St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1906-11-28

vote stood-Taylor, 90; Stickney, So;
Senter, 40; Stanton, 39. The final
ballot was as follows: Taylor, 108;
Stickney, IT. Stanton, 2. Senator
Taylor was nominated by Representa-
tive Darling and his election was practi-
cally assured from the beginning. He is
chairman of the Senate Judiciary com
mittee and during the present session
has earned the confidence of members of
both houses. His election gives Gale
donia county a judge of a high court,
distinction that has been lacking since
the retirement of Judge Stafford in 1908.
The credit of creating new judicial
system is in the greatest measure due to
Hale K. Darling. He took up the mat
ter when there seemed to be little hope
of final success but the combination of
his great ability and capacity for telling
work brought a notable victory.
| FLoTsAM AND JETsAM.
Governor Proctor's determination to
improve the school system of the state
is finding favor with the legislature. The
| bill providing for county supervision is
! law and in addition to that another has
been passed for the purpose of central
izing small schools and equalzing school
advantages. The sum of $4,000 is set
aside for the purpose and a board of
| division composed of the Governor, state
treasurer and the superintendent of edu-
cation will apportion the money among
the various towns which furnish trans
portation and board to pupils and which
have raised and expended a tax of at
least so per cent. on their grand list for
school purposes. The purpose of the
law is to abolish schools having a very
small number of pupils.
The bill granting municipal suffrage to
women, which passed the House and was
favorably reported from the Senate COM
mittee, was killed in the Senate by a
vote of II to II. Caledonia county's
two senators voted in favor of the bill.
The bill to prevent fraud in the sale of
granite has been killed in the house and
Woodbury., Ryegate, Groton and Calais
can continue to produce Barre Granite"
without restriction.
Governor Proctor is maintaining and
even adding to the reputation he made
during the campaign as public speaker.
He is having frequent calls to speak on
variety of occasions and in every case
gives his hearers something to think
about. One afternoon last week he was
the guest of St. Michael's parochial
school in Montpelier and was escorted
from the capitol to the school building
by the $50 pupils. An elaborate pro-
gram had been arranged in his honor
and he addressed the pupils at length.
Father O'Sullivan explained to the pupils
that the governors authority extended
over every one in the state, and the
governor was prompt to exercise his
power by granting the children a holiday
for the remainder of the day.
The Governor has appointed W. L.
Gokey of Bennington as member of the
state board of pharmacy to succeed &C.
Bingham of st. Johnsbury whose term
has expired, and DR.. Fred 7. Kidder of
Woodstock, the present representative
from that town, succeeds Dr. T. R. Stiles
of St. Johnsbury as a member of the state
board of health. DR.. R. NJ Pelton of
Richtord, a senator from Franklin
county, has been appointed supervisor
of the insane; 6. H. Perkins of Burling-
ton, re-appointed state geologist, c. W
Gates of Franklin re-appointed state
highway commissioner and M. M.
Stocker of Danville succeeds himself as
a member of the board of visitors to Nor
witch University.
The weekly payment bill passed by the
house has been reported from the senate
committee without recommendation and
was made special order for Wednesday,
December 5, at $50 O'Clock.
One of the important bills to be con-
sidered after the recess is that preventing
determinations in freight rates by rail
roads, and the bill which will probably
be adopted is identical with the one
prepared by the late Judge Ross as the
result of his experience on the railroad
commission. The trainers of the bill
freely admit its authorship and it is
always referred to as the Ross bill. 1t is
notable that even though the entire
country has been discussing railway
rate legislation since Judge Ross drew
his bill those who have made study of
the problem as applied to Vermont
adopted it practically word for word.