Waterbury Democrat., 1901-04-24
CONSOLIDATION
Bill Reported Favorably-Sub-
 stitute to be Offered.
SUBMIT IT TO THE PEOPLE.

6U Dml4 N AAG L0A LI' Is the Idea of the New Bill-Interest- ing Hearing Yesterday Before the l Railroad Communicative Trolley Companies Want to Build to Water
 Waterbury's Municipal Light
 ing Bond Bill Rejected To-day =
 Horace Johnson's Observatory Knocked Out.
 The committee on cities and boroughs has submitted favorable report on the application for the consolidation
 of the town and city governments of Waterbury and the only thing lacking
 now to relegatc tne dual system of gov ernment to the rear in this town is the approval of the general assembly and I the signature of the governor and 1t
 seelns to be an assured thing that l these will follow The report oc the committee was unanimous so that it 1 looks as if Representative Lilley and those who assisted him at the hearings 1 have not been idle and succeeded in
 making their work thorough before the committee. When the question comes up in tie Eouse, Representative Guil- l foile. at the request of large num- l bcr of Eroperty owners in the town l ard city, will nrsdeayor to nave the re- l port amended so that it will come to l tie electors for approval, but if the ac tion of the committee be any criterion to go by. and it is, tits likely that the whole question has been set tied and that the legislators
 believe the statements So per-
 sistent1y dinned into their ears at Hartford by CUT Republican neighbors, that the, rank and file of the voters of Waterbury are not competent to de- eide what is for their own good In | other words. that majority of the property owners of Waterbury arc af- ieflictcd with mild form of insanity and that if ti'ey own anything it Is Tue 1 to the wise conservatorship of half a dozen wise leads in the Republican party. who ind 1t necessary to a lo Hartford at every session of the ieg- l isi;li,ire and have laws passed res.rain- l slig them fro,p re.,bnlg themselves sI,d their families Ey unwise use of the |
 thing for thelwhclc Of us. but 1t i5 TO
 gnes. work to state tlaat a vasr ma | jority 0f the electors would nrefer l to vote upon that measure and to Ic,lv tien the |. .ht to say yes or no upon suclf an lIsno-tant matter looks ike ] robbing them of the franchise alto
 gether. A few more strokes in this
 direction would practically put the i mir in iv,Sy Uo+o
 bury for all time. It amounts to pret-
 ty near that already, for almost all
 the fat jobs in town are filled at Hart ford or made at home by board of laldermen that. has been rendered
 hopelessly Republican by clever gerry
 mandering of ward lines through leg
 islatfvs enactments at the suggestion
 of few men who have grown wealthy
 from the receipt of offices which l they never would have got smell at 1 if the people who pay the freight had | not been handicapped through con-
 Stant, ,tinkerfng into the charter by men with a purpose of their own to serve. One of the parties who has done 1 much for the success of consolidation
 told representative of this paper last night, that the propriety of submitting the question to the people had been considered very carefully by thGss who are behind it, and that while all l believed that this would have been
 nothing more than fair, still it was feared that politics would ba brought with it and that the end might not l be. attained That's the whole thing in a nutshell, the minority aiming to govern the majority. There is diff l ference of opinion about this. Many
 hold that consolidation would win out
 at the polls. and if this be true the promoters of the scheme have made q a mistake in showing such contempt for the will of the people. Quite few
 favor consolidation but are strongly
 opposed to the method resorted to in
 order to bring it about.
 Hartford April 24.-The important
 corporation tax bill proposed by th0 tax revision commission and referred I to the finance committee, will be re-
 ported by that. committes fayorably 1 tomorrow.
 l The private state weather observa- l tory asked for by Horace Johnson was
 refused by the house to-day.
 The resolution authorizing Water
 bury to issue $100.O00 lighting bonds ! and S1OooO0 sub way bonds was re
 ported unfavorably and rejected.
 The resolution authorizing Middle ! town to issue $10o,000 bonds was re l ported favorably and tabled.
 The bill providing that indecent as-
 Sault be punished by penalty of not
 more than ten years was passed.
 The bill providing for q permanent l position for the assistant quarter mas
 ter general and the assistant adjutant general was passed.
 l The senate today passed the poll
 and military tax bill which provides l for imprisonment on conviction of neg l lect or refusal to pay such taxes, the | fine to be worked out at the rate of
 labor of $1 day.
 The senate also passed the bill am- ending the law so that private cor porations and partnerships shall pay weekly as we'll as other corporations. At the railroad hearing In Hartford yesterday there was much business that concerns Waterbury.
 Judge Marcus H. Holcomb of South ington advocated the adoption of an