The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-04
COLLEGE PRESIDENT
 AS STATE SENATOR Flavel s. Luther's Efforts for Reform in the Con-
 necticut Legislature. TRADES SCHOOL BILL His Anti-Water Crusade Caused Consternation to
 Trolley People.
TRADES SCHOOL BILL

Those who planned the senate or ganization may have had in mind side tracking Senator Luther when they put him, at the head of the joint com man. If so, they failed in that, for he has taken an active part in the general affairs of the senate from the first and has made a splendid head for an important committee. He has quite won the senate over to the trade schools bill, which provides for the es- tabllshment of trade schools in each town that desires one, with somewhat of state aid, and is the result largely of the study of this subject by a state commission which has gone into it ex- haustively Dr. Luthers committee reported the bill unanimously and it would have passed the senate but for the fact that one or two other chair men who had a little feeling regarding the reference of some of their matters to the appropriation attached It was so referred, but that committee Is fav- orable to it.
 An incident in connection with that bill shows how keen and well fitted for this work Senator Luther is. One would have expected this from law yer or even wideawake business man. The labor unions opposed the bill on the ground that it would glut the labor market and upset the rela- tions between capital and labor and was an unwarranted interference by the state, and so on. Charles J. Don ahue, president of the state federation of labor, and the labor lobbyist, secur- ed a postponed hearing at which he \ could present his side of the matter, | This was held in the senate chamber. Dozens of labor leaders from all over Connecticut were present, and Dona- hue made one of his best speeches, really a fine effort, though he did throw in something about labor war and intimated bit of a threat. But he had made an impression when he concluded. He had condemned the trade school in strong terms and thrown in for good measure something about the time when he worked for Thomas A. Edison.
 After he finished Senator Luther asked him a question or two of a gem era nature and then said; T wonder, MT. Donahue, if you and your unions would object to this scheme if each town were left to deside for itself whether it should have trade school l or not?'
 Donahue looked at him. You mean If the referendum were part of the proposition?" he asked.
 Yes" replied Dr. Luther, q mean if no school was established unless the people voted to have It."
 Such a provision would wipe out all our objection to it." snld Mir Dona~ hue, drawing himself up The unions always stand for the referendum
 Then you'd have no objection what ever to trade schools that way2'
 certainly not This very emphat- ically.
 Well. Mir. Donahue," Dt. Luther concluded, q think if you'll read this bill you've argued so ably against, you'll find precisely that provision in it." He couldn't resist a quiet smile at Donahue's confusion.
 At the same time, outside the good work done by his committee, 1t will have to be confessed that most of Sen ator Luthers efforts on the floor of the senate have been in the interest of l forlorn hopes He finds conditions in the affairs of the state government and in the course of legislation and in the statutes which at once strike a think ing man as entirely wrong. Nor Is it 1 possible for him to remain complais- ant from having met these before, as many man at first just as straight | forward does. It would not be If he | had met them before Often and off, ten in hitting at some point in a mat ter which is manifestly unfair and wrong to the logical mind which has not been turned aside in the least by the practical in this life, Dr. Luther really strikes at some far-reaching abuse which finds It's mainland sone- times it's only-excuse in custom.
 Dr. Luther's last great stand, while vain of direct accomplishment, did stir up matters no little. He proposed an lamendment to trolley charters provid- ing that all their capital stock should be paid in cash the stock to be issued at par. This threw all the trolley pro- motors into consternation. Not a troll | ley road in Connecticut has been or would be built on any such basis The custom is to bond the road up to half the cost of construction, the legal lim- l it, sell the bonds and give the stock almost or quite entirely as a bonus and build with the proceeds of the bond sale.
 This is like a man who should buy a watch on a promise to pay," said Senator Luther, pawn the watch, pay for it with the money thus obtained, and then sell the pawn ticket for three times what the whole transaction amounted to- The prospect of his amendment forced all trolley measures 10 the Ioot or the senate cdlenudt and really gave time for the develop ment of certain features of the pres ent fight between the independent trolley promoters and the Consolldat- ed Railway company. Fially all these trolley matters were made the order of the day and the calendar cleared. Dr. Luther's efforts to get his amendment adopted were unavailing, but the argu- ment used against it were no sounder than that it would retard desirable trolley expansion and that if came 15