Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-01-10

~ '1@A0 ~ = 8A40
than increasing State hospital facilities
! for this purpose.
Employers Liability Act.
Under an act passed at the last ses-
sion of the Legislature a commission
was appointed by the Governor to In
auire into the subject of employers la
bility laws and to report by bill at this
session of the Legislature.
THE commission has given the sub
ject great care, and their report will be
before you. Whatever else Is done OF
reported, the Legislature should at this
session enact a law a%bolishing the rule
which makes the negligence of a fellow
servant a defense In personal injury
cases, and also take away h defense
in cases of injuries resulting from obyi-
Gus risks.
"a risk that is obvious Is just as
much so to the master as to the serv-
ant, and, II the master puts a servant
to work at q machine which 1t is obvi-
GUS may injure him, the risk assumed
should be the risk of the business.
Another rule that should be abol-
ished is h one which allows the mas
ter to continue a servant at work at a
machine reported defective. n which
holds that the servant may only work
at such a defective machine for a rea-
sonable time after being continued at
1t without himself assuming h risk.
"In his latter case the rule of law
should be that the master takes the risk
SO long as he fails to repair the defect
or permit the servant to work at the
defective machine without repairing 1T.
There is 40 longer any justification for
the old common law rule in the case
above suggested.
"Contributory negligence of the serv-
n himself is the only common law
rule which should remain to prevent re-
covery by a servant for personal in
juries.
supervision OF Weights and Measures.
THE United States supplies, at a
small cost, standard weights, which, by
chapter 239 of the laws of 1905, are to
be kept In the Office of the secretary of
state and of the several county clerks,
that all weights may be tested thereby.
So far as l am able to learn there Is no
authentic set of standard weights in
any of those offices, nor Is there n
supervision of the State over the
weights and measures used by dealers
In this State. There should be, n the
penalty provided by law for using such
as are below The standard should be
strictly enforced. The evasion Of the
law in this regard Is a fraud upon a
vast body Of our people, and it is quite
extensive.
"In my view the supervision of all
weighing and measuring devices should
be placed under the department of
labor. This department has a sufficient
force to do this work, n could do 1t
most satisfactorily without additional
cost. l recommend such legislation.
State Fish and Game Commission.
THE State Fish and Game Commits
sion Is not in my judgment doing its
work as efficiently as it could be done.
The commission should be abolished
n a single commissioner appointed
at a reasonable salary, who should be
required to devote ell his time to the
duties of the office.
THE revenue which this commission
now receives under its several license.
laws and from fines amounted the last
fiscal year to about $66, 500. Besides this
several thousand dollars were also APP
propriated from the State treasury.
THE department now has four COM
missioners, a secretary, a protector and
twenty-five wardens. The salary of
the wardens should be Increased and
they be required to devote all their
time to the work.
1.-THE great State of New York has
but a single commissioner who also has
all the large forest reserve under his
charge.
THE work could be done to much
greater advantage by a single head,
and the State, l am sure, woul get
much better results. The now
received is abundant to cover all ex-
pense, and the cost would not be eX-
ceeded by a reorganization as here sug-
gested. All expense should be paid
from the license fees and fines They
are abundant for the purpose.
Oyster Industry.
THE value of the oyster industry Of
the State last year was about five mil
lions of dollars. Most OF the oyster
lands are State lands leased to the
planter. The total revenue derived by
the State from these leases last year
was about $4,000. The highest lease
price charged per acre, per year, Is
SO, while many acres are leased as low
as fifty cents per acre.
I'm my Judgment this price is entire
ly inadequate. The oyster growers In
other States pay as high as $40 per acre
for good oyster planting lands-in no
sense superior to ours. The truth is
that u oyster regulation policy is u
mere policy of favor without any gen.
eral system of any kind.
1--WE have a commissioner of shell
fisheries. We have a so-called State
oyster commission, and a sparate COM
mission for Atlantic county n an
other for Ocean county and a single
commissioner for Shark river in Mon
mouth county; all these are paid off,
Gals, and In my judgment, after full
inspection and inquiry, all are unneces-
sary.
There should be a sin~gle-headed oys-
ter commission, with power to engage
the necessary deputies to patrol and
protect the industry.
THE present system has not been
self-supporting until very lately. The
revenue barely covers the expense now
Properly n economically managed,
with just and fair rentals. 1t would
pay sufficient to cover all the expense
"WHY BE SO THIN ?"