Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-06-18
COMMUTERS find
It HARD TO BULGE
G. 0. ?. LEADERS



a ferry service between Staten Island
and New York.
Mr.. Fielder's amendment page 4S7,
Senate Journal, 1910 provided hat the
commission should have power:
Mnjority's Lost Chance.
ITO investigate upon complaint In
writing, filed by the governing board
of n township or municipality or
fifty citizens thereof. any rate OF
charge made by any public utility for
any service rendered, and If, after a
hearing upon notice to such public
utility such rate or charge shall be
found to be unjust or unreasonable,
the commission shall have power to
make an order fixing said rate or
charge at what Is Just and reason
able"
The proposed amendment went on to
provide that the public utinty's side OF
the case should be taken into consider
alton and that no rate that did moi
PROMISE adequate return upon invest
merit, including franchise value. should
be considered just or reasonable. But
even that conservative proposition was
rejected, the lineup being the same.
except h a two Republicans n one
Democrat who were present on the
earlier roll calls were not voting. Sen
ators Frennghuysen, Alderman, Wake
lee, Mills, Leavitt, Prince and six other
Republicans sent the amendment to
defeat. Ever Senator Cornish wouldn't
vote against 1t. That power today
would mean something.
Senator Fielder fought hopelessly on,
ridiculed, sneered at by his majority
associates because he tried to get Into
The law the power to make Inc enforce
orders. He RI beaten In an attempt
to have the LAY fix a. penalty of $1N
a day for violations Of the law or re-
fusal to obey orders. beaten in every
proposition he made.
Many other Opportunities.
There were many opportunities for
the majority to relent, but there was
hno show of weakening In the resolve of
the dominated aggregation to put
through a law as nearly colorless a.
possible. .
Senator Gebhardt among other
amendments offered this:
THE powers, of the commission shall,
in all instances, extend to the regula-
ton n establishment o4f sqStes and
charges for public service of any char
acter furnished by any public utility
whatsoever, ana to the regulation and
establishment Of any reasonable stand
ard of safety, adequacy or efficiency
of public service" journal, page 4SS).
And so the fight went on in the Sen
ate. Two other bills were offered as
substitutes for the measure which
passed, it being explained that the,
chiefly differed from the caucus bill II
that they provided that the commits
sion should have authority to make
and regulate rates. Both were voted
down by that aggregation led by Sena-
tors Frelinghuysen. Wakelee, Acker'
man ct al.
On tina same date, Wednesday
March 16, the House minutes show thai
in the lower branch Of the Legislature
the Republican Assemblymen crushed
down every effort of the Democratic
minority to substitute O genuine law
with rate regulation power, for thai
which was presented by h party lead
i ers as a compromise with an on-rush'
ling popular anger that demanded some
action.
On the specific proposition to substi'
tute the Sullivan bill, House So, for tn
caucus measure the vote stood:
In the affirmative were:
Agnew, Auf der Heide. Baker, Boor
aem, Burt, Christie, Ford, James
Kackenmester. Kenny, Matthews
Meyer, dwell. Ramsay. Sullivan, Tu
multy, Walsh.
In the negative were:
Bedle. Birch. Bowden. Crosby, d.
Unger, Edge, Gillen. Goldingay, HAND