Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-11-18
THE LEGISLATURE.
UPON THE HOME STRETCH.
SOlOns Are Working with Great
er Rapidity.

Central Vermont Reorganization Bill
sIgned--- House Passes Gov. Smitb,s
TaX.DodgIng Schtmt---Benr Dance
over Proposed AbolIshment of the
Board of Agriculture.
MONTPELIER, Nov. -.
The legislature is now faced toward the
home stretch and is working hard in
genuine effort to get through in creditable
shape before Thanksgiving. The work
yet to be done includes much of importance,
and two weeks rather than one ought to
be used for it, but it is not likely that the
legislature will come back after the holi-
day, though Speaker Haskins is on record
in favor of it if all the measures under
reconsideration cannot be properly disposed
nts before. The Senate today passed the
blIl pfDhibitng the killing of deer, moose
| o. 4pa for term of four years from
k1e, ,gFst ff310f the present month. The
~ al9eil today passed the bill rails
ifl, the ~ 'oAelhit from II to IL years
and tHe.B2I flEsstbqhe governor, but
the upper bdAse1 H1l1atsaf 70 leoncur with
the lower in the matter 6g1ikNiilnhicycles
and the bill is deadlaDf ~ ssssi,.
Fast day in Vermoheqs seobe - lslshka.
if the House has its say, T0fithi9c ~ fl1f
morning ordered to a thrdnnaIsf6f fst11lol
bill which makes Labor day Iee1. h5lnAl
day at the expense of Fast day. Thte3x,s
inch trout law is sustained by the Houses
which today refused by an almost unani-
nous vote to repeal it. The House this
afternoon disposed of three special orders
and all of them adversely. The most i'm
pOrtant was the bill to provide for the
election of town representatives by plural
ity vote which was defeated by vote of
lS5 to 30 after an hours debate.
Another of the bills killed was the one
to compel school directors to furnish free
text books for parochial schools the same
as for public schools. The third of the
three special orders was a bill introduced
by Mr.. Butler of Jamaica for the relief of
towns which are excessively burdened with
debt as the result of bonding to assist in
the construction of railroads. The bill
provided that any town which has bonded
SO that it is in debt to an amount equal
ing ten per cent of its taxable property
may tax the railroad which it assisted on
list not exceeding the sum for which the
town bonded.
Mr.. Butler made strong argument in
favor of the BILL instancing the town of
Jamaica, which he declared is in debt
about S45, 900 as a result of assisting the
Brattleboro IL Whitehall railroad, while
the grand list of the town is only some
$1,000. When the town of Jamaica bonded
the state law allowed the taxation of rail-
road beds in the towns through which they
passed at $1,000 per mile. Immediately
afterward however the state law was
changed so that all railroad taxes went to
the state The argument used by those
who opposed Mr.. Buffers bill was that it
would decrease the receipts of the state
treasury and the argument was sufficient
to defeat the bill. Another bill killed this
afternoon in the house was the one to COM
pei telegraph and express companies to pay
the stamp taxes imposed by the general
government. The bill making an annual
appropriation of $4,000 for Norwich univer-
sity has passed both houses.
The house committee on elections this
afternoon reported resolution unseatng
Charles II. Allen of Tunbridge on the
ground that he was not eligible at the time
he was elected as he had lived in the state
only six months. The resolution was
tabled and will probably not be acted upon
until the last day of the session, if at all.