Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1883-09-27
NO. 80.

| compensation Oi Senators or members
alter September 10th II tho members
OF the Assembly shall be entitled 10 any
| pay for this session, it il not competent
Tor the Legislature 10 deprive them Of
| It IN whole or in part. In other words,
| II public officer has a legal claim TO
compensation for any period Of time. il
IS not within the power Of the Lcgigla-
| ture, by the passage Of Law or resolu
| ton, to diminish that cofnpensaiion by
| the refusal Of remuneration for a part
Of that time.
not THE WORK FOR winch TnE sEss!OS WAS
CALLED.
This session Of the Legislature was
convened by me solely for the purpose
Of having a clear and most vital com.
mand OF the Constitution executed by
the General Assembly. In my procla-
nation conyening the two houses.
designated the subjects for legislative
action, and cited the mandate Of the
fundamental law imposing upon the
Legislature the imperative obligation
Tor the passage Of Apportionment laws.
Three months and more have expired
since then, and instead Of the passage
OF the laws commanded by the people
IN their Constitution, am presented
with a resolution concerning the amount
OF pay the members shall receive for
session the duties Of which are s. vet
undischarged. ! am impelled TO these
observations not only by the unusual
character OF the resolution itself. but
also by the unusual time at which il has
been taken into consideration by the
Legislature. Ii has been customary.
heretofore, for the appropriation bill TO
be passed and sent 70 the Governor at
the close Of the session, when most Of
the duties Of the Legislature were finally
performed, and the rest in a forward
state Of completion. This resolution
reaches me at a time many days after
the day on which the Legislature was
assembled, and when important and
mandatory constitutional duties fiill
remain uneXecuted. The question Of
the pay OF members is the least import
ant matter relating to this session. The
paramount subject that should engage
the legislative attention j. the e1ecu.
ton OF the constitution, under which
the two houses exist and the whole gov.
ernment OF the state coheres, by accord.
ing TO the people in all sections and Of
all interests their important right to
AR equal Just and timely represents
ton in the balls Of legislation 1t would
he better to hold in abeysnce any die
cussion Of the question Of pay while
such duty, so Eolemnly enioined. re.
mains unperiormed.
~ ArTTAL TOR JUSTICE AND RIGHT.
II the Legislature, from any reason.
should again fail TO comply with the
command OF the fundamental law. the
people cannot be fairly and Justly rep.
resented in the legislative councils of
the state and Union before the wear
1851. Neither house has the right to
assume an attitude calculated 10 bring
about so deplorable a condition Of affairs.
! must, therefore, in the effort TO carry
out the injunction Of the constitution
that / shall take care that the laws be
faithfully executed" urge upon the
Legislature the importance Of the obi.
CATION under which IL rests TO perform
a plain constitutional duty. A spirit Of
fairness, caudor and non. n.partisansbip
should actuate the members OF both
branches Of the Assembly in the per
formAnce OF that duty. Diligence
should characterize them as we'll. For
either House to resolve to meet only at
frequent intervals, and then but for a
short time, IL likely, even II net intend.
ed, TO prevent the requirements Of the
law from being fulfilled. trust. for
the sake OF the fair fame Of our Com.
monwealth, for the respect we hold
among our sister states. and TO save US
H. -. II -. L 1
execute our constitutional form Of gov
eminent. that the Legislature will soon
discharge its duties with fairness and
iustness, aud thus bring to speedy
conclusion this session, already too long.
IT is not likely that there will be as
full vote polled this year in Pennsyl.
vania as there was last fall. There is
neither the incentive nor the disposi.
ton TO the same political excitement as
there was then. Each party has in the
meantime had its natural increase of
voters, and the struggle between them
this year will be to poll the largest POS.
sihle proportion OF their respective
votes. From the results OF such exer.
ton the Democrats have nothing TO fear.
The total vote which they mustered last
year was in the aggregate substantially
as many as the combined vote Of the
two Republican candidates and the run
ming maiorities Of the opposition in this
State for the past ten years have not
been more than about twenty thousand,
which is really only one in forty. aud TO
reverse 1t scarcely needs the change OF
sn average of two persons in each cleo
tion district in the State. Every person
familiar with politics knows that there
are always more than that whose votes
are uncertain. Now there is no reason
this year TO apprebend any Democratic
detection there is no valid reason to
expect perfect Republican union alI
the signs point TO greater apathy ia the
opposition ranks than in the Demoe.
rscy in fact, many Of the msioriiy
Democratic counties report unusual &C.
tivlty and interest, and the accession os
people who believe that eight months
OF Democratic administration have vin.
dicated the wisdom of = change aad ara.