Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-03-27
BIG FIGHT AT ALBANY.
The $1o1, GOO 900 Canal Bill Passed by
 Assembly.

ALBANY, N. Y, March 27.-The s1O1, ,o0O, 900 canal referendum bill passed the assembly last night just after 8 o'clock by vote of ST nays to 66 yeas after discussion of nine hours, ip which party lines were practically abandoned.
 An but four of the negative votes were cast by Republicans, the Demo erats voting almost solidly for the bfN. The four exceptions on the Democrat k0 side were Leader Palmer of Scho- haYie and Messrs w. " Cooke of Al bany, Finnegan of Rockland and Pal lace of Monroe.
 On the Republican side, of the thiRty- Eve committee ehaarmsn only twelve voted for the bill, most of the chair men of important committees being in the negative, including Leader Rogers, Burnett, Fowler, Hammond, Phillips, Dickinson, Apgar, Plank, Stevens, Nye, Landon. Platt, Leggett AlIston, Han- ford, Traub, T T. Smith, Reynolds, Hooker, Hoadley and IA. Davis. The committee chairmen who voted for the bill were Morgan, BedelL Doughty, Rennsen, Patton, Lewis, Costello, Cham bers, Hughes, Cook of Erie, Graeff and Orr.
 The absentees were Candee, Coon, Dues, J. J. Mccarthy, c. H. Smith, Treat and Ulrich. Speaker Nixon did not vote.
 The debate was long and covered e1- haust1veiy the oft repeated arguments upon the canal project Among the speakers were Messrs. Palmer, Bost- wick. Hinson, Nichols, Butler, Cox, Fowler, Burnett, Merritt, w. V. Cooke, AGcHceown, Landon, Stevens and Pal lace
 The real battle was after the speech es were ended, when 1t came to the vote upon the twenty y-four amendments which had at earlier stages been in trodueed, the adoption of which, MT. Bostwick, introducer of the assembly bilis declared, would be an act of bad faith. Every possible means was used by the opponents of the bill to put off the hnal roll call. Upon most of the amendments they demanded the yeas and nays, and fully an hour of extra time was expended in this way, but each and every one was defeated by a vo$e approximately the same as that which finally passed the bill
 Upon the roll call Leader Rogers op- posed the measure, explaining that he had reserved his expression of opin- ion 20 that there should be no sem. blancs of party influence in the result, bat each man should be free to vote according to his Judgment and the wishes of his constituency. He was unreservedly opposed to the bill, he said, in its principle and in it's detail.
 Mr. Merritt of St. Lawrence in op- posing the bill referred to the inter ference" of Leader Murphy of Tam many Hall in the matter, regretting that he himself had been forced to abandon the hallucination. as he called it. that the Republican majority was dominated by it's own voters and its own leaders.
 There was an attempt immediately after the adjournment last night to get the excise committee of the assembly together so as to report on the bill raising the excise fees by 50 per cent Chairman Conkling tried to get 6 quorum but the tired members would not attend. He thereupon announced . meeting for next Tuesday. The probabilities are that the bill will come up for final passage Wednesday Governor Odell, it is understood, will await it's passage before he signs the canal bill, as he desires to have the Pevenue producing bill law before he signs the big canal bill.