SUFFRAGE. .-...
 In the communication had the honor to
 make to the last General Assembly l recom-
 mended that the right of voting be extended /, to women, as far as it can be done by an act
 of the Legislature. I repeat the recommend
 ation- It seems to me that logic and wisdom
 both dictate that women, especially property
 holding and tax-paying women, should have
 this right. At the very least they ought to be
 allowed voice in all places where taxes are
 laid, or in town, city, borough. and school | district meetings. O.. if this is deemed too 1 general why not permit them to vote on some l special matters, as the raising of tax, for
 school committees, on the question of license
 or no license, or others of similar nature? The State of Massachusetts has recently
 passed law permitting all women who pos
 sess the required qualifications of residence
 and education, and have paid tax, 'to vote | at town and city meetings for members of l school committees" Six other States have l laws granting to women the right of suffrage wholly or limited. Any such enactment in | this State, if it should work badly might be | repealed by a Legislature consisting only of
 men elected solely by male suffrage
 | It has just been decided by very signif- l cant majority in this State that voting is a 1 great educator, and that it is worth while to l incur an annual expense of hundred thou 1 sand dollars that the men of the State may have an opportunity every year to take part | in the great educational process. If this soi t of education is so very valuable for men, does it not savor good deal of narrowness-might l not say cOwardlce-not to permit women to | share to some little extent in it? ..'-' call your attention again to the taxation of the separate property of married women All such property held by any married wo-
 man by virtue of the acts passed in 1877 and l in 1S7S is as much out of the control of the husband as though no marriage existed In l such case to require the property to be set l for taxation in the list of the husband, and
 make the tax thereon a debt against him, is a | plain violation of the rights of married men, You ought to provide that all such property be set in list against the married woman 1 herself. An act making this provision has | once or twice passed in one branch of the As- sembly and has failed of becoming law, 1 mainly on the claim that it would add to the labors of assessors. There can be no doubt
 that assessors are very useful class of public servants, but can hardly believe it to be wise 1 that an illogical, cumbersome and negotiable l statute shall remain in force simply to accom-
 modate them. is.- ."-a' =. f | '- @'~ DlvoRCEs. -'
 The number of divorces granted Tn the | State for the year ending Jan 1, 1879, was | 401. This is a less number than for several
 years preceding. Every person who is at all | familiar with the business of our courts has
 observed that at least eight out of ten dlvorces are granted upon uncontested hearings. Many
 of these, it is believed, have been obtained by | the parties colluding with one 4hother With
 a view to putting a stop to this vicious prac- 1 tice l reccommend that law be passed re- quiring the States Attorney in each county ! to detend against every uncontested petition | for divorce unless he shall be satisfied, upon l an examination of the case, that it rests on just and legal grounds ti.i''F "o@ ]-f. .'''' Whatever theory we may have as. to the in- dissolubility of the marriage relation, we can all agree that the State has sufficient interest in it's pernianency not to permit married par
 ties to be separated upon any sudden caprice, and much more, that they shall not secure a 6lVOrNp O thn Gs,Ifu f1ah ...i ri -1aau-t.h 4lg I..., r~ s7g# CORPORATIONS. ..~ ..sg... ,r- .., The subject of corporations, especially joint stock corporations. and corporation laws will be brought to your attention by the report of the special Commission authorized by the Legislature of 1879 to revise these laws. Upon this Commission l appointed John s.
 Beach of New Haven, William C. Crump of New London, Samuel Fessenden of Stamford, Henry s. Barbour of Hartford, and Frederick
 c. Webster of Litchfield These gentlemen
 have given the matter of corporation laws
 great attention and will report at an early
 day.
 The subject of corporations and the laws
 under which they can be organized and by
 which they ought to be governed is of great
 importance, and, 1 have no doubt will re-
 ceive very careful attention at your hands. , '2
 It is question worldly of serious inquiry
 by the people of this State whether the indefi-
 mite multiplying of corporations is not an
 evil rather than good The spirit of the
 law in Connecticut, as applied to property,
 favors the equality of property, among all
 citizens, so far as the ordinary conditions of
 mankind will permit. It does not favor the
 building up of large fortunes by individuals
 while the many remain poor. Indeed, vast and. overshadowing fortunes wielded by a
 single will. whether of a corporation or
 natural person, are among the greatest dan
 gers to which the happiness of the people in
 republic can be exposed. Such fortunes cre-
 ate a sort of feudalism as oppressive and pos
 sibly more unrelentipg than that of the mid
 dle ages seeking to do now by the power of
 money what was then done by force. The, theory of our law is that all men shall have an equal chance in earning, and equal securi-
 ty in enjoying wbat they earn. a afa ow Ga
 Our statute forbids perpetulties; distributes the estates of deceased person to all his children equally, and, with slight exceptions, subjects all his property to the payment of all his debts. Our law goes upon the theory that
 every man is liable, to the fullest extent for all his debts and that at least once during each generation there will, be, an entire new divi- sion of property. These are cardinal princip- les. In other words, to use highly techn ical form or expression, our law or property goes upon the theory of the limited oiG6s1ity and
 the unlimited dabbility of the, property holder If these principles are observed there will be no trouble, and any law for the creation of corp ortions ought to trench upon them as little as possible
 !, It may be true that, allowing the citizen to merge himself for the purposes of business
 into corporation and thereby limit his indi-
 vidual responsibility for his business engage
 ments, when coupled with the great advantage
 which the corporation has of being relieved
 from the human vicissitude, of limited life,
 has been promotive of enterprise, and has
 carried to successful issue some undertakings
 that have conferred great advantage up-
 on the State. But, unfortunately, : in1 the history of legislation it has usually happened
 that when any special privileges have been granted by the State;u those pfivilegs have