The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-07

bill at this time. He said he knew 1t was most excellent measure and If 1t stood any chance of becoming a law he would support it for he believ- ed it was splendid bill. But he fig ured 1t would only add confusion to the situation and he preferred to stay with Senator Judson for the minority report which also had the Governors sanction.
 Senator Mahan pleaded with the Senators to postpone action upon .the matter until the next day that the the commission bill. He said 1t was scant courtesy to the Governor not to do this. The Senator from New Lon- don made very effective plea from the viewpoint which he assumed
 Senator Spellacy also joined in SUD- port of the bill introduced by Sena- tor McNeil and asked the Senate to let the matter go over for one day that the members might have time to digest 1t and think it over. He said 1t was a mistake to hurry the vote.
 Senator Hooker said it would be a mistake to let the matter drag along. Delay was what was wanted by the opponents of the minority bill, he said. He added the members knew all about the commission bill for it had been published and distributed all over the State for two years. He said the Legislature had for three sessions been trying to secure a start In this matter and now was the time to get it. He favored hurrying the vote on the minority bill.
 Senator Judson said that he did not believe the Senators would favor the commission bill because it took from the Legislature the right to grant franchises and gave it to a commits nf y@ ,,~% ;v,l, that the State of Connecticut was ready to take such a radical depar- ture. He also said that the feature of the commission bill compelling the public service corporations to disclose their financial standing was in his Judgment unwise and that the Judi ciary committees after hearing on that point concluded that MT. Mellen had made a very strong argument and agreed with him.
 The vote on Senator McNeil's amendment showed it had been reject ed IS to II and when the bill itself came up for passage the vote against 1t was g to 6.
 Senator Mahan leader of the major ity report then addressed the Senate in opposition to the minority measure and in support of the bill favored by him. Before doing so he read the amendment which he offered to the
  Farmer yesterday repealed one of it's most vicious provisions.
 (Senator Mahan's speech will be found on page of todays fssue.)
 Following the address of Senator Mahan came a short talk by Senator Platt against the minority report. He said he thought it was a mistake to hurry such an important matter. Sen ator Fenn reminded him that the mat ter had been aired for many months, that the reports of the committee had been before the Senate for sufficient time to permit a careful study of them by those who cared to know, and the excuse of haste could hardly be sus tained- Senator Fenn believed the time to take vote was at this time and that 1t would be a mistake for the body to adjourn without taking | action.
 Senator Donovan enlivened the de- bate by quoting from the report of the American Telephone & Telegraph | O., in answer to allegations made by | Senator Platt. The Norwalk Sena- | tor bristled with facts and figures in | support of his contention and shat l tered the claims made by the Senator | from Waterbury. He urged the Sen- ate to stand true to the people of the State and pass the minority bill
 Senator Spellacy made a strong | port and against the minority report. He said that the representatives of | organized labor were everywhere ar rayed against the minority report and referred to the petitions of labor bod les in favor of the majority report.
 Senator Mitchell spoke along lines similar to those taken by Senator Spellacy, saying that he would vote for the majority bill if he had an op- and against the minority re- port. He said his district was com posed almost wholly of railroad en- Dloyes and other union men, and he lad their assurances that if he would support the majority bill he would be carrying out their wishes.
 The vote was then taken by yeas and nays, with the result as told above.