Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1905-01-06
DO you LIKE THE NEW LAWs7
1.-THE Great obJector" Says They are the
Greatest Bundle and tumble Any Leeis-
Iature Ever Passed.

The new laws have, at last, come out.
Well, how do you like them? For my
part ! have no more relish for them now
than / had during their passage. Not
over so of the 1874 public acts should have
been passed. And l can say this with
good grace as ! did what l could to
block them in their passage, and now
take pride in having acquired the name
Of the great objector" Were / to go
through that session again, l should hope
to gain the title of the great, great
objeator."
Let the public read these laws-the
greatest bundle and tumble that any leg
islature ever passed. haggling up all
previous laws and mis-approprating at
least a cool hundred thousand dollars, and
say whether l was right or wrong in in
sisting upon their being read. at least,
before their passage. Often was ! laugh
ed at, in a good natured way, for stand
ing up alone and insisting upon fuller
consideration, or opposing passage entire
~. Well, where does the laugh come in
now? Once l passed the cigars around
to the whole house, because by a neatly
contrived plan and a snap action, the
salary Of a favorite state officer was
doubled. Who should get the cigars now?
Let us candidly examine the cause for
this over legislation, and, if possible, sug-
gest a remedy.
The members of the legislature, as a
mass were d BODu ana lUlelllSenI lot OF
men. They meant well and, as a rule
tried to do their duty But the heap
after heap of bills. once nine at a
time by a single individual, finally dis
couraged them, and towards the end they
simply threw up their hands in disgust
and let the schemers have their way.
The trouble lay in the few-a score or
so, who took it upon themselves to lead
OF. They were not as a rule, conscien-
tious. but were governed largely by sell
fish motives. A bill had but little chance
upon its own merits. 1t must be foster
ed, fathered. doctored, and fed by nan
The most worthy measures, of all, were
rejected simply because those back of
them would not stoop to the plan of buy
and sell" Those upon whom the mass
relied often played false and simply work
ed for their own ends. They had some
favorite bill of their own or some office in
view, before which all else must yield
| was a witness of acts by the chairmen
OF the very highest committees that
caused me, temporarily at least to lose
much of my faith in humanity.
As remedies / would suggest: Allow no
office to be created by a legislature and
filled by one of its members; suspend no
rules that act for full elaboration of
measures; allow no bill to come in after
the allotted time, and no committee bills
during the last week; have all bills be-
fore they are introduced, go before an
point out such defects. as would lead the
introduOer to withdraw; have all resolu-
tions ana important amendments take
their regular course with bills, as thus
measures and appropriations are passed
without any chance for elaboration
The essential element for all legislation
is deliberation-without it we are sure of
raw undigestable mush, and opportunity
for trickery and deception. l have studied
the matter in its every point, and 1 firmly
believe that it would be best for the
interests of the state If we went back
to annual sessions, thus ensuring a large
percentage of experienced members, and
as a dead sure precaution, have no act
take effect until 1t has been confirmed by
The legislature succeeding it's first passage.
The press and the people would then have
a chance to get hold of matters 1t is
perfectly safe to say that a majority of
the present laws would fail to pass the
ordeal Then a $25, 900 revision would not
be needed every decade. We cannot be
too careful how we tamper with or pass
laws. The higher we advance in true
civilization, the simpler and less complex
VIII be our laws. Charles Wagner would
make a good legislator
NJ. ]. HAPGOOD.
Peru, Vt, Jan 2, 1905.