Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1903-03-19

commissioners to examine into and re-
port upon the proposed abandonment
of the Morris canal and all questions
relating thereto
After reciting at some length that |
the Morris Canal and Banking COM
pany under state charter granted in
1924 built the canal, that by a supple
ment to the charter passed by the leg
islature in 1871 the canal property was
leased in perpetuity by the Lehigh Val
ley Railroad company, which company !
is now in possession of its property
and franchises; that the present char
ter is to expire in 1878, when the canal
property will become the sole property
of the state, and that under the bill in
troduced last week by Mr.. Boyd and
now pending the canal company will
be enabled to abandon the operation
of the canal for navigation purposes
and at the same time retain, sell or
otherwise dispose of the franchises
water rights and other property, the
bill authorizes the governor to appoint
six commissioners, who shall examine
and report upon the proposed abandon
ment of the Morris canal for navigation
purposes and the proposed devoting of
the property of the Morris Canal and
Banking company or of its lessee, the
Lehigh Valley Railroad company, to
other public uses.
The commissioners are also to exam
inc into and report upon the lands, wa
tiers, water rights, rights of fiowage
and diversion, riparian rights and
rights of way which are held or claim
ed by the Lehigh Valley Railroad COM
pany, how they were acquired, upon
what terms they are held and whether
| any of the property or rights which
were the property of the Norris Canal
and Banking company have been dis
posed of and to whom and whether it
is just to the people of the state and to
private property owners that said ca
nal or any part of it should be aban-
doned and whether it is just that the
Lehigh Valley company should be per
mitted to retain the property rights,
powers and franchises pertaining to
| the canal or to sell or dispose of the
same to other persons or corporations
so that any of these rights or fran
chises shall be devoted to other public
uses. The commission is also to re-
port the fair value of the canal and its
property to the Lehigh Valley company
and to the Norris Canal and Banking
| company and also the fair value of the
same to the state and whether all or
any part Of the canal property, if tax
en- by the state for its own account
could be profitably operated as a pub
lie highway by charging reasonable
tolls for transportation. The commits
sion is also to ascertain what supply of
potable waters could be gathered and
| distributed by means of the canal and
whether it is eXpedient for the state to
own or control the water supply of the
canal and to use the same for the pur-
pose of supplying municipalities with
water on just and equitable terms.
The governor is to fix the compensa-
ton of the commissioners, together
with the allowance for expenses The
commission is to complete its duties as
speedily as possible and submit reports
to the next or any subsequent legisla- |
ture
The Fisheries Dispute.
The commission to arrange a settle
ment of the fisheries dispute between |
New Jersey and Delaware has made |
it's report to the legislature. 1t is a
counterpart of the report presented to |
the Delaware legislature. 1t was shown |
in the report that the commissions ap- |
pointed by the two states to determine |
the boundary line had reached an agree |
ment to settle the matter outside of |
the United States supreme court, in |
which the case has been pending for |
more than twenty-five years. To rat |
ify the agreement the consent of the |
legislatures of the two states and of |
congress must be obtained. The com |
pact settles the matter once and for |
all. The agreement thoroughly pro- |
tects the riparian, fishing and other |
rights of this state.
Senator Wakelee has introduced a |
bill, by way of an amendment to the |
voting machine act, providing that the |
assent or dissent of the voter to any |
constitutional amendment may be eX
pressed by the word For or Against
Asscmblyman Williams effort to re- |
lieve Ihe committee on games and fish |
cries of the bill making it misde- |
meanor to use live pigeons for targets |
proved futile, his motion being tabled |
at the instance of Assemblyman FL |
wins of Atlantic, who made a plea that |
the committee should not be subjected |
to such discourteous treatment This |
Is deemed the virtual death of the bill. |
Senator SeweII,s estate ;s ;nventoriod Al |