The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1906-03-27
This Years State Repr esen-
tatiyes Proved No Better
Than Those Of Former
Years
DELAY, LlAGER, WAIT
NO EFFORT WAS MADE TO
CLEAR OFF. THE WORK OR
THE SESSION MIGHT HAVE
BEEN ENDED AGES AGO


4 BEEN ENDED AGES AGO
4 The Legislature this year has not inn
proved to any perceptible degree upon
the procrastinating and work Sinking
methods that have of late years provoked
so much hostile comment, said William
Cloke, the veteran editor, in his letter in
the New York Herald" yesterday. It
was hoped that Legislature elected in
| reform year would abandon the bad
habits that have brought the State into
disrepute and would stand for repentance
and virtue but instead Of that fhe evils
| that have been so vehemently denounced
| in the press are exhibited in an aggra-
waited form. The present was the eley-
enth week of the session and if due dill
gence had been used the work might
have been finished decently and in order
in this time. In former times sessions OF
ten or eleven weeks in length have done
more work than is before this Legisla-
ture In 1870 a ten weeks session en-
acted 532 laws and six joint resolutions
In 1874 an eleven weeks session enacted
534 Jaws and one joint resolution. In
1904 the session was eleven weeks IN
length and $50 laws and 10 joint resolu-
tions were enacted, while last year in
session of twelve weeks 2T0 laws and
five joint resolutions were enacted. In
1 the last 10 years three sessions were u
weeks in length and seven were IL
weeks each The largest number Of laws
enacted in this period was in 1902, when.
279 laws and four joint resolutions were
passed.
In former years, before the constitu-
ton was amended by prohibiting special
j legislation, two or three times as many
laws were enacted in about the same
number of weeks. In 1871 625 laws
were enacted. in 1872. 603 laws, in 1873,
| 723 laws, and so on.
In those days the Legislature would
begin to hold daily sessions from Mon
day evening until the following Friday
in three or four weeks after organizing.
After four or five weeks night sessions
were regularly held. All bills were re-
ported from the committees in those
times. There was great fuss raised
\ if any committee undertook to hold and
! smother an important bill. 1t was re-
garded as a scandalous abuse of power.
Bills We're debated vigorously and thor
become laws We're reported adversely.
i Sometimes there was minority report.
Bills wer edebated vigorously and thor-
oughly on the floor of both houses
Members would carefully prepare themt
selves to discuss certain measures, and
their speeches would be Illuminating and
instructive.
Bills under consideration were so thor
| oughly debated by these men that they
were made plain to all. When laws
were passed they had been thoroughly
ventilated and digested. There was de-
libera,fsu. There was no headlong
rush. Great care. was exercised in
every step of the process of law-mak king.
Now all is different. For weeks and
weeks after the Legislature organizes
practically nothing is done. Not eight
| hours real honest work was done the
first four weeks of this years session.
Three days such work as the New Jer-
sey Methodist conference performed last
week would have accomplished every
thing that was done in two months
First. for eight or nine weeks there is
/ apathy. The members come to Tren-
ton, go through the routine motions, in
| troduce some bills and go home. Final
/ " this lethargic stage passes. The
members suddenly wake up to the fact
thatSthey have-fYe or six hundred Bills
on their han1s and thar the time is
close at hand when sine die adjournme
should be had. Them they go from one
extreme to the other. Torpor gives way
to fever and inactivity to furious haste.
Rofh hnss s.ex, ec.ai,1 ~ I,a -, &, i, i, ,,,r,