Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-01-01
SHORTER LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS.

From the h'ortpcicr JournalD
That the inordinutc length Of the last
session of the Legislature still liners
as an unpleasant memory with soma
citizens of Vermont is iudcutod w a
letter received by the Morning Journal
from "a reader in Barn, who asks if the
compensation of members of the S,nat"
and House al the next session will no,
b" limited to $500 and If such ~ limi-
tation will not tend to make rutu,c scs-
sions shorter than thoso Of tho recent
past The Journals inquirer lis in error
in his belief that the pay of legislators
has been liked at $500 for the session or
at any other amount.
1t is fact however, that a bill cs-
tablshing 500 as the pay for law-mak-
ors was Introduced quite early in the
last session, but VAS defeated in the
ious" 10y tn" emphatic vote Of 100 to 81.
Undoubtedly there existed then as now a
very distinct sentiment among the pco.
pl" in favor of Il shortening of lcgisla-
tive sessions and IL this can ho brought
about by the establishment of a fixed
salary for the States lawmakers tn
change will bee gladly welcomed by an
overwhelming majority Of tho citizens
Other New England States have been
called upon to deal with this problem
Of the constantly Increasing length II
sessions under the per ucm system of
payment. Rhode Island, for example.
without establishing any limit for Sos.
siOns has accomplished the desired re-
suit 10y fixing the time during which
members are allowed compensation Tn
do this law members draw pay for a
period Of sixty days at the rate of s. a
day. " the expiration of that period
pay ceases, bat thu LEGISLATURE may con-
tnue Its session As long "a 1t chooses
but without compcnsat,uu The practical
result has been tGat since the enact
mont of this law no session has eN-
tended beyond the "a days limit for
which pay is provided
Possibly some such system could be
established with advantage here III Ner-
mont but there are other ways in which
the end sought can he reached. Az has
been pointed ont several times recently
II cannot be doubted IN" work Uf tho
Legislature is seriously nampered by
tnc inadenuacN Of the Qualtcrs m the
state House available for Cimmlttco
meetings With proper room for use of
the committees Of the Senate and House
available il is almost certain q suhstan-
t,al saving of tine could be effected and
sessions he correspondence curtailed and
this Is ON" of the many convincing roa-
sons that should induce citizens general
ly to give their approval to the bill pro-
vdinG for tn" erection of an additional
building on the Stat House grounds for
use of the State on which referendum
is to be taken at the March meeting.
large SavinG Of time is likely to re-
suit from the adoption of IN" conStitu-
tional amendment providing for the con-
v"ning Of tn" legislature in January
instead of October a. heretofore. II is n
fact generally recognized that IN the past
much time has been lost and In" prompt
and orderly despatch of business has
been interrupted by Appointments over
Thanksgiving ana christmas holidays,
With sessions beginning in January as
they VIII do hereafter then" VIII be no
such Interruptions and business can pro
coed in a steady yet unhurried manner
that ought to mean further shortening
| of legislative sessions