RECENT STATE CONSTITUTION-MAKING 83 



can be roused to such a pitch that a special session of the legislature 

 will be called to enact a law forbidding it. In this way the infrequent 

 sessions of the legislature may tend to defeat real progress. 



VETO POWER OF THE GOVERNOR 



Like the federal government, the governments of the American 

 States are suffering from a lack of the concentration of responsibility. 

 It is difficult to find anybody who is responsible for any legislation. 

 This diffusion of responsibility, combined with the ideas of the mem- 

 bers that they must represent — first of all, the particular locality from 

 which they are returned — has led to special and local legislation and 

 laws that are detrimental to the public interest. This tendency was 

 foreseen by the framers of the constitutions, and they endeavored to 

 guard against it by giving the governor the veto power. There are but 

 three States in which this power is not put into the hands of the gov- 

 arnor. These are Ohio, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Formerly 

 the governor did not have the veto power in Delaware, but by the new 

 constitution which went into operation in 1897 he is given the usual 

 power to veto all bills. Of course, the influence of the governor in 

 legislation is enormously increased by this power. It is rare that a 

 bill may be passed over his veto. Consequently his power to kill unwise 

 bills and impress upon his constituents the soundness of his judgment 

 and strength of his individuality is afforded by the exercise of this nega- 

 tive of legislation. It has been said that Grover Cleveland's rise to 

 fame and the presidency is due in large measure to his fearless use of 

 the veto power. It is true that he made a great record in the state of 

 New York as a veto governor. If his fame was originally due to the 

 use he made of this power, it is clear that had he been the executive of 

 a State where this power is denied the governor and where that officer 

 is a sort of nonentity as far as law-making is concerned, it is very 

 probable that he would never have been prominent in our national fife. 

 Governor Odell of New York first impressed his good judgment and 

 strong individuality upon the people of that State by the use of the 

 veto power. 



Now, if there be added to the general veto power of the governor 



