The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-04-17

Ontario or Nova Scotia, for Great
Britain or France, Belgium, Holland
or Germany or any other country or
State is relatively about the same as
ours, and in all modern tim es this has
been the case in all Parliamentary
systems. To anyone really conversant
with public affairs, probably nothing
in the world would seem 10 hopeless
as to diminish the volume of legisla-
ton, and indeed it would hardly
be found desirable to do SO.
States, whose Legislatures hold
only biennial sessions are in gem
eral dissatisfied with the contrae-
ton of the possibilities Of change.
Again an examination of the statute
books will show that the greater
number of laws enacted have a laud-
able purpose in view. and it is not too
much to say that fully nine-tenths OF
them actually are good or useful,
either generally or locally. or the
remaining statutes, a large number
are passed, either In obedience to
some popular mandate, like much
superiuous legislation in progress
just now-or else are legitimately ex-
perimental; while the amount OF vic
| iously inspired law enacted by even the
worst legislatures is really an insight
icant part of the whole volume-how-
ever extensive it's effects.
We hold, then, that it is not feasible
to reduce the quantity of legislation
in any material degree. We hold
that it could not be done without
serious bars to progress and seri-
Gus obstacles to reform. AS the
State-any State-grows and de-
velops, it's interests become more COM
pick, the machinery to care for them
becomes more involved, and the laws
to protect them and encourage them
become more mer and in
tricate.
Furthermore, the tendency of the
Referendum scheme would not be to
reduce the product of the Legislative
| session but rather to increase it. The
members of the Senate and Assembly
being relieved Of all responsibility
for their acts, every one being merely
tentatively adopted for the considera-
ton Of the people, would naturally
lean towards passing everything, SO
far as they were concerned, and let
ting the people say whether they
wanted it or not. In other words. as
| they could be blamed for refusing to
submit any proposal to popular vote
and could not well be blamed for sub
hitting it, the tendency would be to
pass everything, and the volume of
| Legislative acts would shortly be in
| creased from say five hundred pages a
| year to perhaps a thousand or twelve
| hundred.
But, ~discarding this possibility OF
increase, we lay this simple, common
sense question before simple, common
| sense men:-What scheme could hui
mar ingenuity devise by which the
people could vote on from two hun
ured to two hundred and fifty
separate proposals al a general
| election, and what possible chance
would there be Of five per cent. of the
voters reading or compromising
| them? There is something Gargan-
than in the idea of the people OF a
| State, wise and unwise, learned and
| ignorant, porting long nights over vol
tunes of legislative proposals, and then
on election day casting ballots in the
shape of pamphlets all carefully
marked with their approval OF pro-
| posals Nos. 1 to II: their disapproval
| of No. IS; their endorsement of Nos.
10 to No. 81; their rejection of No. IS,
| and SO on TO the end. Can anything
more impossible be imagined? Who
is to devise a scheme by which a man
would even remember what he was
voting on? And no W could such a
vote be counted9 Why, it would take
a force like the Census Bureau to get
it done in a month.
In these remarks, we take account
only of the mechanical absurdfty OF
| the idea. We shall take up other
phases later. Doubtless we shall find
more to eriticiss than we can find
room for in this evenings lucubra-
tions. We are bound to say We think
the whole subject is SO frivolous that
the Board of Trade isopen to some CEN
sure for giving 1t any countenance
whatever. However, che hearing to-
night may be useful in one way The
advocacy of preposterous things is
generally the strongest developer of
their grotesque and impossible fea~
lures. Perhaps this may be the case
tonight.
But would it not be better If the
Board gave up the session to a rousing
advocacy of the State Water Commits
sion bill? 1t may be mixing matters,
but it seem to us these gentlemen are
initiating Nero who fddled while
Rome was burning.
THE preparations for the occup ancy
of THE JERSEY CITY NEWS building
xSA ol,no;1x roztdl1 THa xwork IN