Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-20
TERMS OF THE DISPATCH.
PIrTsBURG, SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1891
TWO NEW LAw-oNE VETO.

TWO Ne" LA"S-ONh
Of the important enactments of the last
Legislature Governor PattisOn yesterday
disposed of three, two of which ran the
veto gauntlet unscathed, the other meet
ing the fate of many that have gone before.
The days vital record stands: Approved.
Constitutional Convention bill and ballot
reform bill; disapproved, wharf bill,
familiarly known as Flinn's.
The bills now laws are of State import,
ance The measure vetoed has been con-
sidered merely in its local application.
But it went flctl,.,v and doubtless Gov.
ernOr Pattison looked ahetd when he
withheld his sanction. The wharves are
necessary to the proper carrying on of
river traffic. and should not be diverted
into other channels. In the future-not
far distant, perhapethey will play as i'm
portant a part in the city's commerce as
do the yards of the railways or the
slips of the seaports. To the rivers
commerce is looking for relief from
discrimination, exorbitant freights, and
corporate control When the Ohio is
linked to the lakes by a ship canal the
wharves will become a beehive instead of
a dumping ground, and to abandon them
now would he very like giving the grand
scheme for internal waterway development
a black eye.
Governor Pattison, if he had in his mind
the prominent part to be played by the
wharves of Pittsburg under the benign in
fiuences of lake navigation via a ship
canal, improved rivers and the demands
of trade freed from freight preferences
and penalties, did perfectly right in veto
ing the wharf bill The rivermen and the
friends of the rivers should now see that
the Odium which has attached to the
wharves through neglect and encroach-
ment be removed, so that no excuse can
be had to hold them up to ridicule be-
tween now and the time when
they will be burdened with the
bounty of commerce. Had Governor
Pattison wanted excuse for this
wharf bill veto he could have found it in
the action of the Council of Wheeling,
which body recently refused to grant
misunderstanding privileges to = railroad
because of their future usefulness in the
event of the construction of the Lake Erie
and Ohio River Ship Canal
In leaving the settlement of the question
of holding a Constitutional Convention
with the people the Governor cannot be
blamed. Their so-called representatives
demanded vote on this proposition, and
in trusting the citizen the Governor is
taking the only cogrss op1:i under the
circumstances. If a majority prefer to
pull to pieces good laws instead of de-
manding their enforcement, the Execu-
tive, by signifying his willingness to afford
the test, merely bows to the will of the
people as expressed through their repre-
sentatives, and leaves the citizens of the
Commonwealth to decide whether wisdom
or fooliShness shall prevail among them.
The ballot reform bill approved by the
Governor is poor excuse for the genuine
article On the principle that crust is
better than nothing in the bread line, the
Governor can be pardoned for approving
this travesty on the simon pure ballot re.
form article. But it is step in the right
direction, and, while our friends the Prohi.
bitiOnists will feel sorry, and while the
practical politicians will pretend to be
sorely troubled, the good voter can con-
tent himself with the knowledge that his
vote will be counted early, if possible, but
not oftener than the law allows.