The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-05-22
Doughty Democratic Senate Leader in
 Thick of Fray PLAYS "COMBINE" Makes Direct Charge That Two Committees Made Deal on
 New ATTlOFieS NEARLY s5GO,OOO CALLED FOR Major Isbell and Senator M'Neil in Frequent Clashes with Naugatuck Member Dur
 ing Acrimonious
 Debate
NEARLY Y $500, 900 CALLED FOR

%(By Our+StaK Correspondent
 Hartford, May 22-Though he kneE he was leading a forlorn hope, Senar tor John F. McDonough of Naugatuck the Democratic Senate leader, put uK the stiffest kind of a fight yesterday
 in his futile effort to prevent what he termed a com bination of Senators in .terested in pushing through a pork
 barreu bill providing for appropria- ] tions aggregating nearly $500,00O fo1 the construction of armories in va rfouS parts of the state.
 Senator McDonough was successful last week in prevailing upon his col leagues to pass upon the various Gr-
 nory propositions separately rather than act upon the appropriations in blanket form, and when the matter was reached yesterday he was brtm- full of fight. But at the outset he said he realized he was "up against it'' for the "combination' was too strong to beat.
 Senator McDonough forced the issue step by step. In the first place he said he was in favor of new armories in Waterbury and New Haven and would vote favorably upon those prop ositions. But as for the other armor- fes contemplated, he would have none of them. He succeeded in rallyfng six votes besides his own, against the Bristol armory appropriation, the first one dSlOS ITOI1 WaI6TDuTyl ana New Haven, to be acted upon. Three votes were cast against the New Haven, and one against the Waterbury arrnory Senator J. McA. Johnson voting con- sistently against all of the appropria- tions.
 When the Bristol bill had gone through, the other measures were passed pn by viva svoces vote. Until then the yea, and nay procedure had been followed. He reminded them, in this connection that the memories of their constituents would last long enough, as far as these arrnory meas ures were concerned, to make it hard for those who voted for what he term ed the needless armories, to face the people at the next election. The passage of the Bristol measure was the signal for the speedy passage of all the others.
 The bill as finally adopted provides that special commissions shall act in the purchase of land and construc- .tion of buildings for armories in Wa terbury, for which $175,O0O. is appro- priated plus receipts of sale of present armory; New Haven for which $1 125.- 900 is appropriated for purchase of site, the commission to sell present armory and add to appropriation the receipts; Middletown, for which ESQ.,, 000gis appropriated for land and build ing; Bristol, for which SIP, ,0e0 is ap- proprfated for site only; Troop B. West Hartford, $35, ,O0o, site and build ing; Manchester, land and. building, $5O,OO0
 What Senator McDonough, .particu- IarIy scored, was the procedure rela- tive to the personnel of the commis- sions which are to carry out the work. The commission to carry out the work in New Haven and Waterbury, com prises Governor Baldwin, Adjutant General George M. Cole, Treasurer Edward Roberts, Col. James M. Ged- des, retired, and Senators Ernest L. Isbe11 and John l.. Purcell.
 To carry out the other armory pro jects, the commission is Governor Baldwin, General Cole, Treasurer Roberts, and, Senators Claude w. Stew ems and Harry w. Reynolds, and Rep resentatives Joseph M. Lucey and Junius z. Douglass.
 The procedure adopted in the pass age of the measure creating the com missions was rather unique. The ap- propriations were first put through, with an amendment to this phase of the measure eliminating from the commissions the names of the sena- tors. This was done that there might be no question as to the legality of the senator's voting on the expendi- tUre of funds which were to be en- trusted in part to them. When the appropriations had been put through a healing process was effected in the reconsideration of the elimination of these senators names, and their re- stOratiOn to the commissions.
 This was attacked alike by Judge Perry and Senator McDonough. Judge Perry moved a suspension of rule 1 g which prohibits interested senators from remaining in the Senate in such cases, and when this was done the original plan was carried out, of first removing the senator's names from the bill, and then, on the passa ge of the appropriation measures, their re- storation.
 The debate on the measure lasted of four hours. At times 1t became particularly bitter, and almost everything but the shorter and uglier word' was handed back and forth.
 Upon the proposition of substitut- ing instead of the two senators named, two men from New Haven, to be de- by the Common Council Of that city, to act in their stead, Senator Quinn, author of the resolution, sup ported by Judge McDonough, was able to rally votes, but the opposition got 19, and the measure as finally adopted, piecemeal, embraced all the features that the original pork bar re1'' measure held when it made it's first appearance.
 Owing to the unusual procedure l there were many involved parIianen-