The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-02-09
LOCAL BILLS
HAVE PREFERENCE.
State Matters Have Been Showed
to One Side.
RIDING THE HOBBIES OF CITIES
without Reference to Legislation That
win Produce the Greatest Good to
the Greatest Number
Columbus News
Special to Democrat.

Special to News-D Democrat.
Columbus, Feb. 5.-Judging from the
manner in which the Seventy Fourth
general assembly is accommodating work
upon its hands, it is pretty safe to pre-
dict that the Archer senate Joint reso-
luton, for early adjournment, will be
allowed to remain pocketed in the
finance committee for some time. On
the average during the five weeks the
Legislature has been in session, little
over so bills have been introduced per
day, while but fraction over 20 per
day have been disposed of. To be
specific, the work Of the session to date
has been as follows:
In the senate: Bills introduced, 1903;
senate bills passed, "a; killed, Ii house
bills passed in the senate, II.
In the house: Bills introduced, 310;
house bills passed, 81; bills defeated, A.;
indefinitely postponed, 2; senate bills
passed in the house, g.
At this rate surely the provision \of
the Archer resolution shutting off the
introduction of all measures except ap-
preparation bills, a month before the
date which the resolution would fix for
final adjournment would seem to be a
wise one and yet that is a prime OBJ
lection to the measure in the house. If
it should be reported by the finance
committee it will probably be with an
amendment by way of compromise cut
ting off proposed new legislation two
weeks before adjournment, instead of
four.
Meanwhile local legislation, which is
declared to be the bane and besetting
sin of the Ohio General Assembly, is
steadily given the precedence over that
applying to the state in general, very
much of which is of infinitely the grea-
ter Importance. The Cincinnati ripper,
and the Canton ripper, and the great
flood of bills to authorize issues. or to
fix or regulate fees for county officers
in certain counties, and what not of a
purely local nature seems likely to con-
tinue to monopolize chief legislative
attention, rather than such important
measures, applying to the state at large
as the new municipal code, the normal
school bill, the Gear general county
salary bill, etc.
A peculiar omission or oversight on
the part of the municipal code commits
sioners-Judges Pugh and Kibler-
municipal code not being introduced in
the general assembly in the form of a
bill until last week. The commissioners
seem to have become possessed of the
idea that when they made their report
to the governor, and that report was
in turn presented in the Legislature,
that report when so presented, was
equivalent to it's introduction as bill.
So it rested until somebody gave the
commissioners tip as to what should
be done; and then they secured Senator
Harding's consent to introduce the
measure regularly in the form of a bill,
upon which the general assembly might
take action, which he did only last
Tuesday afternoon. Now, if the senate,
in the course of their very deliberate
procedure, can spare the necessary time
from local legislation which seems of
paramount Importance, they may patch
the voluminous document up with a
series of amendments and dump the
whole business over upon the house
There, if it get through at all at this
session, which seems extremely
extremely problematical, it is pretty
safe to predict that the Honorables
David F. Pugh and Edward Kibler will
scarcely be able to recognize the work
upon which they concentrated the
results of exhaustive research and
| acknowledged legal ability. However
it may yet come to pass that the mem
| bers Of the two houses shall be able to
| comprehend that the greatest good tc
| the greatest number calls for the enact
ment of a code Of laws applicable to the
state at large, rather this interminable
local legislation. McCORD.