Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-11-05
COLGATE REPEATS
ENDORSEMENT OF
SUFFRAGE CAUSE
Essex Senator Gives His Views
In Reply to Letter from
Civic Federation.


lranee. who is @ bachelor, has reit-
rated his positive stand ter votes
or women" In a letter sent TO Rev.
Sdainh Roeder, of Orange. president
f the New Jersey State Civic FED
raf,on The federation asked the Or
noe Official for his views on the
nronosed amendments to the state
constitution. The senator, In reply
peakine of the suffrage amendmens,
rrote: "of course, tho woman
tuffrage assembly amendment, NO
is ali right"
Senator Colgates letter, which was
emf on October s, but not made pun
e until today, gives his views on
he amendments as follows.
1T have yours of recent date. ask
no nv view on the fourth proposed
Institutional amendment. This
,rnendment was introduced by the
sssex County Park Commission, ana
called the excess condemnatl on
.,naendment. the idea being, that
where land is to be condemned ano
ought for a public park, more land
man is needed for the park can ne
5on6emned and the excess land can
,e resold so that the park gets the
5eneiit OF the Improvement ana can
control it's environment. This aiso
ppiies to pathways, highways ahc
streets. :. IN, AZ
Il do not know whether It VIII 40
]. harm or not, would like TO
..o.a yo1r view on 1t. OF course. in
lirectlv there is a suggestion OF GER
ain of the single-tax arguments
"a naaly-that the squatters around
he mark should not have the valua-
ior If their property increased at
,nhlic exnense, on the other hand II
mis- our park commissioners IN the
zeal estate business.
Asks Views On Assembly Law.
.0rhere is another amendment
called the Assembly district amend
ment No. 2. / would like to nave
vo,1r views on that amendment also,
II is perfectly fair and right, put
h Essex and Hudson counties, we
might have from it's effect, al
yided Assembly representatlon-s4y
six Democrats and six Repuplcahs-
whereas, in the Senate we are not
represented by population put nave
only one senator from Huusoh anu
one senator from Essex who has no
more voting power than the senator
rom Cape May who only represents
900 peopie. The argument is that
II We split our northern Assembly
delegations, South Jersey ought to ne
willing to have senatorial represen-
tation by population.
IT do not know what there is N
this argument, and do not think
there is enough in 1t to antagoni2e
the passage of this amendment, nut
1t does look to be little unfair 70
some people and I thought l would
call your attention to their argu-
ment in case you want to take 1t up
with your society.
"Of course. the 'woman's suffrage
Assembly amendment No. Is all
right.
mo. s--home rule of cities-looks a
little blind, but is all right.
mo. 5 is all right, I think the
last clause of No. 5, which says that
any amendment that has been sub
mitted to the people and rejected,
shall not come up again for five
years was incorporated by the op-
ponents to woman suffrage as this
clause originally was not contained !
In the amendment and they supposed |
It was a plan on the part OF the !
women to get their bill up every !
year until 1t finally went through. !
Our present law only allows us % |
try and amend the Constitution once !
in f1ve years"
stokes Sees Lack of Interest.
Former Governor Stokes had this !
sharp comment TO make:
Il note the copy of amendments and |
sm glad to get them in such form. |
I do not suppose one person in hum
dred read them. The paramount diff !
hculty with our government by the
people is the fact that our people do |
not govern; do not try to govern.
Many of them do not even vote. Too
many apparently do not care any
thing about their government. When
the proposed amendments to the con-
stitution for the abolition of race
track gambling were before the people
of the State--moral Issues, IL there
ever were moral Observation-Disclosures
ing the interest manifest by the cler-
gym6n and other leaders of morality,
only 40 per cent. of the voters went
10 the polls to register their Judgment.
sixty per cent. apparently did not
care whether gambling was voted up
OF voted down.
"a few years later, when important
amendments were pend
ing effecting the judiciary, the separ-
alton of State from municipal cleo
tons, providing for biennial sessions
of the Legislature, changing the
methods of e.ecting assemblymen
anu UlHcT p1OpDDCn hiiVtAbAiAC1AeS "
Importance, only about Is per cent. of
the voters of the State went TO the
polls. Eighty-fiye per cent. apparent
" didn't care what kind Of a consi-
tuition we had.
There were nearly a hundred thou
sand less votes cost for members OF
The General Assembly in 1912 than in
1908. four years previous, and about
sixty thousand less cast in the guber-
material campaign of 1918 than in that
of 1910 showing a growing lack or in
terest on the part of the voters who
ought TO vote-the rulers who ought
to rule"
The letters from former Governor
Edward C. Stokes and former Park
Commissioner Frederick w, Kelsey
were embodied by Rev. DR.. Roeder
in his reply to Senator Colgate. The
Clergyman expressed his pleasure be-
cause the fourth amendment was
fathered by the Park Commission.
DR.. Roeder favored the passage of
all the amendments. He anticipated
Imposition to the division of the
state into assembly districts from
south Jersey, but said the peop g
there Wou d appreciate the fear of
return OF old-time conditions was
zroundless. as small bodies now are
-.-,te.t,, ia kino, charge of geographical