The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-02-22
anti vACCINAT ton BILL
NOW LAW or THE LAND
Senate Passes 1t Over the Governors Veto By
Vote Of 13 TO 4.
Lengthy Debate in Which the Governor Was Criticised and
Defended Governor Wells Comment.

The Mcmillan characterization bill,
which has aroused more controversy
than any piece Of legislation ever pro-
posed in Utah, was yesterday passed
by the senate over the governors veto
by a vote Of 13 to 4, Allison being alb
sent. The vote was precisely the same
as upon the first passage of the bill,
although one or two senators had de-
clared their intention to change from
the affirmative to the negative side.
The bill, which now becomes a law
and goes into effect Immediately, reads
as follows:
Hereafter it shall be unlawful for
any board of health, board of educa-
ton, or any other public board. acting
in this state under police regulations
or otherwise, to compel by resolution,
order or proceedings of any kind the
VACCINATION of any child, or person of
any age, or making vaccination a con-
dition precedent to the attendance of
any public or private school in the
state of Utah, either as pupil or
teacher"
Governor Wells Comment.
Governor Wells expressed a strong
Discrimination to make any statement
relative to the passage by the senate
of the bill over his veto. Il have made
my mark on the BILL" said he. My
position is clear and l stand by It
/ The legislature knows what 1t is do
ing The question has been discussed
in all its phases and I don't see that
any good can be attained by kicking
IN any further row
The board of health has been
/ stripped of every Vestige of its power
I to exclude unvaccinated children from
( the schools no matter how serious an
/ epidemic Of smallpox we may have.
4 But it's all over and done with now,
the action has been taken and nothing
1 can do or say will change the result.
Debate in Senate.
The vote upon the bill in the senate
/ yesterday was preceded by a long
/ winded debate. There was a large as
! semblage of spectators in the senate
/ chamber when the special order of
! business. set for 2:30 o'clock, was
reached at ? 40. After the formaIity of
( reading the report of the committee
! on public health, recommending the
passage of the bill, Senator Thomas
/ the chairman of the committee, secured
/ the floor and announced that he had
some reasons to present why the meas
! use should be passed over the head OF
+ Governor Wells
When this legislature convened. he
commenced. 1T was with the knOwl-
edge that the people demanded an al
/ deviation from the conditions precipi-
tated by the state board of health
! Through the actions of the board the
public school system was disrupted
private schools were invaded and edu-
cation was suffering from its ruling
while the board of education has been
/ terrOrized and many arrests have been
made. Yet the governor saw 1t to be
/ his duty TO sustain the board of health
/ in its measures Petitions have been
coming in bearing the signatures OF
/ thousands of persons throughout the
state. asking this legislature for some
relief from this, what I call persecu-
/ ton. The bill passed the house and
! the senate and reached the governor
/ He was not affected by the appeals
and said that no amount of public
/ clamor should be taken into considera-
/ ton. He treated the opinions of the
/ people of this sovereign state as only
worthy of contempt. He has spoken
/ of the action of this legislature as hav-
/ ing been taken without reason. The
viii of the people he calls public
clamor. If the viii of the people car
be turned down so easily, what is the