Palisadian. [volume] (Cliffside Park, N.J.) 1906-current, 1915-09-04

The Non-Partisan Citizens Com
mittee, at a meeting in Hackensack
on Tuesday night, adopted a plat
form to which every candidate for
the small board of freeholders will
be requested to subscribe. The most
striking feature of the platform is
the declaration that the county en-
gineer and every person who holds
his Office by appointment of the pres
ent board of freeholders should be
requested to step down and out. This
platform was proposed by COM
mittee of which Commissioner Harry
F. Ayres, of Ridgefeld Park, was
chairman, and which included Prof.
E. F. Sturtevant, of Edgewater,
Dan Fellows Plat, DR.. Philip Brun-
dage, Mayor White, of Fort Lee, ex-
Mayor Bryant, of Palisades Park,
and Mayor CARRIER, of Ridgewood.
The Platform in full is as follows:
Platform
"The following is adopted by the
Citizens Committee (non-partisan)
for the election of Small Board of
Freeholders, as declaration of the
principles and policies that in the
Judgment of the committee should
be followed by the new Small Board
of Freeholders that is to be elected
in Bergen county in November next:
First-We declare that the admin
istration of the county's public af-
fairs, should be conducted without
regard to the interests of any politi-
cal party, but in the interest of all
the citizens that is, with honesty, eff
fciency and economy, in order that
the people should obtain the largest
possible return for the contributions
that they are compelled to make in
taxes for the support of the county
government.
Second-Expressing what we be-
lieve to be the overwhelming senti-
ment of the people of the county, we
declare it to be the duty Of the new
Board of Freeholders, as soon as pos
sible, to effect the removal from Of
flee of the present county engineer,
competent and upright men to every
Office now filled by an appointee Of
the present Board of Freeholders.
Should the claim be made and per-
sisted in by any official that he has
a legal right to continue in office, it
should be the duty of the new Board
to exhaust every resource of law to
effect the separation of such official
from his public place.
Third-In view of the many facts
sworn to in recent legislative in
vestigation, indicating a scandalous
misuse of public monies in the build
ing of county roads, we demand COM
plete and radical reforms in this di-
rection. The letting of contracts to
favored contractors, or without honest
and adequate competition must cease.
The practice of "closed" engineering
specifications, whereby monopoly
privileges are assured to persons in
terested in special or patented paving
materials must be ended. We oppose
the use of patented or proprietary
materials except in free and open
price competition with materials of
the same general quality and class.
Pending an ascertainment and publ
cation of the detailed liabilities of
the county in connection with out
standing road bonds and contracts,
we oppose the letting of any further
road building contracts whatever, ex-
cept such as are actually necessary
for the most economical maintenance
of existing county highways.
Fourth-We demand that needless
and excessive expenditures of every
sort shall cease. In view of the
extraordinary growth of the public
debt of the county, and of county
expenditures generally, we favor a
complete and exhaustive audit and
investigation of the county finances
so that the condition thereof may be,
at the earliest possible day, correctly
ascertained and made public.