The Penn's Grove record., 1913-03-28

the EFFORT OF his legislative career It
advocating the passage of his bill.
With all his effort Mr.. Hennessy did
not make much of a dent in the Cen
trail and South Jersey vote, and there
is every reason for assuming that
when his bill gets over into the Sen
ate, with Senator Davis, the Demo-
cratic floor leader, naturally opposed
to him, the measure will not make
startling Roadway. In fact, it will be
surprising if the bill gets ever a re-
spectacle vote. Mr.. Hennessy's consti-
tutional bill is bound to meet an I'M
timely death in the States p law
making body. That this is the antici-
pated result was indicated by the fact
that Mr.. Davis himself has introduced
In the Senate a concurrent resolution
for an amendment to the State Con-
stitution which will change the pres
ent method of amending that docu-
ment so as to provide hat amend
ments may be made every year, in
stead of one in every five years un
der the present regulation.
In line with public thought on the
prevention of accidents is said to be
Senate 309, introduced by Senator
Harry Leavitt, of Mercer county. 1t
provides a fine of S. for anyone tres
passing on the tracks of a railroad. In
some discussions of the measure an
apparently studied effort has been
made to have it appear to be entirely
in the interest of the railroads, and
for the specific purpose of giving their
detectives power to arrest strikers or
strike sympathizers who may trespass
on their property in time of labor
troubles. This is not true in any sense,
however, and Senator Leavitt declares
emphatically that there is no Joker
in the bill. 1t is purely a public
safety measure. Senator Leavitt has
been looking up statistics of deaths
and manning of people who have been
overtaken by engines or cars while
walking on the railroad tracks, and he
found that the State Utility Commits
sion reports show the following sta
tisticS:-
LOOp hltlCAJ III 1hJu4Cd, GOO.
1910-129 killed, 112 injured, total 241.
1911-177 killed, 12S injured, total sos.
1912-154 killed, 113 injured, total 267.
Walking Death.
Being a bank man, and used to rapid
calculations, he figured that in four
years 604 lives had been snuffed out,
and 472 persons injured while walking
on the tracks, a total of 1,0S1, about
the total vote of a large city ward.
All of these people killed or injured
by walking on tracks of a railroad
company, not the carelessness of the
company, but the fault of persons u.s.
ing railroad tracks for highways or
for convenient cross lots way of get
ting to another place. Searching a
little further in the records the Sen
ator found hat for the year ending
June 80, 1912, there were fifty-two per
sons killed and So injured, a total of
lightweight, on the New Jersey di-
vision of the Pennsylvania Railroad
alone. 1t did not lake the Senator long
to determine that something was
needed to punish people who walk on
railroad tracks and needlessly subject
themselves to the dangers of being
taken home to friends in pieces or
wrecks for life with legs and arms
missing. The object lesson of pre-
serving the lives of the people despite
themselves was shown, and the bill
was introduced. The 81 helps
the railroad men, as well as the NUM-
cipal and county authorities, to en-
force the trespass laws. 81 introduced
the bill to aid in saving the people
from themselves" is the way Senator
Leavitt speaks about this unusual bill.
The bill before the Legislature au-
thoriZing the payment of salaries to
members of boards of Education in
cities OF the first class has been re
ported out of committee without
recommendation" This is taken by
many to mean that the bill will not
become a law. The measure has a
number of earnest promoters and they
are not likely to cease their endeavors
to get it on the statute books until
lllS 1SSlolallNO oSoDIOA - OfSA' liz
is widespread opposition to the pay
ment of salaries to members of school
boards, although no organized expires
sion of this feeling has been developed.
There are few paid school boards in
the country, the general sentiment be-
ing that the moment a salary is at
tached to the Office politics become
more powerful in school matters than
before.
Job H. L~fppincott, State Commits
sioner of Motor Vehicles, sounded .
keynote of harmony between autoists
and the general public at|the annua
dinner of the New Jersey Automobile
Trade Association at the Washington
in Newark. Mr.. L%ippincott was intro
duced with many words of praise by
G. E. Blakesley, retiring president of
the association, who was POSTMASTER.
Governor Gives Hearing.
Members of the Committee on Con-
stitutional Revision decided to make
an effort to get as large a representa-
ton as possible at a hearing to be
given by Governor Fielder on the on
stitutional convention bill, which has
passed the House and is awaiting &C
ton in the Senate. According to a
statement made by a member of the
committee, about so persons from all
over the State who favor the bill are
expected to attend the hearing.