The legislative year ended without further action on the creation of a new normal school. Since the New Hampshire legislature met on a biennial basis, there would be no further legislative action until 1909.
Keene Evening Sentinel
April 5, 1907
Page 7
LAST WORKING DAY
Brings Out Discussion on “Omnibus” Bill.
Senate and House Don’t Agree, Bill Sent to Conference – French of Moultonborough and Appropriations Committee at Odds – Senate Holds Evening Session.
Concord, N. H., April 4. – The “omnibus” bill or the “ominous” bill, as one speaker called it today, the measure carrying the pay of the employees of the house and various other items, assumed an importance today that it never had before in a New Hampshire legislature.
The house committee on appropriations reported it in several sections, some of which the house passed and some of which it did not. The senate reviewed them all, however, added some new ones of their own and put on in addition some very important bill which passed the house too late to be messaged into the senate within the 24-hour limit before final adjournment.
In this last category were bills appropriating $30,000 to build a National Guard armory at Concord; the same amount for the purchase by the state of the armory building at Nashua; $35,000 for new buildings at the state industrial school; a few North Country road and bridge bills; and enough other items to bring the total amount of money represented by the senate bill up to more than $100,000, a good deal the biggest omnibus bill this state ever saw.
The house refused to concur in these wholesale senate amendments and a committee of conference was appointed. Senator Boutwell of Manchester and Roby of Nashua on the part of the senate and Messrs. Bass of Peterborough, Fischer of Pittsfield and Howard of Nashua on the part of the house.
This committee is in session at this writing and cannot report to the house until tomorrow morning, as adjournment was taken at 7 o’clock this evening until 10 o’clock tomorrow morning. The senate met at 7:30 this evening to finish up business in its hands in preparation for the morrow.
The action stated above represented the largest amount of filibustering that this session has seen and about as much personal bad feeling as any session has ever developed.
This animosity largely centered about the chairman of the committee on appropriations, Mr. French of Moultonborough, who seemed to be regarded by many disappointed backers of bills as personally responsible for their failure to get favorable action or in some cases any action at all at the hands of that committee.
In the latter class was the bill for a new normal school in which considerable interest has been felt by Keene people.
The bill making the caucus law mandatory in towns of 4,500 population which failed in the house Wednesday because Messrs. Benton and Fay of Keene differed as to the desire of Keene to be included in it, was passed by the senate today and concurred in by the house, the Keene matter being left untouched.
Another measure in which Mr. Fay was interested, the bill to allow the license commissioners to issue victuallers’ liquor licenses in summer resort restaurants, was passed by the senate in a slightly different form from that in which the gentleman from Keene and others killed it in the house before. But they killed it again today just the same.
The senate passed the house bill fixing the state tax at $500,000 a year for the next two years and the bill which has been on the hooks a long time for an allowance to National Guard officers for uniforms and equipment.
The senate killed the bill for fire escapes on factories; to prevent discrimination by railroads and express companies against telephone companies; to abolish the labor bureau; to fix the liability of employers; and to require insurance companies to appear as parties to actions in which they are interested.
The most important measure killed by the house and not previously mentioned was an act for simultaneous caucuses.
H. C. Pearson