Domenico Santucci

1861-1945

The Constitution of 1874

The fourth constitution of the Commonwealth was partly a result of a nationwide reform movement in the 1870s and partly a result of specific corrections to the previous constitution. It provided for the popular election of judges, the State Treasurer, and the Auditor General. It created an office of Lieutenant Governor and a Department of Internal Affairs which combined several offices under an elected secretary. The head of the public school system received the title of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The General Assembly was required to provide efficient public education for no less than one million dollars per year. The Governor's term was lengthened from three to four years, but he could no longer succeed himself. He was empowered to veto individual items within appropriations bills. The membership of the General Assembly was increased, but its powers were limited by a prohibition of special or local legislation about certain specified subjects, a constitutional debt limit, and other restrictions. Sessions of the General Assembly became biennial.

New State Agencies

Although the new constitution was detailed, it provided flexibility in the creation of new agencies. Thus in 1873, even while the new constitution was being discussed, the Insurance Department was created to supervise and regulate insurance companies. In the following years many other agencies were created, sometimes as full-fledged departments and sometimes as boards, bureaus, or commissions, while existing agencies were often changed or abolished. For example, the Factory Inspectorship of 1889 became the Department of Labor and Industry in 1913. The Board of Public Charities (1869), the Committee on Lunacy (1883), the Mothers' Assistance Fund (1913), and the Prison Labor Commission (1915) were consolidated into the Department of Welfare in 1921. By 1922, there were 139 separate state agencies, demonstrating the need for simplification, consolidation, and reorganization. The Administrative Codes of 1923 and 1929 accomplished these goals. The judicial branch of government was also changed by the creation of the Superior Court in 1895 to relieve the mounting caseload of the Supreme Court.