Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-04
OFFICIAL SILLY SEASON.
II t. in Full Bloom at various state
C~apitOts.
New York Mail and Express.

CapitOts.
New York Mail and Express.
In England "the silly seasons" so-calleG,
Is due about midsummer. It afiicts Lon
don and spares the provinces. The Ameri-
can silly season comes earlier. Through 4
gracious dispensation Of Providence it sell
dom invades Washington. II spends its
force in the minor capitals, where the law
makers Of the several states are gathered
in solemn session. These are the days
when It Is al its height. 1t begins about
the second week in February and lasts
through the third week in March. AL
though distinctly a state phenomenon, its
features are substantially identical every
where. 1t can be recognized by an ire
sistible tendency to introduce measures
wearing the hallmark Of intended humor.
Why all the illustrations of freak legis-
lation should be crowded into the second
half of a session is a problem for the anato-
mist Of melancholy, or perhaps for the po-
litical pathologist. There are those who
maintain that the unframed intellects, pos
sessed by the class of men which is be-
coming prevalent at the state capitals, give
way after about six weeks Of unaccus-
toned celebration. From February 10 on,
according to this school Of opinion, they
are unable to attend to their duties. The
waggish bills they introduce thenceforth
are symptomL of a double hallucination
that should invite the attention of allen
lists. They are supposed to be proper legls-
lation and they are supposed to be real
humor.
For a variety of reasons which will sug-
gest themselves, and which II would be
impolite to specify, the southwest offers
the most congenial soil for this species Of
intellectual fungus. But no region is ex-
empt. The venerable bill taxing bachelors
and spinsters has just been introduced at
Albany. Illinois is discussing the prohi-
bition of foot ball. Utah has been asked
to establish an annual "washday"-its ad-
vocates maintain that such an institution
would put the Mormon commonwealth lone
ahead" Of its present practices. The
northwestern states are wrestling with that
veteran Of sumptuary legislation, the bill
to do away with Mother Hubbards" in
their subtler modern guise of tea gowns.
In the border states the sanitary aspect Of
kissing has come under the purview Of the
lawmakers.
The southwestern states, as usual, are
pioneers in aggression. They have usurped
the exclusive control OF international mat
tiers which the constitution vests in the
federal government. Texas wants to tax
lords; Missouri wants to brand and IL
cense them. Texas has another pet meas
ure. 1t is thinking of framing the cotton
handkerchief which Mrs. Roosevelt sent to
some Dallas women, and filing 1t solemnly
away in the archives of the commonwealth,
as a specimen OF ats leading output
whether this is baled cotton or baled humor
is not clearly indicated in the text Of the
resolution.
The proper attitude OF mind for the ma
tion to assume toward the merry men OF
the legislatures is not one Of indignation.
II 1t cannot share their outlaws, at least 1t
can express its sympathy and cut the legis-
lative sessions IN two. The argument of a
Utah newspaper that the state would be
better served II II elected jackrabbits in
stead Of men to its councils is stimulating
rather than useful.