CONNECTICUT. 



detailed report of their labors, with a bill in- 

 t -ii'Iud to carry their reccomnu'iulations into 

 effect, Governor Andrews invites the Legisla- 

 ture to give those documents a careful and 

 most cautious consideration," and to pass tho 

 new procedure act " if it may render the means 

 of access to tho tribunals of justice more easy 

 an 1 plain, . . . and free the courts of the State 

 of Connecticut from the reproach of that delay 

 whieh oftentimes amounts to a practical denial 

 of justice." In this connection he urged tln-m 

 to attend to the matter of *' costs in civil cases," 

 and " by all means to do away with continu- 

 ances, at least after the first term." Ho sug- 

 gested tho limitation of these costs by the pas- 

 sage of a law enacting that " a certain sura 

 should be payable each time the cause advances 

 one stage, as at the entry of the action, when 

 issue is joined, and at final judgment," con- 

 cluding with these words : " Let it be fixed so 

 that the costs shall be a spur to diligence, and 

 not a premium to delay." He recommended 

 the submission to the people for adoption or 

 rejection of the constitutional amendment for 

 biennial sessions, and pointed to the advantages 

 that will result to the State from such a mea- 

 sure, especially in regard to economy and the 

 " relief from the growing mischief of over-legis- 

 lation." 



The January session of the Legislature in 1879 

 was closed by final adjournment on March 28th. 



An act was passed to provide for the print- 

 ing of bills, instead of engrossing them by 

 hand while yet under action of the Legislature, 

 as recommended by the Governor. 



The bill entitled " An act to simplify pro- 

 cedure in civil causes, and to unite legal and 

 equitable remedies in the same action," sub- 

 mitted with their report by the Commissioners 

 appointed to inquire into the feasibility of sim- 

 plifying the system of legal procedure, was 

 favorably reported upon by the Committee on 

 the Judiciary, and passed by both Houses. This 

 act, which alters the method of legal procedure 

 heretofore obtaining in the State, and is now 

 in force, is said to be received with disfavor 

 by the lawyers generally, who object against it 

 especially on the ground that it is calculated 

 to work confusion and increase litigation. At 

 the time of its final passage in tho Senate, on 

 March 13th, a Senator moved that "the bill 

 and the report of the Committee be continued 

 to the next session of the General Assembly, 

 and that the bill and the report of the Commis- 

 sion be published with the laws of the pres- 

 ent session, and that the Secretary of State 

 be requested to send a copy of the bill and re- 

 port of the Commission to the President of 

 each County Bar for consideration and action." 

 This motion was lost by a tie vote. In regard 

 to the object of the said act, a joint resolution 

 was also passed by the Lower House and con- 

 curred in by the Senate on March 21st, "con- 

 tinuing the Commission appointed to consider 

 the feasibility of simplifying the system of 

 legal procedure." 



Two constitutional amendments, separately 

 proposed by the Lower House at the uesaion 

 of 1878, were approved by both Houses at the 

 session of 1879, and submitted to the people's 

 vote for adoption or rejection at the Stale 

 election, October 0, 1879. One provided for 

 biennial sessions of the General Assembly, ami 

 the other that Judges of the Supreme Court of 

 Errors and of the Superior Courts should hold 

 office during good behavior, but not after 

 seventy-five years of age. In the Senate these 

 amendments were approved with but one 

 negative vote. 



" An act concerning tramps " was passed, 

 being a substitute for the original bill, to which 

 many amendments were made. It now resem- 

 bles in several particulars the New Hampshire 

 tramp law in a milder form. 



An act was also passed repealing the act 

 of January, 1877, which made a reduction of 

 ten per cent, in salaries and fees paid by the 

 State. 



By acts passed in 1879, the catching of sal- 

 mon is prohibited till May, 1883 ; and the fish- 

 ing season for shad is fixed between March 1st 

 and June 20th each year. 



A joint resolution was adopted "raising a 

 commission to examine and revise the laws re- 

 lating to joint-stock companies " ; also a joint 

 resolution ' continuing to the adjourned session 

 of this Assembly in January, 1880, the joint 

 resolution of the House of Representatives No. 

 32, instructing the Committee on Constitutional 

 Amendments to report an amendment to the 

 Constitution of this State providing for spring 

 sessions of the General Assembly " ; also a 

 joint resolution "appointing a joint standing 

 committee, to consist of one Senator and eight 

 Representatives, on retrenchment, reform, and 

 abuses ; and providing that hereafter such a 

 committee shall be appointed on or before the 

 third day of each session." 



A bill " relating to the taxation of the sepa- 

 rate property of married women," providing 

 that such property shall be set in the tax- lists 

 in the wife's own name, and not in the lists of 

 the husband, as recommended by the Governor, 

 was introduced in the House of Representa- 

 tives, reported on adversely by the Committee 

 on the Judiciary, and finally rejected by the 

 House, and by the Senate in concurrence, on 

 March 3d. 



The following four bills were also introduced 

 in the Lower House in behalf of women, re- 

 ported upon unfavorably by the appropriate 

 committees, and after deliberation rejected in 

 the Lower House: An act " providing that all 

 the property, real and personal, owned in her 

 own right by any woman in this State, shall bo 

 entirely exempt from taxation"; an act "con- 

 ferring upon tax-paying women the right to vote 

 in city, borough, and town meetings " ; an act 

 " conferring upon women tho right to vote in 

 school districts " ; and an act " conferring upon 

 women the right to vote on all questions relat- 

 ing to the sale of intoxicating liquors." 



