Gloucester County Democrat., 1911-11-09
OUR TRENTON CORRESPONDENT.

Trenton, November IA remarkable
effort to vitalize equal suffrage in
New Jersey and rehabilitate women
with the right of ballot, a prerogative
they enjoyed in the colonial days of
the State, has just been initiated by
Miss Mary Philbrook, of Newark, who,
besides being an ardent suffragette
is distinguished as the first woman
ever licensed to practice law in New
Jersey. After making an exhaustive
study of the subject, Miss Philbrook
contends that women have the right
to vote under the original State Con-
stitution of 1776. She insists that the
constitution of 1874, which is now
operative, is unconstitutional so far
as it provides for the limitation of the
right to vote to male citizens AS the
foundation for carrying her contention
into the New Jersey courts, Miss Phil
brook prevailed upon Miss Harriet
B. Carpenter, teacher in the Newark
Normal and Training School and a
large property owner in Passaic town
ship to present herself before the
election board of that municipality
last Tuesday, and demand to be regis
tered as a voter of the district. When
the election board declined to enter
Miss Carpenters name upon the poll
list of the township, Miss Philbrook,
who was present ordered the board to
make minute of it's refusal upon the
register. This was done. The colon
ial constitution of New Jersey was
adopted July 2, 1866, and two years
later the title to the State of New
Jersey was substituted for Colony of
New Jersey. Under the constitution
one of the rights and privileges was
equal suffrage, under which women
voted with considerable regularity
The early trainers of the constitution
stated it as their purpose that in the
event of independence from Great
Britain the provisions of this consti-
tuition should remain firm and inn
movable"
AS a result of his first years ex-
perience in the Legislature last win
ter, Senator J. A. A. Johnson, of
Bergen county, will in the next ses-
sion introduce at the first opportunity
joint resolution authorizing the
President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House to employ a
New Jersey lawyer whose duty it will
be to make abstracts and briefs of all
bills reported from committees. The
resolution will propose to pay 81 900
to the lawyer selected for such work
and also provides for the further ex-
penditure of $4,000 fr such assist
ance as may be necessary to carry on
the work.
That it was record breaking cam
paign in the matter of upsetting many
old political customs, was evidenced
] by the fact that the only money sent
to the Democratic State Committee
since headquarters opened here sew
eral weeks ago, came in the form of
check for SIS 90 from a Salem coun-
ty Wilson enthusiast. Acting on the
order of Chairman Edward E. Cross
cup, William Devereaux, secretary of
the committee, returned the check to
the man with the explanation that the
State committee, under the corrupt
practices act, could not accept the
money.
i Although the State of New Jersey
started business November 1st with a
free balance for State purposes in it's
treasury of $2,332,362, or more than
the balance of last year by 1904 .335.-
80, it also started in under the new
appropriation bill passed by the last
Legislature and which carries State
obligation of $5,462,217.90. Two fact
ors must be considered in this connec-
ton. One is that these new approp-
riations do not all fall due immed-
lately, but payments on many of them
may be scattered through the fiscal
year, and the other is that additional
income will be constantly received
by the State. The law provides that
the States fiscal year shall close Oct.
81 each year and as soon as the busi-
ness of the way was closed on that
DAY there was great scurrying in the
offices of the State Treasurer and
state Comptroller to strike the bal
ances for the year. AS soon as this
was accomplished State Comptroller
Edwards personally carried to Gov
ernor Wilson, who had just returned
from his 1000 mile trip west, the
statement of the balance. This was
as follows:
Balance in the State fund So, ,3O9, ,7S1 20
Less amount of railroad
tax to be distributed to
the counties for school
purposes ........... 977,419.2O
Net balance for State pur-
poses .................S2 81, 1872 1862 90
New Jersey did fairly we'll in the
corporation line during October by
chartering 110 new companies, the
aggregate authorized capital stock of
which amounted to $5,7SO, 900.
None of the concerns were unusually
large, as is shown by the fact that the
average capitalization was about
$4,000.
The State Library Commission has