The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1908-01-21
INAUGURAL ADDRESS,
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE.

less court review be commenced by
the company affected within definite
I number Of days and in default Of Pre-.
ceedings for review or compliance with
A the order d penalty should be imposed
by the commission. the mere filing of
the order for which in the supreme
court should cause 1t to operate as a
Judgment against fire property Of the
defaulting company with the enforce
ment Of this Judgment BY an execution
! out of the supreme court as in the
ease of amy other Judgment
| With this sort of public utilities
bill, with board Of four commission
ers III IL reasonable compensation who
should BIZ required to devote All their
! time to the duties of the office and
! three of whom should always be nee
essaiy to make amy order, good results
would lie accomplished for the people.
Department Of Corporations.
A department OF corporations should
be established. with single commits
sioner at its head All the duties now
cast upon the secretary Of state in this
respect should devolye upon this com
missioner. and he should be given EN-
largpd powers. No certificate of incor-
poration should be fled until it has his
approval as to form and rs to its COM
| pliance with the laws of our state, and
no stock should be allowed to be is
sued by any company organized under
! our laws except upon his certificate
that it was issued in compliance with
the law He should have absolute con
| troll over the authority to issue stock
for property purchased" and cash
stock should not be issued until he
gives a certificate founded upon proofs
of the payment of the requisite amount
of cash into the treasury of the com
lpany.
AS to property purchased stock he
should be required to approve the ar
ton of the directors in authorizing
such stock, and only so much of that
class of stock should be allowed to be
issued as the commissioner, upon the
| proofs before him, should permit
| No mortgage to secure negotiable
bonds should be allowed to be placed
upon the property of any corporation
until his certificate of consent thereto
Fshall he first obtained and the amount
of the bonds to be issued stated iii
| such certificate The bonds never
should exceed the actual value of the
property mortgaged. He should be
given visatorial powers as to any cor
poration organized under the laws of
this state, with the right at all times
to inspect the books, papers or minutes
of any company and to take copies
| thereof
He should be allowed, with the ap-
proval of the attorney general and the
governor, to take legal proceedings in
the name Of the state for the protec-
'tion of the rights of corporation or
its stockholders.
The time has come for the strict SUI
pervision of these great corporations
and the limitation of their stock and
bond issues under some proper public
official. 1t will make for conservatism
and strengthen the companies doing
Legitimate business and eliminate, let
us hope those which are merely spec
ulative in character and organized sim
| ply to catch the unsuspecting or cred
ulous investor.
Department Of Motor Vehicles.
At the present time the motor vehl-
Gle laws are administered in cohnec-
ton with the. Office of the secretary of
state.
rha uca IF thara machines ic hacnn,-
| ing so general the number of them is
so great the licenses exceeding % 900
and the revenue under a changed Ii
cense system would be so large that
this should be department by itself
The enforcement of the automobile
laws is demanded by the travelling pub
lie. A very large percentage of the
automobile drivers are careful, but
there are some who are not
If the present automobile law is too
stringent, it should be amended, A
speed of twenty miles an hour in many
places is not excessive in fact, it may
be said to be quite moderate without
misstating the truth-while in other
| places a speed of twelve miles an hour
4 - luClC lbltitl Aiirli tiNNSf iAtlGllliSc
should be permitted to go But what
ever the law may be, it should be en-
! forced
There should be sufficient officials in
the department of motor vehicles to
see that it is enforced, and the penalty
for the violation of the law should be
more severe.
The returns from this department on
| the basis of an Increased license fee
would give ii as large a revenue as is
i derived from any other department Of
the state, and | should not be surprised
1 if the revenue within a year on rea-
sonable horsepower license fee would
exceed 100000. The expense Of con
Quoting this department probably
would reach ; per cent of the entire
revenue received, and its efficiency
under a commissioner could be made
very much greater than at present,
New Jersey has the finest roads of
any state in the Union and, in proper
ton to her territory, more than any
| other state We must do everything
to increase the number of miles OF
these admirable public highways and
to maintain them after they are con-
structed, and this department, proper
/ ly managed, win be Il most efficient
aid in securing the revenue by which
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