The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1910-12-15
COuNTi's gErRE-
sENTsTI,Es IN MONTPELIER
A ,loes.ta-iiand Niea hy tis J,.nr-
naIs special Correspondent "A
the Ial,itol.


Reps before Lhrlstrgas and ep'
House hilis iu the bands OF commit
tees and about hundred In th'
clerks files awaiting acton Niui
still more bills 20 come does nol
loos iike final adjournment beios'
the Holidays. and ia fact ali hops
% any sucn thing being possible hA'
been abandoned. ihe great ades
ton noR IL how mneh ~ the mouth
of January alll II take 10 dIspVs,
Of the work The best answer thal
can BE- gwen IL. PROV ylding I've
weeks adjournment IL taAsn as mht
the case two years ago, tnat u wiii
take nearly all ofthe month 70 tln'
iHn up and do the work we'll
The legislature put IN hard
weeK woi lakt week and rsaii.
accomplish d mUte thsu "a any pre-
YiOus wees An atunpi WAS uiaue
10 Keep Al aork saisia aay. bat tine
majority OF the members sete ttIea
ana ieh that they had earned res
80 there was little trouble IN au-
T. turning from Friday afternoon unul
this evening.
one OF the important matters dis
posed of last week, aud one tina,
the House lis very glad 10 have OIL
I its hanas, is theEifoy Kent matter.
After the attorney general hau I'M
lshed an impartial analysis OF tut
case on Tuesday and the House han
had an opportunity OF listening u
one OF kents counsel. John ID. speit
man OF Rutland, after every mem0e,
"A NfA n
hearts content the vote was takeL
and Was overwhelmingly In favor
Of allowing the sentence OF tht
court TO stand Forty-four voted u
commute the sentence and 49,
against IL. Probably no similar cas-
WAS ever more thoroughly present
ed TO the legislature and the peopie
OF the state can rest assured tnat
every possible thing In hent's fasoI
was brought TO the attention oil IN,
Legislature, but as the attorney gen
eral went into the details or IN,
case and its horrible attrocity be-
came apparent the members seemed
determnd that he snould pay the
extreme penalty. With the passag.
OF the Amey capital punishment bn
which only awaits the signature Oh
the Governor to become a law, AM
the prospective adoption OF the con
sIitutional amendment taking away
the right OF commutation from tlie
legislature this Is without doubt the
last case that Will ever plague b
Vermont Legislature.
Inc Senate has passed along tC
the House, as PROVIDED by law ,hine
OF the proposed amendments 10 tns
state constitution, but the first an.
what is considered by many, mcluu'
ing the commission tnat preparel
the proposals OF amendment, tn.
most important proposal tailed ol
the necessary two-thlfos vote. TN.
was the proposal that removes tht
so-called time lock from the consti
tuition and permits the proposal o.
amendmnets oitener than at teD
year periods. Inc ten senators VINO
py their action virtually SAID TO Tn,
people OF the state that they couia
not be trusted to change their con
stitution only every ten years. whit
by their votes denied TO the peopis
the right TO even say whether Oh
not they wanted the time lock re
moved, are senators Archibald, But
Ter, Cushman. Cults, Dale. Darling
Davis. Edgerton, Sheldon and sml,n
ihe rejection OF this proposal can't
as great surprise tor the reasu,.
that no objection TO II had bee. |
made to the Senate committe, |
which had the proposals unaer con
sderation. In fact members of thu |
committee were looking tor opposl |
tion TO some OF the otner proposals |
which went along without voI.
against them. mus another plcdg> |
OF the Republican party platfoI u.
has been repudiated and the con.
stitutlon tied up until 1870.
II the Senate raises no objections |
and ii is not thought that 1t will
the state Is going 10 spend slb0,.
900 annually Tor the next two yeaE
on the highways. The committee
on highways and bridges and Tn,
committee on appropriations recon
mended this sum, instead of the
$500, 900 mentioned In the bill. ant
the House passed IL with little or n,
debate considerably TO the surpris,
OF great many who expected I,
see the bill go through the Hous,
only after hard fight This /.
Justdouble the amount the state haG
been expending on the highways foi
the past two years and under tn,
efficient management OF Commission
er Oates II should result In a SPEEDY
and material Improvement In oul
roads Ii IL understood that tn,
hill hx Ia |
4 trunk line highway bill in dis
guise and that the bulk of tn,
money Will be expended on road
that may be called trunk lines. /,
Is pretty certain II some such sun.
had not been appropriated deter
mined effort would nave been made
10 bond the state for the construc
Ion OF these trunk line highway
Tor much larger sum than Sl6u,
300. or course, this does not meaL
hat all OF this money Will be spen,
exclusively upon these so-caiiel
Irunk lines, for the bulk OF IL vii
go to the towns that vote a certain
sum for state roads. as In the past
but II will be the policy of Commits
sioner Gates, as III the past, TO SCI
thht lht hAOlitt irtSptuhtu lIA tHt
towns 30 voting, where II viii dt
he most good to through travel.
A step in the move for better
highways is the passage OF the bil
the state TO take over the
oil bridges In Grand Isle county u
DC maintained by the state tol.
rec. II the bill TO turn the Pert
oil road over 10 the state passti
[ viii free the state from tho las
festige OF the relics OF long ago.
After much discussion fne House
has finally determined that the le
gal limit OF trout Ia 10 be no longe
liked at six inches but at five and j
ialf Inches. This ID the length
proposed by Speaker Howe wAt
ought for II IN committee and on
he floor OF the House and IL is no,
hought the Senate win make any
'hange in H.
A bill viii be introduced this
xek 10 repeal the law passed a
his session giving railroads tht
light 70 make change In motive
,ower, that ~ steam roads MAJ
operate by electricity aud electric
'oads may run trains over theil
Inc by steam power. This is the !
'ill that was passed in the Interest,"
" the New York. New Haven