New-York tribune., 1905-02-24
FITZGERALD BILL HELD UP
FRIENDS THINK 1T LOST.
Little Chance of Gas Relief, 1t Is
Said.
fBr TELEGRAPH TO THE rHIBuNE.l ]

BY TELEGRAPH 10 TIE lEibtNh-
Albany, Feb. 23.-The 7O-cent gas bill was not
,,enorred TODAY The Committee Miscel-
laneous Corporate OF. the Senate met and
each member indignantly explained his absence
Of yesterday. Senator Fitzgerald asked the
committee TO report his bill Senator Maloy
favored a report and Senator Goodsell took
similar position but Senator Cassidy wanted 1t
amended 10 make general BILL declaring the
present proposition "a piece Of red HANDED an
archy since it attacked corporation Senator
Cullen wanted the matter postponed week
Senators Coggeshall and Wilcox favored post
poneInent and by vote of four TO three the
biI was held up The chances are now that it
will never emerge from this committee, and its
friends take this view of il
This does not mean that all the gas legisla-
ton is doomed to defeat, but it does mean that
there is strong probability that relief will
come TO the city from the present legislature
The feeling on the subject high. on the
one hand il is charged by those VINO prevented
the reporting OF the bill that in doing this they
are preventing the control of the legislature by
three men, Senators Raines and Malby and
Speaker S. Fred Nixon. They do not hesitate to
insist that their opposition 10 she report of the
gas bill is due to the fact that they believe that
il would be killed in the Assembly Committee on
Rules and demand that the Assembly shall pass
the bin first
On the other hand the friends OF the meas
ure are equally bitter; they do not shrink from
frankly declaring that the one motive for de-
feating the bill is the that is most frequent
ly suspected when legislation injurious to great
corporations perishes. They declare that the
various propositions for amending the bill, Of
which several were advanced to-day, are purely
and simply methods OF delaying action, that the
relief to New-York City must fail. if the pres
ent attitude is maintained. but that before it
fails the whole scheme win be exposed, and
those preventing gas legislation put clearly on
record.
Apparently beaten in the Miscellaneous Cor
porations Committee. the friends of gas legis-
iation following the lead of Senator Malby, have
TWO cards left TO play They can fasten their
attention on the Cities Committee and get Sen
atcr Foley's 90-cent gas bill. now in that COM
mittee. reported. or they can report from Sen
ator Afalby's own committee the resolution call
ing for investigation. The first might
coed. the second has less chance since the en-
tire Tammany vote would be against measure
carrying investigation. Both plans will be
tried. There is also third. namely, frank ap-
peal to the Governor to aid the legislators who
are endeavoring to give relief TO New York City
in accordance with the plan Of Ex-Governor
Odell. Up to the present Governor Higgins had
declined to interfere in any fashion in matters
belonging to the legislature. on the other hand,
the present is the first emergency of real
ment that has risen.
When the Miscellaneous Corporations Com
mittee meets next week the fight will be
neTed and a last attempt viii be made to get
some kind Of a gas measure reported from the
committee. The plan most favored includes
S0-cen gas for Manhattan and Brooklyn and 81
gas for The Bronx. Queens and Richmond That
this effort VIII fail no one doubts, but when it
Goes fail the responsibility viii be placed on
this committee. On the other hand, the men,
bers OF the committee insist that they are not
receiving fair play. that the real test Of good
faith would be for the measure TO be passed by
the Assembly and come over to them. Not
few Senators insist that in recent years they
nave been the victims Of the lower house, that
the Assembly Committee on Rules has put not
a few OF their pet measures in the cooler" as
the phrase IS. that il happened in several in
stances last year, and that IL VIII not happen
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