Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-06-30
VETOE.
Gov. Hoyt Puts His Foot Down.

vE1V&Ss
Gov Hoyt Puts His Foot Down.
The governors veto message on the bill
conferring on husbands, wives and
fathers the right of possession Of the bodies
of their deceased husbands, wives and
children was filed yesterday and it is OF
very interesting character. Il is as fol-
lows:
EXECUTIVE DEPARTNENT, OFFICE OF
THE GOVERNOR, June g, 1851 hereby
file in the Office of the secretary of the
commonwealth senate bill 274 entitled,
IAN act conferring upon husbands; wives
and fathers the right of possession of the
bodies of their deceased husbands, wives
and children, 4" with my objections thereto.
The act provides generally (section u
that the surviving husband, wife or father
of.one family shall have possession, custody
or control of tho body or bodies of the de-
ceased members of the family who have
been or may be hereafter Inferred to re-
move them to other places of burial, and
specially (section 2 and 3) authorizes
surviving husband, wife or father to de-
mand of the officers of burial places the
body Of deceased wife, husband or child.
and in case Of refusal of a permit OF re-
mOval by said officers to recover possession
of the body by writ of replevin or manda.
mus but no such right is given to the
mother in any part of this bill and finally
its provisions are to apply to cities OF the
the first class only.
The provisions of the act are vague Ie.
tro active conflicting and local. BY tho
first section the possession OF the body or
bodies of deceased members of Zone
family" is given to certain surviving mem.
bers, but the bill does not specify the order
in which two surviving members shall
take or hold. Taken in connection with
the second section, even when tho term
"one family" is restricted to the mere
limited sense, which any Interpretation of
the sections will admit of this radical de-
feet would be productive of numerous
conflicting claims.
The antiquities and difficulties therein
arising are in marked contrast with the
rational principles of the present we'll set
tied and public policy. $50 universal is
the right of sepulturc that the common
law casts the duty of providing it and of
conveying to the grave the dead body dc =
Gently covered, upon the person under
whose roof the death takes place. Sup
Elementary to the rule of the common law
to secure to every person decent burial,
our courts have decided "That the right
to bury corpse and preserve its remains,
in the absence Of any testamentary dispo-
sition, belongs exclusively to next Of
kin, :" and "that the duty Of the admin
istrator or executor terminates with the
burial of the deceased in \ manner suita-
BILE to lis estate" (Wynkoop VS.. Wyn-
koop, 6 Wright 293) sec no necessity,
either of policy or sentiment, for disturb
ing these principles. 1t is rarely that any
disputes have arisen under them, and still
more rarely that the courts have been
asked to interfere. The decorously con-
Quoted case above referred to is the only
one of the kind, so far as am aware, in
the reports Of Pennsylvania.
Tho means provided to enforce the pur-
poses of the act arc open to grave Objec'
jections. In the official proceedings Of a
writ OF replevin it is not unreasonable to
| anticipate unavoidable circumstances alike
shocking to our respect for the dead and
detrimental to public propriety. Nor is
the alternative Of mandamhs much more
acceptable. And both remedies remove
such controversies out of tho courts OF
equity, to which they properly belong,
in which they can be most dccently tried.
1t is scarcely necessary to point out the
obvious objection to the last prOvisO. II
the principles of the bill are proper or nec'
essary,, they should be given general op.
Grafton. The classification of the cities OF
the commonwealth for municipal legisla-
ton appropriate to each class, is probably
necessary ard justified by the constitution
but for the purposes intended in this bill.
no reason can be urged to justify such
classification.
It is repugnant to our traditions and
feelings to acknowledge the right Of prop.
erty in man, even though he he dead, and
the law has, therefore, carefully and judi
ciously avoided tho recognition of any OF
the slightest surroundings Of 4 corpse, ex-
cent such as is invariably incident to mere
possession, for the purpose Of decent sep
ulture, and its prevention by the next Of
kin. But the rights Of the dead are suf:
ficiently protected, the duty of the living
sufficiently defined, and NO controversies
of any moment have disturbed its greatest
and reverent performance. Instead Of in
viting such unscemly contests the policy
| of the law has been to strengthen, if pos
sible, the universal encouragement and
adherence with which they have been
met. After the last duties have been pait
by tho patriarch, tho next of kin or by 50
ciety, the dead are no longer of this world
and their mortal remains should be per-
mitted to mingle with the dust, undis
turbed by the passions, and, rs far as may
be, the interests of posterity.
| HENRY NJ. HOYT.
| Moro vetOes,
The following bills were also vetoed by
the governor
| To repeal an act relating to the appoint
ment of sealers Of weights and measures
to repeal an act authorizing clerks Of mar.
kets to weigh butter; for the collection o
unpaid taxes in cities of the fourth class
to enlarge the jurisdiction of the court OF
common pleas in certain cases supple.
ment to an act for the division OF counties
providing for and regulating the removal
of proceedings from orphans court
of the county divided to the orphans
court of tho county erected; regu
lating the election of prothonotaries,
clerks of the several courts, registers OF
wills and recorders of deeds in counties
entitled to be constructed into separate
judicial districts, where one person is now
elected to till all of said offices to provide
| for the payment of labOrers at regular in
tervals relative to the adoption of a city
code in cities of the third class for tic
protection Of dairymen and to prevent de-
ceptiOn in sales of butter and cheese pro
viding for fixing the compensation fOl
boarding prisoners in jaiis, where there il
a special law providing for the same :; te
| roO,,lafo tho Gn1.1;ur nf and n ,,rox,o,,t