Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-05-02
OPINION ON THE
SQUESTION
Assistant Attorney General
6askiII Settles Mhols Mat
ter for This Year.
RAILROADS AND TROLLEYS
Companies Must Liva Up ts
Their Charters Granted
Prior to Law Passage.
RAILROADS AND TROLLEYs
SPECIAL Correspondenee.l

Trenton, May 2:-According to the
opinion of Nelson B. Gaskill, assistant
Attorney General, the members Of zfhe
/ Public Utility Commission are IN the
exempt class. This means that they may
accept passes on railroads and use them
also, if they wish TO do so. That they
may use the passes without any embsr-
rassment is the Interpretation placed
upon the law by the Assistant Attorney
General.
When the Public Utility Commission
had organized yesterday the pass ques
tion came up for discussion. It wal
decided that it would be advisable II
submit the matter to the Attorney Gen.
eral for his opinion. The members Of
the Commission did not wish to be held
liable to criticism and IN view of the
opinion submitted to them, they are
now fortified against future criticism.
Public Utility Commission
The opinion of Mr.. Gaskill, Assistant
Attorney General, is transmitted in
letter, addressed to Alfred n. Barber,
Secretary. The acknowledgment of
the inquiry is made, and the opinion ia
given in the following language:
This obligation Ito carry the mem-
bers Of the Commission and its seeres
tary and inspectors )is created by thu
provisions of an act entitled: - An act
TO amend an act entitled An act ia
further amend an act entitled An act
concerning railroads approved April
IA, 1908 which amendatory act was
approved April 20, 1909 being an ex-
plic1t direction by the legislature of the
State that the railroad companies shall
transport, free of charge, the officials
in question, together with other off
cials in the said act enumerated You
will observe that this Is legislative
direction, and Is not the operation Of
any discretion on the part of the rail-
road companies themselves -
Turning to the act passed by the
last legislature, paragraph is, section
(d) provides as follows:
No public utility as herein defined
shall make or give directly OF Indirect
ly, any undue or unreasonable prefer
enee or advantage to any person or
corporation or to any locality or to any
particular description of traffic in any
respect whatsoever, or subject any par
ticular person or corporation or local
ity or any particular description of
traffic e. any prelaaAee or aAsssegaRsAes
n any sleST7eer wHETs0syEr-
Against Voluntary Acts.
This subsection, in my opiR5ou- lIss
no reference TO any duties which may
be imposed by the legislature in the ex-
ereise of its discretion but is intended
to guard against voluntary acts on the
part of the carriers themselves and
therefore, does not, as necessary operate
as a repeal of the provisions of the
statute now requiring such transporta-
tion as Is mentioned in your letter.
Paragraph Al of the act is as fol-
lows
Nothing in this act shall be eonstru-
ed to prevent the issue by any steam
railroad, street railway, traction. canal,
express, telephone or telegraph com
pan1es or other common carriers. of free
passes or franks to their employees, Of
heers, surgeons, agents, physicians, at
torneys at law and their families and
the Interchange between public officers,
agents, surgeons, physicians, attorneys
st law and-their families.V
This provision Is not in the nature
OF restriction upon the general pow
ers Of the various companies enumera-
ted as hereinbefore conferred, but 1t is
in the nature of an enabling act, which
permits them to exercise these priyi-
leges as heretofore"
Repeal by implication arises only
when the provisions of the subsequent
statute are so necessarily inconsistent
with the provisions of the previous
statute that the two cannot stand to-
gether in which case the SUBSEQUENT
provisions will prevail. The paragraph
IN question does not seem to me to
take on this character, and I am there
fore Of the opinion that neither of the
paragraphs referred to-and I can find
no other provisions in the statute ap-
plicable to the subjeet-matter operate
as repeal by inconsistent legislation,
there being no words of express repeal
er by the statute in question 70 re-
f1eve the railroad companies from the
obligation to pass and re-pass, free of
charge, on all railroads, now or hereaf-
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