The Monmouth inquirer., 1923-07-26
MATHIS ROAD ACT
PROPERLY PASSED
Holds Bill Received Enough Votes
to Put 1t Through Over
Veto.
TECHNICAL POINT ALSO FAILS
Speed Of Action upheld-Action BY
Both Houses Of the Legislature
on Same Day Is Called
Permissible.

Trenton.-Goyernor Silzer's effort
to upset the Mathis road act by
appeal to the Supreme Court has fail
ed. In an opinion filed Chief Justice
Gummere, acting for the court, which
sat enbanc to consider the governors
attack as presented on his order by
the attorney general, the two points
raised are dismissed.
The first of these points wal that
the Mathis bill, Senate 1876, did not re-
ceive the necessary t~hirty-one votes in
the assembly to pass 1t over the gov
ernor's veto and that, therefore, the
minutes of that body showing its pass
age are incorrect.
The second point was that the as
sembly acted in violation Of the Con-
stitution in considering the bill on the
same day 1t was received there, a Gus
tom that has been followed, when he
sirable, for the past twelve years.
AS Court Views First Point
In taking up the first point the chief
Justice reviewed briefly the testimony
given by a reporter for the Newark
Evening News, in which he declared
that seven assemblymen recorded as
having voted for the bill were absent
when the roll was called and that the
bill actually received twenty-eight af-
frmative votes. The opinion then took
up the testimony of these seven men,
showing that one of them asserted he
was absent, that two we're uncertain
as to whether or not they were pres
ent and voted and that four We're posi-
tive they had voted for the bill.
eIn the face of the testimony Of
these four members 1t would appear
that the News reporter was mistaken
in the statement made to and publish
ed by his paper" said the chief JUS
tice. I'VE do not doubt that the Oc-
currence is easily understood, in view
of the unusual disorder (as the testi-
mony shows) which existed, not only
among members, but among visitors
who were present upon the floor Or
the chamber during the call of the roll.
ut seems hardly necessary to add,
in view of the testimony referred to,
that we cannot declare that We are
satisfied Gas the act of 1873 requires
us to be, in order to justify a decree
that a statute is null and void) that
the statute under review was not duly
passed; i. e., that it did not receive IN
the House Of Assembly a majority Of
the votes of the whole membership of
sixty, as required by the constitution.
The first ground Of attack upon the
statute, therefore, fails"
Sees Mo Violation of Basic Law.
In concluding a discussion of the
constitutional provision concerning
the passage of bills over the veto Of
the governor, the opinion says:
"The court cannot declare that the
provision was violated by the action of
the assembly In reconsidering the bill
on the same day on which it received
1t from the senate"
The Mathis act provides for an I'M
proved road as part Of the state high
way system over a stretch OF fifty
three miles, between Toms River and
Camden, but, as 1t was not a part OF
the system when the $40, 1000, 900 bond
issue plan was adopted on referendum
Its development must be delayed.
Paroles for Two Women
Two women sentenced to the Clin-
ton Reformatory for murder were pa
rolled by the Court of Pardons, which
concluded it's June term of court. One
of the two, Caroline Prinetti, was SEN
fenced for killing her husband. Cam
den authorities informed the court the
man had made life miserable for Mrs,
Prinetti and her nine children. The
murder was committed in a fit of des-
peration to protect herself.
The other, Mary Gaskill, was respon
sible for the death of two grandchil-
dren. The woman drowned them be-
cause their mother had died and she
feared that their father would take
them out Of the state. Both women
admittedly were not in full possession
of all their faculties at the time the
crimes were committed.
During the term the court consider
ed 202 state prison, 80 p~enitentiary
and three reformatory cases. Paroles
to take effect at once were granted N
20 prison, two reformatory and three
| pEAlLcAtldAJ SooOo II va e4O
ton of the minimum sentence in 20 Of
the prison cases and one penitentiary
case.
Jersey Hay Crop Light
With hay the staple crop for winter
COW feed the farmers of New Jersey
are wondering how they are going TO
have enough forage to keep their milk
production up to standard. The yield
OF grass and hay throughout the state
is so small that the State Agricultural
Experiment Station Is broadcasting
advice to farmers to put in special
sowings of millet, Sudan grass, soy
beans and cowpeas. County agents
throughout the state are being in
structed to urge the farmers to plant
special forage crops this month for IN
emergency hay crop to be harvested
early In September.
The experiment station at New
slr,uawfek ran0rtg however. that in