The Topeka state journal., 1909-02-26

would sit down.
Stone of Shawnee, made hit when
he said. speaking of the passing of the
| Morgan motion which sent the utilities
bill back to committee Tuesday: Nor
gan of Reno, Davis of Kiowa, and Ryan
of Brown, leaders of the opposition,
ought to be placed under arrest for
lobtaining goods under false pretenses
They got votes from this house Tues
day by posing as friends of the utln-
Twice did Dolley get up to declare
that Ryan of Brown and Morgan Of
Reno were stating untruths in their
/ speeches.
Charge of Bad Faith.
| Amrine of Morris said he had not
| studied law to develop his political
| acumen like his friend from Brown
| but he hoped this would not prevent
his seeing through such tactics as used
! by that gentlemen when he today re-
| fused to give the utilities bill even
| hearing, having declared only three
| days previous on the floor of the
house he wanted the bill considered
but wanted it rewritten along lines
proposed by the gentlemen from
| Reno.
Amrine added he also hoped his
| failure to read law would not prevent
his seeing through. the tactics of the
gentlemen from Reno who led the
! fight on the utility bill and who had
| led losing fight in his own party last
year discredited by 10000 Re-
publicans on the very issues involved
in the bill now under discussion He
also hoped he could understand the
opposition of the gentlemen from
Kingnan who tried to lead the
minority in opposition to everything
the Republican party attempted for
the general good of the state. He
thought also he understood the tactics
of the railroad attorney who pleaded
for the rights of the farmers of his
country who had been declared to
oppose this bill after an hours
deliberation. when the mere reading
of it had taken nearly three hours in |
the house. He thought also he un- |
derstood the smile of satisfaction |
adorning the lobbyists of the big cor |
porationS when they withdrew from |
the house after the vote of Tuesday |
ton. Yet if his remarks impugned |
the motives of any member of the |
house he said he withdrew them.
FoIey's Personal Privilege.
Foley of Rice, after the debate was
ended and the result of the roll call an
nounced arose to a question of personal
privilege and read from a Kansas City
morning paper which stated that the
Democrats had made a deal with the
administration forces on this bill and
that it was made by Foley of Rice
county Mr.. Foley replied to this
charge in his usual cutting and incisive
manner. He did not resort to abuse of
the paper or reporter but he made his
only his own vote he said, and he did
not know of a member on the minority
side that controlled any more votes
than that.
stones notion but said that he would
have voted had his vote been necessary
to turn the tide either way. Ten DEM
ocrats voted with the administrator
forces this morning for the avowed
reason that they favored utilities bill
and placed that above the whip or :
either political party.
Utility Bill Compromise.
Will the utilities bill pass the house
after all, and in practically the same
shape as first introduced in that body?
That is the all important question in
legislative circles just now Inc
chances for the bill look brighter than
ever before. The awful jolt given to
the measure by the Morgan motion of
last Tuesday when it was sent back
to the committee for revision looked
like Knockout at first and the lobby
lists poured out libations of wine that
night to their victory. But it now
looks as though thev would have to
do their work all over again.
The bill came up in the house un-
expectedly today and a final effort will {
be made to pass the measure 1t is
in the form of a compromise bill
agreed upon by the administration s
who voted against the bill last Tues
day to warrant its passage. This
compromise looks mighty good to t
both the real friends and honest enc ]
mics of the bill. t
1t provides for a state utilities COM
mission with the same powers as
given in the original bill, only tele- {
graph and pipe line companies are in
fact ali utility corporations which
operate in more than one county.
But all city corporations such as
light, gas, water and heating plants
in cities of the second and third class
are exempt from control of the state /
commission and are placed under the
control of the city councils of these {
cities and the councils given practical {
ly the same powers as the state COM t
Another provision gives either the s
pie of these cities the privilege of l
placing their utilities under the con-
troll of the state commission if they J
so desire. s
BY the provisions of this compro-
mise the main objections of Morgan of f
Reno to the bill are eliminated, also S
the complaints of the friends of the
small Independent and farmer tele- V
phone companies.
In fact, the compromise measure is I
stronger bill all around than the
original measure. It meets over half
way those members who had honest
objections to th5 bill and amends ev- n
cry defect that they pointed to in their
debate Tuesday
This compromise does not in the | t
east affect the efficiency of the bill 1
and the benefits it proposes. It will Il
till do all that is desired by its a
friends. f.
But this compromise measure will t
lot meet the approval of the corpora g
ions affected nor their lobbyists. 1t
will not meet with the approval of
hose members who oppose a utilities "
Measure for other than reasons of state
'r community good. or in other words s
rom nPrSOnaT rOIifioo1 ia