The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-09-23
Public Service Corporation
Brings Board of Alder
men Into Court.
COUNSEL ATTACKS AWARD
Chauncey G. Parker Appeals to
Chief Justice Gummere to Set
1t Aside and Gives Reasons
Why Rival Company
Should Not Have 1t.

After hearing q long argument Chief
Justice Gummere in the Supreme Court
circuit today reserved decision in the
application of the Public Service Cor
poration to review the action CT the
Morristown Board of Aldermen in
granting a franchise and making 4
contract for street lighting to thu
Morris and Somerset Electric Com
pany..
Chauncey g. Parker appeared for the
applicant, while John r.. Hardin and
Town Counsel e. X. Mills represented
the city, the former making the argu~
ment on its behalf.
Mr.. Parker, in the course of his g
ment, said that the Public Service Cor
poration was not only a taxpayer, but
at present held licenses and franchises
in certain of the public streets in Nor
ristown, as 1t had an interest in the
United Electric Company and in a for
mer company, holding such franchises
not only for supplying the town with
lighting at present. but also to furnish
lights to citizens.
There. are two matters" he added,
that I desire to ave reviewed. First,
the letting of the contract, and, second,
the granting of the ordinance. The
first thing done in the lighting con-
tract was to send out an invitation
to contractors to make a bid, and on
April 90 the bids were asked for. The
term was for five years, and not less
thai so arc lights and ESQ incandescent
lights were to be furnished. Under
ground conduits were required, and 1t
was further stipulated that they be
placed at least four feet under the
ground, etc. The affidavit shows that
the Public Service Corporation said
that it could not bid on the contract
under the conditions proposed. A bid
from a man of the name of Stryker
came in at $50 a light for he arc
lights, with underground conduits, ETC.,
and the affidavit shows further that
Z the Public Service Corporation was
willing to reengage in the contract for
$85. The $50 bid was accepted by the
committee on lighting, and some time
afterwards it was arranged that the
four-foot deep conduit and other ex-
tensive arrangements be a~brogated and
a twosand a half foot conduit was al
lowed.
II do not claim collision or corrup-
tion," Mr.. Parker went on, but IL
there was such extravaganza and open
disregard of the rights of the city. 1t
is a matter tina the court may review.
It is apparent that his was done for
the purpose of putting the Public Serv-
ice Corporation out of business. l
don't mean to say that there was any
fraud yet, but / do say there was i'm
providence"
Mr.. Parker also pointed out that the
contract was not given out under sec
ton 2, of the ordinance of 1906, as 1t
should be under his construction of the
matter. This requires that a petition
should be filed with any municipal
clerk of such municipality where a
company desires to bid on contracts in
volving the use of the public highways.
The petition filed in this particular,
he held. was defective, because it was
not specify, in that 1t did not set forth.
what streets are to be lighted. Besides
that, he also held, the time of the
contract was changed from fifty years
to twenty years.
The petition was not proper" Mr..
Parker concluded, 1.-The notice was not
proper, and 1t was not proper for the
Board of Aldermen to advertise an or
dinance which had been changed on
the same night from a fifty-year grant
to a twenty-yearN grant"
John r. Hardin. as counsel for
Morristown, IN response read a lot Of
afidavits for the members of the light
ing committee and the finance commit
tee of the Morristown Board of Alder
men, the gist of which was that the
objections made by the Public Service
people did not come along until after
the Stryker bid had been put in. Mr..
Hardin also had certified copies of the
whole record of the transaction, and no
denied that there was anything onerous
about the conditions of h contract
The Public Service people had been in
yited to put In a bid, like other COM
petitors, he insisted, and he added that
as Mr.. Parker had declared that there
wasv no corruption IN any wav there
was no need of discussing that point,
and that it was agreed generally that
all parties concerned had acted IN good
foffh