Waterbury Democrat., 1903-01-07
LEGISLATURE IN SESSION TO-DAY.

of the principal committees should sit as late as o'clock in the afternoon. By principal committees, 1 mean those having the larger volume of business. You will find it much easier to have full hearings, with good committee at tendance, during the indictment weather or the winter and early spring than during the pleasant season. By making intelligent and seasonable assignments or hearings. with proper notice to in- tefested parties, committee work should proceed with reasonable dispatch.
 To my mind, the mission of legislative committee is similar to that or referee, appointed by a court, to carefully hear and examine and in tell1gently report the various mat ters committed to it. Tn the very na- ture of things, the general assembly .s dependent upon it's committees for its own intelligent action, and, indeed. to such an extent that a great author ity is recorded as saying that they are in large measure the eyes and ears of the assembly. The late Thomas B. Reed. than whom not one was better qualified to speak, says in his book of rules, in discussing the nature and need of legislative committees Freed from the very great inconvenience of numbers, it can study q question, ob- tain full information, and put the proposed action into proper shape for final decision. The appointment of q committee also insures to the assem- ply the presence during the debate Of members who have made some ,ex- animation of the question, and tends to preserve the assembly from it's greatest danger, that of being carried away by some plausible harangue which excites feeling, appeals to sen- timent and only obscures reason.
 II speak at length upon this sub- ject at this time because cf, the fact that nearly, if not quite, 4 of the members of the house may reasonably be expected to do committee work, and 1 know that it is the earnest de- sire of this membership to perform their work as best they may.
 Committee work then, should be so conducted-and I have full faith will be so conducted-that it will inspire in this house a spirit of confidence that will go far towards making the work pleasant and agreeable and the action of the general assembly of benefit and advantage to the state.
 'Fourth-While full and fair dis cussion is always to be desired, we should remember that this is not q debating society and that the practice of talking merely for the sake of talk, or for amusement or entertainment, has never been encouraged in this branch of the assembly. The purpCee of the motion known as the previous question is generally well understood, and it may well be invoked after req sonable discussion has shed it's light upon any given subject.
 "Gentlemen of the House of Repre- sentatives: We are to-day, for the first time, met under the shadow of the flag of a state, small in area and limited in population, everywhere re- cognized as among the first in that sisterhood of states which, together, make the greatest of all nations: great | in wealth, great in power, in war and | in peace, great alike in it's intellec- tuaI developments and material pro- gross. but greatest of all in the love and devotion of free people to that l flag which is the symbol of it's exist ence, floating to-day on the continent and over the islands of the sea. 1t was by no wave of the wand of the magician, nor by miracle, nor yet by chance, that our little state of Connec- ticut assumed or has maintained her present place. We have received a noble heritage but with it comes pro poFtionate duty. We are here, men from the hillsides, and men from the valleys, men from the quiet of the country village. and others from the noise and tumult of the centers of in dustrial trade and commercial activity, met for Common purpose, standing upon a common plane. When, a few weeks hence. at the command of the governor, the secretary, from this platform, makes his proclamation. God save the State of Connecticut ; and the time shall have arrived for the handshaking and 'good-by,' let us | hope that we will separate with the consciousness of having so borne our | part that the session of 1903 will be of pleasant recollection to the state and to ourselves.
 T thank you again for your kind ness, and ask your, forbearance and l encouragement in the performance of the duties of the high office to which you have elected me. MT Chairman.
 I am now ready to take the oath of office prescribed by law"
 Secretary of State Charles G. Vinal l called the senate to order at 10 o'clock. After the roll call the. oath of office was administered by Secretary Vinal. Senator Rollin $. Woodruff of New Ha-
 ven, who was elected president pro tenn. said that it was an unusual thing for Connecticut senate to assemble not one of whose members had previ- ously served as senator We have
 been called the freshman senate" said MT Woodruff, "but at the end of the
 session let us expect to be the masters of the situation. Rev George w. Phil lips of New Haven was elected chap lain.