The morning journal-courier., 1908-12-28

NCulllllNtu Iluil IllSb | hbN'i the day of his inauguration must read the only message of his term to the assembly.
 T think I may speak entirely with out prejudice on this matter, as 1 am retiring after having held the offices of both lieutenant- governor and gov ernor, And also think may speak with a certain knowledge of the sub ject after holding several of the high est public offices in the state.
 There are many things which should like to recommend to the com ing legislature many Improvements which are badly needed In the state. vet have learned these only after the legislative assembly of my term had adjourned And a governor cannot more than begin to get thorough grasp on the matters nf his office be- fore the end of the session of the as- semhly, so he can al the beginning of his term make no suggestions as 10 re- quire legislation on most matters from knowledge derived from experience.
 In this way both the retiring and in- coming governors are hampered and the legislature never receives a really practical message. I know of many ways In which the state could he im- proved, ways In which money could he saved, for in not few respects our state government Is twenty-five years behind the tina. Of course I can sug- gest these things to MT Lllley for his consideration, but there are some things which, coming from the unpreiudiced and experienced retiring governor, would he of value to the assembly and might lead to improvements and re- forms. There are ways in which econ omy could be practiced and the state be put on better business basis. That these recommendations can not he made s not tho fault of the governor but of custom. and if there were a thorough understanding of the matter public opinion would be in favor of an abandonment of the custom.
 "Either this order of messages to the assembly should be reversed or else each governor should have more than one assembly, so that he could give the second one the benefit of his experience and knowledge of matters pertaining to hIs office What would become of any of the large business corporations of this city If their heads were changed every two years and could meet with only one session of the board of direc- tors? Yet the state Is only big cnr- porntlon II Is my belief, speaking en- tlrely from an mpersonal point of view that the custom of never re-electing q governor should he set aside hereafter and give the state the benefit of his experience after two years in office,
 But failing in this, and in giving him two assemblies tho precedent should he started of having the retir- ing executive send a real message to the incoming assembly, emhodying his recommendations as hc knows the needs of the commonwealth, This mes sage should not exclude the message of the new governor but rather be sup- plementary to lt In this way vital reforms could he brought to the alton
 
 choose to follow thcm or not from a man who woushavo had experience in office and whom they would feel to know more about such matters than they themselves.
 To a question as to whether, since he feels SO strongly on the subject. he would not create a precedent of send Ing farewell message, Governor Woodruff said that he does not wish to do anything which MT. Lilley would feel conf1lcted with his work, and so is not sure whether he will do more than give tho governor any advice he may wish. He added that 1t is possible that he may send such a message to the legislature, but will not decide the matter for few days.