Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1923-03-02

patented paving proposition had to be
cut out even though it took a major
operation to do it."
The appearance of the Governor was
one of the high spots of a hectic day
for the already much bedeviled Legis-
lature. About noon the Governor an
nounced his intention of delivering a
message on the open specification
question in person, and soon there
after the Republican leaders of the
Senate had arranged a plan by which
the Mathis open specification bill was
to be rushed through.
Declined To Be Side-Tracked
With the knowledge that the Gov
ernor had definite ideas to bring to
the attention of the members, and,
despite the fact that for seven weeks
no action had been taken on these
bills, the Senate brought up the Mathis
bill and passed it just in time to go
over to the Assembly chamber and
hear what the Governors views were
concerning this important problem.
The Governor, however, proved to be
a very agile thinker. In his message
he laid particular emphasis upon sew
eral important provisions of the
Mathis bill that had been attacked in
the discussion on the floor of the
Senate. He said that the provisions
of the bill, although he did not spe-
officially mention the Mathis proposal,
would give to Boards of F~reeholders
final decision after bids had been re-
ceived and this would perpetuate the
present situation.
Because there is a lull," said the
Governor, 1--WE must not think that the
people of New Jersey are not still in
terested in this question of roads.
They are intensely interested in the
expenditure of their $50, 900, 900.
"They are not only intensely inter
ested in seeing that capable and indie
pendent and honest men are put in
charge of the building of the roads,
but they are also interested in seeing
that there is open competition among
bidders. 1t will do the state no good,
even though we have honest and
capable men, such as I have named, if
their hands are tied either by closed
specifications or conditions. which do
not permit of free competition.
"Outside the combinations made by
road contractors to prevent competi-
ton, most of our difficulty, if not all,
had been due to the fact that patent
paving had been injected into our sys-
TEN. The evils due to the use of pat
ent paving have to do with the facts
that our statute, as we'll as the prac-
tice, has not permitted open compe-
tition. The question is, then, how to
correct this condition and to produce
real competition.
"On this question we must not per-
NIT ourselves to be misled and fooled,
neither must we permit ourselves to
be buried beneath a mass of words
which will lead to complications here
after and destroy the very thing we
are trying to accomplish.
Evil May Be Extended
cit will not do to say that we will
| classify the types; receive bids under
these classifications, and then award
the contract for a particular type, be-
cause this will permit the present
evils to be perpetuated in every
| county and municipality where the
| patent paving interests still have their
foothold.
Neither will it do to say, as had
been suggested, that an engineer may
draw a specification designating a
type of pavement equivalent to a pat
ent pavement; first, because there will
always ride a dispute as to free COM
petition, which will be the subject of
litigation; and second, because this,
too, permits the present corruption to
continue in these counties and munich
palitieswhere it has existed in the
past. Instead of taking the paving
question out of the channels of COR
ruption by Legislative act we are leav-
ing it entirely in the hands of local
boards and engineers who have al
ready been connected with this sort of
thing. If the matter is to be deter
mined by an engineer or a freeholder,
Cnon we nave IOC CuT0u Iu0 evil.
"The State of New Jersey can build
good and lasting roads without using
patented methods or materials. Per-
sonally, 1 strongly urge that we do so.
There is no reason why the State of
New Jersey, or any part thereof,
should continue to use patent paving
when we can get good roads without
it. Neither is there any reason why
we should continue patent paving
when we know that it had been and
will continue to be the source of cor
ruption and waste. Let us wash Jul
hands of the whole thing.
81 would advise that a law be en-
acted barring patent pavements from
the state of New Jersey, and thus
opening the way to free competition
in the building of our roads. Thus, at
one stroke we would wipe out all in
centive to corruption and waste in this
particular and get good and lasting
roads Notwithstanding.
"If the Legislature, in it's wisdom,