The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1899-11-11
LAW MAKING BODY,
Terms Used to Designate 1t in the
Different States.
There Is some Confusion ON the Sub
ject In state Constitutions n
Books OF Reference-states
and CommonweaIthH.

have chosen various terms to designat
their lawnaking bodies and the tw
parts of those bodies; but these term
are often disregarded where accurac
is very desirable. Newspapers and pei
o constantly speak Of the 'legisla
ture" when in fact the name Of tn
law-making body of the state referee
to is something very different. Pick u,
an almanac and you are likely to flint
that it uses the term Legislature TO
every state in the union, where the fac
Is that less than half of them have leg
~islatures. What is more remarkable
if you turn to one of the several en-
cyclopedias you will be unable to fine
what the various states call their law
making bodies. The best encyclope
dias tell you that the legislatures" o.
certain states meet at certain times
although these states have no legisla-
IRE. Nearly every state has at least
one historian, and many of them have
q dozen or a score, yet a 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, it is not
an easy task always 10 find out the
proper names Of the lawmaking 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 of
them, rather careless in this respect,
and giving their trainers the benefit of
the doubt it 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 a lawmaking body, take
the trouble to say specifically that, for
instance, it shall be designated the
general assembly" The constitution
of Michigan does not specifically give
a name to the lawmaking body, but re-
fers to it as the legislature; and the
enacting clause of Michigan laws is
"The people Of Michigan en-
Like Michigan, the states of New
York, New Jersey and Wisconsin do
not specifically say in their constitu-
that the name of the lawmaking
body shall be called the Legislature, but
the term legislature is used to describe
the ~lawmaking body. And as in the
rase of Michigan the term legislature
loes not appear in the enacting clause
If the laws. New Hampshire has a gen.
sral court, yet the constitution OF that
uses at times the term legisla-
The constitution of Virginia, ar
.icle ", says in section 80: "The leg
stature shall have power" and in Sec
ion "a: 'The general assembly shall
lave power" The fact hat one OF
hsse sections was in The original con
titution and the other is an amend
lent may account for this aggravated
ase. Pennsylvania is a commonwealth
nd has a general ASSEMBLY, vet in
faces the constitution uses the terms
tate and legislature. If anyone wants
D know what is the best name for the
lwmaking body of a state he should
SIX Kansas. The Kansas constitution
f 1855 provided for a general assem-
~, that of 1857 for a legislature, that
{ 1883 for a general assembly, and
lat Of 1859 for a Legislature. Other
have also changed the name Of
lie legislative body.
The constitution of 1s66-67 Of the
ate of Nebraska vested the legislative
lthority of fhe sfate in a general as !
and at the same Zine provided {
at the enacting clause OF laws should
/, "Be It enacted by the legislature
the state" The next constitution,
,wever, made the term read legisla-
re in both places. I
Oregon was the first state to desig- I
tie its lawmaking body the legisla- /
e assembly, and il vas followed in T
is matter by the new states of Mon Il
and North Dakota. Massachu- n
It's and New Hampshire are the only Il
% states that nave gentId cOdItsf q
have legislatures and the remain a
2 21 have general assemblies. It II
thus be seen that legally the term h
neral assembly is the most popular, d
t there is no doubt that popularity $,
E term legislature is far and away n
2 most in general use. q
The states have nearly all agreed on to
! same two terms, senate and house
representative. to designate tbe
o parts Of The lawmaking body. How
n, California. Nevada, New York 1
] Wisconsin use the terms senate ~
J assembly, Maryland. Virginia and ha