The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-10-12

for lack of three votes, the Republican
Assemblymen opposing it as amended and
The twenty-eight Democrats present favor
ing it.
He declared that the defeat was a VIC
tory, because. he averred. the enactment
OF a public utilities laH was now made
n live campaign issue. and he believed a
bill like the New York Hughes law would
nave to be passed early next year to meet
popular demand. =,
TIL lobbying on the public utilities bill
was most active. 1t was pretty hard to
tell lust where some of the prominent
partisans not connected officially with the
Legislature stood.
IT was said that corporation representa-
lives in, the State House were endeavoring
to get Democrats and Republicans to favor
the bill as passed by the Senate and talk
Ing against comforting rate-regulation
power.
The civil service bill, drawn by Senator
Ackerman, of Union, and amended by Sen
ator Colby and others, passed the SENATE
unanimously, but was killed in the House,
a motion to LAY over being carried,
p to II.
: IT was about noon yesterday when the
two houses began their long vigil, and with
intermissjons for meals and conferences
they remained in the State House for ff-
teen hours.
In the middle of the afternoon the talk
of final adjournment became serious, ana
by nightfall it was pretty certain that the
end was near.
Senator Hillery talked with Theodore
Backes. of the Attorney-GeneraPs office,
before preparing the joint resolution for
the continuance of the investigating COM
mittees. and the concurrent resolution Tor
sine die adjournment. He recalled TO the
minds of his fellow members how ON DC
tober IL, some 45 years ago, America had
T. - Ax1 annnYEnnOH fhH an
other great event was to take place on
that day of the month, that the Leglsla-
ture, which haG broken all records Tor
continuous sitting, was about to adjourn.
The Legislature consisted of a Demo-
cratic House t3i 10 29), and a Republican
Senate Q5 to 81. AS a result. all attempts
to agree on fnal adjournment. previous
to last night, were failures, the split BENG
on partisan lines and both parties en-
deavoring to make as much campaign capt.,
tai as possible.
The Democrats did not muster their 81
votes in the final day, so that the House
was not actually controlled by either
political party. The Democrats had enough
votes to pass motions but that was all:
not enough to pass a bill which required
81 votes.
There were some embarrassing situations
created by the action taken on some meas
ures
For one thing the House, because AS
semblyman Barber, Republican leader,
feared to establish a precedent, killed
Senator Robbins's bill appropriating $500
ITO build stables at the State camp at
Sea Girt. The stables have already been
completed on the supposition that the
money was appropriated in the general act
passed early in the session.
The Democratic Assemblymen or some
of them, rather, particularly Archibald
Alexander, of Hudson, tied the Potable
Water Commissions, hands by defeating
the Senate bill providing $4,000 for carry
ing out the provisions of the act under
which the commission was appointed
Both House and Senate, at the last,
were closer together than they had been
during their many sittings. Conference
committees were named on the important
questions that had been considered, and
succeeded In agreeing on bills for reform
in State expenditures. the direct primary
and the popular expression of choice for
United States Senators. The committee
on a public utilities regulating commits
sion failed to agree on every point.
With the calendar nearer to being clean
than in many n year. with a record of
having considered almost every conceiv-
reform measure, with the biggest
batch of minutes for the longest session,
and the echoes of scores of brilliant
speeches behind them. the members of the
House have helried from Trenton TO seek
a rest well earned. The Assemblymen
didn't forget to vote unanimous thanks to
Speaker Edgar f. Lethbrldge, Clerk
Michael w. Higgins and its other officials,
while the Senate paid tribute TO President
Bloomfield H.. Minch, Secretary Howard
Tyler and those who served il this year.
In all $40 bills originated in the House.
while 431 bills were introduced in the Sen
ofo "a IL total tof al Tn addition tnprp uyara
Joint resolutions that brought the total of
measures offered for consideration to about
1000. There were 600 copies of each bill
printed, some of them very bulky, making
altogether about 600, 900 copies of bills. On
these bills were millions of words, while
the arguments on them caused the pronun-
citation Of other millions of words by ora
tors. The bill rooms have been wholly In
ADEQUATE to accommodate the incessant
stream of measures that has been pouring
into their doors. Single bills with 10000
words of text have not been unusual.
Of the bills introduced not % per cent.
became laws. The others either died
quietly from neglect, were killed in one
House or the other or are sleeping in parts
nkno1n. One feature Of the session
specially worthy of communication from a
public standpoint was that important
measures were not killed secretly. Dis
oussion of measures was unrestricted. This
was due to the policy or speaker Leth-
bridge in putting bills on the calendar, to
be considered on their merits by the en-
tire Assembly.
It is not considered likely that the Leg
stature will be called in extraordinary ses-
sion, although the occasion might pos
sibly arise. though not probably. Ii is
pretty safe to say that the One Hundred
and Thirty-first Legislature will never
again grace New Jerseys capital. The
fail of a gavel on a marble block at 1:26
according to q clock that wasn't running,
T. put q period to its active existence.
Among the bills that went down to de-
feat on the floor in the Senate-and there
were but few such. by the way-was As
sembly $40. Simon Hahn's amendment TO
the potable water law. After more than
an hours debate last night the bill was
laid over and even the singing of
.Auld Lang Syne,' ut final adjournment,
didn't awaken it.
When the committee appointed to confer
with three house members reported the
public utilities bill that had been approved
the long battle began, and il wasn't com
Guided for more than two hours. There
were heated arguments and sharp remarks
that stirred up bitter feeling that WIS APP
parent even today, when the session was
over.
The argument was largely on the Colby