The Penn's Grove record., 1923-07-27
GOV. SILVER URGES PROPERTY
OWNERS TO GIVE LAND FOR
CANAL
Continued from page I

other hand. they do not, n lnslS
upon excessive prices for land, theT
they must take their choice of havint
the state take the land by condemna
ton, and either assessing them FOL
the benefit If their land or denying
them access to the canal and railroad
facilities, except at certain fixed point:
distant from their own property. Il
might be we'll to point out that II the
propertv owners take a selfish view
of the matter, the state Is not likely
to lend its aid as rapidly as 1t would
IL there Is a proper spirit OF coop
Grafton.
Public Service Problem
What's going to happen when the
iitneymen and the NOTORIOUS owners
pool their strength and match II
against that of the Public Service Cor
poration in the halls of legislation
The impending struggle between the
EMPLOYEES and officials OF the Pubic
Service Railway, with prospects OF a
strike In case the company fails to
meet the demands for pay increases
and better conditions of employment.
serves to emphasize the situation de
yeloped from the keen competition or
the two means of transportation, and
there is every indication of a serious
crisis in the problem
The Supreme Court has just decid-
ed, in an opinion handed down by
Justice Katzenbach, in a case from
Camden county, that the Public Serv-
Ice is entitled to the protection of
the law against notorious competition
which may impair its right to earn a
sufficient return upon its investment,
but the State Utility Commission con-
tinues to grant privileges for opera
ton of bus routes in direct and costly
competition with the long-established
steam roads.
AS these lines of modern traffic con-
tinue to multiply under regularly au-
thorized grants, the power OF the
owners increases with rapid strides
and there is every possibility of a
show of strength sooner or later. In
Camden the proposal has been made
to form a combination of the several
lines into one working system, which
may be the fo%rerunner of a state
wide and farreaching scheme to tie
the whole system into one combina-
ton of tremendous power and infu-
ance.
1t was possible for the Public Serv-
ice interests to prevent for a time, a
movement by the jitneymen in 1921
which would have meant competition
so disastrous as to spell wreck when
t controlled legislation now applied
o the situation.
That was passage of the law giving
he State Utility Commission direc-
lion and control Of the operation of jit-
news and notorious lines, with the
stipulation that no new franchise for
, bus line should be granted in con-
Ticf with an existing trolley line "gfv-
ng ADEQUATE service"-that Is. that
40 bus should be operated over a line
oaralleling a trolley road. The theory
If that regulation was that the trolley
inc. having been granted a franchise
~ the state and having invested its
capital in tracks, equipment and rolling
stock. was entitled to the protection
II the laws Of the state to keep that
Investment ecure
The jitney and the notorious have
apparently come to stay in New jer-
sey. and some sagacious men have
predicted that in no. very distant day
thew will supplant cumbersome trolley
cars. Indeed, that has occurred in
some measure with n line in Middle
sex county, which will be aband med
at the end of the present month. NO
more trolley cars will be run over the
lines from Perth Amboy and surround
Ing towns because, as the officials oil
the company stated to the Utility
board, it has sustained steadily grow
Ing losses. Residents Of Bridgeton
came to the rescue of a trolley line
there early in the year after 1t hac
ceased operations for the same rea
sons, and the system is now operated
by a company Incorporated by loca
subscribers with Indifferent success.
For the first six months of the pres
emit real in the city of Newark alone
total of 4~4,S39,417 passengers wer'
carried by jitney and bus. an increas'
over the same period of last year o
S,173, 1886. In that period the city de
rived a revenue from these forms o
conveyance of 8 .177.62.
In nearly every city OF the stat
there are now lines of motorbuses il
operation with apparent success an
increasing at great strides. The Pull
lie Service Company itself has appal
emily recognized the efficiency of thi
form OF conveyance, to which 1t too
such violent exception a few years ag
by establishing feeder" lines at SUI
dry points, one such having bee
placed in operation in Camden In d
rect competition with a jitney serVic
from the Kaighn avenue ferries.
When the numbering old stag
coaches Of our grandfathers da,
reaching outlying sections Of the coul
try from the cities, carrying the mai
and giving passenger service whic
then appeared adequate, were put OF
of business by the railroads there VIZ
no law to check the pillage. TT
weary horses disappeared from II