Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-03-29
REFORMS ARE NEEDED.
Lessons Taught by the Legis-
lative Session.
BUSINESS DONE TOO HURRIEDLY.


Speed the First Consideration.
First Weeks Little Done, Final
Weeks scrambIe-Important Bills
That Were Defeated = The Most
Prominent ones That Passed.
Especial Correspondence
TRENTON, March 2S.-Another legis-
lature has gone into history, and the
critics are now busy reviewing its mer-
its and denerits. The Democrats are
trying to make the most of its failure
to pass the track elevation bill for
Newark and its action on some other
corporation measures. while the Re-
publicans point with pride to the new
franchise tax law and to the econom-
ical administration of state affairs de-
spite terrific pressure brought to bear
on the appropriations committee. One
thing may be said at all events-that
whatever merit or demerit belongs to
the legislature just adjourned will be
found in the line of negative rather
than of positive action. The absence
of partisan legislation was notable. 1t
is true that Governor Voorhees, re-
placed number of Democratic judges
and prosecutors of the pleas whose
terms had expired with Republican
successors, but the legislature itself
declined to yield to partisan influences
stances The most formidable attempt
was that originating in Essex county
to abolish spring elections, but the Re
publican joint caucus refused to stand
sponsor for the projected bill.
Hasty Legislation.
Probably the most serious criticism
to be made concerns the hasty manner
in which the legislature wound up it's
business. For a number of years past
there has been a tendency to crowd
the bulk of the work into the closing
weeks of the session. Last year Gov
ernor Voorhees, tried to check this evil
by informing the members that he
would consider no bills after legisla-
tive adjournment, so as to prevent the
practice of passing a hundred or more
acts just before final dissolution and
of then dumping them in heap on the
desk of the executive and leaving on
him the sole responsibility of deter
mining the fate of important but
faulty constructed statutes. The plan
worked well last year, but this winter
it had no apparent effect except to add
to the general confusion at the time of
final adjournment. The legislature had
fixed on the hour of o'clock Friday
afternoon for adjournment, but by the
convenient subterfuge of stopping the
clock at five minutes before 3, both
houses kept right on passing bills till
nearly II p. m. The result was a huge
heap of bills on the governors desk
after that hour and his attempt to give
them immediate consideration. He
kept at it till nearly a. M, and mean
time the legislators had to hang
around, putting in the time as best
they might. 1t was most unsatis-
factory conclusion, and when the leg
islature was finally dissolved there
was scarcely a quorum of either house
present.
One of the first things the next legis-
lature should do is to address itself to
correction of this system of transact
ing business. The cause lies in the
failure to establish some system of
calling halt on the presentation of
new bills. If bills are permitted to be
introduced up to the very eve of ad-
journment, as is now the custom, i'll
considered legislation is inevitable.
The legislature this year did practically
nothing for the first six weeks except
to receive new bills; then the commit
tee hearings went ON, and finally the
consideration of measures in open ses-
sion of either house was confined to
the last fortnight or so. This applies
to about three-fourths of the legislation
of the winter In order to expedite adj
journment the bills had to be hurriedIy
considered. They are supposed under
the rules to have three readings. As a
matter of fact they do not receive a
single reading. The writer. who has
been following the course of legislation
at Trenton for 20 years, remembers
when every bill was read through from
title to enacting clause at least once,
but of late years that has been too slow
method for our get there quick legis-
latures.