Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1893-01-05

but no one should be deferred from a
careful perusal thereof by this consid-
Grafton. For this message will well re-
pay careful perusal 1t is, taken as
whole, an admirable document. The
governor deals with some measures of
weighty and pressing importance, and
what he has to say regarding these issues
not only comes with the prestige and
influence pertaining to his official posi-
ton, but is marked by earnest study
comprehensive grasp of the public
and private interests involved and in
telligent thoughtfulness and discrimina-
ton, and is couched in well chosen lam
guage, 1t is message which grows upon
one the more it is examined and we would
advise our readers to peruse it not only
with attention but more than once.
In the opening paragraphs the gov
ernor urges upon the Legislature and
indirectly upon those seeking legislation,
with timely impressiveness, the dangers
OF hasty legislation and the evils Of de-
ferring action upon important business
to the hurry and confusion of the clos.
ing weeks of the session. "Thcre is no
reason" says the governor to the law
makers, "why the last days of the ses-
sion should be crowded with business
requiring your attention if, at the begin.
ming thereof, you would promptly adj
dress yourselves TO the performance of
your several duties" This is very
proper admopition and one that the
General Assembly of 1898 should heed
and should keep constantly in mind. II
has grown to be entirely too much the
practice of recent years to loiter away
in inconclusiye Sinking of difficult
business the opening weeks, only to be
confronted in the end with the ueces-
sity Of finally disposing Of such
deferred legislation at time when the
pressure OF other matters will not allow
opportunity for the carsfulncss and de.
liberation which should have been be-
slowed earlier. 1t is during the closing
days that the "bill blotters," the
mnnipulators of obscure "riderS,' and
Others of their class get in their work,
and the governor well says that most Of
the uncertainty as to the meaning of
statutes, and their incongruitics, may be
traced to the hurry attending the final
disposition of such legislation. He
pertinently reminds the legislators
that earlier-aud we will add more
faithful and continuous attention to
public business-will "save YOU from
the annoyance of either having 10 de-
feat or rush through your respective
bodies measures without the thought
their importance deserves and the public
many times from the vcxatious conse-
quences of crude and imperfect laws.
and will also save you from the critt-
cism OF unduly protracting your session
and unnecessarily increasing the ex
pense." When the Legislature of 50
small u State protracts its session into
the middle of May, as did the General
Assembly Of 1891, our 10000 citizens
are naturally prone to wonder whether
their lawmakers you'd ever get through
had we the population and territory Of
some of our big ueighbors.
Otcourse the Legislature is not wholly
to blame for this, except upon the con.
sideration that it has it in its power to
apply the radical remedy Of uncom.
p.2misingly refusing to entertain any
business that is not presented within
reasonable time ana giving the
eleventh-hour applicants unuistak-