The Penn's Grove record., 1915-11-05
STATE CAPITOL NEWS
What The State Officials Are Doing.
What The Political Leader Are
Talking About.

1916 Legislature and the training Of the
campai gn guns for the PresidentalGoY-
ern0rship-Un United States SeDatorship-
Congressional election next fall are the
red letter items now on the cards Of the
political leaders Of the state, following
the election yesterday. Slate making for
the officers Of the Senate and Assembly
has already commenced, to be continued
until the Democratic and Republican
~caucusses are held about the middle Of
December. The greatest interest cen
tiers ia who viii be President Of the SEN
ate, this honor carrying with it the Act
ing GoVernorship in the absence Of the
Governor from the state, and Speaker
Of the House Of Assembly. Also there
is much interest in the question of who
will be the respective party floor leaders
in the two Houses.
The matter of the party pilots viii be
settled by the selection of the chairman
Of the ~eaucusses, custom debating that
the chairman Of the caucus shall be the
leader on the floor. In the case of the
majority party in each House, the floor
leader will likewise be chairman of the
Judiciary Committee. the most important
committee post, while the minority leader
will become the minority member Of this
committee. The candidates for Presi-
dent of the Senate, Speaker of the House
and the other Offices viii be chosen by a
majority vote in each party caucus.
The 140th Legislature viii convene
on Tuesday, January II, at noon, when
the majority party in each branch vii
formally organize the body, the minor
ity party making its nominations as q
matter of form, giving the empty honor
to the candidates chosen at the caucus
ses.
Next to the organization Of the Leg
i~slature the personnel Of the committees
will be the question of interest. In the
Senate the standing committees are
composed Of three Senators, each, while
the Assembly committees comprise i've
members, each. In the Senate the ma
jority always has two members on each
committee. to one member for the mi
nority. In the Assembly, it is four Of
the majority, to one for the minority.
The appropriations committee is the only
exception to this rule. This is a joint
committee and has four members in the
Senate, of whom three are from the ma
iority. and five in the House, of whom
four are from the majority. The COM
mittee win be named on the opening day
Of the session.
Governor Fielder viii soon begin the
writing of his annual message to the Leg
lslature. and the document viii be of
special interest because 1916 viii be the
last year of Governor Fielder's term.
The new Governor viii be chosen next
November and will be ~inaugurated the
third Tuesday in January, 1917.
3 .
Another question that viii now take
the center of the political stage is that
of what legislation viii be enacted dur
ing the new session. Without a doubt
the usual crop of 1000 to 1900 bills
win be introduced, Of which probably less
than 300 viii pass both Houses and be
signed by Governor Fielder. Within the
first week or two of the session both par
ties VIII have bills introduced carrying
out the pledges Of the respective plat
forms.
The Democratic lawmakers are pledg-
ed against a state tax and in favor Of a
comprehensive state budget system to
safeguard the finances; also to uphold
the civil service law and to maintain in
violate the Geran election act. Some
of the other things to which they are
pledged by their platform are: Fewer
and better laws; liberal state aid for
maintenance Of a system Of good roads;
development and Improvement Of educa-
ton and the extension Of Industrial and
agricultural education; additional State
Normal Schools for the training # school
teachers; reform Of the State Board of
Agriculture: a central purchasing burr
eau for the purchase Of al state sup
plies; strengthening Of the wcrsmen's
compensation act, ana an extension Of
the principle of economy and efficiency
in the state government.
The Republicans in the Legislature
are pledged by their platform to enact
laws for a revised financial policy, in
Guiding a business-like budget system:
development of the waterways and har-
bors of the state; promotion of free ed
u%cation: development of industrial, voca-
tional and agricultural education; prop
err equalization of tax assessments; re-
vision Of the road laws and development
Of the good road system; proper protec-
ton of labor interests; continuation of
the policy of economy and efficiency:
SlllbtAtltdlltn " tAC GAt1AA0A 1N' 49,
without sacrificing the safety and honesty
Of the ballot; proper home rule for NUM-
cipalities; the elimination of grade cross
ing in the order of their danger and as
rapidly as the expense involved viii per-
nit; and the maintenance for safeguard
ing of the civil service act.
1t win be noted that the party pledges
are quite similar, so that with both par
ties pledged to these reforms, there
should be no difficulty in putting them in
to law.
The first runs in the campaign for the
big election next fall will really be fred
in the coming legislative session. Both
parties viii strain every nerve to win
the advantage during the session that
will aid the quest for votes in the choos-
ing of the big officers. This viii I'M
doubtedly lead to a lot of political jock