The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-05-19

The conclusions or the comrn1Tree were in part as follows:
 That the Standard Bitu1ithic Com pany was a subsidiary of the Warren Brothers Company.
 That through "a conspiracy against the public interest,"" patented pave ments, including Warrenite and bitu- 1ithic. were laid by Essex county. au- thorities and officials of Newark. and excessive prices were exacted.
 The methods by which these ex- cessive prices 5vkre pssscured recon sidered under the heading Fraud in patent paveme ents,
 The. report says that a fair price for pavement like Warrentte is 90 cents square yard, allowing the con tractor substantial profit. The means by which the Warrenite monopoly stif1ed competition are de- scribed.
 To sooth the feelings of officials, perturbed by public attack. names of property holders favoring Warrenite, were secured by solicitors employed by the company.
 ark street department, testified as follows:
 tssWhen I came into. omce I found the paving ring in com
 pIete control of the city. tried
 to smash their grip. tore up their streets. for streets were laid that were lacking in quality and quantity. have on several oc-
 cations charged the BituI1thic 1 Trust, as we call it in Newark,
 with defrauding the city. have
 invited them to-sUe me, stated
 where my property was, proved
 my responsibility in case of legal l action, and so far I have not
 been sued.
 tHT1his investigation should re-
 suit in opening the specifications in Essex county and throughout
 the state of New Jersey. The specifications in New York have | been thrown open and what can
 be done there can be done here.
 s.WHERE PATENTED PAVE MENTS ARE P B c F B D
 THERE CAN BE NO REAL
 GO MP EFT TION AND THE | WHOLE THING IS CROOKED
 AND DISHONESTY
 e The committee reported how poor kwork was done, through the conniv- | ance of officials and delinquent in l spectors It exposed methods by which the Warrenite trust sought to give an appearance of competition where there was none, and laid open 1.-the rotten situation in Newark and ! the surrounding territory, the. very | conditions which existed the just in dignatfon of the Newark Board o1 Trade.
 The commission made a number l of reconm endations to the legislature of which this is the chief:
 The law must be amended so as tC exclude patented or proprietary pave nlent materials, except in open price competition with pavement of the same general type, and in other res lpects free competition in the interesl of the public must be assured
 Upon the estimate of the New ter. sey report, that 90 cents would be z fair price for a pavem ent like Warren fte, Bridgeport has been paying some ltIling like 50 cents per square yard too much Nthe price here being $1.20 z soilafe yard and r1extras'' The ex tras have brought the price to $1.41 approximately.
 The New Jersey report follows, il part
 Fraud in Patent Pavements.
 Circumstances relating to contract. for biturninous concrete pavements in Essex County point plainly to 2 conspiracy against the public inter est whereby excessive prices were ex 4acted for patented pavenents both b! the county authorities and the off ciaIs of the City of Newark. It ap pears that by reason of the fact tha the county engineer of Essex Count, and the city engineer of Newark spe | cify the products of the Warren Bros Company exclusively, on all bitunain ous concrete work and by reason al so of the relations which have beel shown to exist between the Warre, Bros. Company and the Standar l BithuIithic Company. all competition