The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-31
LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS.

The Advertiser, in the goodly company of quite number of the members of the Constitutional Convention, opposed quadrennial sessions of the Legislature. It was deemed too long an interval and the experience of Mississippi comes to the aid of those who took that position. Com menting on the dissatisfaction in Missis- sippi, The New Orleans Times-Democrat says:
 Mississippi took a step still more ad- vanced in its last Constitutional Conven- tion, when 1t provided for only one regu- lar session in four years. There is, it is true, an intermediary session in Misss- sippi. but the latter however. is not a regular but a special meeting. restricted in point of duration and allowed to legis- late only on such subjects as may be called to its attention by the Governor It was thought that this new system i would work well and that other States would follow the example of Mississippi, but it has aroused so much opposition that the chances are that it will be abol- ished
 It has been found, for instance, that there are more questions awaiting the action of the Legislature than it can pos sibiy dispose of in the thirty days to which it's special session Is restricted, that a number of most important ques- tionsNhave arisen in the interval since the last session which demand action, and that the Legislature cannot give these matters the consideration and attention they deserve. Governor Longino has been subjected to a very difficult and arduous task in picking out the subjects to be recommended to the General Assembly. Delegation after delegation waited on him asking him to recommend this or that question for legislative considera- tion and 1t has been no easy or pleasant matter to refuse these requests. As it is, his message was an exceptionally long one, and he has laid before the General Assembly as much as it could possibly do with any intelligence in regular or long session. The Legislature Is also put to the disagreeable necessity of trying to crowd sixty days work into thirty days, with every probability that the statutes 1t grinds out will be crudely pre- pared and probably legally defective The Constitution contemplated special session of not over thirty days, but the present session is more likely to continue sixty days.
 This being the case, what is the use, " a Mississippi paper remarks. 'of keeping a DrONlSlOH III lUG ltaW tlitiN AF' broken and disregarded|'
 The legislators have heretofore been paid so much per day for the short ses- sion, the duration being limited as to days, and a lump sum for the regular or longer session, no matter how long it may last. the idea being that the legislators would hasten adjournment when they found that they were getting no pay for their work. This provision is being amended by a resolution which gives members the same pay for the short as for the long term.
 The differences created between the two terms are being rapidly swept away. The legislators will receive the same pay for both the time limit will be overrun and the short term will probably last sixty instead of thirty days. Finally, the Leg islature, instead of confining itself to such questions as the Governor laid be- fore it. seems inclined to take up, dis cuss and act on any measures 1t sees fit.
 It would appear from this that the Mississippi plan of checking excessive legislation has not proved a success. An nual sessions, with no limit as to their duration. may grind out too mSNy statutes but We have not yet reached a stage where one regular session in four years and an intermediary special ses- sion of only thirty days will suffice to provide for the legislative needs of the country. The truth of the matter is that conditions change too rapidly in thiE countre and new questions arise too sud denly for one session in four years to do all that the people absolutely need.