The Jersey City news., 1906-06-30
TEACHERS NOT
PLEASED YET
New Retirement Fund Act
Has Failed to Reconcile
the Warning Factions
STATUTE TO BE TESTED
HoBoKEN AND PATERSON LEAD
THE COHORTS OF OPPOSITION
ALL MUST WAIT FOR AP-
PoINTMENT OF TRUSTEES.

POINTMENT OF TRUSTEES.
Plans are about completed for takdpg
into the courts the new teachers retiring
fun act for the purpose of having its
constitutionality decided. Teachers of
Hoboken and Paterson have been the
prime movers iii the project and have
collected fund said to amount to $500
TO defray the expenses Of the suit.
Counsel has been retained and as soon
as the board of trustees of the teach
ers' retirement fund.- which are provided
for in the act have been appointed the
suit win be begun and the trustees will
be made defendants. Some teacher, a
member of the fund, will be the plaintiff,
but who has not been determined at this
time.
The new act which it was hoped
would put an end to the acrimonious con-
troversy over the fund which has been
going on among the school teachers of
the State for some time, was introduced
by Assemblynan Eusebius W. Arrow
smith, 1Jr., Of Hudson County, on March
20. Much to the surprise of those who
remember the bitter fights in the Legis-
lature in the past over this perplexing
subject. the measure went through the
House eight days later without any OBJ
lection to speak of. On April IL it
and the ease with which it got through
both houses led to the belief that the
teachers had at last found a way of set
Ting their troublesome differences over
the retirement fund. This, however,
proved to be erroneous. for as soon as
the bill reached the Governor he was
visited by delegations representing both
sides of the controversy, who implored
him to sign or veto the measure, accord
ing to the side they were on.
The bill had friends among the teach
ers who visited the Governor. and they
urged him to sign the measure, declaring
that it was a good solution of the diff
Guilty. Others admitted that the act was
not perfect. but told the Governor that
they considered it an Improvement over
the old one, and if he would only sign
it and Above it to be put into operation,
they would endeayor to have any defects
it might develop corrected next year.
Some Of the opponent sof the general
plan of the fund, as now constituted,
maintained that the new bill was no i'm
provement over the plan it sought to
make better, and if it became law and
was put into operation it would not be
long before the fund would be ruineds
There were others who attacked the
measure on the ground that it impaired
the rights of the members in classes one
and two.
The latter objection appealed to the
Governor, and he submitted it to the
Attorney G eneraT for his opinion as to
whether the contention had any strength.
The Attorney General gave the Governor
his opinion that the rights of the mem
bers in classes one and two were not inn
paired by the act, and on June IA last
the Governor signed the bill, filing with
| It a memorandum, in which he said it
wa ssigned upon the receipt of the Attor-
ney-G Generals opinion and the assurance
of the committee on Legislature of the
State Teachers Association that they
would join in an effort next year to cor
rect any defect which might be found in
| the law.
On the ground upon which the consti-
tutionality of the act will be attacked
those in charge of the matter will not
talk, sthey say they do not wish to
| expose their hand to their opponents
\