The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-05-18
BILL is AMENDED.
Notice Served Upon
the. State as Mr..
BatesSuggested.
LTATMAM,c CpEEC L
TATMAN'S SPEEC H
The House Admits That
Worcester Has
Rights.

Boston, May lin the House, to-
day, Representative Tatman of Wor-
cester offered the following amend
ment to the bill TO provide for the con-
struction of a high level gravity sewer
for the relief of the Charles and Nepon-
set river valleys:
Nothing herein contained shall be
construed to vest any rights which
cannot be extended to cities and towns
or parts thereof other than those here
in named, upon such terms and condi-
tions as may hereafter be imposed ny
legislative enactment
This amendments was accepted by the
House by a large majority, and the bill
as amended was passed to third
reading. 1t is In line with the recona-
,nendatlon made by Hon. Theodore G.
Bates to the city council of Worcester
Monday night. The committee on leg
islative matters, to which Mr. Bates
suggestion was referred, reported IN
expedient to act, because it was too
late to accomplish anything. In pre-
senting the bill, Mr.. Tatman xpcke as
follows:
years ago the commonwealth i'm
posed upon Worcester a most unjust
burden, that of solving the problem of
how to purify it's sewage before empty
ing it into the wretched little brook called
Blackstone river. Worcester is the lar
gest inland city in New England, and
one of the largest in the United States
not situated on big river. We are try
ing to solve this problem. We are
spending hundreds of thousands of
dollars experimenting in this matter.
Our experiments have not been fully
carried out. We do not yet know whe-
Their we shall be successful. If we find
the problem one without an answer, we
have got to have relief through a chan
mel to the sea.
"The commonwealth has been hard
with us in the past. She has made us
spend our treasure in the effort to dis
cover a solution to a problem, which, if
found, will be Of Unreasonable value to
the whole civilized world.
Perhaps we shall fail. Many say
that we have failed. We say we are
I trying to solve the problem and are ex-
pending vast sums in the effort Do not
cut US off from all hope Of relief in the
future.
I'VE want to insert this provision in
the bill so that the metropolitan dis
trict will be served with notice that il
has not q perpetual monopoly in the
waters of Massachusetts Bay"
The ways and means committee re-
ported 1aVorably a resolve for the pay
ment of sewer assessments to the city
Of Worcester on lands of the Worces-
ter insane asylum. The resolve for a
state survey Of forest and waste lands
was unfavorably reported upon by the
same committee.
The bill extending the application of
the Dubuque law 10 jurisdictions not
now included caused some debate The
bill, on a roll call was ordered to a
third reading by a vote of 112 TO 80.
The debate was the occasion of a pas
sage of arms between Mr.. Sprague of
Chicopee and Mr.. Mellen of Worcester,
in which the latter got the better of
the argument.
The bill forbiddlng the display of
signs or advertisements within 400 feet
of a public park or boulevard, caused
the last debate of The day The bill
was rejected by vote of two to one.
The committee on military affairs
reported a bill constituting the adju-
tant general, the secretary of state and
the auditor a commission to supervise
the compilation of the records of Mas
sachusetts soldiers and sailors in the
civil war.