The Penn's Grove record., 1921-08-19
Riuht of State Of New Jersey to
Control Utility Rates to Be
Vigorously Upheld.
McCRAN is WELL EQUIPPED
Attorney General Prepared for Battle,
and Issue Will Figure in Campaign.
Edison's Questions Easy Com
pared to State Cop Tests.

state had begun to feel tHaJ lhe III
terminable trolley fare problem had
been settled for ut least year comes
the npw move uf the Public Service to
mess un the whole works until pa
tfente has beeume exhausted and dis
gust has taken lis place. The general
impression among the people, especial
" of those directly affected by the
constantly changing situation. IS tAaJ
the big corporation has become so sat
urated with the iutulerant spirit OF lis
chief functionaries that it is impoSsi-
bic to react to public sentiment or to
take any attitude other than that OF
blind adherence to a Inc set for it by
an obstinate, pusnacioas and doml-
neerlng chief, whose motto appears t"
have been borrowed from an almost
forgotten railroad and financial power,
"The public be damned
1t was confidently believed by a
large number of people o. the state
and most of the harassed patrons of
the troublesome trolley system that
when the Public Utility Commission
granted the penny increase In trans
fers, calculating that this would raise
the company's annual gross income by
almost three quarters Of a million dol
lars, Its financial sore would be solved,
especially with the 20 per cent reduc-
tion in the wage scale of the employ
ees and corresponding fall in the prices
of materials. The thought was Of brief
duration. The company, whose presi-
dent and vice president are lawyers
discovered an entirely different course
through the legal intricacies and judge
made laws for an attempt TO circum-
vent the action OF the peoples chosen
representatives. Through President
McCarter's brother, Bob" both of
whom were for short periods attorney
general Of New Jersey, they sought the
intervention of the federal courts, and
the people were amazed and perpleXed
by the swiftness with which Federal
Judge John RellStab, hearing but the
one side Of the case, issued the order
for the s cent fare. 1t looked very
much as though the judge, formerly Of
the common pleas bench of Mercer
county, had prepared himself in ad-
vance for the application and stood
ready to announce his decision at once.
Legal circles were tlabbergasted by
this unexpected denoument, but for
tunately the judge got into a better
light, from which lie could gain a clear
er view of the law, and with as much
swiftness he suspended his own order
of the day before, He discovered that
under the federal statute the legal
managers of the Public Service had in
yoked he did not possess all the power
he fancied he possessed.
Now, the whole question is to 60 be-
fore the federal judges one of them
nonresident Of New Jersey, and two of
them are to decide the fine points in
volved Fortunately the people have
q formidable and gifted champion in
the person Of Attorney General Thorn
as f. McCran, who plans to 90 into the
big fight with all the power and vigor
at his command, and those who know
him realize that it will be no + o'clock
tea AS a former assemblyman and
speaker, former senator and president
of the senate, a close student Of con-
stitutional law, as u man Of unusual
mental capacity and a fighter who
knows no fear, MI McCran is well
equipped for the fray. 1t is to be one
of the most interesting contests, too,
the state or country has witnes ssed
since the legal controversies over slav-
cry. Here is involved a grave question
of state rights, too. and whether, under
the federal Constitution the Congress
has the power to enact laws so direct
ly affecting the internal affairs of the
states as to control rates Of utility con-
Germs not engaged in interstate traffic,
Mr.. McCran has expressed the belief
that the federal statute thus involved
can have no application to the situa-
tiou in New Jersey, and that belief
srirs his fighting blood and puts him on
his mettle. He made a gallant fight
before the Supreme Court Of the Unit
ed States In behalf Of the states con-
stitutional right to legislate upon the
liquor question and lost by narrow
margin, with some Of the learned
J yAu=t> SLSl dliI444- Ills views. cry Jill
ferent principles are involved in this
new contest, however, and the attorney
general will exact his best efforts and
resources in the situation. Meantime
existing fares continue in operation
until the case has been adjudicated
finally, and no matter which way it is
decided by the three judges of the dis
trict court it is almost certain to be
carried to the Inted States Supreme
Court for final adjudication. That will
probably require a year or more, and
the very purpose of the Public Service
Company will be defeated.
The situation is looked upon as an
other of the numerous instances Of
Public Service blundering. TOO much
law at the top and not enough com
mon sense at the bottom" was the way
one commenter put it. "They never
get the public's viewpoint. They don't
seem to want it. They get an idea that
The laws and the courts were made for
them, and they 20 blindly along with
that arrogant and domineering spirit
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