The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-06
CFrom Our Special Corres.)

(From Our Special Corresl Hartford, June 6-Opening with a skirmish In which the adherents of the minority Utilities bill semed to 1 have easily the upper hand, and with the powerful lobby face to face with the first crushing defeat of it's career. the Senate of the State of Connecticut this noon took up the consideration of the Public Utilities bills.
 When the time came for the consid- eration of this measure, which has ag- itated the State of Connecticut for two years, the Senate chamber was filled to It's utmost capacity with spectators, hanging on every word of the debate. An air of intensity prevailed and the spectators felt that they were witness ing political crisis.
 When the first test of strength came, and the adherents of the minority bill succeeded in beating down by vote of 24 to 10 the first attempt to side track this measure, it looked as though the lobby which has so long influenced the affairs of Connecticut was facing a complete downfall. Many Bridgeporters were present in the galleries and followed the debates with great interest. Among the most lllICI6 6SCcu SpCCtdIOIS WAS IOTIu6T ScH- ator Archibald McNeil, whose son. Senator Archibald McNeil, Jr., was upon the floor of the Senate Mrs. McNeil and Mrs. Ten Eyck were also in the gallery.
 When the order of the day, the Pub- lie Utilities question was called at noon, Senator Spellacy moved that the Senate take a recess at 1:15 until 2 o'clock. Senator Judson opposed the motion and it was lost. The only absentee was Senator Avery.
 The first action taken was amend ing the bill regarding the issuance of stock which is a separate statute and Senator Judson said that the several amendments were agreed to by the advocates of the majority report as we'll as of the minority; that they were upon the recommendation of Gov. Baldwin. He said that these amendments were accepted without a dissenting voice and that particular bill passed unanimously.
 Then came a parliamentary tussle between Senator Mahan, representing the majority report, and Senator Jud- son, representing the minority report. Senator Mahan introduced an amend ment to the majority report This amendment took away from the ma jority report that portion of it which would have practically destroyed all of the concessions which have been wrung from the public service cor porations of the state by the peo- pie
 The Farmer was the first newspaper in the State to call attention to this iniquitous feature, and the fact that Senator Mahan was willing to elimi- nate it shows what good effect The Farmers campaign has had.
 Senator Judson said that he would not oppose the amendments being read by the clerk but he would oppose it's consideration because he believed that the proper parliamentary proce- duce was to first take up the minority report of the committee After some debate Judson's motion to substitute the consideration of the minority re- port for the majority report was car- ried and the friends of the minority report regarded this as a potent sign of victory.
 The minority report then being be- fore the Senate, Senator Judson in troduced several amendments all of which, he said, were favored by Gov ernor Baldwin. The most important amendment was that which exempted from the provisions of the bill all municipally-owned utilities.
 In explaining this amendment, Sem ator Judson said that he concurred with the Governors view; that no commission appointed by the State ought to interfere with the manage ment of utilities owned and operated bv towns or cities. The other amend ments were relatively unimportant.
 After the amendment had been ex- plained, Senator Ftisbie moved that inc amendment Ebe tabled for printing, which would mean a delay. Quick as a flash. Senator Judson was on his feet and characterized the motion as one made for the purpose of gaining delay.
 He appealed to them that however they might vote upon the merits of the bill, not to lend themselves to such a scheme as this.
 Frisbie's claim was that the amend 1nents were so complicated that he could not understand them Judson said, ''Why, even a babe in a cradle can follow them, even though it has a tin rattle in it's hand.''
 Senator Mahan and Senator Spellacy favored the motion to have the amend ments printed Senator Spellacy said he had an amendment which he de- sired to offer in accordance with the platform of the last Democratic State convention, which had adopted res olution favoring the election of the people. Senators Brinsmade and Tenn said that the amendments were pure Iy formal, easily understandable, had the approval of Governor Baldwin and there was no sense in delaying the question any longer.
 Brinsmade said that if such mo- ton should be passed today it would probably mean that other Senators would come in tomorrow and the next day and so on ad infinitum with other amendments and cause further delay.