Gloucester County Democrat., 1912-02-22
POLITICS AND COMMENT FROM
THE STATE CAPITOL.
Continued from Page one.)

lnghuySen. He asserted tnat sell
STYLED school experts are doing more
to hamper the public schools than ali
the points of alleged inefficiency, and
if former Senator Frelinghuysen were
an educator or knew the first principle
of approved pegagogics, he would moi
so fiagrantly confuse testing a school
for efficiency and testing children for
promotion. Mr.. Gill referred to the
Frelinghuysen statement as q graz
tuitous insult to the faithful men and
women who had given their lives TO
educating their children. Assembly
man Gill insisted that the new law is
crude and Inconsistent; that ii is in
adequate, and that it proposes to inn
prove the schools in an antequated
and barbarotis manner. Mr.. Gill as
serted that Governor Wilson does not
approve of a system of promotion
which disregards the terms work.
Former Governor Edward C. Stokes
and State Senator, Isaac T. Nichols,
both Republican leaders in Cumber-
land County. who have long been poll
tical enemies, have patched up a
truce. The aspirations of each to
seek public Office is believed to have
been the chief factor in bringing them
together. Mr.. Stokes wants to be
United States Senator and Senator
Nichols has announced himself as a
candidate for Congress, and neither of
them desire to jeopardize his Office
by any party factional fight in his own
county. Hence, they have become
friendly again.
The New Jersey Harbor Commission
and the New Jersey Ship Canal Com
mission Jointly gave a public hearing
in the Assembly chamber at the State
House Monday afternoon, to consider
the Improvement of the New Jersey
side of New York Harbor, and the
construction of the Ship Canal across
this State. The speakers were Gov
ernor Wilson, Dock Commissioner
Calvin Tomkins, of New York, and
Congressman j. Hampton Moore, of
Philadelphia
Many prominent women of the State
have enlisted in the movement for the
amending of the State constitution to
permit women to vote, and will use
their influence to secure the passage
by the Legislature of the resolution
introduced by Senator Gebhardt, of
Hunterdon County, amending the State
constitution so as to give women the
right of suffrage. Some of the wo-
men who have taken up the cudgels in
this interest are Mrs. R. Gussie Vick-
ers, of Jersey City. President of the
Equal Franchise Society; Mrs. Geb-
hardt, wife of the Senator, and his
daughter, Miss Eleanor Gebhardt;
Mrs. Caroline B.. Alexander, of Ho-
boken, the well known charity and
civic worker; Mrs. Everitt Colby, wife
of the former Senator; Mrs. Stewart
Hartshorne, of Short Hills, promin-
ent in women's work; Mrs Jesse
Lynch Williams, wife of the we'll
known novelist, and many others.
State Senator George w. F.. Gaunt
has issued statement defending his
road bills in the Legislature from the
charges made that the measures are
an attempt at partisan juggling and
are slap at Governor Wilson, Moth
ing is further from the TRUTH" Sena-
tor Gaunt declared, Than that my
bills are an attempt at partisan Jug
Cling. The measures not only retain
in office the present Democratic Com
missioner of Roads, but as amended,
they double his term of office, and
carry him over the term of the next
Governor, when they might have leg
islated him out of Office altogether.
Surely there is no partisan juggling
IN, ha{ hills fa1-
single power now possessed by Gov.
Wilson away from him. Senator
Gaunt declared that his proposition
in the bills to consolidate the Motor
Vehicle and State Road Department
will save the State from $4,000 to
$4,000 a year and will increase the
efficiency of both departments. He
contended that the road question was
the most grave one before the Legis-
1ature this year and unless proper
measures be taken at once an invest
ment Of $18,000,00O in the improved
highways will be almost wholly de-
stroyed
There will be no local option legis-
lation this session of the Legislature.
The pending local option bill will
get only seven or eight votes in the
Senate, if that many, and the dupli-
cate measure in the Assembly stands
no show of passing there. The bill
in the Senate was Unexpectedly re-
ported last week the day after it
3 was introduced AS soon as the meas
ure was introduced it was rushed to
the State Printer and the printed cop
les received the next day and then
it was Immediately reported. Senator
Leavitt, Of Mercer, chairman of the
Municipal Corporations Committee,
claimed that the majority of the Com
mittee was Ia favor of reporting it,
and. therefore, there was no need of
holding it for public hearing. The
Anti-Saloon League officers, who had
the measure introduced in each House,
had asked for joint hearing on the
bill and expected that the request
would ibe granted. They we're aston
-