The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-12-17

THE GOVERNOR.
Duties and Prerogat1yes OF
New jerseys Chief
Executive.
THE PATRONAGE NUISANCE
Usually His Honor Has No Private
Business Salary Is
$4,000.

Business-The Salary Is
$4,000.
Somebody asked the other day II MT.
Skinner had been elected Speaker yer.
Another mar spoke Of the Governors
term being four years. onners nav
shown that their knowledge OF the seate
government is by no means ompiet
and they are all persons who Wowio nat
urally be supposed to have the Rno"1-
edge. Certainly a great many nave hau
curious ideas as to the GoVennoEsnip' ior
they seem to expect that rne ne" man
who goes into office next anuary WIN
be able to turn everything topsy-eui-
yey. Perhaps some description OF ms
duties and his position. and OF state al
fairs in general may be interesting.
For twelve holrs Zach three years
there Is no Governor OF New Jersey.
TIL term of the old Governor expires
at midnight on q Monday ana .nae VI
fhe new Governor does not usually be-
gin .,,ntia noon the following day. The
farms of Governors begin on the third
TUESDAY of the January following the
election. and the Inauguration usuaf-y
occ,,ns at noon. All that is required is
to a k the oath of office, which is ad-
ministered. cubomarily by the Chief Jus
tfce of the Supreme Court, although 1t
could be done by any other ofhcer, or
even omitted altogether. 1t is a mere
custom that the Legislature conducts
| the inauguration, and that the Governor
makes an inaugural address. The Con-
stEtutfon does not require anything ex-
cent that the Governor begin work on
| That day.
The first business of the Legislature
| this wear, when 1t meets on Tuesday,
| january 4. after the election of the iegls-
latiye officers. will be the adoption OF q
resolution by both houses for a com
mittee of Senators and Assemblymen to
arrange for the Inauguration. The COM
| mittee consults with the GovernorseleSt
TAYLOR Opera House will be, hlreo SAhhee
i~naugurai address is the main feature E
and a take an hour In delivery. II
IS not as formal as q a Sc Goy ts aTairs me and +
supposed to outline the Governors policy
during the administration. Inc Gossr
nors first, annual message u "a : Year
| later, and his third and last message goes
in lust before he goes out. Tnere aIe
consequently four , nnaal t6 Selssg Is sUe.
| Gal occasion, it is not expected thai ne
/ Should say anything more. -.
veto message gives his objections to the
msasalre The veto amounts only to q
reconsiderations for q majority vote N
just as it passed the measure
1t is, however, only when a bill Is o. a
partisan il and the Governor Is OF g
p%o1itseaii In p ere sL egRIlsfu : that a veto IS
o~verridden, with a few rare exceptions.
The unwritten law is stronger than .nanec .ne
written. in this and many otner respecS'
in our State government.
When bills from the Legislature. nay
ing passed both Houses. the S Goyern nom >
lpsct in wording the Governor then con.
shsa sr their 4scn nsrits and 4 a lneH sde r fRe0e gov
prove the Bill and make It 3 law by
the House in which it originated. with
his objections; or allow 1t to become z
law after Ave days (Sunday excludedo
ether. There ends the Governors ,rela-
tons with legislative matters, n the
r nsninstments and in executing the laws al
ready IN force. His powers TO make
changes in The laws are dependent upon
STATURE. and in this respect a man who
power than the Governor himself. But
nbo she Ge gassa d5on a and has strong opins
ions. his position Is such as to make
his influence very great. c Goye ] nf1r FOR FOR
the benefit Of the, people. The Cover
nors powers in the enforcement OF
HSsy s aes,lS ss1 be- ma Isea extremely e aay p potsnt.
and they comprise one of the numerous
features Of the reserve power IN our Is
IN actual werk the Governor is COM
PEELED t. gig Ss,, up q e great sat pace PACT e e s com1
oemmon oehssnf: not MADE he sShts i
q e c Saosseahf his s0 PriSate secretary entirely
according to his personal wishes. to
name members Of his staff ais he may
B Bees 81 Is the esso Sa1soss ga State 20 Boards ssaSds ma ae-
cording to his views of men who should
b honorsa: i e en- 2 s smgSs,0pr Lefty t to ask
be within very modest bounds For the
O ocla Tlft, sa n%oTifiaaiP la paasI Is Is t assd e0y sn-
slsht minded aaf %e n1soi " sAi Much depends,
a e snsse f takss. uI Il he sl is a man Of con-
siderable personal dignity, It rs mot COM
Portable to rrge the appointment OF an
The custom for several years has been
that the Governor should be n Trenton
eve every g,, Tn Z ma ana r sa mecn p SrrGnsf the x
Legislative. session the Governor is ex-
pected to be on hand on Morday evening
4 and to remain as late in the week as
there may be occasion. A Governor may
be pretty sure of having half the week
Il for his own affairs, except when there
are numerous semi-social affairs which
requir his attendance. As a rule. the
81 Governor is dined much more than he
fixes. unless his stomach rs az good as
The salary paid the Governor is $1,000
official way and rides free and tele'
graphs free. If he is q lawyer, he cal
have a few private clients, but Is moi
expected to appear In court, because thu
Judges are appointed by him. The pc
Rod for which he is elected is generally
spent without occupation. No Governoq
Of New Jersey is ever. likely to leavt
ofs,e as rich as when he went into 1t
unless the people should elect a ~scoundrel
1t wifi be perceived from the abov,
that the duties of the Governor dc mo
give him great opportunities for activI
Share in government, except, as he ma,
for the most part he is guided by custom
rather than by law. The place IS on
which commands great respect. n 1t i
sometimes said hat there are only tw,
Enff1ces which a Jerseyman must accept !
they are offered him-the Office of Gov
ernor and the office of Senate of tn
United States.
! POLICE ROLL OF HONOR.