The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1917-03-23
WOMAN SUFFRAGE
PARAMOUNT ISSUE
Senate Passes Bill Allowing
Women to Vote in Pres
idential Elections
RAISING SALARIES
AN ISSUE IN HOUSE
increase to the State Highway Commis-
sloner Goes to a Third Reading - Ad-
verse Report on Scheme to Raise Sal
aries of Mcmbers.
( Especial to The Reformer.
MONTPELIER, March


Woman suffrage is still the para
mount issue with the legislators. The
senate today passed by vote of 19
to . the Villas bill allowing women to
vote in presidential elections.
The men in the house who have
been strongly or mildly opposed to the
granting of suffrage eased their con
sciences by voting for the substitute
bill offered by the committee on suf-
frage and elections in place of the
Stearns bin.
This bill, passed BY majority of so
votes, gives everyone voting for it an
opportunity to 60 home and say that
they voted for suffrage bin and thus
fulfilled the various party platforms.
The senate passed the Moore bill pro
viding for yearly referendum on the
issuing of liquor licenses within the
state. The vote was IS to I.
The raising Of salaries became an is
sue in the house this morning when the
house ordered to third reading the
bill increasing the salary of the state
highway commissioner, while the bill
increasing the salary of the attorney
general was delayed, being ordered to
lie.
The bill increasing the salaries of
members Of the Legislature to IS re-
ceived an adverse report from the gen
eral committee and will be killed IN
the house today.
lessened somewhat today by the Gov
ernor 5 appointment of committee on
public safety by unanimous adoption
of the resolution advocating universal
military training. A new bill appeared
IN the senate today. increasing the APP
preparation for the use of the livestock
commissioner by $4,000, making his
annual appropriation $65,000.
Yesterday afternoon the house had
another long drawn out discussion on
woman suffrage, when Stearns of Bur
lington undertook to save his bill al
lowing women to pay a poll tax and
vote in town affairs. The committee on
suffrage and elections i'll reporting the
Stearns bill offered a substitute bill
which provided referendum on the
granting of suffrage in town affairs and
presidential elections.
Stearns proposed to amend the com
mlttee bill by striking out all after the
Ienactlng clause and inserting his bill
as originally presented to the commit
tee. Moore Of Ludlow and Metzger sup
ported Stearns while the antis, for prac-
tically every man voting for the sub
stitute bill has been opposed to suffrage
from the start, were lead by Fenton,
and sustained by Candon, Allbee,
| Phelps and Beard. On the yea and nay
vote the Stearns amendment was reject
ed by 81 votes. Aiken, Amidon. Bar
| ber, Cudworth, Durham of Athens,
| Hale, Johnson of Somerset, Johnson of
| Wardsboro, Legate, Miller, Pike, Rob
| inson and Wheeler were the Windham
county men favoring the substitute bill
| allowing referendum. The remainder
voted against it except Dalrymple and
Tenney. who were not recorded. The bill
was then ordered to today 5 third read
| ing.
BY a decisive vote the house con
Cured with the senate in passing the
| Wheeler bill appropriating $4,000
from the maintenance fund to be known
as the back roads fund and used on un-
selected highways.
| Last evening a large number attended
a spicy hearing on the Amidon bill
| bonding the state for the development
and conservation of our waterpowers
The consensus of opinion seemed to be
that it was time for the state to take
steps to save the waterpowers from be-
ing gobbled by foreign capital. Mr.
Amidon explained the chief features of
his bill and the general principle of the
measure was approved by j. Gregory
Smith, Dan Steele, James Stacey, Mel
son Bailey, Frank Cory and Harry w.
Writer'S. Some of the speakers believed
that the state should develop the pow
ers, but rent them to private concerns
rather than engage in competition with
tprivate corporations. With the senti-
ment aroused it would seem that this
| legislature, on a smaller scale than pro-
posed by the Amidon bill, might under
take the development of Vermont wa
terpowers, providing for bond issue of,
perhaps, a half million.