The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1909-01-12
Preservation Of Forests, Improvement Of Inland.
Waterways and the Building Of an Ocean
Highway Are Strongly Advocated.
Employees Liability Act, the Elimination Of Voting
Machines, Discrimination Of Riparian Grants
Among His Other suggestions.

leasing of said lands under water as they
shall deem necessary for, and most con-
1t was provided by this act that until such
report, mo further grant, lease or sale OF
said lands shall be made The supple
ment of March 81, 1869, was under the SANE
title as the act of April IL, 1864, and adopted
the report of the commission appointed
under that act as filed February I 1860.
The provisos to the third and fourth Sec
lions of the act of 1869 are involved, no
doubt Intentionally so, but 1t seems clear
that they. only. permit grants or leases in
confirmation of grants made previous to
the act of 1864 by legislative act or grant
or other authority. They contain no clause
that can by any forced construction be held
to authorize a grant of riparian lands by
the commissioners authorized to be APP
pointed by the sixth section Of that act.
o. by those previously, appointed under the
however, subject to the limitations in it's
second section, give to the riparian COM
missioners authority to lease or grant, to
a riparian owner on tidewater, the States
title to riparian lands. The act of April
b, lSl, goes still further and expressly
enaets that the commissioners, with the
General lthe Acknowledgement has since
been eliminated, may grant or lease. or
grant afterwards any of the ri ggant ,a ana
of the State.
An act comforting even more general power
of sale was passed March q, 1874. BY the
fourth section of the act of March 20, 1891,
the power of sale was further authorized
END. reasserted by the Legislature in un-
equlvocal terms. While, from a review of
these statutes, l think it absolutely clear,
that, prior to the act of April 6, 1871, there
was no power of sale in the commissioners.
and that the p~rovisos In the third and
fourth sections of the act of 1869 cannot, by 4
any, FAIR construction, be perverted into an
authority to make sales, yet it is equally
clear that since the act of 1871 that power
has existed and been exercised and that
such co~nveyances as have been made since
that date are valid. But l also think thatA
all conveyances by the Riparian Commis-
sioners appointed under the act of 1889,
made prior to the act of 1871, except in
confirmation of a previous lease or grant by
special legislative act, were without au-
thority. from the State and void. This view
is not founded upon the suggestion tina the
title of the act OF March 81, 1869, does not
sufficiently state its object, to justify a
grant to be made under 1t, but solely upon
the terms of the fourth section of the act
or 1863, conceding the title to be broad
enough to cover the power to grant, about
which | expires no opinion, in view of the
TACT that that question is now in the courts.
l recommend that legislation be enacted
prohibiting further grants on the Hudson
River, Newark Bay or XIII Won Kull, but
that the commissioners be authorized to
make leases of these lands, for 100 years,
at a definite rate of rental per annum and
with the option to purchase at the end of
the lease, or of a renewal for another 100
at a sale OR rental price then to be
fixed by mutual agreement, or in default
or such agreement by commissioners ap-
pointed by the Court of Chancery.