St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1912-12-25
LEGISLATURE RESTING
Has Much Business Yet to Accom-
plish.-May Amend Flat Rate
Tax Bill.

With the two weeks adjournment
of the legislature for the Christmas
holidays comes the matter of spec
ulation as to how much longer there
will be needed to finish the work. Ii
is purely a matter Of speculation but
what must be accomplished before
the final goodbye is said. The COM
mittee on hnal Adjournment reported
| 332 bills in the hands of committees
and made no mention of the large
number of bills ordered to lie which
would bring the number around 36U
to be disposed of. Taking the bills IL
committees at the rate of 10 day,
which is considered large number,
it would require 80 days to finish the
| business, SO those who have set final
adjournment in February would
seem to have been fairly we'll ill
formed although a strong effort will
be made to finish one day ahead Of
the session of 1910.
There are a good many issues
which will require almost a day to
dispose of. The senate is not at all
favorable to the present fiat rate
bill. Only one-third would pass il
but they are about evenly divided
as to some kind of fiat rate and
there seems to be a feeling that !
if they can not get together they will
compromise on the Laird bill, al |
though Mr. Babbitt has stated that
he would force the issue to the bitter
end to get his bill of five per cent
exemption through. He alleges that |
he could have killed it on Thursday |
but a poll of the senate showed an
entirely different situation SO there |
seems to be a difference of opinion |
as to the strength he alleges to have
supporting his bill. 1t is generally
expected that if an amendment to
the present fiat rate bill should come
back to the house they would ac-
cept the same and pass the bill leav-
ing it to the governor to go on re-
cord. There is some question in the
minds of the house whether it would
be approved but the general feeling
is that Governor Fletcher would at
tach his name to the document.
For RemOdeling State House
The committee which is sitting
during the vacation have some
strong points to overcome before Civ
ing the state additional room at the
capitol. Among the plans set be-
fore the committee are extending
the ends of the present building ac-
cording to the original plans. Anoth-
er is building a separate structure
on the plot owned by the state and
of which the manager of the Pa
Vilion is custodian. This building
would be used for the Supreme Court
and library. If constructed it would
be on a line with the front of the
present building and would give a
nice lawn in front of it. The more
desirable plan, is that of building an
addition similar to that of the lib
rary on the opposite end of the
building and which would cover the
wall that has been for years an un-
desirable feature of the grounds.
This would meet the requirement
for two generations it is believed.
A Bill for Drainage
A bill which will mean a good deal
to the state and which the people
of Vermont know but little is the one
introduced by Mr. Watson of st.
Adams City drawn after the law in
Canada, on tile drainage. The great
difference being that in Canada it
is financed by the government while
in Vermont the towns may finance
the propositions. He has spent
good deal of time and thought upon
the plan and has watched the results
of the plan of the Canadian govern
ment and seeing the benefit of it to
the country at large is endeavoring
to give Vermont the beenfit of it. If
it can be shown to the farmers that
they are the ones to be benefited
the bill will go through but they
have been adverse this session to try
ing out new things and therefore,
considerable care will be needed to
get the bill through.