The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-02-16
DEFEND PRESENT
HIGHWAY SYSTEM
Gates, Darling and Archi-
bald Appear at Hearing
on Bill 222
AGAINST SCHEME
OF GOV. HARNESS

Governor Charles w. Gates OF Franklin
had talked for more than half an hour
yesterday afternoon at the public hear
ing before the house judiciary committee
on House Bill 222, which provides for
the election of the highway commissioner
by the joint assembly, and had spent
most of the time explaining his connec-
ton with the present highway muddle|
and answering editorial comment in the
burlington Free Press, Mr.. Wishart of
Barre city interrogated Ex-Governor
Gates as to whether he believed that the
highway commissioner should be elected
by the general assembly.
Governor Gates replied that he had not
intended to touch upon that subject. At
ter making other remarks, he started to
return to his seat, when Mr.. Wishart
said:
You haven't answered my question.
DO understand that you are not in ia
vor of this bil1?"
Il haven't read the bill, replied Gov
Mr.. Barber of BrattIeboro -persisting
IN an effort to get the ex-gOvernor's
frankly expressed opinion on the subject,
asked If he believed it ought to be the
policy of the state to have heads of the
departments elected by the legislature
Would you consider this a pernicious
doctrineE" asked Mr.. Barber.
Yes" said Governor Gates, 'as a gem
eral policy. But there is a position here
that l do not know how to solve 1t
appears to me that n deaf ear has been
turned to what L believe is the wish of
the people Of the state. / hoped that
some way might be found to avoid fric-
tion-but if you find that there is no
other way to handle a question which
YOU think is right, L am not opposed To
H-222
If 1 was in the executive chair"
Governor Gates started, then he stopped.
Il guess / have said enough he ended.
This parley between the ex-governor
and members of the house occurred to-
ward the close of the public hearing.
which drew large number of visitors
to Representatives hall yesterday after
noon.
During the short afternoon session,
message had come to the house from the
executive chamber in regard to the high
way situation, advocating the creation of
a highway commission to be made up of
tile governor as chairman eX-Offcio and
two citizens of the state who should
have the power to name practical road
builder to act as highway commissioners,
LAuIlg other things, Governor HartnsSS
Ead in this message that personalities
have no place in the highway question
at this time. His message was received
IN dead silence.
i The afternoon session of the house
was very short, and at its close, Hale X
Darling of Chelsea, chairman of the
house judiciary committee, who was lieu
tenant governor of the state while
Charles w. Gates was governor, took the
chair with the members of his commit
| tee grouped about him, and declared the
meeting open for discussion of house
| bill 222.
| For more than five minutes, not a word
was said. 1t looked as though nobody
was going to appear either for or against
/ the measure. When the silence began
| to get embarrassing, Mr.. WiShart of
| Barre city. a member of the committee,
got UP and said that he moved that FIVE
minutes more be given for anybody who
wanted to speak, and that if nobody ap-
peaTed to speak at the end of that time
! the hearing be adjourned.
| After another minute of silence had
| elapsed. Ex-Governor Gates came for
ward aud asked permission to address the
assembly, practically every legislator be-
| ing in his seat at the time. Governor
Gates. Col Curtis s. Emery of Newport
and Attorney General Archibald, upheld
the present highway system.
| i want to explain some of the smoke
screen that has been thrown about
1
miSsioner-this explosion of poison gas
which appeared yesterday morning." said
Ex-Gov. Gates at the opening of his
talk
He told how he came to Montpelier
on February 9th and heard that there
was talk of appointing man from
Marine or New Hampshire as highway
| commissioner. He advised against it,
he said. Later. he came back to the
educational hearing and heard of the
appointment At that time. he said he
urged that H-222, which had just been
| introduced. should not go to public
hearing in the house. He said he then
| found himself in the position of the man
who tried to stop a fight between two
| freshmen who stopped fighting and
turned upon him. He was accused, he
said of trying to turn the senate against
the appointment of Mr.. Brooks on the
one hand. and of trying to hold up H-222
on the other. Then he packed his bag
and left Montpelier, declaring that he
would not return unless he were at
tackled.
Ex-Governor Gates said that it was
| the editorials printed in the Burlington
Free Press and later reprinted in other
papers which had brought him back to
| the Capital city to defend himself.
Governor Gates said that he was not
trying to hamper Governor Hartness. He
said that he believed in progress, by a
| step at a time, but by revolutionary
movements.
Before | will sit still and allow some
thing of that sort to be put over and not
| say anything against it'll shall be older
than / am now" declared the ex-gov-
| error
81 have been accused of being at the
thead of a great road machine. | have
ffiad nothing to do with this bill except
to try to Stop the hearing on it and
| straightcn things out without conflict. L
believe the state wants our present high
way system. / stand for the farmers
| back ON the cross roads, who want to
| build roads for Vermonters. We stand
for a system which viii give every town
a fair show.
The ex-governor then took occasion to
praise Stoddard Il. Bates, the present
highway. commissioner, characterizing
| him as "a man whose judgment / de-
l,pended upon in any emergency and never
Ifound wanting, He has common sense