Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-10-09
THE STATES PooH-BAH
He 10 the Busiest Official In the
comronwealth---What the New
Census VIII Reveai---some
-, Tiny Townships
BY GEORGE NoX MCCAIN
JAMES N. MOORE is the pooh bah o

/ Ds "cVNpE NoN nICOftIN
| JAMES n. MOORE IL the pooh bah OF
- Pennsylvania oficialdom.
| His name appears on the roster Of state
officials as director Of the Legislative Refer
ence Bureau. His title conveys no inklng of
the varied character Of his duties.
| As director of the reference bureau Mr..
Moore is an encyclopedia authority upon
legislation pastsand present.
BcfoSe any bills are presented in House
| or Senate they are supposed TO have passed
! under the rod of the directors criticism.
II they are plugged full Of grammatical
| errors, "Jim" Moore puttes up the holes.
| If they are obscure In phraseology, he
brushes away the cobwebs Of confusion by
| simplifying the sentences.
He il an official godsend to the dull. hesi-
tant, unsophisticated or ignorant legislators.
II they desire to introduce q bill and
| cannot frame it, they give James n. Moore
| the idea and he drafts 1t for them. He sees
that it conflicts with no other bill along
| similar lines; that it Is fool proof and per-
| feet
AfNr which the legislator initiates his
chest. wags his head and boasts to his con-
stitucnts about ''his" bill.
Al LII this is the least of Mr.. Moore's
"A duties.
During legislative sessions he is the par
Humanitarian of the House. If he has any
title 1t Is speaker to the speaker.
More than half the session James n.
Moore is the real speaker of the House. He
is the power behind the throne.
And that is no idle assertion. as hundreds
of gentlemen over the state who have sat in
theslegislative halls can bear witness.
As parliamentarian. standing hour after
hour at the speakers side, he tells the
speaker what to say in parliamentary mix
ups or delicate points Of order. And the
speaker says 1t, because he knows that
Moore knows.
James n. Moore is the highest authority
on parliamentary usage in Pennsylvania.
sr The strain r. "pSn him. beth h.p physical and and
on the closing day of the last session of the
House he was on the ragged edge Of physical
prostration. He Is slight man in physique,
with low voice and gentle manner.
He has other duties.
TN THE twenty months that intervene be-
i tween sessions of the House and Senate
at Harrisburg he is metamorphosed.
He becomes an editor and compiler.
He specializes in classification, or codif.
cation, Of special laws, which are subse
quently bound and sent forth to grace the
law libraries OF the state.
His latest publication is a volume of 700
pages recently issued from the press. He
modestly refers to 1t as Bulletin" 1t is
pudgy. cloth bound book bearing the title.
"A Compilation of the Laws Relating to
Being a member of the bar himself Mr..
Moore knows just what lawyers require In
the way of reference books. His last con-
tribution shows this.
But there is more to tell.
II a lawyer in Cearfeld county. or
county commissioner in Lebanon, or a for
mer member of the House in Allegheny. or n
justice Of the peace in Lehigh wishes to know
about a particular law passed in a certain
year. or If some statute Of forty years ago
has been repealed. the inquiry ultimately
finds its way to Mr. Moore's bureau. He is
expected to and does look up the matter and
forward the correct answer.
All the above is separate and apart from
the daily routine Of the bureau. A good
many state and city officials would coddle
killed II they had Mr.. Moores job.
And for $4,000 per annum, at that.
THE fact that Pennsylvania's population
i has increased only 13 per cent in the last
decade is the least disappointing feature of
the census.
The drift Of population from the country
to the city Is the danger suggested In the
report of the state census made public this
week.
The average citizen fails to grasp the ex-
tent or meaning Of this shift Of population.
The census of 1910 revealed the start of
the movement. The world war accelerated 1t.
The census Of 1910 showed that nearly
every township in strictly rural counties
was decreasing in population. Not a county
in Pennsylvania. barring Philadelphia, ALE
gheny and Dauphin, but showed decline in
The r census Of 1920 will reveal more
startling figures.
Monroe county is a fair sample. Out of
fifteen townships, ten showed n decrease in
population from the preceding census Of
1900. In Mexican county twelve townships
out of fourteen showed a decline, some
amounting to more than 40 per cent.
OCCASIONALLY a newspaper paragraph
~ from out the West or South tells how
such or such a county hasn't sufficient popu-
lation to furnish election officers.
Pennsylvania has been dangerously near to
that condition. Some Of its townships run
a mighty good second to the western story.
OF course, equal suffrage will change all
this. There will be at least enough to officer
one polling place in township. with suffi
cient citizens over to cast few votes.
Up in Tioga county, Nelson township has
only fifty nine inhabitants.
In Pike county, Palmyra township las
n population of only fifty. Counting five
persons to n family, there would be just
enough male voters to man one polling place.
Pine township, in Clearfe!d county, has
only thirtytwo people resident within its
borders. The neighboring township Of Pike
comes to the front with population Of 1871.
The prize for the smallest population goes
to an almost neighboring county, Lebanon.
In Cold Spring township. according to the
census Of 1910, its population totaled TWEEN
ty nine souls. 1t was an increase OF eleven
from the census of 1890, when it had pop
uation Of eighteen.
After all, this does not mean great deal
when one considers that hunters can shoot
quail within fifteen miles of City Hall and
trappers every winter clean up nice sum
from the pelts Of fur bearing animals taken
within an hours auto ride OF the city limits.
A Florida Warning
Fort Mccoy Correspondence Ocala Banner.
Il oil nnind