The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-12-30
NO SAVING IN THAT DIRECTION.

NO SAVING IN THAT DIRECTION.
In an interview published in sum
days Morning News Speaker Morris
was quoted as saying that he favored
taking the granting of charters and
amendments to charter and the estab-
/ fishing of courts ard some other mat
! tiers out of the control of the Legisla-
| ture and placing them in that of
/ commission or other body created by
/ the Legislature. We infer from this
/ that. in his opinion, a great many
matters which now go to the Legisla-
ture could be handled to much better
advantage outside of that body. If
50 much time were not wasted on these
routine matters the Legislature, the
Speaker thinks. could get through
with its work in much less than fifty
days each term.
For years we have been calling att
tention to the fact that the taxpayers
of this state are put to a much greater
expense for legislation than is neces-
sary. A session costs a little more
than SCI 900, and a session is held ev-
cry year. The present Legislature has
provided for itself three terms. The
chances are therefore that it viii cost
the taxpayers more than 100000.
Speaker Morris thinks that if the
matters to which he calls attention
were turned over to commission with
authority from the Legislature to act
upon them. there would be very con-
siderable saving to the state. We do
not see that there would be any. saw
ing. Indeed in our opinion, the ex-
penses of the state would be increased
Not only would the Legislature. cost
just as much as 1t does now but there
would be some costs attached to the
commission.
If the Speaker thinks the Legisla-
ture would adjourn before the end of
its term, even though the amount of
its work were greatly decreased, he is
mistaken. There would be little or
nothing done during the first half of
the session. Indeed, it is doubtful if
it would be possible to get a quorum
half of the time. If the Legislature
had nothing to do but to pass upon
the tax and appropriation bills it
would occupy the entire term of fifty
days.
If the Speaker wants to bring about
a saving in legislative expenses let
him introduce and have passed an
amendment to the constitution provid-
ing for biennial sessions. His idea of
turning certain measures over to
commission is a good one. We have
no objection to it, but we are salts
fed that it would not save the taxpay-
ers anything unless biennial sessions
We're provided for. 1t is a hopeful
sign that such men as the Speaker is
beginning to realize that too much
money is being spent on the Legisla-
ture for the results that are achieved.
There are a good many reforms that
would be helpful to the people, but
before anything in that direction is
accomplished the people will have to
take the bit between their teeth as it
were, and follow the course that is
marked out by common sense. The
politicians will never do anything in.
/ the direction of reform. The further.
the state gets. in debt the better they
seem to like it. ,l.
Notwithstanding the fact that the
whole of the public property fund will
have been used up at the close of the
next fiscal year-something over $780,
000-the state will be behind to it's
school fund over $4,000 That is the
amount that has been stated in the
dispatches a number of times.