The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1901-03-15
VICIOUS MEASURE

AVtCiOUS MEASURE
The most important measure to the
people of this State that has been
before it's legislature for many years.
is the bill which, although general in
its terms, is intended to allow the
Morris Canal and Banking Company
and the Lehigh Valley Railroad Com
pany it's lessee, to abandon the Morris
Canal for navigation purposes.
The Canal Company was incor-
porated in 1924 Under the terms of
its charter, the State has the right in
1928 to take the whole property of the
canal, paying a fair valuation for the
same, which valuation is to be deter
mined by commission Of ten persons,
chosen jointly by the State and the
Canal Company.
In 1878 the canal and all the other
property and franchises Of the Com
pany becomes the property Of the
State Of New Jersey. The charter also
provides that during the continuation
of its corporate existence, the canal
company and its property shall be
exempt from taxation
A number of years ago the Canal
company was leased to the Lehigh
Valley Railroad Company and is now
operated by the company, who guarau-
teed the interest on its bonded in
debtedness and dividend of six per
cent. on its preferred and four per
cent. on it's common stock. The stock
of the canal company is two million
two hundre thousand dollars and it's
bonded indebtedness is five hundred
thousand dollars.
The canal is fed by Lake. Hopatcong,
the company having erected dam
and increased the depth of the lake
some eleven feet. The canal extends
from the lake westward to the Della
ware river and eastward to the Hud-
son river, and is used as means of
transporting fuel and produce to and
from the large city markets.
The question of supplying the
growing towns and cities with pure
and wholesome water is one of the
most serious questions that is pre-
scented to the people Of New Jersey
and Lake Hopatcong is the only large
and available water supply that exists
in northern New Jersey.
1t is now proposed by this bill to
surrender all rights that the State has
in this lake and other valuable pro-
perty of the canal company and allow
the company to sell it absolutely to
the Jersey City Water Supply Com
pany.
If this act becomes law not only
do the people of the State lose all
their rights to this valuable property,
but the property owners along the
line of the canal will be deprived of a
valuable water supply. Morris County
will be especially injuret as the canal
extends from one end of the county to
the other, The towns of Port Dram,
Dover, Rockaway, Boonton and Mont
vile are to a greater or less extent
dependent upon the water supplied by
this canal, for manufacturing pur-
poses.
Between Boonton and Montville
over one thousand men are employed
in factories now using water from the
canal. In at least one instance the
canal appropriated part of stream
on which were several mill sites as
the bed of its canal and allowed the
stream, to flow through the canal and
then out again to supply the mills
below. Along this stream, which
now supplied entirely from the canal
are many valuable mill sites, and the
owners pay out several thousand dol
lars each week to their employees. In
this particular instance the abandon
ment of the canal would cause the
closing of the mills.
There is nothing in the bill as origin
ally presented to protect the interest
of any of the property owners along
the line of the canal or that guaran-
teed the property at Lake Hopatcong
would not be damaged by the lower
ing of the water of the lake.
At the hearing before the committee
on Wednesday, Congressman Salmon
and Judge Cutler demonstrated
against the passage of the bill in its
present form.
The Coal Combine bill was the des-
truction of the Democratic party in
New Jersey. 1t would be well if the
Republican party take warning and
think twice before allowing this bill
to become law.
FACTS ABOUT HARRISON.