The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-10-12
FORTS AXE
READY FOR
MANAGER
If Elected He Will Not
Hesitate About Cutting Off
Manager at R~efOrmatOry.
CORPORATIONS BUREAU
CORPORATIONS BUREAU
Makes a Forcible Speech at City
of Passaic After Tour of
Well Received by
All Classes of Voters and
Is Confident of Winning.

PASSAIC. Oct. 12.-In his speech at
the Opera House here last night, the
final one in his tour of Passaic County,
John Franklin Fort, the Republic
/, can G-ubernatorial nominee, said that
were he Governor and his o~ft-repeated
belief in a statute giving the Governor
power to investigate State institutions
in force, he would bring to book a
certain officer of thf Railway Reforma-
tory whom, he saitlhe understood, was
trying to escape Investigation.
Mr.. Fort mentt Jned no names, but the
audience was .sIuick to respond to the
suggestion. de had been speaking OF
Investigations of State institutions, and
declared:
Governor, 1 promise you that | will
to the Legislature, in the first
act 1 do recommend to them, that they
shall confer authority upon the Governor
to visit, examine and inquire into the
government and management of every
~ S5a tak kins svldenee.. and and that mat If 9e there maye be e0 dis
: covered in any such institution any per-
son who is derelict in the performance of
doing, that the Governor shall have the
power, by a stroke of his pen, TO take his
political head off.
+, institution, who is a Republican, who IS
said to be escaping or attempting to es-
cape the writs of subpoena. 1t is said
that he knows something about the man
agement OF the reformatory at Railway.
I don't know whether that is true or not,
put NV If l :1e % ' t and ' fSsra e2ist 4r t ! sts state
like which I rave spoken of and he under
took to stay out of the State for the pur-
pose of avoiding the. service Of a sub
poena, his head would go off without re-
gard to craftsmanship. No honest man
ouGht to be afraid of an Investigation or
afraid of having a subpoena served upon
him to be investigated.
IF there is nothing wrong let him come
forward and go upon the stand and testi,,-
fy. No honest man should fear to TESTIFY.
The candidate, for the first time on his
tour Of the State, went deeply into the
question of corporation laws, expressing
his opinions on the present law and out
2 lining his plans for its amendment In
event of his election. the principal inno-
walton proposed being a bureau of corpo-
rations. He said that there were several
provisions in the law by which 1t was
possible to deceive people as to the value
4 of corporate securities. There was a pro-
4 vision for the issue of stock for property
purchased so that 1t was possible to put
a patent In that might be worthless for a
dollars and issue a million dollars
worth of stock. Then he went on:
.'There are other features in the law to
which I shall not refer tonight, but TINS l
+ see New Jersey take the same position
with regard to corporations that New York
and Massachusetts and other States take.
and that is this: 1 want to see established
in New Jersey a bureau of corporations
with a corporation commissioner and no
certificate Of Incorporation of any company
to be issued until 1T has been passed upon
by that commissioner, and the control Of
the stock to be issued by every corporation
to be put in the hands of that commission,
SO that there shall be a responsible officer
in this State FOR that nurD0qA
There is none now. The Secretary of
State. with whom the certificates are now
filed. is now a mere clerk for the purpose
of receiving the certificates. He has no
power over the corporations, no control
over the issue Of stock, and no control
over anything the corporation does. I
want to see a corporation commission
with power to control the issuance of
stock. SO there shall be at least some
reasonable basis of value for every share
of stock issued by the corporations"
Mr.. Fort took up the subjects of riparian
grants, the election laws, direct primaries,
the selection of a United States Senator
by the people, and civil service reform
much in the same way that he has en-
ployed all along.
After the way in which the candidate
covered Burlington and Middlesex counties
Wednesday and Thursday, yesterdays trip
seemed rather tame. Instead Of starting
out at s o'clock in the morning the party
did not get away from the candidates home
IN East orange until dIler IL ana uIu not
begin the real work Of the day until after
noon, Paterson and Passaic were the only
two towns visited, the factories of the
former taking up the afternoon. A tour Of
the banks and public buildings was the
first number ON the program. At the
Court House the Grand Jury had adjourned
when Mr.. Fort arrived, and he was invited
into the jury room by Foreman Louis
Piaget. None Of the party entered with
him.
The next stop was made at the factory
of the National Ribbon Company, where
George Kuett, the superintendent, well
coined him and acted as his guide. Then
every one went over to the East Jersey
Pipe Works, next door, where Mr.. Fort
gave the men, who had been allowed to
stop work, a short ak At the Helvetia
silk Mills Mr.. Fort was much Interested In
the process Of making silk velvet ribbon,
especially when he was told that the man
ufacturing of 1t in this country had only
been going on a little over seven years.
In each shop he went through each depart
ment, shaking hands with the operators Of
the machines and questioning them about
can Shawl Company's plant every loom in
the weaving room was stopped, and Mr..
Fort was led over to one OF them and told
to pull a lever. Immediately that machine
and all the others started again.
Several other factories were on the list
for a visit, but the afternoon was too
snort TO ailOW luG pan W NC Culllc Out.
Mr.. Fort dined at the Hamilton Club with
County Chairman George Politt, Vivian
M. Lewis, clerl, of the Court in Chaneery,
and Edward E. Gedney, who had been
with the party during the afternoon.
Three meetings were held 10, Paterson
in the evening, one at the LINCOLN Repub-
Republican Club, and the third at the
rooms OF the Phelps Guards. At the last
place MI. Fort talked of the prominent
men who had come from that section of
the State, taking William Walter Phelps
as an example. Former Secretary of State
George Werts was there to greet the
candidate.
That was the last stop before the party
came 10 Passaic. Mr.. Fort had intended
to spend the night here, but as the meet
ing ended earlier than he anticipated, he
returned to East Orange. Senator Everett
Colby was to nave been among the speak
crs at the meeting here, but was detained
in Trentun by his work in the Senate.
Today Mr.. Fort will be In Bergen County.