Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-04-20
From the State House.
The House AbOlIshes the Police Conn
missiOners-The Marginal Freight Rail-
way Company in the Senate.


Boston, April 10, 1872.
After wasting about half an hour this morn
ing in deciding whether the Lynn water bill
shall be subject to the acceptance of the city
council or of the people, the house went to work
with good will and before recess acted upon
seventeen bills and resolves. The general bills
advanced were those to establish the
polls and estates of the several cities and
towns of the state in relation to the adop-
ton of children; to regulate the light
ing of railroad passenger cars; to authorize
guardians TO sell the real estate of their wards
in certain cases; and in addition, an act
to levy taxes on certain companies, and deposits
in savings banks. There was some talk on the
bll to regulate the lighting. of railroad passen-
ger cars, which resulted in an amendment max
ing the bill provide that no such cars shall be
lighted with oil made wholly or in part of coal
or petroleum, which will ignite at a temperature
less than 300 degrees fahrenheit.
The bill TO provide for the decent interment Of
certain defunct corporations was taken from the
orders to enable Mr.. Cogswell to bring in several
more corpses to be included in the grand funeral,
WHICH was put Oi III OluCi tilht ull IlChus vi tAV
deceased may have proper notice to attend the
obsequies. An attempt was made TO bring up
the state commissionership committees bills,
excluded yesterday, Mr.. Hoyt moving to recon-
nit them. The speaker ruled that the motion
must be modified TO be in order. Mr.. Merritt of
Springfield suggested that the committee ask
leave to withdraw the bills, but Mr.. Hoyt con-
plula6 n 1rOn fine subject oltnppthpr
The afternoon session was opened with dis
cussion of the senate bill to make uniform the
taxation of reservoirs, which is regarded with
great interest by the representatives from the
western part of the state. Mr.. Murray of Pitts
field moved to substitute bill providing that
such property (held for mill purposes, of
course,) shall be taxed in the town or towns
where it is located, at the same valuation as
that placed on adjacent land of the same quail
ity. The substitute was adopted and
placed in the orders for its second
reading. The bill to fix the salaries of
the superior court judges and to pun
ish officers of prisons and charitable institutions
for bribery and other offences, were ordered to
a third reading without debate. When the bill
to establish the district court Of central Middle
sex came up, itappeared that the people there
had not asked for it, whereupou the house re-
iected it without division.
The bill concerning state aid, which extends
to 1875 the operations of chapters 172, acts of
1866, and 1856 of 1867, relating to the payment of
state aid to disabled soldiers and their families,
and the families of the slain, was amended by
striking out the last proviso of the first section
which reduced the rates after 1873 The bill
was then ordered to third reading,
Next on the docket came the bill to establish
better system of police, being that reported by
the majority of the committee, the chief point
of which is an increase of the state force to one
hundred men. Mr.. Stanwood of Boston moved
to substitute the minority bill, which ahoshes
the police commissioners, giving the governor
the power to appoint the cOnstables and limits
the number of the force to seventy. Mr. Ely
of Newton moved to amend Mr.. Stanwood's
motion so as TO allow an increase of the force as
authorized by the minority bill. Mr.. Thompson
of Gloucester moved to strike out section four
of the minority bill, authorizing the gov
ernor to appoint special coustables, and the
ringing speech with which he followed up his
motion was perhaps the most interesting feature
of the debate. Without repeating the well-worn
arguments on this question, on which the
changes were rung again, it will be sufficient to
say that the minority bill was substituted for the
majority by a vote of ninety-one to ffty-seyen,
amended according TO Mr.. Ey's notion so that
the number of constables to be appointed by the
governor will be not less than seventy nor more
than one hundred.
The senate occupied the greater part of its
time in discussing the bill to incorporate the
Union freight railway company. During the
discussion, as was expected, the frauds COM
mitted under the Marginal company'S charter
were denounced pretty emphatically but such
was the superabundance of the senate's charity
that the amendment which the house voted
down so decidedly was adopted by vote of IA
10 40. This amendment, it will be re-
membered, renders the bill Intellectual
if the old company, within four months
after the passage of the BILL lays tracks
to connect the termini of the Albany and the
Lowell roads in this city, and also cancels its
bonded debt-which, of course, the old company
will do, and thus save the charter they have fair
ly forfeited. I have yet to find a man who does
not admit that there is sufficient reason for an
nulng the charter of the Marginal company.
and the only plea in behalf of the company is
clemency-"give them achance to redeem them.
selves" If this appeal is successful, it might as
well be promulgated that the Legislature will not
repeal charters except on second offences.
1t is little curious that on the same after
noon the senate should reverse the decision Of
the house and oice versa on two such important
questions as the freight railway and state police.
The bill to incorporate the Massachusetts
mortgage company was brought up again,
talked over little more, and then again put
off until more convenient season. The bill re-
latiug to contracts with officers of cities came
up, and Mr.. Frost of Suffolk proposed an amend.
ment exempting from the provisions of the bill
all officers appointed by the mayor and city
council, who have no vote in awarding con.
tracts or spending the city's money. The bill
was laid over without action. The bill to au-
thorize Fitchburg to issue additional water
scrip was ordered to third reading.
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Packing the Supreme Court.
The following letter from Judge Hoar anneors