Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1916-12-01
Egan Law Tangle Be-
comes More Involved
BY REESE p. RISLEY

~ Illus ltSCil, OWlHR W buc pdSshRc VI
the Egan law and its exclusion from
the Egan Good Roads system which
the law is to create, grows more serious
as the situation developes.
A careful survey of the problem o n
firms The view that its sole solution lies
in securing a State election for Car e
May County's benefit, in order to ap-
prove a bond issue to provide funds for
the Extension of the Egan Roads Sys-
tenn into Cape May county from
Bridgeton and Mays Landing, as pro-
posed by Senator Stevens. Briefly,
the situation may be summed up thus:
To secure permanently paved highways
for Cape May %county's main Travelled
roads with proper connections in Cum
berland and Atlantic counties will cost
from one million dollars to q million
and a half. There is no fund in the
State from which such a sum could be
withdrawn for this purpose. Hence, a
State bond issue is necessary. Under
the constitution this requires a refer
endum to the people, e, a State cleo
ton.
II such an election be held, a bill
providing for it must pass the legis a.
ture. If the election be deferred until
the Regular election next fall, Cape
May county will derive no benefits
from the Egan law in the meanwhile.
If q special election be called, every
county in the State will have to pay its
share of holding such an election.
Whether the legislature would assist
Cape May county TO this extent is a
question. Should a special election be
held, however, it would seem mo
likely to result favorably to Cape May
county than if the question were passed
on at the regular general election. AT
a special election there would probably
be no organized opposition and the
votes cast in Atlantic, Cumberland and
Cape May counties would probably ex-
coed the negative vote that might be
poI1sd. 1t is assumed. Of course, that
the votes of Cape May. Cumberland
and Atlantic would be affirmative.
Egan Law a Statewide TangIe
The Philadelphia Evening Ledger of
Monday contained the following dis
patch:
Trenton, N. j., Nov. 27.-stCoun-
ties depending upon State aid for
road work will be deprived OF all
assistance until the validity of the
Egan act for a 81 1000, 900 bond is
sue has been tested in the courts.
This procedure may take as long as
two years, and Colonel Edwin A.
Stevens, the State Road Commits
sioner, said today that no funds
could be distributed until the status
of the bill was determined"
Other and longer dispatches from
Trenton confirm the above. The
"N0rth American of Saturday pub
Iished a telegram from Col. Stevens to
County Engineer H. B. Keasby, of Sa-
lem county, a $ follows:
"Upon advice of the Attorney
General, / deem it my duty to
war; you that 1t is impossible at
this time to say whether any mon
ey will be available from the con-
struction fund during the current
fiscal year.. 1t seems almost posi-
tive that there will be none avail
able from the motor vehicle fund.
This is on the presumption that it
will take some time to test the con
stitutionality of the Egan act"
1t would hardly seem possible that a
matter of such tremendous and vital
Importance to the State should require
two years of court proceedings to settle.
Certainly more expedition than this
should and will be used when the mat
ter gets into the courts. In the mean
while, however, it would seem that
Cape May county, In common with the
rest of the State, will receive no funds
for highway maintenance until the val
idity of the Egan law is determined.
And, thereafter if Col. Stevens is correct,
the balance left for highway mainte-
nance will be nominal, as Col. Stevens
says that the Egsn law will absorb at
least one million dollars of motor We
hicle license receipts out of a possible
sum of one million, two hundred thou
sand.
Atlantic COunty's Egan Law
Troubles
The "Atlantic County Record" Of
Mays Landing, publishes the follow