Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-02-14
MIDDLESEx MAN ON new
STATE HIGHWAY BOARD
lContinued from page ID

Rowland n Mr.. Coflo patnSLlcally
pleaded that the abuse to which the
Republican party has been subject
ed to by the press be stopped. They
declared that it was a Democratic
} condition and not a Republican con-
dition.'
1t was stated that the members
of the House majority although diff
fering in opinion from the members
of the senate, had honestly e2deav-
ored to solve the great highway
problem in a satisfactory manner.
Governor Silzer was praised for his
cooperation III the matter.
Immediately after the bill had
passed in the House it was rushed
back to the senate for the presi-
dents signature. The senate re-
convened from an executive session
for three minutes while the bill
Twas being prepared for presentation
to the governor. AS soon as the
latter received the measure. he sign
ed it, and the four-man board Yves
a reality. The four names were
Submitted to the senate in executive
session and were referred to the fu-
dietary committee, for action later,
as is the usual course with appoint
ments.
II hereby approve Senate Bill No.
269 (the highway billy notwith-
standing my belief that If does not
express the best that could have
been accomplished in this important
matter" said Governor Silzer in
relation to the bill.
Personally, I have always felt
that a board of three, with direct
responsibility, would have been
much more satisfactory than one
founded on partisan division.
II also regret that it has been fei:
advisable to take from the governor
the power of summary removal. The
salutary value of this provision, ]
believe, was quite clearly demon
strated by recent events, and h
elimination of this provision may at
some future time embarrass ooth
the governor and the state in Sc
curing a competent and satisfactory
administration.
81 believe. too, that it would have
been advisable to have made the
governor ex oficio a member Of the
board, so that in case of a deadlock
no would have had the power to en-
able the board to function. Such
a. condition might occur by reason
OF an honest and conscientious dv,
ference of opinion.
despite these criticisms, how-
ever, and in order to bring about
this great and necessary reform in
ON highway system, l append my
signature to this oil"
Jelin was appointed to the board
fot a four-year term. He is a close
personal friend of Governor Silzer
and is a real estate operator and a
road and building contractor. He
was street commissi oner of New
Brunswick from 1910 to 1913.
Kidde was likewise appointed tor
a four-year term. He is an engineer
and is connected with a number OF
firms in New York and New Jersey.
He is a member CT the board OF
trustees Of Stevens Institute of
Technology of Hoboken, from which
institution he was graduated in
1897.
General Scott is OF the retired list
of the army and al in command of
the United States troops on the Mex
lean border during the fracas from
1912 to 1914. He was a member of
the Root commission to Russia in
1917 AMI was chief of staff of the
United States amy from 1916 to
1917. He has served in Indian cam
paigns, in Cuba, the Philippines, and
during the war he commanded the
Seventy-eighth division at Camp
Dix. General Scott was appointed
tor a tWo-year term to the road
board.
Stewart was a member OF the
State Board of Education during the
Edge administration as governor.
served during the war as member OF
the executive conmittee of the
Military Training Camps Associa-
ton of the United States n in
other military capacities connected
with the officers training camps.
He is a graduate of Yale.
The passage of the road bill and
appointments under the measure
forms the conclusion to a bitter po-
litical and partisan fight extending
from the time the governor removed
the old board because they had for
feited 1.-The confidence of the people"
The days and weeks following were
filled with political j~ockeying and
plays for position, not only between
the Democratic governor and n
Republican legislators, but there
was clashing discord between the
Republicans of the House and those
of the senate.
The senate, with a few exceptions
favored Silzer's policy of a three
man commission of two Democrats
and one Republican, but the House,
in league with a few senators, wish
ed a five man com mission to be nam
ed by the legislature in joint session.
The legislature being Republican,
the passage of the five man ripper"
would have assured a board of Re-
publicans.
The fight was a most bitter one,
and in conference after conference,
by the Republican majority, recrim-
nations and charges and counter
charges were rumored to have been
banded about between ~obstreperous
Republicans who wanted to shoot
the works on behalf OF the Grip
per" bill and those who saw virtue
in the governors recommendation
for a three-man Democratic board.
The conferences got nowhere, until.
as one senator remarked, the affair
was becoming g. serious scandal"
Toward the end of the deadlock,
between governor and legislature
there were ugly rumors and corridor
talk at the State House that the
patented paving interests had more
to do with the holding out for a
five man board than was apparent
on the surface.
After a lengthy conference be-
tween the Republican joint confer
ence committee and the governor,
last week. the situation seemed to
have cleared somewhat when a COM
promise bill for a non-partisan