New-York tribune., 1922-03-20
Legislatures
Work Praised
AS Constructive
Citizens Union Secretary.
in 4 Review, However. De
plores Failure of Several
Lockwood Comma
Curbs Reacticna-v Policy
lndorsemeu. of F9ome Rule
Measure Vailed as Croq,
Reform Corns,,endsNTi'ln..

Praise for the work Of tho Leeisla-
.ure in the sesS'cY jul eriad * con
tsined in "A review by Walto, T Ar,,S4
secretary OF tae Citi7evs UMian. wl,ich
was made public vest, Ylav. r. +ho
ehnion Of Mr. Arndt. however. fa;i,,~o
Of several Of the measures Of the Lock
wood committee is 70 he denlored.
at cannot be said" wrote Mr.. Arnd.
athat the reactiorary tendencies vh;ch
were noted in the 1927 secession van as
marked. this yea a. l&st Not all of
the much discussed program Of tho
lockwood committee was OasSe5 ND
the failure Of some Of i's ,'nasuros / =
distinctly 70 be Aerlored The 1egisia-
ion favored by many womcv's orgaa;. .
.stions 10 have the state cake the tea
.ral aid offered by the Shevnard
Towner law wss ne Sccepted. but a
iecidediy progressive step vrs taks-,
in the enactment Of the pavonpo,.
alternative plan for mat rri;v sid
with sn appropriation Of $3.50 900 t.
start on.
Victory for Home Rule
"And perhaps most imnortant from
the point Of view both of the cities of
the state and the Legislature was tn
approval Of the home rule constitn
-ionsl amendment, long advocated bv
me state coNfe~once of mavors and
other organizations. While Thu
amendment Is only q step In the right
direction ard Will have TO be again
psssed next year before submission to
the people its approval cannot but be
considered as clear victory for a far
reaching reform which will tend to
tree the cities from legislative tinker
ing and the Legislature from consid-
eration of purely local matters with
which, on the whole. it has little or no
concern.
The measures above mentioned. TO-
esther with commendable changes in
the civil service Law, apnroval of the
Port Authority plan, excellent rccodi-
scstion Of the election law, approval
Of the new judiciary article TO the con
stitu.ion, enactment of legislation
carrying out the constitutional provI-
SONS for children's courts. amendment
and improvement of the transit COM
mission act, creation Of q State Deoart-
nAnt Of Purchases and reorgani i-ation
o. the Farms and NArhets Department
are enough to indicate the important
and highly constructive character of
ii. work Of the Legislature"
Governor Real Party Leader
M Arndt points out that in both
houses the control of the majority
party was absolute, and the leadership
Of Speaker Machold and Majority
Leader Lusk was not successfully
challenged. But the most important
influence, as he sees it, was Governor
Miller.
Over and above leaders and major
lvy conferences alike" wrote Mr.. Arndt.
"tae directing authority of Governor
Miller was, as last year, final and de-
cislgs on all matters, big or little.
Again as in 1921, the final test on all
s'lfs Of bills was whether or not the
G'elnor would stand for it. The stu
zion presented a perfect exemolifca-
Ton Of the Governors theory of party
responsibility, and his frank accept
snce OF the state leadership OF ms
party. From every point of view. there
fore, II can be said that the law-makire
factory, which was referred to as Mil
ers mill year ago, was running
without any indication Of wear and tear
on the machinery. and was still capable
Of turning out at high speed select
brand of statutory grist"
Commenting on the failure Of the
hylan administration to get MANY