The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-02-12

| LEGISLATURE has gone, and. though the
body mas worked hard With no mate
rial Interruptions. Il Is much less than
ahit through wtth the work which IL
Is being urged 10 do.
J, Is said that the committees. csps-
ciaily those Of tho House, have already
held more meetings than they. did dur
in;7 the whole session Of 1910. The
pressure upon th"m IS becoming
Srentcr az III" days pass. and. until
sonc time after the rush ot bills is
hult "a. they VIII be up to their eyes
in work. Such things must BE. ana
grow worse each session. until tn"
iength of the session IS increased.
Crowded Calendars.
Tac daily edition Of The calendar OF
the House .: Delegates resembles
volume. "a, IL contains over nifty pages
Of mere titles to bills and resolutions.
That % the senate Is not quite half
as large. but then the senate Is more
than twice as deliberate as thc House
IN IT'S proceedings
The old farce o.: pretending 10 read
tn. bills at length three times in each
house is still to some extent adhered
to. /; has never been thoroughly done,
and - rarely ever necessary. il is one
of the time-killers which the Constitu-
tionai Convention imposed upon the
Legislature. and wbifh. If literally
carried out. would make II is iInpotsnt
n legislative body rs any on earth.
The requirement OF roll call OH caca
motion TO suspend the rules and on
the question OF passing each bill also
consumes Z vast amount OF time, which
might he better employed. There arc
hundreds of roll calls each session in
cases in which not Il dissenting vote
lis east. ami in yii.oh the record has
no earthly value. On the passage CT
strictly local measures II would be
more sensible 20 put a viva yocc vote
Roll calls could nj ways be called for
n'heu necessary. However, only con-
stltutional amendment could save this
waste OF valuable time, and such an
amendment the people voted down IN
1910.
wnn,np'r SufreEc Lost.
one OF the features Of last week :
work in the House vas the defeat OF
the ,voman's suffrage amendment by Il
vote of So TO IL, which put the matter
a, rest for the present session The
amendment offered by Delegate Alden
Bell. TO allow a restricted suffrage 20
women upon tax matters and the hKc'
did no, prevail. though IL might nave
been well Il the sufra gists had fought
for It as Az original proposition ~
similar proposition IS nov before the
I,ezislaturo OF Maryland Win an
opcning wedge In the Constitution the
.ull suffrage TO women might not De
SO difficult TO obtain
TIE companion measure INTRODUCED
In the senate b. Senator Hartman may
be reached this week. II did not set
a single vote IN the committee. out II
viii secure few in tina senate wnen
a perfunctcry vote is taken on -.
Similar measures arc sure TO be pre-
.en,ed 10 the Legislature until! the
nnaI victory Is won-whsnever that
prohihition slipping backward.
rar,y 4, the week the prohibition
referendum was reported untaVoia oi'
| bv the House Committee on Privheeee
! and Elections. II has never peet
po,inced how the committee stood' Out
| q 10 believed that the vote was CLOSE
Tho House, however. is evidenti! IN
favor of 81 by @ substantial ma
,ortty. The effort 10 take II up out
or rs order on Friday lacked the
necessary two-thirds support, the No'e
. being &c to II. similar motion on
Saturday failed by vote oil ~ 70 Oh.
The Treat OF the patron TO call II up
.very day until his motion should sue
ceed appeared to have had the OPP
nosite effec, from that INTENDED. the
opponents Q. the measure and some or
its friends resentiag what they oeemeo
an attempt at coercion. However. II
is no, improbable that tho House VIII
take up the bill one day this week and
Sc, II as q special and continuing
order for day next week. II Is not
regarded as likely that twc-thirds OF
the House will agree 70 It's considera-
ton very much short of the time that
IL would be reached on the calendar In
due course. 49,
After it's passage by the House II VIII
still have a rough road 10 travel In
the Senate Committee on Privileges
and elections (Which is supposed 10
. be much more strongly against II than
was the similar committee OF the
House, as well "a In the Senate It
self. where the opposition appears con-
fdent of a majority OF three OF -FOUR
against 1t in vote OF the full senate.
The Coordinate College
The coordinate college FOR women
at or near the University of Virginia
will probably ne discussed in both
houses the latter part OF this week. 1t
has been reported favorab!y By the
committees OF the Senate and --ousc,
dcapitc a very determined opposition
coming in largo measure from the
surrender OF Chihuahua in five days