The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-05-11

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 bIe job in jeopardy some slight stirrings of selfishness were not felt in the ordinary lawmakers bosom. Especially when the loss or gain of that job may hang on whether his vot is pro or con. Of course most of the members of the General Assembly are not cursed by affluence. The salaries they receive would not keep canary in birdseed to say nothing of provid- ing bit of cuttlebone or a scrap of lettuce on festive occasions. Hence the introduction of person. al consideration, in the average legislators actions is inevitable. Deplorably so. The remedy would seem to be to make the salaries of senators and representatives sufficiently remunerative so that those who draw them would not be exposed to any temptation which a job in the offlng might present. Some day we may get around to paying our legislative laborers a wage worthy oi their hire and in doing so receive the reward Of really enlightened, progressive, or-the-benefit-o legislation. It would be economy in the long run. But neither the reader nor the writer of these lines will ever live to see it come to pass.
 
 One Benefit
 If senators and representatives were forbidden by law to accept any appointment made by the General Assembly and carrying a pay check with it we would be spared this biennial court job mess. Everyone wants to see the courts separated, bed and board, from politics. Personally do not see how it can be done. If the power of filling the court offices IS left solely in the hands Of the governor of the state what assur- ance has anyone that the cheif executive is not going to grind his own personal axe in the selec- tions he makes.
 Not Gov. Cross
 Naturally Governor Cross would be strictly non partisan in his choices. Uncle Toby's definition of non-partisan, however, has more than once been held to mean non-Democratic. Just now the Governor wants his plan for the reorganization of state depart ments carried out. From all vis- ible indications he is going to have his way. The Democratic senate with few exceptions is about to swallow without gagging the re- organization pill about whose component parts few of it's mem bers know anything and about whose complete effect all are in complete ignorance. NeVerthe- less one thing is certain: plenty of jobs are going to be abolished altogether. Or their present occu- pants are on the way out whether they realize it CT not. Anyone of sporting nature would be willing to wager his right eye against a raindrop that those who will get the gate will be Democrats.
 Quid Pro Quo
 Now am not, as the expression of the moment has it lin the know" But it must be obvious that Gov. Cross reorganization plan could not be passed without the consent of the Democratic senate. One does not have to be ill- curably cynical to believe that legislators of any party designa- ton are not voting for something which means the loss of their own jobs or their patronage-if any without receiving something in re- turn. It is inconceivable that Governor Cross would enter into a deal with eighteen Democratic senators on anything, especially the Courts. The eighteen senators might be parties to swap but Governor Cross never could resort to the favorite weapon of the caste of social pariahs which he loves to denounce, the practical politicians. First, last, and all the time, once and for all Uncle Toby is against deals of -ny kind, sort, or descrip- tion. What persuasion, what elo- quence, what call to the Higher Service then has the Governor used to make Democratic senators commit job hari-kari? Can it be that the court nominations are being held up a. Governor Cross's orders until the reorganization measures have been passed? Or that Democratic senators have been promised something if they will just go thc whole route even though the end of that route finds the sacrif1cial sword buried ln their vitals without their realizing it is there until it is too late to draw the blade out! Time will tell. Poetic Justice
 But it would be a piece of gen. uine poetic justice if having lis- tened to the Governors appeal the Democratic senators found them selves at long last in the position of the old-time sailors who re- mained entranced by the song Of the sirens until it was too late to change their course and were dashed to pieces on the rocks. I doublt if any such catastrophe should occur that the Democratic leaders of the state-wh0ever they may be-wOuld be bathed in tears. To them, even more than to the rest of us, the court jobs wangling every two years means nothing but headaches and the realization that tit,1Ia ic mo arhIn-hpQfte0