The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1899-11-03
THE LEGISLATIVE BODY.
Go . fusion On the subject In state
consultations and Hooks Of
| Reference.

The members of the union of statel
. lhayc chosen various terms TO designate
, their lawmaking bodies and the two
,arts OF those bodies; but these term,
are often disregarded where accuracy
is very desirable. Newspapers and per
IONS constantly speak ct the "logislL
, Itre" when in fact the name of thu
law. making body of the state rcferrei
t. is something very different. Pick NJ
mn almanac and you are likely to find
THAT il uses the term legislature foi
l,Ncry state in :ne union, where the IN,
Is that less than half of them have leg
lislatures. What is more remarkable
Ia YOU turn TO one of the several en-
cyclopcdias you will bc unable To fin,
What the various states call their law
making bodies. The best encyclope-
ldas tell YOU that the legislatures" ot
certain states meet at certain times,
although these states have no legisla.
urc. Nearly every state has at least
one historian, and many OF them have
n dozen or score, vet n search made
In a large number OF these histories
showed that many OF the historians
either did not know what was the name
Of the lawmaking body in their states
or they were too careless to use the
proper term.
As almanacs, encyclopedias and his.
tories are not TO be trusted IL is not
an easy task always TO find out the
proper names of the lawmakiug bodies
OF the states. One place where the
names can be found is in the constitu.
tons of the states, but even the state
constitutions themselves are. some ot
them, rather careless in this respect,
and giving their trainers the benefit Of
the doubt IL may still be said that
the constitutions present a great de.
gree of variety and lack Of uniformity.
some Of the state constitutions after
providing for lawmaking body, take
the trouble 20 say specifically that. for
instance. IL shall be designated the
general assembly" The constitution
Of Michigan does not specifically give
n name TO the lawmakiug body, but re-.
fcrs Ia IL as the Legislature: and the
cuactiay clause 81 1irhivan law, =
simply The people OF Michigan en-.
act" Like Michigan. the states OF New
York New Jersey aud Wisconsin 10
not specifically say in their cpusti,u.
lions that the name - the iawmakinr
body shall bc called the legislature. hut
the term legislature Is used 10 describe
the lawmaking body. And as in the
ease Of Michigan the term Legislature
does not appear in the enactiug clause
~ the laws. New Hampshire has a gen.
cral court, yet the constitution of that
state uses at times the term legisla.
ture. The constitution Of Virginia. ar.
ticlc ", SAYS IN section 81: The leg
,islaturc shall have power" and in sec
e,pb %: "The general assembly shall
have power" The fact that one Of
these sections was In the original con.
stitution and the other Is an amend
ment may account for this aggravated
case. Pennsylvania is a commonwealth
and has general assembly. yet IN
places the constitution uses the terms
state and legislature. II anyone wants
TO know what is the best name for the
lawmaking body of state he should
ask Kansas. The Kansas constitution
OF 1855 provided for n general assem-.
bly,. that Of 1857 for legislature, that
of 1858 for n general assembly, and
that Of 1850 for a legislature. other
states have also changed the name ~
the legislative body.
The constitution Of 1sGG-67 Of the
state of Nebraska vested the Legislative
authority Of the state in general rs.
sembly." and at the same time provided
that the enacting clause Of laws should
be BE IL enacted by the legislature
Of the state" The ney' 'ogsiitution.
however. made the term read legisla.
iure i'm bo,h places.
Oregon was the first state 10 dcsig-
nate its lawmaking body the legisln.
i've assembly, and IL was followed in
this matter By the new states Of Mon.
tana and North Dakota, MasSachu- |
setts and New Hampshire are the only |
Two states that have general courts; |
10 have legislatures and the remain
ng 81 have general assemblies II |
vii thus be seen that legally the term |
general assembly is the most popular. |
,ut there is no doubt that popularity |
he term legislature Is far and away |
the most in general use.
The states have nearly all agreed on |
he same two terms, senate and house
OF representatives., To designate the
,wo parts OF the lawmaking body. How.
'ver, California, Nevada, New York |
md Wisconsin use the terms senate
nd assembly, Maryland, Virginia and
Vest Virginia, the terms senate and
louse OF delegates, while New Jersey
$ the solitary state that uses the terms
enate and general assembly. All the
tates except the eight mentioned use
he terms senate and house OF repre-.
entatiyes.
All members Of the union call them
elves states except Kentucky, Massa-
Pennsylvania and Virginia,
which call themselves common wealths.
'hode Island is unique in calling itself
The State OF Rhode Island and Provi.
ence Plantations"
North Carolina once called its lower
ouse 1.-THE house OF commons."-N.
:. Sun.
A Vacant .IIvlunv