212 



CONNECTICUT. 



not provided for in it, On July 13th, a major- 

 ity of the committee on constitutional amend- 

 ments in the lower House reported against a 

 constitutional convention, and the report was 

 accepted. 



The bill proposing an amendment to the 

 State constitution by striking out the word 

 " white," and thus " changing the qualification 

 of electors so as to omit the distinction of col- 

 or," occasioned a warm debate between the op- 

 posite parties, especially because it was intro- 

 duced in consequence of the fifteenth amend- 

 ment to the Constitution of the United States, 

 proclaimed by the President not long before. 



It was generally admitted in point of fact 

 that the fifteenth amendment had been adopt- 

 ed, and the word " white " in the State consti- 

 tution was now a dead letter. On this account, 

 the proposed amendment was thought unneces- 

 sary. The bill was defeated, having failed to 

 receive the two-thirds vote required for its 

 adoption. The voting seems to have been 

 purely partisan: yeas 119, Eepublicans; nays 

 89, Democrats ; the number of the members 

 present being at the time 208. 



Great animation characterized the debate 

 concerning a final determination of the place 

 of the seat of government in the State. It is 

 now divided between Hartford and New 

 Haven, each of these cities being, so to say, a 

 semi-capital. New Haven appears satisfied 

 with the present condition of things and would 

 let them so continue ; while Hartford contends 

 that there should be only one capital, hoping, 

 it seems, that she herself shall be declared 

 such. The question is one of long standing, 

 and the matter has been thoroughly discussed 

 by the press. The action of the General As- 

 sembly was briefly as follows : A resolution 

 was first offered in the Lower House by a 

 member from New Haven, authorizing New 

 Haven and Hartford to build State-houses. 

 This resolution was subsequently amended to 

 the effect that, if one of these cities failed to 

 build, the other should be the sole capital; 

 and, if both failed, then Middletown should be 

 the capital. Then a resolution was presented 

 by a member from Hartford, " providing for 

 .an amendment to the constitution so that 

 there should be but one capital, the place to be 

 determined by the people." This proposition 

 was finally acted upon at the last session, as 

 appears from the following resolution : 



PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION. 



HOUSE OF EEPRE SENT ATI VES, ) 

 May Session, A. D. 1870. j- 



Whereas, it is expedient that there should be but 

 one capital in this State : therefore, 



Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the 

 following be proposed as an amendment to the con- 

 stitution of this State, which, when approved and 

 adopted in a manner provided by the constitution, 

 shall, to all intents and purposes, become a part 

 thereof: 



SECTION 1. After the first Wednesday of May, A. D. 

 1874, all sessions of the General Assembly shall be 

 held at the State capital, except that in cases of pub- 

 lic necessity the person administering the office of 



Governor may convene said Assembly at any other 

 place in this State. 



SEC. 2. After the first "Wednesday of May, A. D. 

 1874, said capital shall be either at Hartford or New 

 Haven, as a majority of the electors of the several 

 towns in this State shall designate, in a manner to be 

 provided by law, by their ballots, cast in town meet- 

 ings, legally warned and held for that purpose, at 

 some time within six months subsequent to the adop- 

 tion of this amendment. 



Resolved, That the foregoing proposed amendment 

 to the constitution be continued to the next session 

 of the General Assembly and be published with the 

 laws passed at the present session. 



Passed June 16, 1870. 



E. B. BENNETT, Clerk. 



Among the measures which excited the most 

 general interest in the Legislature and among 

 the public at large, was that commonly styled 

 " The Consolidation Omnibus Bill," permitting 

 the connecting railways in the State to merge 

 and consolidate into one corporation. Though 

 conceived in general terms, embracing all the 

 roads of Connecticut, the bill was believed to 

 regard chiefly, perhaps exclusively, the New 

 York and New Haven and the New Haven 

 and Hartford Eailrpad Companies. The op- 

 ponents of the measure objected, among other 

 reasons, that the proposed consolidation would 

 resolve itself into a gigantic monopoly,' to the 

 prejudice of all the other roads in the State, 

 as these would be compelled sooner or later to 

 consolidate with those two, or rather be ab- 

 sorbed by them, or be at their mercy. It was 

 also maintained that the consolidation could 

 not but work injuriously to the public in the 

 increased rates of freight and passenger fare, 

 which were complained of as being already 

 extravagantly high, beyond those charged on 

 the roads of other States. " The Hartford and 

 New Haven charges three cents and one-third 

 per mile. The New York and New Haven 

 charges, on that portion of the road in Con- 

 necticut, over three cents a mile." The bill 

 was lost in the House of Eepresentatives on 

 July 8th, the vote having been : yeas 2, nays 

 123. It met with a different reception in the 

 Senate, where it was voted upon on July 14th. 

 A senator proposed to amend the bill so as to 

 allow in express terms " only the New York 

 and New Haven and the New Haven and 

 Hartford Railroads to consolidate," and in this 

 form it passed. 



Considerable attention is given by the State 

 to the protection of fish and increasing the 

 variety of their species in her waters. The 

 endeavors to introduce black bass into the lakes 

 and ponds last year were successful. The ob- 

 ject has been also to restore to the waters of 

 the State migratory sea-fishes, as shad and 

 salmon, now almost extirpated by the avidity 

 and improvidence of men, but chiefly by the 

 dams and pound fishing at the mouths of the 

 rivers. It is stated that the artificial hatching 

 of shad at Holyoke three years ago has been 

 attended with good results. For the introduc- 

 tion of salmon, it is decided to select the 

 Farmington River, which was once famous for 



