Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-03-23
Want State to Condemn, Not
Negotiate for, Lehigh VAL
Iey's Interest.


ture on March Is last, and contempt
raneous Herewith three bills were in
troduced in the House of Assembly
by Carlton Godfrey, a member from
Atlantic County, and also a member
of the investigation committee. These
bills NAV be referred to briefly as %
abandonment bill, ~ parkway boule-
ward commission bill and 90 bill au-
thorizing the purchase of canal lands
by municipalities. The last two
named bills are contingent, of course,
upon the passage of the abandonment
bill. 1t is the first named bill in which
Jersey City is vitality interested. This
bill (the abandonment bilD is intend
ed to carry out the recommendation
of the commission concerning the dis
position of the canal property. The
recommendations which affect Jersey
City are as follows:
Recommendation.
"First-The committee recommends
that any reversonary interest of the
State. In and to the two tideWater
basins, be decided and conveyed to
the Lehigh Valley Railroad Com
pany. but with the proviso that
channel or gap through the big basin
Gamiliarly known to us as the Wash
sngton Street GapD be forever kept
open for navigation through such
basin for a width of 200 feet.
"Second-That any interest of the
State in the canal, from the little
basin in Jersey City to Fiddlers' Ell
bow, be conveyed to said railroad
company (Fiddlers' Elbow being the
bend in the canal in Currie's Woods
at the boundary line between Jersey
City and Bayonne)
"Third-That all the lands, lands
under water, tlowage rights, water
sources, water rights and all other
rights, property, privileges and estate
of the canal company, or it's lessee
(the Lehigh Valley Railroad Com
pany) west of Fiddlers' Elbow be
decided to the State of New Jersey
absolutely. CThis will include all the
canal property lying in the West
Bergen section of Jersey City, through
which the canal, from Fiddlers' Ell
bow to the Hackensack River at Com
munipaW avenue)
"Fourth-A permanent commission,
which Is provided for by the bill in
question, Is to be given control and
charge over the lands, from Fiddlers'
Elbow to the Passaic River, with
power to retain said canal in this
section or to devote the same to Its
present or other uses, TO sell or lease
the same, or any part thereof
"Fifth-The repeal of the charter
would serve no useful purpose, and
the State would lose substantial
rights by such a course, and the com
mittee feels that this feature of the
former bill should be eliminated, and
that in lieu thereof the stock of the
canal company should be acquired by
the State and the company kept in
existence" (The foregoing statement
is predicated upon the belief of the
commission that there are water
rights which the State will acquire
which We're granted to the Morris
Canal and Banking Company, and
which 1t might be claimed would re-
vert to the original owners by the re-
peal of the charter of the canal COM
pany.
In lieu OF the repeal of the charter
the commission recommends: G4)
That the outstanding stock of the
Norris Canal " Banking Company
not owned by the Lehigh Valley Rail-
road Company be acquired at the ex-
pense of the said company. Q5) That
all the stock of said company may be
assigned to the State, or its nominees,
and that the charter of said canal
company be continued in full force
and effect under the control of tho
State or its agents.
Want Charter Continued.
ut Is earnestly contended by many
persons in Jersey City. whose lands
have been conveyed to the canal com
pany, either voluntarily or as the re-
suit of condemnation proceedings,
that the effect of the recommendation
of the commission that the charter of
the company be not repealed and that
it's corporate existence be continued
Is to prevent a forfeiture of the right
of the Morris Canal & Banking Com
pany to hold the lands, and that the
Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, to
which the lands are to be conveyed
by the State, will possess and have
the right to use the lands for any rail-
road purpose. In fact. the charter of
the Morris Canal & Banking Com
pany provides that any lands taken
by condemnation shall be vested in
the company, to be held by them so
long as said lands shall be used for
the purposes Of said canal" For
many years the original owners of
the lands in question, and their sue
cessors in interest, have acted upon
the belief that should the lands. in
question be abandoned for canal Dur
poses, the title thereto would revert
to them. Indeed 1t has been serious
ly urged by the residents of JERSEY
City. that the right to further use the
lands in question for canal purposes
was forfeited many years ago by the
canal company. or its lessee, through
non-usage and photographs of the
conditions obtained along the right OF
way have been taken and will be
submitted to the judiciary Committee
As proof Of the non-usage of the
canal for the purposes for which It
was acquired, 1t ts cited that the very
commission which makes this report.
when upon an examination of the
canal property in the summer of 1913
was held up upon It's tour through
the canal In Jersey City, until a rail-
road track lying upon one of the
canal bridges could be removed. SO
that the bridge might be holsted and
the canal boat allowed to proceed up
on its way.
1.-THE State of New Jersey should
not be a party to any breach on the
part of the Morris Canal and Banking
Company, or its successors. of the
covenant of its charter. or any of the
covenants contained in the deeds by
which the land In question was ac-
quired. The State owes a duty to its
citizens to see that their rights are
fully and amply protected, and it is
respectfully urged, on their behalf
that IL the recommendation of the
commission in this respect are car
ried out the State will be wholly
lacking In the proper discharge and
performance of that duty.
City Treated Outrageously.
Now, with respect to the main eff
feet of the recommendations of this
commission upon the welfare of Jer-
sey City. Jersey City has Il popula-
ton OF 275000 people. 1t is the ter
minal of the greatest railroads in the
country. including the Pennsylvania,
the Lehigh Valley, the Central Rail