The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1885-03-02
Doing die workiin Ferty.flye Days

( spolpr do Work In Fsrty.aye Days.
Afterit was found that the session Of
the siegisiature was not TO be extended
that the minority was not TO- pc
moved BY promises, .appeals orthreats-
fthei majority buekled down 70, business ..
The APPROPRIATION bills, which, itwassaid,
could not be passed without an extension
were put through with great dispatch.
1fitbe said that 1t was necessary 70 hur-
ry.them through without due !eonsidera-
dbl lie iact remains that after those bills
ware passed the mill went on grinding out
n MISCELLANEOUS grist long after the appro-
nriations were disposed Of. Twas found
necessary to beg the assembled wisdom to
take q rest, on the well-founded plea that
the bills could not be enrolled.
The 1SrE1t4oENcER is far from approp-
inc, and Il believes the people oiIthe State
win condemn, this helter.skelter planof
enactinS laws. What was accomplished
in point Of quantity inthe eleventh hour
and the twelfth, is referred to for the puf-
pose Of showing what might have been
done in better order and with more dis
eretion il the wondertuivenergy Of tho last
hours had been developed earlier in the
session.
The mistake Of the majority was its con-
tident assumption that it&ould be easy to
extend thel ,sesslon-that Republicans
whose me- measures had been held back pur-
iposelyi would flock tothe standard Of ex-
tension; that some Of them would; be glad
tol remain for the per diem; that for one
reason and another enough Of them %
make a two-thirds vote would be willing
toioin Whit majority to put tax!pay-
ers to the expense and hazard Of an ex-
tended session. II the majority had not
,nisconceiyed the situation it isyeryplain
that the Legislature might as well have
adjourned two weeks earlier, thus saving
theipeople $4,000 on, theicost Of the sess-
ion. Injths last tive, weeks nothing was
done which, with the energy Of the last two
days, might not have been accomplished
bya session otlthirty days.
Unfortanatelysfor the people. and con-
trafy to the spirit OF the constitutional
Limitation, q session Of the Legislature is
protected ou,a scale of Iforty-iye dayswith
1. probable extension and a possible extra
session. The garment Of Legislation is not
cut according to tho cloth of the Consti-
tuition. ii thisfd Is TO get fast hold q
biennial sessionof )forty,fve days will be
the merest delusion. Only the grayest
emergency can justify an extended or an
extra session; as, ii the State were con-
yulsed with Violence threatened with
invasion or actually invaded, or visited
by plague, pestilence Or famine with
.whichit might be the duty Of the Legs;
lature to deal, and which could not be
50 dealt with at any other time. Il
i II ought rarely TO require so much as
forty-flve days to pass the appropriation
bills and such other measures as the pub.
lie welfare may demand. Much Of the
time Of every session Is consumed with
so.called awork" which belongs rather to
the political convention and the stump.
Few States require, II indeed a stronger
State could stand, SO great a grist Of new
Legislation Us is constantly added to Our,
laws. fs k.,
Its maxim Of the law that Ignorance
exeuseth no cne.p To apply this to q
citizen ofwest Virginia would be nothing
short of'barbarous cruelty, and no court Of
humane impulse would do it. The law
gers can't keep up with the changes
how can laymen DO expected 70 know the
laws they i've undera Good laws and
few Is a good motto for any people. West
Virginia has madea mad grab for guam
tity. Certainly the laws;;Yill not be I'M
proved by rushing through an assorted
batch in thelast hours when few mem
bers understand fully what Is going on;
and when, the Governor must either refuse
tosign because Of lack Of time for due
consideration, or run the risk Of putting
his name to bills. which after deliberation
he would not have signed.
The somewhat abrupt ending Of the
Lesislature.ot 1885 Tis q warming to the
majorityo the future, whether 1t be Dem
ocratic or Republican, that I'll is not safe to
relyon thegrace Of q compact and deter
mined minority. II the lesson, shall be
needed the real work otthe next Legisla-
ture viii begin earlier and come to an
earlier end, with more credit 70 the Legis-
lature and less cost to the people. 4
New Publications.
The IsrRLIIdRScRg Is in receipt Of q
Z new contralto song, Break, Break Break,
the words being those OF the well known
and iayorite, poem by Alfred Tennyson.
The music Of tile piece IS composed by a.
blind gentleman OF New York City, Mr..
Ia min . kafaRfhff