Evening journal., 1915-01-07

locations. All who enter or leave
the park will pass in front of this
tribute to the valor and memory OF
Delaware's Revolutionary soldiers.
The Panama-Pacific international
Exposition.
The PanamaPacific International
Exposition Commission of Delaware
authorized by the last General AS
sembly to take charge of the States
participation in the Exposition to be
held in San Francisco this year. was
appointed by the Governor. Several
meetings were held at which the
question of the States part in this
important international event was
discussed. The appropriation of one
thousand dollars not being sufficient
for the Commission to accomplish
anything in the way of arranging for
a suitable representation of the
State, no definite conclusion has been
reached regarding this question AT
least fifteen thousand dollars would
be required to provide a creditable
participation. AS the members of
the Commission, under the circum-
stances, do not feel justified in re-
commencing the expenditure of this
amount of money, they will not pro-
! ceed further in the matter unless vou
should decide to take further action.
Public Archives Commission.
| desire TO call your attention 10
the work being done by the Public
Archives Commission which has been
engaged during the past two years in
searching for State papers of his
torical interest and value 10 the
! State (lrIF Rnynlnffrt,arrr
which were supposed to have been
/ lost have been unearthed. and within
/ a short time all of the State records
/ and papers prior to 1850 will be pro-
perly and safely filed in the fire-proof
room of the Public Archives Conn
mission. The Revolutionary Records
and those of the war of 1912 will be
| in printed form. as a result of the
/ appropriation allowed by the last
| General Assembly.
Caesar Rodney.
l have been reminded by citizens
from without our State that there ia
no painting of Caesar Rodney in In
I dependence Hall in Philadelphia and
that inasmuch as there is no likeness
of sufficient authenticity extant from
which a portrait could be painted. the
State should erect a tablet to com
memorate the patriotic services
which this distinguished Delawarean
rendered his State and country.
The expense of providing a tribute
of this character is so small that il
would seem the State of Delaware
could with propriety express the
patriotic sentiment of her citizens by
placing in Independence Hall tablet
to the memory of her distinguished
son
Revised Code.
The Revised Code Commission
which was authorized by the General
Assembly at the session of 1909, has
completed the work and submitted
report, which was adopted at the
extraordinary session of the General
Assembly convening at Dover on Sep
tember 2S. 1914. While the Commits
sion was in existence. two of its
members. the Honorable Charles 3.
Lore and Walter H. Hayes. Esq,
died. and the Honorable T. Bayard
Heisel was appointed to serve with
II. H. Ward, Esq, the surviving mem
ber of those originally appointed The
work of the Commission has been
performed in such an efficient man
ner as to merit the belief that the
instrument will stand forth as
masterpiece of codifcation, and serve
as an example for other states to fol-
low.
The Code is now the law of the
State, and the course to be followed
in amending it has been specifically
set forth. It is, therefore, very inn
portant that in adopting any legisla
ton which affects the Code you
should be careful to adhere strictly
to the method prescribed therein.
Drafting and Reference Service.
The past years a great amount Of
time has been uselessly expended by
members of the General Assembly, in
considering bills which after they
were enacted into laws have been
found to be unconstitutional, OBJ
scure. and defective. In the drafting
of bills for submission to the law
making body, brevity and simplicity,
{ consistent with accuracy in the Ian
guage of the statutes, should be kept
, constantly in mind. To provide for
, the proper preparation Of bills many
, states have established legislative
. bureaus. in charge of a competent at
: torney, whose duty is not to direct
5 legislation, but only to advise. The
{ bureau feature would be too extern
sive for the needs and requirements
/ of our State AS a substitute for it,,
5 something akin to the New Jersey
5 plan could be adopted in Delaware,
5 at a minimum expense.
/. In New Jersey the Attorney Cen
S eral appoints a competent counsellor
- at law. of the state, to act as legis-
S lative advisor or examiner during the
- month of December, and during the
session of the General Assembly, and
for such further time as shall be de-
S signated by the president of the Sem
r ate and the speaker of the House, on
Z request of either house of the Gener-
4 al Assembly, or any committee or
= member thereof His duty shall be
Y to examine all bills and resolutions
Q and any amendments thereto, for the
10 purpose of avoiding repetition and
r. unconstitutional provisions, thus in
o suring accuracy in text, and refer
n ences TO existing statutes, and TO
t advise as to the constitutionality and
T effect of proposed legislation.
The appointment of this advisor
r by the Attorney General ought to en-
Z sure the services of a counsellor
/ sufficiently learned in the law ia
V perform properly the duties reQuir-
# ed. The compensation of this official
# could be fixed by statute or by some
s other method whereby he would be
J., odooratelv comnensatcd for his ser