The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-03-23
REPUBLICAN Bill.
ON WATER POWER
GETS BY SENATE
Grants Sites to Mellon;
Smith Favors Young

ALBANY, March 22.-Wlth the
final adjournment Of the 1927 session
of the legislature slated for Friday,
Republicans are making every effort
to rush the G. o. P. water power bill
through the assembly.
Thru Senate.
The bill. which provides for conf
mission of five to Investigate" water
power development and report back in
1928, passed the senate last night by
a vote of 20 to ri. Republican leaders
rejected the governors suggestion
that power development be submitted
to voters this fall under a referendum.
The governor favors state develop
ment of water power and the distribu-
ton Of power by a politically friendly
private corporation, while the G.. o. P.
leaders wish to hand over New Yorks
rich power resources themselves to
the Andrew D. Mellon interests.
Democrats Defiant.
When the G. o. P. power bill came
up for final action in the senate, SEN
ator Downing, democratic leader,
said:
This bill was introduced for just
one purpose-to delay a solution of
this problem and settlement of state
policy relating to power development
until governor more agreeable than
the present occupant of that office
shall sit in the governors chair"
Governor Smith has declared that
he would veto the G. o. P. bill if it
should be passed by the legislature.
State power will be exploited by large
power interests whether the republi-
cans or the democrats come out vic
torious in the present battle.
Governor Smith wishes to hand fat
contracts for power distribution to the
General Electric Company, whose
vice president, Owen d. Young, has
boosted Smith for president, while the
republicans wish to hand state power
resources to the Mellon interests.
With the legislature starting to-
night on the final week of the session,
during which hundreds Of bills will be
hurriedly passed, it became known
that Gov. Smith to date had signed a
total of 211 bills already approved by
the lawmakers.
Teachers Want Wages.
A vigorous fight is now being
waged in Albany by the New York
Teachers Union to get the Ricca
salary bill into law. Abraham Lef-
kowitz, and a large committee is at
present at the capital in the interests
Of the thousands of schools who have
received many recommendation by
political "fact-finding" committees
for higher pay during the past few
years, but nothing more substantial
in actual wage increases.
$2,000,000 has already been chopped
off the s1s,000,0OO educational APP
preparations in order to avoid the pos
sibility of levying a two-cent tax on
gasoline. Influential auto interests in
the state were influential in effecting
tho cut.
Meanwhile, Henry R. Linville, pres
ident of the Teachers Union, yester-
day severely criticized the report Of
the Mayors Committee on Teachers
Salaries which declared that the cost
of living did not justify an increase
in salary for New York teachers.
May Get Subways Yet.
Among the mass of bills reported
favorably by the Rules Committee Of
the assembly today, following its first
meeting, was the Hofstadter constitu-
tional amendment resolution extend
ing by s900,0O0,00O the borrowing ca
pacity Of New York City for transit
purposes.