, 1960-07-18
R E P o 7
on
The Second Session Of the Third Legislature by the
President. Senator Walter i. NJ. Hodge

eLS ry.
vened April III, 1860, at q o'clock PM. in ST. Thomas, Vir-
gin Islands. After the offering Of q Prayer by the Reverend
RAYMOND Thompson of the Calvary Baptist Church, our
Governor, the Honorable John D. MerWin delivered his
State-of-the Territory message.
Commenting on the renovation Of the Legislative Hall
which had just been completed under my direction, the
Governor said
Il think you have done a magnificent job of refurbish-
ing the old Hall and making it have quite a degree OF dig
nlUy, which it did not have before. / think it augurS well
for the Government and the people OF the Virgin Islands,
that we should take a forward step like this and lend dig
nifty and beauty to the Legislative Hall OF the Virgin Is
lands, / have always felt that the Legislative Branch OF
the Government of the Virgin Islands should be on an
equal par with the other Branches OF our Democratic Gov
eminent in every respect and especially the Legislative
Hall should reflect the dignity Of this highly elected body.
We must remember, too, that we act as hosts to a number
of Organizations, some almost International IN scope,
therefore we must be ever mindful that when we invite
these organization to be our guests here and to use the
facilities Of our. Hall we want them to go away with a Ia
vorable impression. Anyone who now visits this hall must
get the feeling of the profound respect for the Importance
we as a people place on our Elected Legislature.
AS the President Of the Legislature it was my respon-
sibility and solemn duty to assume full command and
guide the legislative ship in the. same manner as an ex-
perienced and efficient captain runs his sh1p-there are
PERIODS OF storms and periods OF relative calm ana 1t IS my
responsibility to ride out these storms and bring the ship
safely into port after a successful voyage. have attempted
to do lust this and looking back at the record am fully con-
WINGED that we have just completed a most successful ses-
sion and accomplished a lot tor the people OF the Virgin
Islands. To do this it was necessary to chart the course and
establish. certain definite procedures or rules to follow,
The very first rule established was to have all Bills
referred to the Committee of the Whole. This procedure
worked well and efficiently during the two previous spe-
cial sessions. We were able to accomplish in three days
under this procedure a volume OF Legislative Business that
normally took weeks otherwise. No Senator ever ques-
toned, this procedure during the Special Sessions, but for
Political and other reasons this time a big issue was. de
veloped and a lot of time consumed on prolonged discus
sions Of the rule. The matter was finally resolved by a ma
jority vote and my Ruling was upheld and the work OF the
Legislature progressed.
Governor to send a representative to be present at all
meetings of the Legislature and the Committee of the
Whole. The Governor wisely selected former Governor
Morris F. de Castro now Budget Officer to be his iason
officer with the Legislature. By doing this, the Governor
was able to know the thinking of the Legislators and rea-
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