New Britain herald., 1915-05-01
I

seeks to allow towns
to tax dams used In
connection with the
| - = - water supplies of cities
! - has passed the house
and the expectation is
that 1t VIII be killed in the senate,
where similar bills have met their
death IN years past. This measure
| naturally affects New Britain and
when the hearing was held Corpora
! ton Counsel Cooper raised the point
, that iarros should not be taxed be-
cause the land is taxed and the dams
are simply serving n governmental
function and do no harm to any town.
| Ihe rural legislator is always looking
| 1or his pound of flesh from the cities
! ana what is worse yet ne has been
| getting It.. Under the old law New
Britain paid only the regular tax in
| the towns where it owned property,
| but the legislature amended the act
| SO as, to permit of the land occu-
! pied for reservoirs, etc being taxed
! rs improved farm land and this
city's bill in southingtor went up
from SS15.o5 to $477.91: in Burlington
from s414so to sS42.sS and in VOL
| colt from $3.50 to $3.50. while in
! PlainviIle the city pays s4.s1 now,
where it formerly paid but $3.50, the
! reason, however. being that 1t now
! owns little more land. The city pays
now on 81 basis Of $40 per acre, which
| Is considered a high figure and If the
dams are taxed the tax bills will be
still larger 1t, will be remembered
that an effort was made :, few years
ago to tax New Britain for its pipe
lines in Plainville and Bristol and the
| latter town did place q high assess
nlcnt upon them. but decision was
| given against that sort of thing in
| Norwalk which had the result of caus-
ing nearby towns to Withdraw their
actions to tax New Britain for such
service. There has been some talk that
the present bill, If passed, will permit
/ the taxing OF pipe lines. and II 1t does
! 1t will hit number of other places be-
| sides New Britain. TIE senate has
] been the branch of the Legislature
upon which the opponents OF this kind
of legislation have heretofore relied
4 for help and there is apparently be-
lief that the senate will not fail them
this time The measure Is an unfair
one because all the land which Is used
| for water supply purposes Is now
| taxed, the value has bee n raised and
the small towns as a rule are re-
/, ceiving larger amounts In taxes than
they are fairly entitled to but they are
far from being satisfied. This as well
as some other forms of taxation, are
having a. very successful time In the
/ legislature this year and there is con-
siderable speculation as to how the
cities will come out this time. Such
| bills need watching and care must be
constantly exercised lest the country
town representatives put something
over on the, cities. If the cities have
d pull anywhere 1t is In the senate and
it is fortunate that. this is So.
When the moving picture bill came
. up In the senate the other. day. it was
Il favored by Senator r<lett among
:, others, whereupon Senator Alcorn re-
marked that he was endangering his
political future by supporting such a
| measure. If the senator meant that
Mr.. klett would lose votes in another
political contest because he supported
q bill which the committee Of which
he IS q member reported favorably on
he has evidently made a mistake
The legislation In question is pro-
sressive, 1t is in line with the prin-
cipal of home rule about which so
much has been said and 1t is Sub
{ iect which local authorities can best
decide what should be done. The
Bridgeport Post, which keeps its
: weather eye on the members of the
| legislature. has repeatedly referrd ia
| Senator Klett in terms of praise The
Post Is in all probability as good an
authority on what kind Of a legislator
, member should be az is Mr. Alcorn,
} probably better. Mr.. Klett has identi-
fled himself with several other bills Of
merit and 1t looks as IL the close OF
the Legislature will find MIN with q
good record for his first term in the
senate number Of papers which
were opposed TO Sunday pictures a
| few years ago are for them now and
this Is also true of a number of publ,
, men. The latter, however, do not al.
ways get into the legislature and thai
is the reason that such LEGISLATION
usually has such hard sled6ing.> The
opponents of Sunday movies are
: usually good men and as a rule they
are honest In their opinions, but they
$ cannot see their way clear to breaking
e away from that old rule of Sabbath
I observance which is now honorec
> more in the breach than in the OBJ
$ servance. Moving pictures are per
u nlitted on Sunday in many places, tn,
J. best of people attend them and nj
t complaints are heard. Mr.. Klett rep
s resents the sentiment of New Britain
when he votes to leave such a matter
c To local regulation. The ruture viii
: tell whether Senator Alcorn was cor
: rect In his prediction as to Senato
: klett's political success in the years
: to come. The defeated picture bill will
: appear in the legislature at the mex
d session and Will continue to do 81