Telegram-herald., 1891-01-04

IA dsAs are good although not q
al pew. Ga the saejscs Of . snort ses
s.en. be sad:
"A stEone effort vii be made % ear
/ ry ous the proposed shortening CT tha
Legislative session. TIE wasting OF ies'
isiAtise time - encouraged ID hfaa'
dred different @ays. and q IS time nov
| "a correct the abuses OF the past Tue
essnnfming oy the senate Of the tnotas'
4nds OF notzrl~s pussie appoin ted By toe
GoseTnor II pure nonsense. It's slsnp-
/ ~ . costly f0rinaliEy. lie doesn'
amount To anything. hsi IS one OF tue
thlngs That take time. The Law shouid
be changed. The granting OF leave OF
absence u lemeers on various presexts
sh'.uld Be Il ssped. and 50 also should
the practice OF taking . recess OF five
or ten mimi - every time an ex-mem.
Der drops IA on \ vlsit and inviting hlu
"a address lie House.
Another thing that has grown al
| most 10 an abuse, is the practice OF
coming To the Legislature for authority
To change the name OF minors. IL eau
| just ~ we'll be done by the probzts
court, but II costs few dollars there.
BY coming Ia the Legislature, the pr
son interested avoids expense. but IL
costs the State oil Michigan pretty dear
during an entire session.
"A resolution should be put through
the firstthing, fixing the daieof ADJOURN
ment IN about three months. Then the
acceptance of railroad passos should be
prohibited, the numerous petty prsc-
tees by which time IS thrown away
abolished, and q record would be made
that the party could be proud Of"
We agree with Mr. Cook that the dis
continuance Of the confirmation of no
taries public by the Senate is a fine
thing; bur. unfortunate for the Demo-
cratic Legislature, the poor, much
abused "haw-hucks" got the start and
did away With that "costly Formally"
last session. As thousands Of notaries
were confirmed on one short roll-call
OF thirty-two names. no great saving Of
time results. 1t is an item, however.
Mr.. Cook Is right about the abuse
OF the legislative power to change
names. IL ought TO be discouraged,
and has been at some sessions. Hon.
S. X. Billings, of Flint, a. chairman of
the House Committee On State Affairs
In 1877, emphaucally "sat down" on all
such bills. The proposed constitution
Of 1878 which the people "sat down"
on, just as emphatlcally took away
from the Legislature such power.
Instead Of adopting resolution "the
first thing, fixing the date of adjourn
ment IN about three months"-which
would be as foolish as for a tailor to cut
his cloth before taking q measure-the
members should register mental reso-
luton to stick to business with reason
able conscientiousness and demonstrate
their determination by their good work.
They will get more credit for such res
kolutlon than for such one as Mr.. Cook
recommends. There is no doubt that
much effective work can be we'll done
in . comparatively short time, if the
members will remain at their post and
keep at work. But will they do so?
The work of last session might have
been done in four months, and come of
| it better done than it was done, if the
members had kept steadily at work.
But why didn't they?
For campaign purposes it may he
we'll enough to howl about members go
ing off junketing on free passes and
leaves of absence and thus wasting
time; but there is something more than
that, to take members away from the
capital, and the same influences will
still prevail next session.
The members VINO will convene mex,
week will be just as human as those
who composed the last Legislature
They will have families, whom they
love just well rs the members of the las
Legislature did theirs, and they will
want to see them just as often. They
will have business interests to look
after, which they cannot be prevailed
upon to sacrifice for Michigan's benefit
all for So per day and the honor of be
ing q law-maker. They may have
fewer passes to tempt them, but they
are going home just the same. If any
man expects to see the incoming Legs
lature plant itself in Lansing, take ROOT
and put forth bud, and blossom and
perfect fruit of legislation, without an
interruption, he will be a much disap.
pointed man before next May day.
The talk of three months session
il simple nonsense or else arrant bun
combe. The indications are that there
will be the same multiplicity of subjects
before the Legislature that has cnarac
terized the last half dozen sessions
There will be from two to ten proposed
plans for every attempted reform
| Every supervisor, ex-supervsor and
supervisor expectant will have IN bill
to amend the tar law. Liquor legisla,
ton, ranging all the way from prohibi.
ton TO free whisky. will be proposed
| And any man. VINO thinks that every
members pet project can he maiis
terislly waived aside and the
beat one alone selected II
short order. has about "a muos
| conception OF the work before the TIVE
| Houses, az the ram had of the locomo
tive be tired 10 buck of the track
Any attempt to do business IA that wal
would raiss . storm. equal 10 the Dem
ocrstic cyclone that ragged around Ton