Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-02-01
FIGHTING TEE PEOPLES BATTLE

man Devoe would be Wit the governor. The rest of the delega-
tion, however, is Republican and it requires a high degree of states
1aanship to rise above partisanship when the political game is be-
ing played as it S in this instance.
Both Senator Larson and Assemblymsn Hanson stated yestsr-
day that they were not in favor of taking the power Of appointing
the State Highway Commission out Of the hands of the governor
Assemblyman Hoffman was non-committal, but knowing Mr.. Hoff-
man as we do, we have every confidence in his good Judgment and
we are satisfied that when the showdown comes he will be found
standing shoulder to shoulder with those who are for honesty and
fair-deaing regardless of politics.
It is also known that the Middlesex men prefer a three-man
board to a board of five men. In this attitude they are also with
the governor. Their one condition is that the governor select
men Of sufficient ability to be acceptable to the Legislature" judg-
ing from the sincerity of Governor slzer in this matter he can be
depended upon to pick the best men available. After all that he
has said and done, he has got to do this for the sake of his own
reputation.
In this connection, those alleged friends Of the governor in
Middlesex who are circulating petitions and otherwise boosting a
certain New Brunswick man for appointment to the board are only
helping to ~embarrass the governor In the fight he Is making. This
man, being a personal friend of the governor, it is hard for the gov
erner to refuse to consider his name, yet the tact that there is a
possibility of this man being named is one of the strongest argu-
nents used by those who are trying to block the governors pro-
gram.
It is plain that this man from Middlesex does not measure up
to the caibre of men needed for a three-man board. The governor
ought not tn@ta handicapped by having his name constantly men
toned asV jthe governors personal choice. This IS not a per-
sonal matter it is something that vitality concerns the whole state
and we believe that Governor silzer will not be swayed from the
course he has outlined by any personal feelings.
That there is a lining up all over the state IN support OF Gov
erner sizer IN this highway fight is apparent from the comment IN
both Republican and Democratic papers, as well as those that are
independent. The independent Newark Evening News says:
Eighty millions of dollars is the stake the Republican legislators
with a few exceptions, are playing for in their State Highway Com
mission grab program. The money isn't theirs, but the peoples
They want to spend it for the benefit of their party Ii they should
succeed in their scheme, then the road pirates, so accurately des-
cribed by Governor sizer, would be likely to have an easy job in
staging and carrying out a holdup. If the majority IN the leglsla-
ture is not converted through fear of results from the error of its
way, then the Republican party must be dealt with for just what 1t
is so far as the highways are concerned"
The Jersey Journal an independent Republican newspaper
published in Jersey City, says that Governor Snzer is entitled to
the support Of every rightminded Republican in this emergency
It d declares that the patent pavement trust and the cement trust mas
its agents at work at Trenton 'to induce the Republican leglsla-
ture, on one pretext Or another, to prevent the installation of the
free and untrammeled new State Highway board that the governor
is no anxious to put into office, if the legislature will let him"
In the Republican Press-Guardian, Of Paterson, we read:
@Governer silzer wants a threetman highway commission and the
political interests are holding out for a five-man board. Ii we are
to have economy in government the governors way is best Inc
Paterson Morning Times, a Democratic newspaper says la me
tbree-nan State Highway Commission is not exclusively a Silzer
proposition. Republican campaigners promised such a board 10 the
voters last fall. The new governor has simply fallen IN with the
program Of the Republicans and has asked them to help MN carry
it through. He has made the task easier by his courageous strategy
ia getting rid of the ~eightman board. There is glory enough to go
around. and Legislators who assume an obstructive attitude, merely
BECAUSE they fear the governor may get too much of 1t, are not like
" to be acclaimed by the people the next time they ask Tor votes
They will be suspected Of seeking graft"
The independent Democratic Trenton Evening Times comedies
that the patent paving ring has lost its influence in the Executive
Chamber and it puts it up to the Republican legislature to stand
back Of the governor.
The Republican Atlantic City Press, published in one of the
strongholds of Republicanism, makes this significant statement
During the Edwards administration there was much dlstrust o
the Edwards highway board. Well known patent paving interests
seemed to stick close to the Hague band wagon Prominent he
publicans and the Good Roads Association, while supporting propa
ganda for the 100000 bond issue, were clamorlng for a smale
board. Then, suddenly, while addressing the Good Roads Assocla
ton. Governor sizer limited that he might favor a three-man board
a few weeks later he went farther and ousted the old board rec
ommending legislation for the appointment Of a three-membe
board. Now the tide turns backward. From quarters which for
merly expressed dissatisfaction with the Edwards board and seem
ed to favor a small board comes dissatisfaction with the Size
three-member plan. The Republican majority refuses to go alonl
nth the governor. Senator Richards, of Atlantic, and Senate
syorth, Of Camden, are in the forefront of the opposition, New
from Trenton say the patent paving interests are in tn
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