Perth Amboy evening news., 1907-06-18
Summer Session
Convened At
Trenton.
THE MESSAGE.
Grand Jury Reform, Civil Service,
Election Of United States Se-
natOTs, State and Munici-
pal Elections and Oihsrs
Considered.
snocio, 70 the EyENING NEWS:

1hEN1ON, ullc l. o .---N w llCll tilC
adjourned session of the legislature
convened at noon today Governor
Stokes sent a special message calling
attention to important matters which
were not acted upon last spring. He
mentions particularly the act approx
ing the methods of drawing grand
. juries; an act for an improved and
more efficient civil service; an act for
the expression-at the primaries of the
peoples preference for United States
senator; prohibition of ballots out
side the polling place for election pur-
poses, and the constitutional amend
ment for the separation of state and
municipal elections. The message
proceeds to reiterate the reasons set
forth in the regular message that
seemed to Justify the measures to the
governor and tells why he still re-
CARDS them as most important to the
welfare of the state.
The governor praises the lawmak-
ers for adopting the recess plan and
saws: ssThe custom of adjourning
sine die and leaving upon the desk OF
the executive two to three hundred
bills at the closing hour of the session
not only imposed undue responsible
ity upon the governor and vested him
with arbitrary power, but subjected
our statutes to legal questions, liable
at any timH to cause trouble and con-
fusion. " ~ y Since the temporary
Adjournment of the legislature 257
billsS have been received from that
body OF this number 206 have be-
come laws either by signature or fill
ing. Fifty-one are returned to you
for further consideration"
Grand Jury Reform.
The message first takes up the mat
ter of reforming the grand jury. 1t
says:
"The act of last year changing the
method of selecting our petit Juries
has justified it's passage, and has re-
ceived the approval of a number OF
Judges who have observed its opera
ton. The success of that reform
warrants the application of similar
principle in the selection of grand jur-
les. The selection of grand jury
should not be vested in any one in
diyidual. AS said in my second mes
sage, "A mans reputation is too dear
to be at the mercy of his opponents
who may be invested with power, and
the public welfare is too important to
be thwarted by a failure in the adj
ministration of justice because vio-
lators of the law have influence in the
selection of grand juries. In some
states grand juries are selected by
commission, and some states have nc
such judicial tribunal. This indi
Gates the belief in those states thai
either grand juries are unnecessary
or where they exist they should Dc
free from even the suspicion OF par
tisan or personal influence. The pas
sage of some measure as was before
YOU at the regular session would serve
the ends of justice.
Civil Service.
sThe question of civil service regu
lation has been agitated in this state
for at least two years. reiterate II
part what said upon that subject il
NV regular message: Patronage il
the blight of office. 1t impairs tht
usefulness of an administration by di
viding it's energies between appoint
ments and policies when the latter
should have exclusive attention.
creates enmities and HAMPERS an ad
ministration in the execution OF III
proper functions. Every patriotic OF
fetal would rejoice if he had no pat
ronage at his command. III the hands
of an ambitious partisan. patronage
builds up an offensive machine, ere
ates an oiilce-holders' trust and de
moralizes public life. Office holders
whose position depends upon the ser
--- vice they render to the appointing
power necessarily give their iirst al
legiance to that power in preference
7 to the people Public business shoul'
be conducted upon the same basis a
private business, and appointment
based upon fitness and capacity 4
iudicious civil service law, providinl
that appointments coun