The Penn's Grove record., 1920-12-10
Senator Whitney Submits Reor-
ganization Plan at Trenton to
Committee Concerned.
SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT
Needs Of Schools in State Outlined.
Better Division of Appropriation
Among Recommendations in
DR.. kendalPs Report.

~ RtSAh wv AbS ChiBiCJCCo VI ~
New Jersey legislature at the session
next year was recommended by Sena-
tor Whitney, chairman of the joint
appropriations committee at the meet
ing of the legislative committee ap-
pointed to consider this project. Mr..
Whitney suggested a cut in the num-
Der and also urged that two or three
officers be appointed in each branch of
the legislature responsible for the eff
f~iciency of the employees needed in
their department.
"These officers" he said, should
receive salaries adequate to insure the
services of responsible men, qualified
for the positions of trust which they
are to hold. The employees under
them should be under civil service, Sc
lected by the merit system, their du-
ties defined, and should be required to
be in attendance whenever the legis-
iature is in session. These employees
should receive a per diem salary,
thereby effecting a considerable saw
Ing In many cases. The members OK
the legislature should have every
service rendered them which Is nee
essary for the proper running of the
business of the legislature, but there
should be no unnecessary or inefficient
employees"
MI. Whitney declared there was ex-
travagance in the present system,
proved by a comparison with other
states. He is in favor of the Wiscon-
sin system. He pointed out that Wis
consin has about the same population
as New Jersey, but is seven times as
large in area.
Its legislature" Mr.. Whitney ex-
planned, "is composed of 1923 members
and has SO employees; the New Jersey
legislature, composed Of 50 members,
has lib employees. The New Jersey
legislature pays about twice as much,
on a per diem basis, for its legislative
employees as other states of approx
mately the same populations and is
exceeded only by the states of New
York and Pennsylvania"
In Wisconsin the employees are Sc
lected according to merit and fitness.
Their qualifications are defined, and
~ discrimination is permitted for re-
ligious or political affiliations. This,
Senator Whitney said, removes the
legislative political patronage In New
Jersey.
1.-THE ~ineflciency of our present sys-
tenn" he added, cannot be denied. In
no case are proper qualifications for
office defined, and almost invariably
positions are distributed purely along
lines of party political e~xpediency.
There are men appointed to Office who
never appear at a legislative session
except to receive their pay checks.
The clerks of the committees are not
required to be stenographers or to
keep records and rarely do any work.
ut is necessary for members of the
legislature to have their secretarial
work done themselves or to rely upon
extra ste%nographers specially engaged
for the service Of the legislature.
These stenOgraphers are upon the pay
roll of the legislature as extra help
and do the work that should be done
by the six appointed 'stenographers'
and IA clerks to committee who re-
ceive In salaries a sum over $4,000 and
render practically no service to the
legislature.
"Such conditions should end and end
at once. There is no reason why
wasteful expenditure should continue
through another session of the legisla-
ture. No reform movement is neces-
sary; no costly investigation is need
ed. The facts are evident, and the
members Of the legislature can stop
waste Immediately"
Needs of Jersey Schools.
Essential needs of the public school
system in New Jersey are summarized
In the annual report of Commissioner
Calvin N. Kendall, submitted with the
reports of the assistant commissioners
and bureau heads, to the State Board
of Education. DR.. Kendall emphasizes
the need of a more equitable distribu-
ton of the state school appropriation.
Some idea of the vastness of the
public school system in this state,
which costs approximately 10000, 900
a year to maintain, is gathered from
the fact that during the school year of
$4,000 the total enrolment in all de-
partments of the public schools was
623, 2S4. OF these pupils more than
$1,000 we're enrolled in the high
schools. The total school enrolment
was approximately one-fifth of the to-
tai population of the state, as shown
by this years census. To teach these
children and youth 1888 teachers
necessary.
Children of the public schools were
housed in 2,1O6 school buildings.
More than $4,000 children we're fur
free of cost, books, supplies
and necessary apparatus. Nearly 3OO,-
900 of them were given some form of
manua! or Industrial training. APP
proximately 1900 boys men, girls
and women were given some form Of
vocational education. There were d.