Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 80, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 January 1915 — This Certainly Sounds Good. [ARTICLE]

This Certainly Sounds Good.

I—Speaker Bedwell of the lower house.. of the Indiana legislature, in taking up his diries, made the folloving most excellent remarks. and if words count for anything and the members follow his advice the members of the house will have no cause to complain of any unjust criticism from the people whom ‘hey represent for their ‘ voi «' » t Tais session. Lieutenant-Governor G’Neill’s remarks on the opening of the session in the senate were also good, but The ■ Democrat considers Mr. Bedwell's remarks so exceptionally good that they, are copiec? entire? He said: “Gentlemen of the House of Representatives: •• "I you for the high honor that you have conferred upon me by electing me presiding officer Of the Housp. I am not unniind'ul of the responsibilities of the position and it is with no feeling of overconfidence 1 assume the task. I pray your forbearance if I should not measure up to all of your requirements. . ..v’ 1 ":/-

‘‘lndiana is going to require much of its' srxty-ninth general assembly, and upon the spirit, the honesty and the intelligence with which we meet these problems of the hour will depend its* appreciation. “We are here as representatives of the people of a great stare , tha t have imposed upon ns a sacred ; rust, and we must administer it with moral courage and with an - eye single to the interest of those we were elected tp serve. '? “idea's of governmen change as the people become mUM-informed about public affairs.' 'and never before have they scrutinized more carefully or demand more explicitly that their servants truly represent them by deed as well as by word. ‘During, the last decade there has been jiiuch criticism of state legislatures, much of it just, some of it unjust, but if we are honest with ourselves we must admit that there is not the feeling of .confidence in the meeting of our legislatures that their importance deserves. It is no uncommon event to hear laymen deprecating the fact that the’ legislature is in session, or demanding that, qur system of enacting laws be radipcally changed, afid “unless we respond more readily to enlighten public sentiment there is grave danger that this will be done. . ‘‘While it is not my duty, nor within my province, to dictate or outline policies of legislation, I feel that I am not exceeding the bounds °f_ my® authority if I suggest some things that to me seem essential if we are to gain, the confidence of the people and make this session One of which we will be proud to have been members. “I can not help but feel that We have In the past had too much local legislation that is of no benefit to the state as a whole and that results! in more harm than good. Some pron - inent individual in some community

has had some unpleasant experiences, often theemost trivial in character, and for the purpose of righting his imaginary wrong he comes to the legislature asking for relief. A law is passed affecting the entire state; conditions in other communities are different, the law is disobeyed, and the legislature must bear the burden of censure because it has not acted wisely. "Legislation should some as a result of a wide and varied experience and a careful and exhaustive investigation. The limited time, the great number of bills introduced, makes it impossible that we investi"at»- every measure exhaustively, but we should nor enact them into law,

■■• : ; because we do not underhand them. Many appeals will be 'ado to you to support legislation, on the theory that it affects only a certain community- and the people of hat community want it. Be sure that :be ir ; < asure is of benefit to the people of that community, and that it not of detriment to the remainder o' thW state. ' -

“I am Tully convinced that we have oo much statutory iaxv. Wc can never reduce the cost of government we continually give it more duties to perform. It was Jefferson's idea o: government that the people are best governed who are least governed,. and while, modern thought will not permit great evils to go unregulated. it seems to me that there ;re nany minor faults in our civilizafion ?ii; ' do not demand statutory regulation. ''Our courts are clogged with casea; there “is a continual demand for ti e creation of new courts: statutory regiilation has been applied to the simplest human action, and the ayerage individual Is so encompassed by legal restraint and regulation that ie wanders in a maze from which there is no escape.

“The thought”that I have tried to Convey is that we should have less legislation and that it should reach fundamental and important wrongs and not merely superficial and unimportant faults.

Let me say a few words about the organization and work of the House oi representatives as distinguished from the general principles of lawmaking. ■

T>.> j re is no reason why this house shqixld not be conducted along the *ume careful line of economy and efficiency - hat the work of a business organization is conducted.

t “There is no public sentiment and no party exigency that justifies the employment of more men than are absolutely necessary to do our \fork efficiently, and the fact that men are go< d party men and have rendered * tuable political service is no reason way they should be placed upon the i ay roll of this house if they are not competent to do the work to which the are assigned.

“Within the next sixty days a great mass bf bills will be introduced isl this house. .Many of them will be amended in committee or on the floor of the house. Those that are enacted into law must be engrossed and enrolled—the location of a. comma or the omission of a word may radically affect the meaning of a law, and unless the work of engrossing and enrolling bills and writing reports of amendments is done by careful, competent and honest employes we may expect the same ambiguities and uncertainties that have brought discredit to our legislative system.

Much hag been said during the last two months about lobbying in the legislature. It is for you men to say what shall be dene to curtail any evils that may have arisen under the system. We all realize that our constituents have an absolute rigjit to petition and request that we support or oppose measures in which they are interested, and that because of the multitude of questions that arise it is impossible for any member tu be fully informed upon all questions and much valuable information is received from persons that appear

before committees or address communications to the members. "But there is a kind of lobbying that 1$ pernicious in the extreme, that casts suspicion upon the legislature and results in much harm. That is the lobbying that.is indulged in by paid representatives of certain interests that are not content to allow measures to be acted upon fairly and. impartially, but seek to influence action through political influence, trade of support, threats, intimida-tions,'-personal favors, or more unsavory methods.

, ‘ e should do all in our power to eliminate such undefendable pract ces and nrach credit will result if this house handles the question in a proper manner.

’’ln conclusion, let me say that I have no'desire excd.pt to preside .over this house fairly and impartially, I shall not attempt to use any of the powers of my office to overthrow the rights of any mine ,ty party or of any individual. If this house desires to pass legislation to which I ahi opposed,/ I shall not violate the rules of parliamentary law to prevent it. I hope that the majority partv in this house, will not see fit to oppose legislation simply because it originates .with a member in the minority party. ■

/‘Measures arise in which political questions are not involved, and we are here to represent , not only a political party, but to represent the people of .the whole state of Ind Sana. Their rights are paramount. They, are demanding of us that we administer our government more economically—they are demanding that we make the cost of this session of the house of representatives as, low as it can possibly be made and efficient work be done. “They- are demanding that this state legislature enact its laws unhampered by lobbyists and politicians that represent special interests. If these things be done we need have no fear of their commendation when the session is closed.”