The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-03-28
SUGGEST REFORMS
FOR LEGISLATURE
Plains for Simplifying Present
Mode of Procedure Sug-
geSted by Recent FiasCo.
WOULD DO SITTING EARLY
STEERING COMMITTEE SHOULD
BEGIN WITH SESSION.


Iature its career has been made the theme
Tor free discussion. Adverse criticism j.
general Its shortcomings are dealt with
unsparingly. The few things The Ia,isIo-
'ufe dld complete were undonc bv the
governor. SO that. between the two at
mem the people got nothing eXceDt tbs
privilege OF having their minds Kent in a
rate of 500 day. - '''9
u IS an easy matter Of course fo~ ans.
one 10 ten precisely how Juing, ought Ia
nave been done with the record Of fail
~ before nm Vet some Of the sueges-
uois that are Offered by members of Tn,
groups 20 be found here and there talk
ing about the legislature are worthy Of
S%Dnslaerauon; IT is not al idle chatter.
ms post norton gossip.
The Sitting Committee.
ono Of the inevitable results of The pres
Sll IHStHod OF procedure i'm legislatures is
mat during the dying hours o. the ses-
Slpn scores of measures ar. left tn he
slaughtered by the sitting ccmuitte9
Nnether the bills are good. bad or in
dlttereut they meet pretty mIrl The Same
klnq or treatment at the hands of ths-
sitting committee This body usually con
SistS OF three members. hut sometimes If
mas I'VE IL Is identical with the steering
committee Ia other Legislature For 1fI
lrdcuCal purposes, the steering committee
or either the senate or the house is as
great as the house or the senate itself.
uoned; its functions are 10 take a barrel
iul of bills and reduce them TO a peck
Sudily TINS Is done with "a m1St religious I
ilneiity to duty. The steering commit
zee news close to the line ana lets the
chips tall where they may 50 long as IN. !
me does not lead past the door of any at /
ll5 members OF heir particular friends 4
The sitting committee Sits with a wild {
Is alleged TO be of extraordinary impor-
lance. /
At the Wrong End.
As "a natural consequence of the sitting 1
system many bills never see the light Of ,
day that are really entitled To- consifier-i- 4
ton The trouble with the whole Milan.
say the 'refOTmtrS.' = thai The. SfTtiu.r
committee works at the wrong end of the !
lfsisldllEe session. 'SupposnS.. said one
thoughtful citizen yesterday. the sitting
committee was put to work on the open-
ing day of the session instead of The dav
before IL ought To close. Suppose. too. that
there We're "a joint Sitting committee in
stead of One appointed from each house, /
How much confusion and conflict NIGH
be avoided.
The joint sitting committee XouId sca1
every bill introduced and thereafter no bis
would be introduced i'm either house whose
subject matter was already covered hV 2
'il I'M the othef branch. During the late
session Instances were common where
hree or four bills were introduced in one
louise. all dealing with the same subject
ana three or four III the other house. the
tutupl on liS measure apparently being
I'M blSsIul ignorance of the existence of
any or all bills identical with or similar
TO his own.
This point is well illustrated in the case
Of the juvenile court law. regarding which
legislation "a number of bills were intro {
duced. all of them being practically the {
same, or. at least aiming at the same OBJ
iect- overlapping measures were diScOy- /
cred IN the S0-called anti-Luke legislation /
\ number of house bills bearing ON school
y ialfS were covered BY senate bills and
vice versa II has happened that two or
more biils have become laws whose only
Inference was one or two words. Under
ne supervision of a steering committee
hese conditions would not be likely to
arise.
No Discretionary Power.
Il do not mean to say that the Sitting
committee should be empowered 10 mass
'n the merits of any bill, nor to say
whether its Introduction should he per
nitteG OF barred because it was good
1ill or bad one. 1t should have no dis
dictionary authority of this kind; its du-
les should be merely To prevent duplica-
ions and To keep things moving. Sixty or
evenly bills should not be Dermitted ia
llle up in one committees hands a condi I
ION which was discovered at the eleventh
iour TO be the case with the Judiciary /
ommittee in the house this winter In
NltaDly such a bulk of bills cannot he !
lNeh the consideration which they de-
erNe. IT, indeed. they are given any con- '
liberation at all. Under my plan the
I
lght 10 call on committees for bills and ! y
hese. presented to the houses. would keen
ne calendar in healthy motion. never con-
eSted. but just comfortably filled In / I
mort the sessions work should be done
urins the earlier portion of the assem- !
y, instead of rushing things through
aphazard in the last few days
Determining Legal Phases. /
In my opinion good deal of trouble
urlng and after the session could he ! !
Noided II there was a commission say of
hree, 10 pass on the probable constitu- I
onality of bills, to ascertain whether
hey came into conflict with existing stat
ties. to determine whether amendments T
, present laws We're important enough 10
arrant their adoptiOn-in fact. a commits I
on of capable lawyers to pass Z on the
schnlcal Law points OF all measures This {
1mmlssion. of course, could not take the
lace OF the supreme court and declare
nally whether or not a measure wouIJ Z
land the constitutional test, even before
had been enacted into law but its sug-
estlons would be valuable as guides in 1
laklng bills perfect in their construction
no phraseolosy. Preferably this commits 4
on would be a nOn-partisan board and
5 members not legislators. The expense {
such board would be slight especially