The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-04-14

CHuSGItS repeated the law which d. lowed foreign companies to go into that state,
 The bill was discussed by Messrs. Wadsworth of Pennington, who op- posed the substitute bill; Butler of Middletown, who also opposed it. and favored the original bill.
 At 207 o'clock a recess was taken for fifteen minutes, at the end of which the house was called to order and the de- bate resumed. It was finally agreed to make the consideration of the bill the special order of the day for next Tues day
 The committee on roads and bridges reported the following substitute for the various highway commission bills that have been before the committee for consideration.
 GOOD ROADS
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
 Representatives in General Assembly con
 Chapter CCCXV. of the public acts of 1895 is hereby amended to read as follows. Section l. There shall be appointed by the governor with the, advice and consent or the senate, three highway commissioners, who shall hold office from the first day of July, 1895, for the respective terms of & dWo, four and six years, and until their sue after biennially the governor shall, on or before May first of the year in which the general assembly is in session, appoint, With the advice and consent of the senate, one highway commissioner, who shall hold ofhce from the first day of July next sue ceeding his appointment for the term of six years, and until his successor is chosen and aforesaid shall constitute the state board or highway commissioners If any vacancy occur In the board the governor shall ap- point highway commissioner to fill such vacancy until the rising of the next session of the general assembly, and on or before May first of the year in which the general assembly is in session the governor shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the senate, highway commissioner to fill any vacancy then existing.
 Sec. 7. At least one of the commissioners shall be a capable and experienced civil en- gineer, who shall receive an annual salary missioners shall each receive an annual sal ary of fifteen hundred dollars, and each commissioner shall be allowed his actual travelling expenses while officially employed, and the commission shall be allowed it's office expenses not to exceed one thousand dollars In any one year.
 Sec. 3. The comptroller shall furnish the board with suitable office at the capitol, with the necessary furniture and station cry for the same, where It's records shall be preserved, and which office shall be kept open at Sucn times as the business or the board may require.
 Sec. 4. The board shall keep record of all proceedings and orders, and copies of all plans, specifications and estimates. An annual report of the d0ings of the board shall be prepared and submitted to the gen. eral assembly,
 Sec. 5. Whenever any town in this state shall have voted its intention to cause any public road or section thereof within such particular town to be improved, under the provisions of this act, the selectmen of such town, with the approval of the state board of highway commissioners. shall se- lect the highway or portion thereof to be so improved, shall cause all necessary surveys to be made and specifications to be prepar- ed. The specification shall require the con struction of a macadamized road, or tel ford, or other stone road. or road satisfac- tory to the highway commissioners that will at all seasons of the year be firm, smooth and convenient for travel; shall be so prepared as to call for bids from which an Approximate estimate of the cost can be ascertained, and shall state the amount of security that will be required of the bidder. After such specifications shall have been prepared they shall be submitted to the highway commissioners, and if majority of the highway commissioners shall approve them 1t shall then be the duty of the board of selectmen to advertise in two daily news papers having circulation in the county in which said town Is located, for a period of two weeks for bids to do the work accord ing to the specifications prepared. Such ad- yertisements shall state the place where the bidders can find the specifications, and the amount of the bond which must accompany a bid. and shall name the place where the seiectmen Will meet to receive bids, and the time for opening the same. Every such bid shall be accompanied with bond signed by the bidder and one or more sureties sats- factory to the seectmen, in such sum- not less than one thousand dollars, as the se- lectmen shall determine, conditioned that if the contract shall be awarded to the bidder he shall when required by the selectmen execute an agreement in writing to perform the work according to the specifications. All bids heretofore received shall be imme- diately and publicly read at the time for opening the same, as stated in said adver- tisements. The selectmen may reject all bids II, In their opinion, good cause exists therefor, but otherwise they shall award the contract to the lowest bidder, who shall give satisfactory evidence of his ability to perform the contract When the contract is executed by the selectmen and the success ful bidder copy of the contract with the estimated cost of the work shall be forth with filed with the highway commission Whenever the selectmen of any town own Ing steam roadroler and stone-crusher shall desire, in behalf of said town, to do the work of improving public road under the provisions of this act. they shall submit their bid to the highway commission at least one day prior to the day specified for the opening of the other bids as stated in the advertisement for bids, and all bids sub mftted In behalf of towns shall be subject to the requirements made and provided for in this act. No bids in behalf of towns shall be opened by the highway commission until after the other bids for the same work shall have been publicly opened and read by the selectmen as required by this act. and Forwarded to said commission If the high way commission shall find from the bids so submitted that the bid in behalf of the town is the lowest, the commission shall there upon award the contract to said town whereunon the selectmen shall forthwith file with the highway commission state ment setting forth the work to be done and the estimated cost of the same, and they shall fulfill all the requirements and terms of the specifications. according to the plans for said work under which their bid was submitted
 Sec. 6. Whenever any road shall be con structed under this act one-half of the cost of said construction shall be paid for out of the state treasury; provided that the whole amount so paid by the state shall not in any one year exceed the sum of one hundred thousand dollars; and one-half of the cost shall be paid for out of the treasury of the town in which such road is constrncted When road has been constructed in any town under this act, such town shall there after keep such road in proper repair. to the acceptance of the highway commission.
 Sec. [. It shall be the duty of the high way commissioners to supervise all the work and contracts and the construction of all roads under this act; they shall require pro visions or the contracts and specifications to be strictly adhered to by the contractors and the selectmen. certificate of the cost of every road constructed under this act shall be filed with the highway commission CTS by the selectmen of the town in which such road shall have been constructed and