The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1913-01-08
Election of Municipal JUDGES.

!
| This would be a radical change of poll
! cy. New England as a whole has stead
| lily maintained a system of judicial ap-
| pointments either by the executive or
| the legislature The principle of nomi-
nation by the governor and election by
| the general assembly, first adopted for
| the supreme court of errors and the su-
| per1or court, has been for years, and
with general acceptance, extended to
| the court of common pleas and the dis
trict court OF Waterbury In my opin-
| ion it should be now further extended
| to all municipal courts.
| L recommend that the same course
be adopted in the case of the judges of
| city, police, borough and town courts
! and that the proposed constitutional
amendment respecting them be not ap-
| proved.
Increasing Pay of Members of the Gen.
eraI Assembly.
Serving for two general assemblies,
the proposed augmentation of their pay
from $500 to $500 would be for the rep
resentauves but a seeming one, since
they would get only $3.50 for each SEES
sion instead of $500, as now The pay
of senators, however, would be largely
increased and thus a discrimination
CLCdIC0 al bA0A1 4dfOE 1OE WHICH nO
good reason can be assigned.
Election eff Senators.
I renew the Recommendation made to
the last general assembly, that an
amendment to the constitution be pro-
posed, whereby. senators shall be elect
ed at large on general ticket.
The only merit of senatorial dis
tricts is that they secure some repre-
sentation to political minorities. The
same end can be better accomplished
by e1ecting senators on a general tick
ct, if no one is allowed to vote for
more than two-thirds of those to be
elected, or If a scheme of cumulative
voting or proportionate representation
be adopted.
1t will be observed that my present
Recommendation differs from that sub
nitted to the last general assembly in
that it contemplates a senate of twelve
members instead of thirty-6ve. The
latter number was then suggested as
the one likely to meet with the least
antagonism, since it left as many
places to be filed as now exist To this
opposition was made by friends of
short ballot" A recurrence to the
original number of twelve goes far to
meet this ground of objection and also
makes the senate filter for the dis
charge of its functions in passing upon
nominations sent in to it by the gov
ernor. As TO these they are, in effect,
an executive council, and a small body
can act with much more efficiency than
a large one.
Mileage of Members of the General
Assembly.
Toward the close of 1911 a bill was
presented to the comptroller by a rail-
road company for transportation fur
nished for members of the general as
sembly under authority which it was
claimed was derived from the section
of the general statutes above mention
ed The comptroller requested the
opinion of the attorney general as to
whether the board of control would be
authorized to appropriate public mon
eys to discharge this bill, and in reply
the opinion was given that the comp
troller had no right to contract with
any railroad for such a ticket as is
contemplated IN that section unless he
could do SO without paying a greater
sum therefor than the mileage which
the member requesting the ticket was
entitled to receive under general stat
utes, section 1912, which follows the
terms of the twenty amend
ment to the constitution.
Under this opinion, in which 1 fully
concur, the comptroller will not be
able hereafter to purchase Tansporta-
ton for any member at a cost exceed
ing that of his mileage within the con-
stitut1onal limit.
The pay of members of the general
assembly was formerly So for each day
of actual legislative session and mile
90 fOT. f7-iT1 10 nd ho nj
tai. In 1865 it was provided that no
member should receive compensation
for more than forty-five days of actual
session, not including Sundays-that is,
not over $135. In 1872 the lump sum
of $500 in favor of each member of the
assembly, without any mileage, was
substituted. Six years later mileage
was added at the rate of % cents a
mile for one trip to the capital, going
and returning.
The constitutional amendment of
1884 was obviously designed in adopt
ing this statutory policy to fix for the
future limits that could not be exceed
ed and to fix them in such a manner
as naturally to favor short legislative
Bessions. It was part of, the scheme
Under which, we substituted biennial
for annual sessions and was therefore
framed in contempla ton of the occa-
sion which the necessity of legislating
at each session after that in 1886 for
the wants of two years instead of one
would give for prolonging it.
1 strongly recommend a return to
the ancient custom unwisely aban-
doned twelve years ago. With four
days a week given to actual sessions
the assembly can complete its bust
ness in three months and probably by
the middle of March
The State Is Spending More Than Its
Income. q
L have obtained from the comp
troller and now submit for your con-
stderation comparative statements of
the receipts and expenditures of the
szta during