MESSAGE OF THE GOVERNOR, Presented at the Special Session, April 26th, 1878. STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, To the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island. SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES-By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution of this State, I have convened your honorable body in special session, to consider what reasonable and proper amendments are essential to the General Statutes in view of the proposed immediate repeal of the bankrupt law (so called) by the Congress of the United States. I desire to call your particular attention to the existing provisions of the General Statutes which do not prohibit debtors from making conveyances preferring certain creditors to the impairment of the rights of others, and also to our laws for the collection of debts, which allow the first attaching creditor a prior lien upon the property attached, so that attachments or levies on writs and executions are to be satisfied in full, in the order of time in which they are served, although the debtor may be insolvent. The general bankrupt law of the United States has operated wisely and healthily in restraining these features of our system for several years, but its repeal will remit us immediately to our existing statutory requirements, to the serious injury of our business credit at home and abroad. It is proper for me to express the desire that your honorable body will consider and act upon this question with as much promptness as is consistent with its grave character, and that no general legislation will be introduced to prolong the session, which is not immediately and imperatively demanded for the wise protection of the business interests of the State. CHARLES C. VAN ZANDT, Governor. [NOTE. For laws passed at this special session, see pages 163 to 168; for resolutions, see pages 225 to 229; for roll of members, see pages 230 to 233; and for proceedings in grand committee, see page 236.] Charles Cross, Esq., took his seat at this session, as representative from the town of Charlestown, for the first time during the year. MESSAGE O F CHARLES C. VAN ZANDT, Governor of Rhode Island, TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AT ITS JANUARY SESSION, 1878. PROVIDENCE: E. L. FREEMAN & CO., PRINTERS TO THE STATE. GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. To the Honorable Senate and the House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island. Although there is no provision in our State Constitution or Legislative enactment requiring written messages from the Executive to the General Assembly, since the Governor is ex-officio President of the Senate, and can verbally communicate with that body or the two Houses, comprising the General Assembly when united in Grand Committee, yet as my official predecessors have, for a number of years, communicated their views as to the general condition of the affairs of the State, with such suggestions as have appeared reasonable and proper, to the General Assembly in messages at the commencement of the annual January Session, believing it to be a concise and acceptable method of expressing the specific information which I have obtained during the Legislative vacation, I have the honor of requesting your attention to the following statement : |