Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1924-08-25
"WHY, HOWDY, BIENNIAL
SESSIONS"


Tuesday, August 9th, 1924, Will
90 down in the history of Geor
gia as a real red-letter day, for
on that date the Georgia legisla-
ture by a vote of $50 to As, pass
ed the biennial sessions bill, an
amendment that has been fought
for for the last quarter OF a cen
fury, to the knowledge of this
writer.
The opposition to this bill put
up a stubborn fight with the best
ammunition it had, but it was
mostly piffle and poor fiffle at
that.
Covington of Colquitt, in all his
career in this state has seldom
been constructive. He seems to
have a perpetual crouch, and he
fought the biennial sessions bill
on the ground that the public
service corporations of Georgia
wanted it passed, yet before there
was any great number of public
service corporations in the state,
the people were clamoring for
biennial sessions. The fact that
all the states in the Union except
two or three have biennial ses-
sions meant nothing to the self
assertive saviors of the people
who deserve to be pilloried to such
an extent that their holding Of
public office in the future will
be impossible.
Herschel Y. Elders was one Of
those opposing the bill, and when
he announced for governor two
or three weeks ago he stated thar
he was against biennial sessions.
He is out of the race already.
However, the victory is so COM
plete it is most gratifying, and
while we hold in contempt those
who fight the will of the people
so often expressed, it may be the
members of such a minority are
honest in their opposition, and on
the other hand it may be a ma
jority of them simply like to
spend a vacation in Atlanta each
summer at the expense of the
taxpayers of the state.
Sixty days every ten years win
afford ample opportunity for all
the legislation that Georgia needs
and we can assure the opposition
of the biennial session bill that
the public service corpo' ations of
the state will not grab it up
and run off with it. If they were
powerful enough to do this per
haps they would not ask much
odds of the powerful opponents
who still want to meet in Atlanta
once a year.
For more than twenty years
The Citizen has been an advocate
of biennial sessions. as a means
of eliminating much politics in
the state, and making for econ
omy and better government.
There is another reform (and
by the way we are no professional
reformer) that is really a com
paniOn of the biennial sessions
bill, and that is the four-year
term, for the governor and other
state officials, making them in
eligible to serve but one term.
This would eliminate more poll
tics, and make for economy and
more business-like service to the
state and its best interests. The
legislature defeated this bill at
this session, but it will be passed
sooner or later.
The argument that officials
should be elected for two years
is based largely on false premises;
that is il an incompetent officia.
Is elected ne win only serve two
years, whereas, under the propos-
ed bill, he would serve four years.
lncompetency, in our opinion, IS
not half so bad as large doses OF
political demagogy. Then, again,
the fact that nearly all Officials
elected for two wears. spend
most Of the two years elcctioneer.
ing for the next, or endorsement.
term is unanswerable argument
against the present system. Il