St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1908-12-09
Hard at Work.

RECORD OF the InlngS Accomplished.
The Doe Bill Becomes Law. Trustee
Bill Killed. Important Public Hear
ingS.
After brief rest the Legislature recon-
vened again last week and the members
all came back full of turkey and good
resolutions. They took up their work
Immediately and thus far have proceeded
with vigor in the hope of reaching a
final adjournment before Christmas. One
of the first acts of public interest was to
take action toward recalling the now
famous doe bill" The senate passed
the bill bv one vote just before the
Thanksgiving recess, and after seeing the
storm of disappr val raised by the
/ people who hunt only around the library
/ table, the senators voted to recall the
/ bill from the Governor. In order to do
! this 1t was necessary to ask-the House Of
! Representatives to return the bill 10 the
/ Senate. The Clerk Of the House called
| upon the Governor for the bill and was
! informed that it would be necessary for
the House to pass a vote asking for the
/ bill. Now the House had passed the bill
! early in the session by large majority
| and they knew that the Senate wanted
/ to get the bill back for the purpose of
| killing it. Upon yea and nav vote the
| House refused TO ask the Governor for
/ the return Of the bill This action left
/ the bill wholly in the Governors power
/ and he has now signed it and it has become
/ a law. Although the Governor did not
/ favor the bill, he took the broad ground
| that a Governor ought not to exercise
/ the veto power for purely sentimental
reasons, and although his office was
/ flooded with letters and kilograms asking
1 him to veto the bill he refused to exer-
else his privilege
The trustee bill has furnished consider
able spirited action during the session
and has now been killed by the Senate.
/ The first minority report of the term was
presented against tn 5 bill. the fight be-
ing lead bv SenatorGleasou OF Caledonia
| who won fine victory over the major
ity of the judiciary committee. This was
the administration measure advocated
by Governor Proctor in his retiring mes
sage and a measure promised by the Re
publican party in its platform The
fight developed before the Thanksgiving
recess, but the matter was put over un-
til after adjournment that the members
might consult with their constituents
more fully about the desirablity of such
law. The bill passed the House some
time ago and was again taken up in the
Senate soon after it reconvened The
bill provided that only such sum as was
in excess of $40 could be held bv trustee
process. Senator Gleason claimed that
even though the bill was promised as a
laboring mans measure it would not
work out to the laborer's benefit The
credit Of the wage Garner would be SO
impaired that it was sure TO work a
hardship to the laborer whose family
might be sick or who himself might be
temporarily disabled 1t would in real
itv abolish all trustee proceedings for
wages and compel the merchant TO do
business on a strictly cash basis. In
short it was a measure favoring the
dead beat" at the expense Of the honest
laborer Sixteen OF the 30 senators
agreed with Senator Gleason and the bill
was killed The other senator's took
the position that the bill must pass be-
cause it had been expressly promised by
the republican party. Eloquence flowed
freely, Judge Gleason and his followers
Grating in behalf Of the laboring man
and the minority Grating in behalf OF the
republican party promises.
The womans suffrage bill which seems
to have at least nine lives has been killed
again. In previous years the bill has
been introduced in the House and has
passed that body. This year it was
decided to introduce it in the Senate
with hope of its passage there so that
It could go to the House with the
prestige Of having passed the upper
branch Of the legislature. The bill was
introduced by unanimous consent after
the time for introducing bills had ex-
pred. 1t was reported favorably by the
judiciary committee and ordered to a
third reading without much opposition,
but on the question of its passage it met
determined resistance, and again
Senator Gleason took a leading part in
opposition. The ladies used different
tactics this year than formerly. Hereto
fore il has been customary TO pack the
galleries with interested ladies, but this
year it was thought best to be represent
ed by one or two ladies in behalf of the
whole body OF Suttragists. Heretofore
the bill has been killed partly because it
VAS thought the ladies appeared en-
masse Tor the effect which it might have
on the members. This year when but
lew were present it was urged that the
bill should be killed because the ladies
did not take interest enough to be
present while the bill was being dis
cussed. They were bound to kill the bill
and one excuse was as good as another
The temperance questions have been
argued but little thus tar. A bill to
require all license fees to be paid directly
into the state treasury has been before
the House and has been passed by that
body after considerable debate. This
measure was recommended by Governor
Proctor in his retiring message and is
thought to be a measure TO prevent
towns from voting license for the pur-
pose of getting the revenue for their own
town. Under the present law only one
half the fees 60 to the state. Those
who favored the measure cited several
instances where towns have voted
license for the purpose of getting the
revenue of the rum business to replensh
their treasury, notably the voting
license at East Haven, for the Lvn-
donville trade, at Middlesex for the
Montpelier trade and at Swanton for the
ST. Adams trade. Representative Davis
of Brighton summed the matter up in a
few words when he informed the House