New-York tribune., 1907-05-10
UTILITIES BILL OUT.
REPORTED IN ASSEMBLY.
Everything Possible Being Done to
Hasten Things at Albany.
[By Telegraph to The Tribune. ]

will lie the members desks Tomorrow This
/ Is the draft of the measure on which the Senate
conference agreed last night. UnquestionabIy il
will be adopted by the Assembly caucus on Mon
| day night and by Wednesday will be passed in
! the lower house
Probably by that time the Senate Judiciary
/ Committee will have reported the Page bill to
the Senate, and the Assembly bill. If passed.
could be substituted for IT, This course would
save considerable time and would permit the
passage of the utilities bill in the Senate by the
latter part of. next week the fore part OF the
following week at latest
An official call was issued this afternoon for
a caucus of the Republican members of the
Assembly to be held on Monday night after the
session to upon the utilities bill.
Now that the stampede of legislators to swing
| in behind the Hughes programme has come.
everything possible is being done TO hasten the
business of both houses. that adjournment may
come speedily possible. The Senate to-day
until p. m. and for the first time in three
weeks went through long calendar. Individual
legislators express the greatest desire TO get
through and get all over The salaries are all
doled out and there is slight inducement for any
one TO remain here an instant longer than neces-
sary.
Apportonment problems are now being taken
up. preparatory to the drafting OF the reap
portionment bill. Thomas Whittle secretary OF
the New York County Republican Committee. !
tonight brought up a plan of reapportionmenrl
for New York County to correct the lines OF
the 18th District. which the Court of Appeals
declared unconstitutional The plan was adopted
at meeting OF the executive committee to-day
This district has been revamped that the
long hook" has been cut off The change in
lines has made necessary a change in ths
boundaries of the 11th. 18th and 18th districts
Mr.. Whttle consulted with various New York.
Republicans tonight and left the plan here
for discussion
RAINES STICKS To HIS SCHEME
What will happen when the leaders get dow,
10 drafting their appOrtionment bill is a uues-
ton with many disturbing elements Senator
Raines still sticks to his scheme for shifting
Richmond County Suffolk and Nassau and
letting the rest of the state stay as the appor-
tonment just Overthrown fixed it, Governor
Hughes told Senator Raines yesterday that h,
believed a complete redistricting OF the state
was necessary on nearly an exact mathe-
matical basis could be worked ont sucb an
/ apportonment, the upstate men know we'll will
tear apart many OF the districts created in 1901
and work political havoc, leaving chaos wher,
| carefully adjusted political relations between
Senators. Congressman AssembIynen ard marty
| leaders now exist
I H.
| Guilty find place where trouble co,,Id occur r.
tween Governor Hughes and the I.esIsiatrrs o-
uie party organization on his legislative pro-
sranme- The sudden rush TO cover-it wa,
i'Ihlhs less than a stampede-which occurred
Yesterday left little opportunity for anv change
OF base on the part of those antagonistic 10 tha
Governor To be sure. the meeting Of Senator'S
vas conference. not a caucus. and two pro-
posals to make il hard and fast caucus were
ignored Yet the resolution adopted left so small
a loophole for escape from its provisions that
nothing short of a heavy corporation "contrfbti-
ton" political observers here estimate. could
make IL worth while to try to evade that pledge:
and the corporations seemingly have abandoned
the field. In the last two weeks invitations
have been sent New York in no uncertain
terms 10 send up the money Those Invita-
tiOns have gone unnOticed Lobbyists have been
mere usual. corporation agents have been
around the Capitol in swarns; but just when,
from previous opposition TO the utilities bill.
everybody here prepared for the opening OF
campaign OF old fashioned corruption. SEEM
ingy the corporation agents got a touch OF that
same mysterious thing which sent party leaders
helter-skelter back to the Governors pro-
gramme; and left legislators TO race madIy 10
be among the first to declare for the Hughes
measures.
NOTABLE VICTORY FOR THE GOVERNOR.
All this crystaIizes into a notable victory for
Governor Hughes-for the Governor and publid
opinion. Shrewd political observers here de-
clare that Senator O'NeiI got at the heart oc
the situation when in the Republican conference
last night he declared that Governor Hughes
was the real state leader of the Republican
party-a leader chosen not by the POLITICAL
leaders but by the people themselves and rep
resenting public sentiment with no intermediate
step. Most people here still are busy trying to
figure out just how and when the actual hurri-
cane began. Close investigation to-day has
proved that the notable invasion OF leaders was
not prearranged, and the work they did was
only one factor in the equation.
The Kelsey case, with it's aftermath OF indig.
nation against the Senators who voted against
the Governor. played large part in H. After
all. Governor Hughes himself had the situation
in hand and if Messrs Ward. LittaueT Aldridge
and Cocks had not come here yesterday. with
their overwhelming testimony of the feeling
throughout the state. the result probably would
have been delayed only week.
Senator Page visited Governor Hughes early
yesterday to consult about the situation. He
found the Governor fighting mad. The Cow
ernor was at the point where he wanted
know just why the Governor should not have
the support of his own party in a crisis which
meant practically the life Of the party. He
expressed himself 10 Senator Page in unniis-
taxable fashion.
John Raines has got To fish or cut bait. and
he's got to do it pretty suddenly declared the
Governor.
whereupon Senator Page sought Senator
Raines and arranged a meeting. at the Cow
ernor's request.
That meeting was held not in the large publo