The New Jersey Citizen [Reprint 2022 ed.] 9781978816022

Table of contents :
Tables Court System
Contents
Legislature
The New Jersey Citizen
1 Our Land and People
2 New Jersey History
3 The Constitution
4 The Governor
5 The Legislature
6 The Judiciary
7 The Political Parties
8 Elections
9 Agriculture
10 Conservation and Economic Development
11 Education
12 Health
13 Institutions and Agencies
14 Law Enforcement
15 Finances
16 Highways
17 Labor and Industry
18 State Services
19 Authorities and Commissions 2
20 County Government
21 The Municipalities
Index

Citation preview

THE

NEW JERSEY CITIZEN J A M E S P. H A C K E T T

R U T G E R S New Brunswick

U N I V E R S I T Y

P R E S S New Jersey

Copyright © 1957 By Rutgers,

The State

University

Library of Congress Catalogue Number: Manufactured

51-8635

in the United States of America

To Mary

NEW JERSEY'S COURT SYSTEM

County District Courts

Municipal Courts

Juvenile & Domestic Relations Courts

Surrogate Courts

Contents Tables Court System Legislature 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Our Land and People New Jersey History T h e Constitution T h e Governor T h e Legislature T h e Judiciary T h e Political Parties Elections Agriculture Conservation and Economic Development Education Health Institutions and Agencies Law Enforcement Finances Highways Labor and Industry State Services Authorities and Commissions County Government The Municipalities

Index

1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3

HOW THE LEGISLATURE IS ORGANIZED SENATE SENATE PRESIDENT MAJORITY LEADER MINORITY LEADER

PRESIDENT OF SENATE IS ACTING GOVERNOR IN PRESIDENT'S ABSENCE THEN SPEAKER IS ACTING GOVERNOR

COMMITTEES CONSIDER BILLS

ASSEMBLY SPEAKER MAJORITY LEADER MINORITY LEADER

The New Jersey Citizen

1

Our Land and People j ^ J e w Jersey is, in effect, two states—North and South Jersey. As a matter of history, New Jersey began its life in the New World as two colonial territories—East and West Jersey. Economically, New Jersey boasts of its industry and its agriculture. T h e five million inhabitants have turned its 8,204 square miles into the most productive in the nation, ranging from oysters to eggs to the latest gadgets in our modern electronic world. It has its light and its serious side: the playgrounds of its 120 miles of beach resorts and hundreds of lakesides, and its great research laboratories. Geographically, New Jersey could be likened to a peninsula, a fairly broad section of land running south from New York State, bordered on the west by a winding Delaware River and on the east by the lower Hudson River, great New York Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. The northwest corner of the state is marked by picturesque hills and lakes. T h e northeast is a flat, smog-blanketed industrial area, which gives off odors from piggeries, chemical plants, and sprawling gasoline and oil refineries. T h e central part of the state from the ocean's coast to the Delaware banks is an undulating expanse of farmland, flowing in milk and perfumed by apple and peach orchards. Here you'll find sweet Jersey corn, luscious tomatoes, plump Irish potatoes, poultry, and eggs. And concentrated in Monmouth County are the fenced fields where some of the nation's great race horses are bred. In the south the state flattens out into pine barrens—the southeast fringe a resort area based on Atlantic City, the middle south a cackling poultry and egg center based on Vineland, and the southwest an expanding industrial hub based on Camden. The Delaware 3

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Valley area from Trenton south to Camden was ready in the late 1950's to burst into serious competition with Pittsburgh, long the home of the nation's steel production. A great United States Steel plant on the Pennsylvania side of the river, just north of Philadelphia, was expected to turn the valley into a giant of power and, with a deepened river, make Trenton a seaport. T h e state is 166 miles long from Port Jervis, N.Y., at the northwest to Cape May in the southeast. It is 32 miles across at its narrowest part, from Trenton to Raritan Bay. Names New Jersey will answer to any one of several names—"Garden State," "Corridor State," or "Medicine Chest of the Nation." It has been famous for almost two centuries for its vegetables and fruits. Its 118-mile turnpike, a toll road linking New York with Delaware and Pennsylvania; its 185-mile scenic Garden State Parkway, which eventually will link the New York State Thruway with a Cape May ferry to Delaware; its 1,761 miles of state highways, 6,629 miles of country roads and 19,849 miles of municipal streets, and its eight trunk railroads—these make New Jersey the transportation corridor between the great Northeast and the rest of the nation. New Jersey has more than 800 lakes, ponds, bays, and harbors for a total of 699 square miles. From its laboratories and pharmaceutical plants come such household standbys as Lysol, the products of Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck & Co., to mention but a few. Out of New Jersey come products of such varied nature that it has been estimated its 11,000 factories and 323 types of industry produce 90 per cent of the kinds of goods Americans enjoy. T h e state's farms, which produce the highest cash receipts per acre in the nation, help feed the great metropolitan areas of New York and Philadelphia. North and South So closely aligned is New Jersey to New York City and Philadelphia that its citizens have been described as slaves of two cities. Some 300,000 New Jersey residents commute daily from their sub-

OUR LAND AND PEOPLE

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urban homes to jobs in the two huge cities but they are proud, as are the other millions in the state, of being Jerseyans. There are actually two kinds of Jerseyans, the North and the South Jerseyans. The division between North and South Jersey is most marked. A line drawn from Trenton on the Delaware River to the sea or a line drawn, as the early colonists did, from the vicinity of Atlantic City in the southeast to Sussex in the northwest will in each case produce two states. Atlantic City is south of the Mason-Dixon Line, but no Southern drawl will be heard from the natives. The difference in temperature between northern and southern New Jersey varies as much as 20 degrees in winter and summer. There may be ice on the streets of a North Jersey city while on the same day one may be pleasantly refreshed by a balmy Gulf Stream breeze at Cape May, on the state's southernmost tip. The differences in temperature and economic pursuit are reflected in the state's politics. The South Jerseyan will fight the North Jerseyan and their arguments sometimes become bitter on legislative matters. Yet strange alliances are formed between the northwestern and southeastern Jerseyans when its comes to natural resources of the state. They will combine, too, to put a check rein on the representatives of the industrial northeast. Despite the highly industrialized nature of the northeast and the jealous guarding of the farmland and the lake areas of the state, New Jersey is a great fishing and hunting region. More than 100,000 persons go out each season to hunt deer, rabbits, quail, and ducks. Hundreds of thousands cast for fish in streams and lakes, off ocean beaches, and in bays and inlets. The state has a bookful of laws on fish and game and a council of experts to enforce and revise them. There are thousands upon thousands of acres of woodland, operated as state forests and parks and studded with picnic groves for the tired suburbanite and his family. The Department of Conservation and Economic Development has estimated that 43 per cent of the state is forested. Ocean County has the greatest woodland area, with 77 per cent of its 408,000 acres in forest. Atlantic County ranks second, with 75 per cent of its area forested. Even highly urbanized Hudson County has 1,000 acres of woodland. New Jersey has 38,000 persons employed in 574 industries that

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use wood or wood fiber as a raw material for lumber, paper, furniture, and other products. New Jersey has an almost $2 billion a year resort business, with some 1,500 hotels and hundreds of motels to care for about 30 million visitors a year. There are 55 resort towns along the 120-mile Atlantic Ocean beachfront, famous for its boardwalks at Asbury Park and Atlantic City. About 50,000 persons are employed to serve visitors to the resorts. Earning a Living More than four million of the state's five million people live in urban areas. Actually, only 105,000 persons live on the state's farms and about 600,000 in generally rural areas. Two million are wage earners and a little more than 200,000 are employers. About 160,000 are employed by municipal, county, state, and federal governments. The greatest number of persons, some 800,000, are employed in factories and some 200,000 are in the professions. T h e U.S. census of 1950 lists only 118,000 as laborers. T h e greatest number of persons in factory work are in the clothing industry—about 86,000. Textiles call for another 62,000. But it is interesting to note that New Jersey is best known for those industries which carry the glamour of the future—aviation, electronics, medicine, and chemistry. And New Jersey has its unique industries, carrying out pursuits that have made some companies the largest of their kind in the world. For instance, the EclipsePioneer division of Bendix Corp. is the world's largest manufacturer of aircraft instruments and accessories; Hoffman-La Roche at Nutley is the world's largest maker of vitamins; International Projector Co. at Bloomfield is the world's largest manufacturer of motionpicture projectors; Kaywoodie at West New York is the world's largest maker of pipes; the George W. Helme Co. at Helmetta is the world's largest manufacturer of sweet snuff; the MacAndrews and Forbes Co. at Camden is the world's largest processor of licorice; Congoleum-Nairn, with plants at Kearny and Trenton, is one of the largest linoleum makers in the world; Becton-Dickinson at East Rutherford leads the world in making hypodermic syringes and

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needles, thermometers, and elastic bandages; and Ronson at Newark is the world's largest manufacturer of cigarette lighters. Big Industries Some of New Jersey's industries are foremost in the nation. Newark, the home of fine gold jewelry, also competes with St. Louis and Milwaukee in the brewing of lager beer. One of the nation's largest breweries, Ballantine, is located there. Other nationally known brewers also have plants in Newark. T h e state is the fourth smallest in the nation, but the seventh largest in industrial output, ranking behind New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and California. New Jersey leads the nation in chemical production, is among the first five in apparel, instruments, petroleum, and rubber, and among the first ten in stone, clay, glass products, textiles, food, leather, paper products, and transportation equipment. New Jersey is third in the country in the needle trades industry, with plants in 16 of the state's 21 counties. Just to give an idea, New Jersey has 300 dress factories, 225 ladies' suit and coat factories, 600 embroidery plants (many as small as one or two machines), 91 hosiery factories, 40 button-making plants, 15 corset manufacturers, 29 brassière makers, 25 handkerchief plants, 19 men's suit factories, and 60 underwear plants. T h e New Jersey textile industry is largely located in a 10-mile area of which Paterson is the hub. Some 60,000 persons are employed in 850 textile plants, including those that specialize in woolens and worsteds, dyeing, carpets and rugs, and cotton fabrics. World-renowned are Botany and Forstmann woolen mills of Passaic and Gulistan rugs at Freehold. T h e biggest general chemical plant in the Western Hemisphere is the one operated by the Du Pont Co. in Salem County. T h e chemical industry in New Jersey turns out almost 5,000 different products. In all, some 800 manufacturers of chemicals employ more than 75,000 persons and pay them $311 million a year in wages and salaries. In aviation, Curtiss-Wright and Bendix, plus several smaller concerns, employ 45,000 persons who earn more than $400 million a

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year. T h e Curtiss-Wright payroll alone is in the neighborhood of $150 million. Its plant at Wood-Ridge, which covers almost three million square feet, has been a leading producer of engines for aircraft, both jet and conventional. Pioneers New Jersey's research laboratories are numerous and productive. From RCA's David Sarnoff Center at Princeton came early work on color television; Bell Telephone developed the transistor at its Murray Hill laboratory, giving the electronics field a remarkable substitute for the vacuum tube; and the Bell laboratory also produced the electronic brain for NIKE, the antiaircraft missile that homes on an enemy plane. T h e Edison laboratory at Menlo Park; the James Forrestal Research Center at Princeton, with its 500 scientists seeking to develop an interplanetary rocket; the Esso Research Center at Linden, which concentrates on gasoline development; the Allen B. Du Mont laboratory for television at Passaic; and the Hercules Powder Co. laboratory at Kenvil, where emphasis is placed on development of explosives—these are some of the other scientific centers upon which industry spends more than $150 million a year. Historically, New Jersey is famous for the manufacture of hats, shears, and the sewing machine. Stephen Stetson began hat manufacturing in Orange just after the Revolutionary War. Jacob Wiss opened a plant at Newark in 1848 and the company still is a leader in the making of surgical shears, sewing scissors, and hedge clippers. Isaac Singer began manufacture of his world-famous machine at Elizabethport late in the nineteenth century. Mining and Medicines It is not necessary to go west to find mining towns and miners. New Jersey digs out about 600,000 tons of iron a year and until very recently was one of the nation's leaders in the production of zinc. Miners also dig clay, traprock, and sand for the glass industry. As the "Medicine Chest of the Nation," New Jersey has such companies as Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries at New Bruns-

O U R L A N D A N D PEOPLE

9

wick; Merck of Rahway, a national pharmaceutical leader; Squibb at New Brunswick, which produces 85 per cent of all the ether used in the country; the development of streptomycin by Dr. Selman A. Waksman of Rutgers University; and the products of such companies as Schering and Lehn & Fink at Bloomfield, Ciba at South Amboy, and American Cyanamid at Bound Brook. T o make a comparison between the state's manufacturing and agricultural pursuits, statistics show factory goods return more than $5 billion and farm products a little over $400 million. Many Jerseyans feel that their state should be known as the "Garden State," a name given as long ago as 1800 by New Yorkers who purchased fruits and vegetables from New Jersey. But New Jersey agriculture has turned more to poultry, eggs, and cattle since World War II. Eggs alone bring more than $130 million, as compared to $60 million for vegetables and about $11 million for tree fruits. Wages paid to agricultural workers are less than 1 per cent of the gross payrolls in the state. Ports Few persons realize the tremendous part played by New Jersey in the operation of the port of New York, the world's foremost handler of ocean-going vessels. Eight of the nine trunk railroads that serve the port have waterfront terminals in New Jersey. T h e state has 23 railroads, with 3,128 miles of track. T h e railroads carry 60 million passengers a year. More than 10 million tons of the oceanborne freight that moves in and out of the port by rail each year are handled through New Jersey. T h a t is about 90 per cent of all the freight handled by rail. Much of the port's freight is handled by trucks, and these, too, traverse New Jersey in making deliveries. T h e Jersey side of New York Harbor is well known for its oceanshipping terminals at Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken, and along the waterways of Kill van Kull and Arthur Kill, which separate Staten Island from New Jersey. T h e r e are 81 commercial airports in the state, with Newark and Teterboro the most important. Newark Airport, once the largest in the world, now is a satellite for New York's La Guardia and Idlewild fields as a passenger airplane terminal. Teterboro has been developed as an air cargo center.

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THE

NEW

JERSEY

CITIZEN

Reputation New Jersey has been described as a "raucous little state" with upto-date factories, highly mechanized farms, teeming highways, roaring railroads, and vocal politicians. It is the home of Jersey Justice and famous for its handling of the Hall-Mills murder case and the Lindbergh baby kidnaping. It is well known, too, for "Jersey Lightning," a brandy drink made from apples. One of the nation's largest distillers of apple brandy, or applejack, is Laird's at Scobeyville. During Prohibition, New Jersey was the corridor for the bootlegger who outran the Coast Guard and delivered the products of Scotland and Canada to consumers in the East. A czar in the illicit trade, Dutch Schultz, was slain in the best gangland style in Newark. T h e town of Flemington had a reputation even before the Hauptmann trial, as the seat of such corporations as Standard Oil of New Jersey and other nationally known concerns because of the low local tax rate. New Jersey also experienced such catastrophies as the Black T o m explosion in Bayonne during World War I, the burning of the Morro Castle off Asbury Park, and the explosion of the German Zeppelin Hindenburg at Lakehurst in the thirties. It bred such nationally known political leaders as Frank Hague of Jersey City and Enoch L. ("Nucky") Johnson of Atlantic City. These men are discussed in Chapter 7, THE POLITICAL PARTIES.

So conscious was New Jersey of its role in the Prohibition era that the Woman's Christian Temperance Union became a strong influence in the activities of most of the state. But in Hudson County, which embraces Jersey City, just across the river from New York City, there are today at least 44 liquor dispensers for every mile. The county's 60 square miles contain 1,994 taverns, liquor stores, and clubs and restaurants which sell alcoholic beverages.

Education New Jersey is not lacking in educational and religious opportunities. The state has 40 institutions of higher learning, with 14 universities and colleges, among which are Princeton, Rutgers, Seton

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Hall, Drew, and Stevens Institute. Rutgers has expanded from a quiet university on the banks of the Raritan River into a giant state university with branches in Newark and Camden. Founded in 1766 as Queen's College, Rutgers exerts a steadily growing influence on the affairs of the state. Princeton, considered one of the East's triumvirate of Ivy towers (Yale and Harvard are the others), is a pleasant place in a pleasant town just 11 miles north of Trenton. The presidents of Princeton have been either Presbyterian ministers or sons of Presbyterian ministers. Outstanding among Princeton officials, of course, was President Woodrow Wilson, who cut his political teeth as governor of New Jersey. Wilson, however, was not a native of New Jersey (his birthplace was Staunton, Va.) and there is no statue, monument, or tablet in his honor on the Princeton University campus. T h e only president of the United States whom New Jersey can claim as a native son is Grover (born Stephen Grover) Cleveland. His birthplace at Caldwell, a Presbyterian manse, is one of the state's historical sites, for which tourists pay a 25-cent admission charge. There are more than 1,500 public elementary and 270 high schools, 414 parochial schools, elementary and high, and about 50 private schools in the state. The schools, supported for the most part by local taxation, have a teaching corps with an average salary that compares most favorably with other states. The minimum is $3,000 a year, but the average is more than $4,500. In recent years the trend toward the development of regional secondary schools has lightened the burden of real estate owners. Men of History New Jersey has bred many famous men. Washington's campaigns can be followed from his crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night in 1776 to the Battle of Monmouth near Freehold. There are the encampments of the Revolutionary Army in the vicinity of Somerville and in the hills near Morristown. There will be found the scene of the mutiny of General Anthony Wayne's troops at Morristown and the start of their trek to Princeton to demand pay from the Continental Congress. New Jersey has given the world such men as Thomas Alva Edison,

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pioneer in electricity and sound transmission; Eleuthere Ir£n6e du Pont, who settled near Bayonne after he fled from France and later moved to Wilmington, Del., to produce gunpowder; William Colgate, who developed world-famous soap at Jersey City; John Roebling of Trenton, who designed the Brooklyn Bridge and led the way to modern suspension bridges; Walter Scott Lenox, who developed chinaware that outshone Europe's best; Seth Boyden, who produced at Newark the world's first patent leather and later the first cast-iron pipe; Gottfried Krueger, Joseph Hensler, and Christian Feigenspan, who gave this country ales and lager beer of European quality; Walt Whitman, Camden's gift to poetry; Peter Cooper, the ironmaster; and Allen Du Mont, the television pioneer. Religion From a religious standpoint, New Jersey is two-fifths Roman Catholic, with the Church in a position to influence activities decisively, but reluctant to throw its weight into a political struggle for the state government. In addition to the nearly two million people designated as Catholics, membership in other churches includes 135,000 Presbyterians, 130,000 Methodists, 125,000 Episcopalians, 60,000 Northern Baptists, 60,000 United Lutherans, 50,000 members of the Reformed Church in America (formerly the Dutch Reformed), 18,000 Congregationalists, 8,000 Russian Orthodox, 6,000 Christian Scientists, and 1,000 of the Society of Friends (Quakers). There are an estimated 350,000 Jews in New Jersey. T h e most potentially influential Protestant church in recent years has been the Presbyterian, yet there has never been an outand-out religious tussle over the conduct of the affairs of the capital. It is considered a high misdemeanor to bring religion into a political campaign. Almost every formal governmental function has had representatives of the Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish faiths on hand to deliver blessings. Politics Like every other state, New Jersey is represented at Washington by two senators. T h e state has 14 Congressional districts and for

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years the delegation to the House of Representatives has been predominantly Republican. Within the state, the 21 counties are represented by one senator each and by assemblymen according to population. The composition of the state legislature also has been predominantly Republican. T h e governorship has alternated, according to the temper of the times, between the Republicans and the Democrats. The judiciary, from the Supreme Court down to the lowest municipal court, has been bipartisan by design. Selection of judges by the governor has been dictated by the need for party balance. Neighbors T h e activities of the citizens of the state, whether they like it or not, have been influenced by the activities of the citizens of Pennsylvania and New York. Probably nowhere else in the nation will one find compacts between three states such as those that exist between New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. These cover such varied subjects as navigation, civil defense, toll bridges and tunnels, migratory fowl, and rapid transit. As a result of proximity to New York and Philadelphia, the theater, organized baseball, and other forms of entertainment have not flourished in New Jersey. An exception has been the development of summer stock theaters and the Music Circuses of Lambertville and Neptune. T h e latter comprise musical productions presented under a tent on an almost propless stage, with the audience seated in a raised circle. Baseball of the Triple A classification once flourished at Jersey City and Newark, but in recent years both became unprofitable and were discontinued. The minor league owners in the two cities blamed television, which sends out the major league games from New York and Philadelphia. The Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956 began playing some games at Jersey City. T h e state has activities that compare favorably with those of other states or are unique in themselves. For instance, Atlantic City annually has conducted a pageant of beauty designed to select "Miss America," a girl between 18 and 25 who qualifies as the nation's outstanding example of pulchritude and talent. And, while Atlantic City can boast that it is one of the nation's favored watering places, it also ranks high as a convention capital. Several large hotels along

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the boardwalk play host each year to industrialists, professions, fraternal organizations, and labor groups who meet to work out their problems and mix their meditations with fun. On a smaller scale, Asbury Park also draws conventioneers in the winter months. Every county with the exception of Hudson holds an annual fair at which the serious farmer and the nature lover can display, for prizes, the best of their year's work. The exhibition season comes to a grand finale in September at a state fair near Trenton. There is keen competition for coveted blue ribbons and the old fashioned thrills of the midway, where barkers entice and emotions are keyed by sensational displays of rides. Although some may call it a raucous little state and others look upon it as a motor vehicle and railroad corridor, none of its citizens ever will say there is a better place to live. New Jersey is the most urbanized state in the nation, and its situation calls for continual planning to preserve the gifts of nature while making room for industrial and scientific advancement. Much of the responsibility for maintaining checks and balances in the progress of its citizens rests with the state government at Trenton. How that government functions is the subject of this book.

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New Jersey History J - h e New Jersey citizen should know something o£ the history of his state, if only to have a better understanding of current events. The history of New Jersey explains much in the way of life in this state. There is very little that is drab or commonplace in the story of New Jersey. The state was one of the proud thirteen colonies which struck out in concert against oppression, was a haven for the bedraggled warriors of freedom, and is still a place of unlimited opportunity for its five million residents. There are in the state numerous men and women who have given years to patching together the story of New Jersey from old letters, newspaper accounts, and forgotten books. They are the members of the New Jersey Historical Society and the historical societies of the 21 counties. In the state government several persons are employed to supervise and maintain historical sites, documents, and mementoes. Filed away in libraries and on display in museums is much intriguing material on the people who lived before us and whose ingenuity, devotion to duty, love of their fellow men, and zeal for progress made New Jersey what it is now. There are also in the archives of the state some excellent accounts of men and women whose nefarious activities, sparked by selfishness, greed, or evil intent, played significant roles in the development of New Jersey. The man credited with discovering New Jersey was Giovanni da Verrazano, a Florentine in command of a French ship. He skirted the coast in 1524, but he did little more than report the general lie of the land. Henry Hudson, nearly a century later, came into New Jersey waters before he sailed into the river that bears his name. Hudson dropped anchor inside Sandy Hook on his way 15

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north from Virginia in the early fall of 1609. He and his crew went ashore to look over the land on both sides of Raritan Bay and what he reported back to Holland caused several Dutch captains to make further explorations. Their reports led to the formation of the Dutch West India Company and the establishment of a settlement at Gloucester almost simultaneously with the occupation of New Amsterdam. Indians, Dutch, Swedes New Jersey was only sparsely settled by Indians. They were the Lenni-Lenape, or Delawares, a branch of the Algonquin tribe, and lived in the river valleys. The name Lenni-Lenape has been translated as "Original People." Even before the Revolution the LenniLenape had been reduced, by war with the settlers or by exodus from the state, to something like a hundred in number. Sir Francis Bernard, the royal governor of New Jersey, arranged for the removal of the last of the Lenape to a reservation in Burlington County in 1759. There the Indians lived until 1801, when they accepted an invitation from the Mohicans, who were their relatives, to live near Oneida Lake in upstate New York. Some 85 Indians moved out of the 100-acre reservation in Burlington County, and in 1822 with the last of the Mohicans they went west to a reservation near Green Bay, Wis. T h e Lenni-Lenape and the Mohicans later found homes in Indian territory farther west and eventually died out. Dutch and Swedish settlers were the first to make New Jersey their home. The Dutch crossed the Hudson into the northern part of the state and place names such as Hoboken, Paulus Hook, Communipaw, Pavonia, and Bergen have been inherited from them. The Swedes crossed into New Jersey from Delaware, bringing with them some hardy settlers from Finland. T h e Finns are credited with giving us our first log cabin. T h e Swedes and Finns sought vainly to establish a colony in Salem County. T h e death of their king and a war with Holland ruined their plans, but they stayed on through Dutch and English rule. As a reminder of their influence, we have the town of Swedesboro in South Jersey.

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Naming the State T o grasp fully the history of New Jersey in its early days, one ought to be conversant with the developments in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Intrigue in the courts of the kings of England, France, Holland, Spain, and Sweden had Western Europe in a turmoil. New Jersey's colonial life entered an era of strife almost as soon as James, the Duke of York and brother of Charles II, forced Peter Stuyvesant to surrender New Amsterdam and all Holland's possessions. Charles, who had decided that the Dutch had no claim to North American territory, told James that all the territory between the Connecticut and Delaware rivers was his. James, as Lord High Admiral, dispatched a part of the Royal Navy to take over from the Dutch. Then James did something that was to cause trouble for many years. He decided to give part of his new territory to two of his friends, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Berkeley and Carteret, said James, were to have all the land "adjacent to New England, and lying and being to the westward of Long Island, and Manhitas Island, and bounded on the east part by the main sea, and part by Hudson's river, and hath upon the west Delaware Bay or River, and extendeth southward to the main ocean as far as Cape May at the mouth of Delaware Bay; and to the northward as far as the northernmost branch of the said bay or river of Delaware, which is 41 degrees and 40 minutes of latitude, and crosseth over thence in a strait line to Hudson's river in 41 degrees of latitude; which said tract of land is hereafter to be called by the name or names of Nova Caesarea or New Jersey. . . ." James selected the name New Jersey to honor Carteret for his successful defense of the island of Jersey against Oliver Cromwell. Carteret sent his cousin Philip to look out for his interests in the new land. Philip established Elizabethtown, now Elizabeth, as his capital, naming the town in honor of his brother's wife. Carteret and Berkeley invited everyone to their duchy and settlers from Scotland, England, New England, and Long Island moved in. Puritans from New England settled in what is now Newark and their influence was so strong that it practically controlled the city's morals and politics until the twentieth century.

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In all dual ownerships there comes a time of disagreement, and such a situation arose in 1676. In that year two colonies, East Jersey and West Jersey, were created, giving rise to a division that was to have a persistent influence on the history of New Jersey. The twin colonies came into being because Berkeley in 1674 sold his half interest in New Jersey to the Quakers. Two years later these purchasers agreed with Carteret that the boundary between East and West Jersey should run from Little Egg Harbor to the Delaware Water Gap. Later, in 1682, Carteret's widow sold East Jersey to a group of 24 proprietors headed by William Penn. East Jersey was beset for years with conflict over titles to land. The Duke of York's governor in New York was not informed of the grant made to Berkeley and Carteret and made disposition of sections of land to applicants who called on him. These applicants eventually argued with colonists who obtained grants from Berkeley and Carteret. Meanwhile, others entered into sales agreements with Indians and maintained that they had legitimate land claims even though these conflicted with the others. T o complicate matters still further, the Dutch recaptured New Jersey in 1673 and held it for almost a year. When the Dutch were finally driven out, a question arose as to whether the Duke of York still held title. The duke became king at his brother's death and proclaimed the proprietors' rights under the Berkeley-Carteret agreements. James II was then forced from his throne by William of Orange in 1688. A few years later, under Queen Anne, the bickering proprietors decided to surrender their rights of government to the crown, but retained their interest in the soil. It was from the proprietary form of government that New Jersey inherited the title of freeholder. A freeholder was an owner of land, and entitled to vote. The title still survives in New Jersey in that respect. Each of the 21 counties of the state is governed by a Board of Chosen Freeholders. One county, Monmouth, has the name Freehold for its county seat. Among the early freeholders of East Jersey were such men as Thomas Warne, a pioneer pottery merchant in the Amboys; James Emott, first secretary of the province, who was the defending lawyer

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for the infamous pirate, Captain William Kidd; and William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. The West Jersey development was slow and followed the easygoing ways of Virginia. Predominantly under Quaker influence, West Jersey developed Salem in 1675 and Burlington, Gloucester, and Trenton by 1680. The settlers moved to the southeast, establishing Tuckerton and Cape May about 1690. East and West Jersey were united in 1702 under a royal governor who was responsible for New York and New Jersey. T h e governors were sent from England and generally were interested in how much wealth they could amass. Tenant farmers, who were not freeholders and, therefore, could not vote, were open in their hostility toward the governor at New York. Eventually, their unrest was recognized and New Jersey was given its own governor in 1738. What had been West Jersey was developed as an agricultural area, employing slave labor, although there were more slaves in North Jersey, especially in the areas settled by the Dutch. T h e produce found ready markets in Philadelphia and New York. East Jersey developed along commercial lines and for a while Perth Amboy, Newark, Elizabeth, and some Monmouth County villages competed with New York as shipping centers. Vessels from New Jersey ports made regular runs to Boston and Charleston. Commerce and Colleges In the period between 1702 and 1776, New Jersey entered into competition for commerce against the other colonies. The state was troubled, as were the others, by pirates in New York and Delaware bays. It built overland routes to connect New York and Philadelphia, Perth Amboy with Newark, Newark with Passaic. Many of the present highways were laid out in that period. T h e state's two major institutions of higher learning, Princeton and Rutgers, came into existence at that time. Princeton was founded at Elizabethtown, but later moved to its present site. Nassau Hall was one of the largest buildings in the colonies. Rutgers began its existence as Queen's College about the time Columbia at New York was known as King's College.

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T H E NEW JERSEY CITIZEN The Revolution

New Jersey was not as ripe for revolution against England as many of the other colonies. T h e general complaints of colonists, when summed up, became simply "taxation without representation." But when hostilities broke out there were few who advocated complete independence. Sentiment in New Jersey generally was for adjustment of grievances. As in each of the other colonies, though, there was a small hard core of men who saw benefits in a war for independence. Few realized then and few know now the important role played by New Jersey in the Revolutionary War. A quick glance at the fortunes of George Washington's army at the outset of the war would show that chances for victory were very slim, indeed. After Washington was defeated in several places in New York—on Long Island, at White Plains, at Harlem—he crossed the Hudson River and made his way southwestward to Pennsylvania. There, in the early months of the winter of 1776, Washington wrote a letter to a cousin admitting he saw little chance of success. It is significant, therefore, that Washington scored his first major victory of the war when on Christmas night that year he and about fifteen hundred miserably cold patriots crossed the Delaware River and surprised the Hessian garrison at Trenton the next morning. A week later on January 2, 1777, after a few days spent in Philadelphia, he returned to fight the British again at Trenton. From there Washington headed north, winning at Princeton and, a year later, met the British near Freehold. In the Battle of Monmouth, one of America's first heroines made her name immortal. Molly Pitcher picked up her dead husband's cannon ramrod and carried on for him in the battle. Washington's Winters Every American is familiar with Valley Forge, the Pennsylvania headquarters of the patriot army during one of the cold winters of the war. Where did Washington spend his other winters? Two of them were passed at Morristown at a site remarkably like that of Valley Forge. Another winter was passed by the growing army near

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Somerset, which was the pivot for a defense line against British attack from the direction of New York or Philadelphia. A visit to the Morristown site, now a national park, will give some little known, but significant, facts about the Revolution. There British spies, disguised as patriots, sowed seeds of discontent in the army, particularly in the division commanded by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. T h e malcontents marched south in mutiny as far as Princeton, where they demanded back pay from the Continental Congress. Much of the lore of the Revolution may be found in colonial homes that have been preserved, in parks dedicated to Washington and his army, and in ancient churches throughout the state. The Constitution New Jersey played a perverse, yet important, role in the postRevolutionary years. By the war's end most Jerseyans were enthusiastic supporters of the Revolution, and the surrender of Cornwallis made them jubilant. A makeshift constitution was drawn up in 1776. Only property owners could be members of the legislature and that body selected the governor and other high officers of the state. T h e feeling was strong for New Jersey to assert itself as an independent nation. The situation became so tense that the legislature once refused to obey Congress and patch up a quarrel with New York. New Jersey set up its own court of admiralty and coined its own money. It was then that several of the state's leaders realized that New Jersey was too weak to stand by herself and a delegation was sent to Annapolis to a convention designed to revise the Articles of Confederation. That convention led the way, eventually, to the drawing up of the United States Constitution at Philadelphia in 1787. Here, again, New Jersey was a prominent participant, offering a compromise on Congressional representation during debate on the Constitution. A champion of state's rights, New Jersey produced the idea for two senators from each state regardless of its size and representatives in the lower house on the basis of population. The state's delegation was the third to ratify the Constitution and today at functions attended by representatives of all the states New Jersey is given third place in all seating arrangements.

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T H E NEW JERSEY CITIZEN Early Politics

Once the Constitution was adopted, political parties grew rapidly in New Jersey as they did in the other states. The Federalist party, to which the Quakers adhered, ran into strong opposition and the state backed Thomas Jefferson for president and elected one of his friends, Joseph Bloomfield, as governor. But the Federalists came back to power with the outbreak of the War of 1812. Campaigning as the "peace party," they won control of the legislature and with it the governorship. New Jersey sent its quota of men into the war, and the state realized for the first time that it was a corridor between the two great ports of New York and Philadelphia. Wagon roads between the two cities were improved to expedite the movement of supplies for the army. These roads now constitute the state's main highways and the Pennsylvania Railroad system. Growth With the close of the second war against the British, New Jersey began to flourish. Thousands of immigrants from Europe poured into the state. Up from the marshes sprang Jersey City to compete vigorously for the seaport business that New York cherished. T o the south the city of Newark spread out as the state's center of manufacturing. Controlled primarily by old Puritan families, Newark was a staid municipality. Paterson, Alexander Hamilton's experimental city, began its real growth. Hamilton had located the city with the positive idea that water power would be the backbone of industry. Railroads were built so rapidly that almost every hamlet in North Jersey had a station of its own. The public school system was adopted. There was a hue and cry for social and political reforms. The handling of criminals and delinquent and dependent persons became the subject of laws. Clothing styles underwent rapid changes and silk became fashionable, and lucrative for the mills that handled it. From 1836 to 1838 the state was excited about silk. Someone started a rumor that silk could be developed by placing silkworm cocoons on mulberry leaves—the larvae would eat the leaves and

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spin silk in the process. Mulberry trees blossomed all over the state. But no one obtained enough silk to market. With the advent of the hoop, style demanded bigger and bigger skirts until in 1857 Trenton passed an ordinance limiting hoop skirts to five feet in diameter. The 1844 Constitution T h e demand for modernization and reform brought about a constitutional convention which threw out the 1776 charter and established a new one. The major changes in the 1844 Constitution included election of the governor by a state-wide vote and extension of suffrage to all white males 21 years or more in age. A broad, but eventually cumbersome, court system was set up, remarkable because it provided for lay members of the Court of Appeals, the highest tribunal of the state. Despite progress in social and political science, New Jersey was the only Northern state that did not abolish slavery before 1850. In that year there were 236 Negroes in bondage in the state. Abolitionists made slow progress in New Jersey and when it appeared that a conflict between the North and the South was inevitable, antiwar feeling was considerable in the state. But, as in 1812, when war became a reality New Jersey did its share. Some 88,000 Jerseyans saw service in the Union Army. Ever under the shadow of the billowing commercial growth of New York and Philadelphia, the state proudly considered itself an agricultural leader. Its fruits and vegetables became household bywords—Jersey peaches, Jersey tomatoes, Jersey corn, Jersey eggs. But, from the end of the Civil War, the state began to stretch into the top levels of manufacture and transportation and eventually into electronics, a twentieth-century pursuit. Cities Paterson, which had stumbled from time to time over economic changes, blossomed as the home city for locomotives, textiles, and airplane engines. Trenton grew big and strong on potteries, only to fall heavily in a great strike of workers, whose employers trickled west to Ohio. But several potteries clung to their Trenton works, notably the plant begun by Walter Scott Lenox. Trenton still holds

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a high place in the pottery world and is also the home of great iron and rubber industries. No passer-by can fail to see the sign on a Delaware River bridge that boasts "Trenton Makes, the World Takes." Jersey City, for all its great piers, railroad terminals, bridges and tunnels, became the nation's leading center of soap manufacture through the industry of a man named William Colgate. Camden came into the twentieth century as a center of carriage manufacture and was well known for its nickel works. It now has one of the world's greatest processors of tomatoes in the Campbell Soup Co. and is a shipbuilding center. New Brunswick, site of Rutgers University, took its place in the economy as a wallpaper and rubber center, but in recent years it probably is better known for the surgical supplies and other products of Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary companies. Newark holds its place as the nation's leading gold jewelry manufacturer, a top competitor in shoes, and the Eastern capital for beer brewing. Newark T h e City of Newark, like many Eastern cities in the late 1800's, owes much of its growth and culture to an influx of Europeans. What had been an almost puritanical municipality erupted with violence at times when European traditions clashed with those that had come down from colonial life. First the German and Irish immigrants and then newcomers from Italy made their individual impressions on the economy and politics of the city. T h e Irish ran into trouble with St. Patrick's Day parades, which were attacked. Then came gang raids on German picnics. Italian immigrants were derided as ragpickers and employers used them for cheap labor. T h e Germanic settlers and their children, who were skilled workers or shopkeepers, tended to join the Republican party while the Irish and Italians moved into the Democratic party. As Republicans, the Germans found themselves aligned with the older residents of the city, but the German love of music and beer clashed with the puritanical Sunday laws of the city. For years the Germans sought a relaxation of the laws, but their efforts were fruitless until the late 1870's. T h e Democrats, weak for years in the city, made the Sunday laws a prime issue in the municipal election of 1879, nominated a

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German-American for mayor, and swept into office. But Essex County remained Republican and so did the state legislature. As a result the Sunday laws were maintained. T h e Newark Presbytery continued to fight the Newark saloonkeepers, whose association was German-dominated. Some ten years later enforcement of the Sunday laws began to collapse. T o Newark came some 5,000 singers for the sixteenth annual Great German Saengerfest. It drew 100,000 spectators over a weekend. T h e Saengerfest was brought back to the city again in 1906 and one newspaper reported "more than to any other people is due the Germans the credit of liberalizing public sentiment in old Puritan Newark." But the Puritan principles never were extinguished. Their adherents formed the Republican Clean Government organization in Essex County, which to this day wields great influence in the state legislature as well as within the county. Newark itself remains a Democratic island in Essex County. One of Clean Government's gubernatorial candidates, the Reverend Lester H. Clee, was defeated in 1937 only because the ballots in Democratic Hudson County could not be found for a recount. It never was proved conclusively that the Hudson organization headed by former Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague destroyed the ballots. Clean Government's 12-member delegation to the General Assembly, the largest bloc in the lower house of the legislature, frequently asserts itself in a body, the weight of its votes sufficient to defeat or approve a bill. Firsts and Fame New Jersey rightly boasts that within its borders were developed the first submarine, the first incandescent lamp, the first patentleather shoes, the first malleable-iron foundry, the first cast-iron pipe, the first electric light, the first phonograph, the first motion pictures, the first sewing machine, the first lifesaving service which led to formation of the U.S. Coast Guard, and many other firsts. T h e state was the native home for President Grover Cleveland, the laboratory for Thomas A. Edison, the political teacher of President Woodrow Wilson, who was president of Princeton University and governor of the state, the home of such authors as Philip Freneau, William Dunlap, Stephen Crane, and Frank R. Stockton; and the

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birthplace of Captain James Lawrence, who gave the U.S. Navy its battle cry: "Don't give up the ship." T h e list of famous men who sprang from the state or adopted it would stretch to great length. There is little in the recorded history of the state concerning women. But that they played a significant role in the development of New Jersey cannot be overlooked. It is interesting to note that women were granted suffrage in 1790 and that their right to vote was confirmed again in laws of 1797. Ten years later the legislature took away their voting right and not until 1887 did women vote again; this time at school meetings. The state's high court ruled even that kind of voting unconstitutional seven years later, specifying that women could not vote for school trustees and officers, but could express themselves on ballots on any other school matter. Women fought for more than a century to have their voting rights under the 1776 Constitution restored, but the state Supreme Court in 1912 decided against them. Three years later a state-wide referendum granting women full suffrage was defeated by some 50,000 votes. With passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, the arguments of New Jersey women became academic. Incidentally, on the matter of suffrage, the Negro in New Jersey had to wait until 1875 before a state constitutional amendment gave him the right to vote, although Negroes had voted prior to 1807. And, it wasn't until the adoption of the 1947 Constitution that Negroes in the state were relieved of segregation. T h a t Constitution ended segregation in the state's schools and armed forces. The State Today New Jersey's history since 1900 is similar to that of the other states in the Union. It moved forward under the impetus of invention and sociological change. With an ever-increasing population, the state developed the problems of modern living, its giant industries concentrated around the hubs of New York to the north and of Philadelphia to the south. Between these two great centers, along the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, cities are outgrowing themselves, developing suburban areas that are more like cities than most cities themselves. T h e emphasis on agriculture has gone from the truck garden to

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the highly mechanized cattle and poultry industries. Ever-widening highways and superhighways are ribboning the state with concrete to keep up with the demand for greater accessibility to the seashore, the cities, and the metropolitan areas northeast and southwest. New Jersey still clings to the old idea that the freeholder—the owner of land and buildings—is the keystone of liberty-loving government. The property owner complains that his real estate taxes are too high, but he will vote against a state income or sales tax even though it is advanced by its adherents as a means of reducing his local property levy. Industrial and private demands for water have sent experts scurrying in all directions in a search for new sources of that liquid. Since the close of World War II, New Jersey has found its highways inadequate—despite constant new construction—its schools overcrowded, its housing outmoded, its agricultural pursuits narrowed, its penal institutions teeming, its hospitals inadequate. T o meet some of its social problems, New Jersey has become one of the foremost states in such fields as unemployment and disability benefits. Among coastal states, New Jersey is a pioneer in beacherosion work. It has entered into compacts with its neighboring states for civil defense, rapid transit, sanitation, and motor vehicle transportation, and the control of air pollution. Even though some problems could be described as acute, the Jerseyan is proud of his state, of his hills and lakes, of his seashore, of his fields and livestock, of his industries, and of himself.

3

The Constitution Eivery citizen in the United States lives under a set of rules and regulations. He enjoys certain rights and is granted certain privileges. The rules and regulations are known as laws. The laws guarantee a man liberty to do as he pleases provided he does not hurt someone else in the process. Once someone is hurt and the culprit is found, he will be forced to pay. The hurt may be criminal or civil and the penalty is administered by a court. If the action is criminal, the guilty one may be sent to prison. If it is civil, he may be forced to pay, usually in money. There are several kinds of law. The basic law is written in a constitution. That means a kind of charter to which everyone subscribes. In the United States we have two constitutions which regulate life. One is the federal Constitution, which is applied to the United States as a whole; the other is a state Constitution, which is applied within each of the states. In this chapter we shall be concerned with the New Jersey Constitution, one of the most modern in the world. But before we look into the New Jersey Constitution we should know briefly about other kinds of laws. They are laws known as statutes and as ordinances. The statutes are laws approved by the legislature and are applied throughout the state. The ordinances are laws approved by municipalities and are applied within the municipalities. These vary according to the size and location of the municipalities. The Constitution, statutes, and ordinances are written laws, which have been approved by the people directly or by their representatives. In addition to the written laws, there is common law, 28

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which is unwritten but has been passed down through generations. In a matter of common law the courts are usually depended upon for an interpretation. The courts also interpret the written laws, so it is necessary to know the opinions of the courts on both written and unwritten law before a decision can be made in most criminal and civil cases. And, because the courts play such an important part in the interpretation of laws and in fixing penalties for violations, it is natural that the courts themselves act under certain rules and regulations. The New Jersey Supreme Court, which will be discussed fully in a chapter on the judiciary system, has adopted certain rules and procedures which are, in effect, laws that govern the administration of justice. The New Constitution The New Jersey Constitution, adopted in 1947, has been considered a model for other states seeking to modernize their basic law. It embodies most of the basic principles found in the U.S. Constitution, but it is designed to meet the special problems of New Jersey as well. For instance, the Constitution says specifically that "persons in private employment shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively." It also says specifically that "the legislature may, within reasonable limitations as to distance to be prescribed, provide for the transportation of children within the ages of five to eighteen years inclusive to and from any school." It also provides that there shall be no segregation in the armed forces or in public schools because of race, color, or religion. These three subjects had been sources of controversy in the nation for years. The U.S. Constitution makes no flat statements on subjects such as these, but in recent years the U.S. Supreme Court has made rulings similar to the language expressed in the New Jersey Constitution. Until 1947 the state was regulated by a Constitution adopted in 1844 when New Jersey was primarily an agricultural state. The Constitution of 1844 was wholly inadequate to meet conditions of this century, yet it was retained for many years for political reasons. Little is to be gained by making a comparison between the 1844

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and 1947 Constitutions. Suffice it to say that, strongly urged by the need for modernization, men and women interested in better government joined in 1947 with the administration of Governor Alfred E. Driscoll to write a new Constitution. A constitutional convention was called in June of that year at Rutgers University and three months later it adopted the basic law of the state. T h e document was approved at the November election and went into effect January 1, 1948. T h e New Jersey Constitution, like that of the United States, did not overlook the divine origin of man. At its very beginning, the Constitution says: "We, the people of the state of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and transmit the same unimpaired to succeeding generations, do ordain and establish this Constitution." The New Jersey Constitution has 11 articles as compared to 7 in the U.S. Constitution. Like the federal document, the state charter provides for amendments to meet developing needs. Since 1947 the Constitution has been amended twice, once to extend gambling legalization to bingo and raffles and once to extend to widows of war veterans a $500 exemption on real and personal property. Until the 1953 approval of bingo and raffles, the Constitution permitted only pari-mutuel betting at race tracks as legal gambling. Rights and Privileges Unlike the U.S. Constitution, which lists a "bill of rights" as its first 10 amendments, the New Jersey Constitution has as its first article a list of 21 rights and privileges. These are: "1. All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness. "2. All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for the protection, security and benefit of the people, and

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they have the right at all times to alter or reform the same, whenever the public good may require it. "3. N o person shall be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshiping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; nor under any pretense whatever be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his faith and judgment; nor shall any person be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or other rates for building or repairing any church or churches, place or places of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right or has deliberately and voluntarily engaged to perform. "4. T h e r e shall be no establishment of one religious sect in preference to another; no religious or racial test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust. "5. No person shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil or military right, nor be discriminated against in the exercise of any civil or military right, nor be segregated in the militia or in the public schools, because of religious principles, race, color, ancestry, or national origin. "6. Every person may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right. No law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all prosecutions of indictments for libel, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted; and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact. "7. T h e right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the papers and things to be seized. "8. N o person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense unless on the presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases of impeachment, or in cases now prosecuted without indictment, or arising in the army or navy or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger.

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"9. T h e right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate; but the legislature may authorize the trial of civil causes by a jury of six persons when the matter in dispute does not exceed fifty dollars. T h e legislature may provide that in any civil cause a verdict may be rendered by not less than five-sixths of the jury. The legislature may authorize the trial of the issue of mental incompetency without a jury. "10. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury; to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel in his defense. "11. No person shall, after acquittal, be tried for the same offense. All persons shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses when the proof is evident or presumption great. "12. Excessive bail shall not be required, excessive fines shall not be imposed and cruel and unusual punishments shall not be inflicted. "13. No persons shall be imprisoned for debt in any action, or on any judgment founded upon contract, unless in cases of fraud; nor shall any person be imprisoned for a militia fine in time of peace. "14. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless in case of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. "15. T h e military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power. "16. No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, except in a manner prescribed by law. "17. Treason against the state shall consist only in levying war against it or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court.

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"18. T h e people have the right freely to assemble together, to consult for the common good, to make known their opinions to their representatives, and to petition for redress of grievances. "19. Persons in private employment shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively. Persons in public employment shall have the right to organize, present to and make known to the state, or any of its political subdivisions or agencies, their grievances and proposals through representatives of their own choosing. "20. Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. Individuals or private corporations shall not be authorized to take private property for public use without just compensation first made to the owners. "21. This enumeration of rights and privileges shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people." Elections With the rights and privileges of the people spelled out, the New Jersey Constitution goes on to specify how officials of the state shall be elected and what powers they shall have. T h e first Tuesday after the first Monday in November is established as general election day each year. The Constitution was drawn in such a manner that New Jersey has state and local elections separate from national elections. So, in a year when a president of the United States is to be elected, there will be no balloting for a governor or a member of the state legislature. Congressional elections, too, are separate from elections to state offices. The Constitution provides that every citizen 21 years old, who has been a resident of the state for a year and of his county for five months, may vote in a general election. There has been some sentiment in recent years to reduce the age limit from 21 to 18 years. T h e Constitution also provides for absentee voting by citizens serving in the armed forces, but specifically bars any member of the armed forces who happens to be quartered in a New Jersey military establishment from using that establishment as his residence requirement. As in every other state and in the federal government, power

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within the state is divided among three distinct branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. T h e Constitution clearly defines how each branch may exercise its powers and provides that one cannot usurp the power of another. The Legislature The legislative power of the state is vested in a Senate and General Assembly, the two houses of the legislature. The Senate comprises 21 members, one for each county in the state; the Assembly is limited to 60 seats according to a population apportionment. The Constitution specifies how the members of the legislature shall be selected and defines their powers, responsibilities, and privileges. T h e Constitution provides for the manner in which laws may be enacted. The operations of the Senate and General Assembly will be discussed fully in Chapter 5. The Executive The New Jersey Constitution provides that the executive branch of the government shall be headed by a governor, elected by statewide choice. He is given a cabinet of certain officers, whose actions are the responsibility of the governor. The Constitution provides for a maximum of 20 cabinet officers, each the head of a department. But so far the state government has been operated by 14 instead of 20 departments. Of the current 14 cabinet members, only two are required to be named immediately by a governor. These are the secretary of state and the attorney general. A new governor may, if he chooses, retain the other 12 cabinet officers of his predecessor. Details of how the cabinet officers are chosen and what they do are explained in Chapter 4 , T H E GOVERNOR. The governor is given the power to cause an investigation of any officer or employee of the state and to hold a public hearing for any officer or employee suspended as a result of such an investigation. No cabinet officer is permitted to make a rule or regulation concerning the internal organization or management of the state unless it is filed with the secretary of state. This, in effect, means that

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a rule or regulation established by a department head must have the approval of the governor. The Judiciary The Constitution outlines what courts New Jersey may have and it was the intention of the delegates to the constitutional convention that "Jersey Justice" should mean speedy, fair trials in both the criminal and civil divisions of the court. So successful was the revision of New Jersey's court system under the 1947 Constitution that other states hastened to emulate it. Few have been able so far to streamline their court systems to match that of New Jersey. Several are wary of it because they feel the Supreme Court of the state, and more particularly the Chief Justice, has too much power. The courts and their operation are discussed in Chapter 6. Public Officers and Employees Every person who holds a public office in New Jersey is required by the Constitution to take an oath to support not only the state charter but the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution provides that appointments and promotions in the state service shall come as a result of examinations, which are, as far as practicable, competitive. The only exception made is that preference is given to veterans of war service. State employees are required, where it is specified, to provide a bond so that no one will be responsible for failure to carry out his assignment except the employee himself. County Officials The Constitution provides that the governor shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the chief law-enforcement officer of each of the 21 counties. These officers are known as prosecutors and serve five-year terms, one more year than the normal term of the governor.

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Other county officers, such as sheriffs, surrogates, tain their positions through election.

and clerks, ob-

Taxation and Finance New Jersey is a real property state. This means that it operates primarily on real estate taxes, which meet local demands. The state depends on general taxes other than real estate and is listed as the lowest per capita tax state in the nation. The Constitution protects the municipality in its right to levy real estate taxes. As a result, the state is known nationally as a leader in home rule. The credit of the state is limited by the Constitution to such a degree that it cannot directly or indirectly borrow except as specified by the legislature and approved at referendum by the people. In outlining the ways and means by which the state may become liable for debt, the Constitution says: " T h e legislature shall not, in any manner, create in any fiscal year a debt or debts, liability or liabilities of the state, which together with any previous debts or liabilities shall exceed at any time one per centum of the total amount appropriated by the general appropriations law for that fiscal year, unless the same shall be authorized by a law for some single object or work distinctly specified therein. "Regardless of any limitation relating to taxation in this constitution, such law shall provide the ways and means, exclusive of loans, to pay the interest of such debt or liability as it falls due, and also to pay and discharge the principal thereof within 35 years from the time it is contracted; and the law shall not be repealed until such debt or liability and the interest thereon are fully paid and discharged." The Constitution provides that blighted areas may be taken over and improved and that any municipality or private corporation may be authorized to make such an improvement. If a private corporation is involved, the Constitution provides for no taxes against it for such time as it is necessary for it to recoup its costs. T h e state's fiscal matters are detailed in Chapter 15, FINANCES.

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Education The Constitution provides for public schools for children from 5 to 18 years of age. It also provides that the state shall give aid to local districts in maintaining the public school system and specifies that all school children shall be transported to any school within distances to be prescribed by the legislature. This includes parochial schools operated by religious bodies. A full discussion of education appears in Chapter 11. Amendments The Constitution provides that any amendment may be proposed in either the Senate or the Assembly. T o give ample time for study, the Constitution specifies that any amendment must be printed and placed on the desks of the members of the originating house 20 days before a vote. The Constitution goes further by requiring that, once the amendment has been placed on the desks of the members of either house, a public hearing must be held before the house may vote on the amendment. Following the public hearing, if the Senate and Assembly agree to the amendment by a three-fifths vote, the question shall be placed before the voters at the next general election. If the amendment fails to obtain a three-fifths vote in both Assembly and Senate, but does receive a majority vote in both houses, it may be brought up for another vote in the legislature the following year. If it then receives a majority vote in both houses, it is placed on the ballot for the next general election. If an amendment meets all the requirements of the legislature, but is defeated at the polls, the Constitution provides that the question cannot be brought up for consideration again until three years have passed. Other minor provisions of the Constitution will be referred to in appropriate chapters.

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The Governor T h e governor of New Jersey is one of the most powerful men in the nation. He is the only state official elected by all the people of New Jersey. T h e Constitution adopted in 1947 gives him more authority than any governor of the state had before that time. Like the governors of other states, he is chief executive, responsible for the administration of the state's government. But, unlike many governors, he has practically life-and-death power over most of the five million residents of the state. As chief magistrate he may commute a death penalty to life imprisonment. As commander in chief of the state militia, he may order martial law in any county or municipality. As the highest police official, he may order the state police into any home on his warrant. If the political party to which he belongs also controls the legislature, he may force his will on the people through statutes. T h e governor appoints all judges, including Supreme Court justices, prosecutors, county boards of election, county tax board members, and numerous other officials, including members of a cabinet who become heads of the 14 departments in the executive branch of the government. As commander in chief of the militia, he may commission officers of the National Guard and the Naval Militia. T h e only check on the governor's powers rests in the hands of the state Senate. He is required by the Constitution to obtain its advice and consent when making major appointments. But, when the Senate is controlled by his party, it generally goes along with his appointments without question. Conflict usually arises when there is a personality clash between the governor and a senator from a county in which an appointment is to be made. T h e governor 38

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generally is considered the leader of his party, a political post that entrusts him with policy-making. Through the executive departments, the governor collects taxes, regulates transportation, mediates labor disputes, licenses doctors, dentists, barbers, pharmacists, and tree surgeons. He is responsible for feeding the poor, caring for the sick, the disabled, the unemployed, the aged, the orphan, and the widow. He may grant clemency to a criminal, restore citizenship rights, approve pensions. He determines how much money is to be spent to conduct the business of the state. He oversees the use of harbors, rivers and lakes, public education, highway construction and maintenance, and athletic events. The governor may call the legislature into session against its will. He approves or disapproves of its actions in regular or special session. His person is protected by the state police and there is a law which provides that anyone who "incites, promotes, encourages or conspires" to assault the governor, even though the latter is unharmed, is guilty of a high misdemeanor punishable by death in the electric chair. The Constitution gives the governor the power to grant pardons and reprieves in all cases other than impeachment or treason and permits him to suspend and remit fines or forfeitures. The governor also is empowered by the Constitution to investigate the conduct of any officer or employee of the executive branch of the government and after a public hearing suspend or dismiss the person investigated. The governor may be impeached for any misdemeanor committed while in office. The General Assembly has the sole power to impeach and the Senate has the authority to try the case. The chief justice of the Supreme Court presides if a governor is impeached, but the Senate president is the presiding officer for impeachment of any other state official. The governor is removed from office if found guilty and is disqualified from holding any other public office. Evidence at an impeachment may be used by a county grand jury to indict the governor for a criminal offense and, if he is indicted, he must stand trial in a court of law.

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T h e people select a governor at a general election every four years. T h e governor may serve two four-year terms, but if he wants to be governor again he must wait four years before running once more. T o be a candidate for governor, a person must have been a citizen of the United States for 20 years, be at least 30 years of age, and a resident of the state for 7 years before his election. The candidate with the most votes at the election becomes governor, but in the event of a tie the legislature in joint session will cast votes to determine the winner. New Jersey's governor receives $30,000 a year, a salary second only to that paid to the governor of New York. In addition, the governor receives an expense account to meet his business, travel, and entertainment expenses. A colonial home at Princeton was deeded to the state for use as an executive mansion and the ancient dwelling was rehabilitated in 1956. Succession Some states elect a lieutenant governor, who automatically takes over when the governor is unable to carry out his duties because of business out of the state, illness, or death. There is no lieutenant governor in New Jersey. T h e Constitution provides: "In the event of a vacancy in the office of governor, resulting from death, resignation or removal of a governor in office, or the death of a governor-elect, or from any other cause, the functions, powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the president of the Senate, for the time being; and in the event of his death, resignation or removal, then upon the Speaker of the General Assembly, for the time being; and in the event of his death, resignation or removal, then upon such officers and in such order of succession as may be provided by law; until a new governor shall be elected and qualify." The legislature has made no specific provision for succession to the governorship should both the Senate president and the speaker of the General Assembly take the office and die or be removed. If a

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new governor is elected as the result of death or removal of the chief executive, he holds office for the unexpired term. It has been the custom in recent years for the governor to swear in both the president of the Senate and the speaker of the General Assembly as acting governors to fill in while he is out of the state on business or vacation. The two legislative officers have taken turns as acting governor on such occasions, working out between themselves the periods in which they hold the executive office. Oath The governor and acting governors take this oath of office: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey, and that I will faithfully, impartially and justly perform all the duties of the office of governor according to the best of my abilities and understanding. So help me God." T h e oath is administered at the inauguration of the governor by the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The oath is administered to acting governors by the secretary of state, a judge, or a member of the legislature. Cabinet The governor administers the state government through cabinet members, who in turn supervise the activities of 14 departments. These departments, which will be subjects of several chapters, are state, health, defense, education, treasury, highway, civil service, law and public safety, labor and industry, public utilities, agriculture, banking and insurance, institutions and agencies, and conservation and economic development. All departments and their divisions are required to make annual or biennial reports to the governor concerning their activities. The governor meets once a month with his cabinet members to work out executive policy and obtain up-to-the-minute reports on current projects. The governor employs the cabinet meeting to correlate the activities of departments whose work overlaps. The governor may call upon specialists in any department to work directly for him when he feels it necessary. The governor also is chairman

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of a special body known as the State House Commission. This group, which consists of the state treasurer, state comptroller, and chairmen of the Senate and General Assembly appropriations committees in addition to the governor, is responsible for the custody of the State House, state buildings, and office space rented or owned in any part of the state. The commission must approve additions of space or furniture, renovations, leases, purchases, sales, and cancellations of contracts. The governor has a personal staff, headed by an executive secretary. The executive secretary is paid $15,000 a year and is responsible for appointments with the governor, supervision of clerical employees, and delegation of duties to executive assistants. In addition, the governor has a personal counsel, who advises on matters of legislation, the constitutionality of gubernatorial acts, extraditions of criminals, clemency for convicts, pardons, and any other legal matters that come before the governor. The counsel to the governor is paid as the chief executive desires. Currently, the salary is $17,500 a year. The counsel has a staff of legal and clerical assistants. Law Enforcement Powers and duties of the governor are spelled out in either the Constitution or in laws passed by the legislature. Under the Constitution, the governor is the chief law-enforcement officer of the state. He is given the power "by appropriate action or proceeding in the courts brought in the name of the state, to enforce compliance with any constitutional or legislative mandate, or to restrain violation of any constitutional or legislative power or duty, by any officer, department or agency of the state." This power is expressed almost every day in some court in the state, particularly for criminal violations. T h e county prosecutor or his assistant informs the court that he is presenting the "state's case." In effect, he is saying he represents the governor who is responsible that "the laws be faithfully executed." In addition to the laws, the governor and his department heads may issue rules and regulations concerning any activity in the state. These rules and regulations must be filed with the secretary of state before they become effective and the legislature is required to publish such executive orders. For in-

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stance, a New Jersey law prohibits employees of public utilities from going out on strike. Should a strike occur, the governor may issue an executive order seizing the struck company and forcing the employees to return to work. T h e employees then are considered employees of the state until the dispute that engendered the strike is settled. Even then, the company cannot take control of its business until it is released by the governor. Relations with Legislature Much of Article 5 of the Constitution, which spells out the duties and powers of the governor, is devoted to his relationship with the legislature. A new governor delivers an inaugural address to the legislature, outlining his ideas for the conduct of government and recommending measures to implement his ideas. Each year, thereafter, the governor is required by the Constitution to deliver an annual message at the opening session of the legislature. In this message the governor reports on the condition of the state and again makes recommendations for measures he feels are desirable. T h e governor may deliver special messages as often as he deems necessary. All messages are given orally by the governor or are delivered in writing to the members of the legislature. When the message is delivered in person, the Senate and Assembly meet in a joint session to hear it. T h e governor also is required to deliver by February 15 each year a financial statement on the business of the state. This is known as the budget message. T h e governor lists the sources of state income and how much can be expected from them in the coming fiscal year. He also lists the anticipated expenses of the state for that year. T h e fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends the following June 30. Once the legislature has obtained the governor's budget recommendations, they are turned over to a joint Assembly and Senate appropriations committee for study and the drawing up of bills to authorize the expenditures listed. T h e Constitution makes this provision concerning appropriation of money: " N o money shall be drawn from the state treasury but for appropriations made by law. All moneys for the support of the state gov-

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ernment and for all other state purposes as far as can be ascertained or reasonably foreseen, shall be provided for in one general appropriation law covering one and the same fiscal year; except that when a change in the fiscal year is made, necessary provision may be made to effect the transition. No general appropriation law or other law appropriating money for any state purpose shall be enacted if the appropriation contained therein, together with all prior appropriations made for the same fiscal period, shall exceed the total amount of revenue on hand and anticipated which will be available to meet such appropriations during such fiscal period, as certified by the governor." Special Sessions A constitutional question on the power of the governor to call a special session of the legislature came up in 1954, but the courts were not asked for a clarifying opinion. The legislature had recessed its regular session from midsummer to late fall. A majority of its members felt that the governor could not call the legislature into a special session while it was, in effect, in regular session. T h e governor issued an order for a special session in early September to consider measures to increase the state's water supply. The legislature met, but did nothing. Its leaders said the meeting was held to respect the governor's order, but they said they doubted his constitutional authority to require the session. In Article 4, which deals with the legislature, the Constitution says: "Special sessions of the legislature shall be called by the governor upon petition of a majority of all the members of each house and may be called by the governor whenever in his opinion the public interest shall require." In Article 5, which deals with the governor, the Constitution says: "He may convene the legislature, or the senate alone, whenever in his opinion the public interest shall require." T h e attorney general advised the governor that these two provisions gave him authority to call the legislature into special session at any time. The legislative leaders said only the legislature could determine when it would meet while in regular session.

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Veto Power T h e Constitution clearly sets forth the governor's duties and powers in the matter of bills approved by the legislature and sent to him for his consideration. Here is the way the Constitution prescribes the treatment of bills by the governor: "Every bill which shall have passed both houses shall be presented to the governor. If he approves he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which it shall have originated, which shall enter the objections at large on its journal and proceed to reconsider it. If upon reconsideration, on or after the third day following the return of the bill, two-thirds of all the members of the house of origin shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections of the governor, to the other house, by which it shall be reconsidered and if approved by two-thirds of all the members of that house, it shall become a law . . . "If a bill shall not be returned by the governor within 10 days, Sundays excepted, after it shall have been presented to him the same shall become a law on the 10th day, unless the house of origin shall on that day be in adjournment. If on the 10th day the house of origin shall be in temporary adjournment in the course of a regular or special session, the bill shall become a law on the day on which the house of origin shall reconvene, unless the governor shall on that day return the bill to that house." It has been the practice under the 1947 Constitution for the governor to have bills presented to him at his convenience. This means that bills may be passed by both houses of the legislature and not be presented to the governor until two or three months later. T h e 10-day limit goes into effect on the day the bill is presented to the governor and not on the day it passes the second house of the legislature. This practice came into effect because of the burden that would be placed on the governor if all bills were presented to him on the day they were approved by the second house of the legislature. T h e houses have approved more than a hundred bills in one day. T h e Constitution makes an exception of the 10-day limit on the

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provision that the legislature has adjourned sine die (that is, without setting another day in the same calendar year for another meeting). The governor is given 45 days, Sundays excepted, after a sine die adjournment in which to take action on a bill. The Constitution says: "On the said 45th day the bill shall become a law notwithstanding the failure of the governor to sign it within the period last stated, unless at or before noon of that day he shall return it with his objections to the house of origin at a special session of the legislature, which shall convene on that day, without petition or call, for the sole purpose of acting pursuant to this paragraph upon bills returned by the governor. At such special session a bill may be reconsidered beginning on the first day, in the manner provided . . . for the reconsideration of bills, and if approved upon reconsideration by two-thirds of all the members of each house, it shall become law. " T h e governor, in returning with his objections a bill for consideration at any general or special session of the legislature, may recommend that an amendment or amendments specified by him be made in the bill, and in such case the legislature may amend and re-enact the bill. If a bill be so amended and re-enacted, it shall be presented again to the governor, but shall become a law only if he shall sign it within 10 days after presentation; and no bill shall be returned by the governor a second time." The Constitution specifies that there shall be no special session to consider vetoed bills if the 45th day falls on a day in the next year's regular session. If such a situation arises, any bill not signed by the governor in the 45-day period cannot become law. The governor has the power to veto any part of an appropriation bill and approve the rest of it. If he vetoes any part of an appropriation bill he is required to append a statement giving his objections. The house of origin may reconsider the part or items vetoed by the governor and if two-thirds of the members of both houses reapprove the part or items they become law. Departments Under the Constitution, the governor may establish a maximum of 20 departments. The first governor to serve following adoption

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of the 1947 Constitution, Alfred E. Driscoll, telescoped some 96 departments into 14 and that number was continued by Governor Robert B. Meyner. The only department heads whose terms of office expire with the governor's are the secretary of state and the attorney general. All other department heads "serve at the pleasure of the governor" and until their successors are named. This means that they may be carried over into the administration of a new governor. Militia One of the more interesting duties of the governor is that of commander in chief of the state militia, which includes the National Guard, the Naval Militia, and the civil defense and disaster-control organization. The composition of the state's defense forces and their duties are outlined in Chapter 18, S T A T E SERVICES. As commander in chief, the governor must have the advice and consent of the Senate when appointing general and flag officers of the state militia, but he can commission all other officers as he sees fit. He is granted six aides-de-camp, one of whom must be a colonel of the National Guard. A law gives him the power to "organize, increase, divide, annex, consolidate, disband or reorganize" any part of the State Guard when "in his judgment the efficiency of the state militia will be thereby increased." The governor may order a court of inquiry for any officer or enlisted man and no court-martial may be held without his approval. He prescribes sentences for persons convicted by a court-martial and he may dismiss anyone from the militia. Resignations by officers of the Naval Militia must be approved by the governor. If the National Guard is called to Federal service, the governor can establish a State Guard and name its officers. The governor also has the right to issue medals to members of the militia. The highest award is a distinguished service medal. Crime As the chief law-enforcement officer of the state, the governor may order any local police force to clean up specific crime. He can issue warrants, which are sufficient for arrests by local police. Should he become dissatisfied with the performance of a county prosecutor, the governor may have him superseded by the attorney general. The

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most striking example of the employment of this law by a governor occurred in 1950, when the prosecutor of populous Bergen County was superseded and the attorney general directed a large-scale investigation of gambling and political corruption that led to the imprisonment of underworld leader Joe Adonis and the gangland killing of mobster Willie Moretti. T h e governor is required by law to order the arrest of any fugitive from justice in another state. Once notified that such a fugitive is believed to be in New Jersey, the governor orders the attorney general or the appropriate county prosecutor to make an investigation and report on the circumstances of the person wanted as a fugitive. If the governor is satisfied that the person is a fugitive, he may order his arrest. Similarly, if a person is a fugitive from justice in New Jersey, the governor signs a warrant of arrest and gives it to an appropriate agent, usually a state police detective, with orders to bring back the fugitive. Special Police, Canvassers, Vacancies T h e governor may appoint as many special police at state institutions as he deems necessary. Under an old law the governor also is empowered to appoint railway, streetcar, and steamboat company police. Another old law, which has not been applied for decades, gives the governor authority to remove a county sheriff and appoint a replacement if "anyone is lynched after being taken from the hands of the sheriff." T h e governor is chairman of the State Board of Canvassers. T h e

other members are four state senators, two representing each of the major parties, plus the secretary of state as clerk. It is the duty of the board to certify elections as official. The governor has the authority to appoint a U.S. senator when a vacancy occurs because of death or resignation. The appointed senator serves until a special or general election is held. If a vacancy occurs in the state's delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives, the governor issues a writ of election for a successor. T h e law specifies that a primary election must be held within 21 days of the issuance of the writ and a general election within 35 days. T h e governor appoints County Boards of Elections. Normally, he approves

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board members whose names are submitted by the state chairmen of both major parties, but should one of the chairmen fail to submit a list, the governor may appoint board members of his own choosing. Other Powers By law, the governor is empowered to enter into agreements to sell land to the federal government for use for public recreation areas, forestry development, watershed protection, or as wildlife refuges and he is authorized to purchase federally owned land for state use. Working with the State Board of Navigation, the governor fixes prices for the sale or annual rental of tidewater land. He may enter into interstate compacts, acting for the state, in all cases where the legislature has approved such compacts. The governor has veto power over any action by a New Jersey commissioner of the Port of New York Authority. The Constitution forbids the election of the governor by the legislature to any other state office during his term. No member of Congress can also be governor, nor can anyone who holds a federal or state position. If the governor accepts a state or federal office, his post as chief executive becomes vacant. But he may be a candidate for a federal office without giving up the governorship. Any law of the state which has been in effect for one year is subject to review by the governor. If he feels that the law is not in the public interest or that it affects its welfare adversely, he may direct the attorney general to have the courts declare it null and void. The attorney general then files suit in Superior Court in the name of the governor. The suit would name the legislature as defendant. In 1955 the governor filed two such suits on ground that the legislature had no authority to freeze in office members of two agencies. The legislature had extended the lives of the New Jersey Law Enforcement Council and the Division of Rent Control. The governor claimed he had the right to name new members to the two agencies. T h e legislature, appointing counsel to represent it in the court, claimed the agencies were its creatures and were not part of the executive branch of the government as permanent bodies. The state Supreme Court ruled in 1956 that the New Jersey Law Enforcement Council was a legislative commission over which

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the governor had no control. The court also ruled that the governor was correct concerning the Division of Rent Control because it was an executive body. T h e court's ruling on the division became moot within weeks when state rent control died. The governor's office is located at the State House in Trenton. He has a suite that includes a private office, a conference room, a reception room, and offices for his executive secretary, personal secretary, clerks, and stenographers. The governor works a full day, sometimes six days a week.

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The Legislature J . he power to make laws for New Jersey has been delegated by the Constitution to the legislature, which consists of a Senate and a General Assembly. T h e Senate and Assembly meet every year at the State House in Trenton. T h e Constitution requires that both legislative houses meet for organization purposes at noon on the second Tuesday of every January. T h e houses can meet as often as they choose for the balance of the year and stay in session as long as they desire. When the legislative business of the year is completed, both houses adjourn sine die, that is, without setting a new day on which to meet again that year. It has long been the custom for the legislature to meet on Monday afternoons and work into the night. Both houses generally take a winter recess of a month, from the middle of February to the middle of March. When the legislature is controlled by the party of which the governor is a member, both houses usually conclude their work late in the spring and then adjourn sine die. When different parties control the legislature and the executive branch, the Senate and Assembly generally stay in session throughout the year, spreading out their work by taking several long recesses. The legislature follows this practice in order to limit the governor's appointive power. For when the legislature has adjourned sine die the governor may make ad interim (temporary) appointments, which become effective without consent of the Senate and continue until the end of the next legislative session.

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There are 21 members in the Senate, each representing one of the state's 21 counties. There are 60 members in the Assembly, holding seats according to an apportionment of the population within counties. A reapportionment of the seats is required after each Federal census is declared official; that is, every 10 years. But such reapportionment must have the approval of both Assembly and Senate. Reapportionment usually is delayed for years because a shifting of the seats affects the political power of the counties and those with large representation are loath to relinquish a member, particularly if the seat that is taken away is given to a county dominated by the opposing party. New Jersey's Constitution requires that the number of Assembly seats shall not exceed 60. Members of both Assembly and Senate receive $5,000 a year in salary. The speaker of the Assembly and the president of the Senate receive an additional $1,000 a year each because of their duties. A member of the Assembly must be at least 21 years of age, a citizen, and a resident of the state for two years and of the county he represents for one year before his election. A member of the Senate must be 30 years of age, a citizen, and a resident of the state four years and of the county he represents one year before election. Assembly members are elected biennially and senators every four years. The Constitution requires that the senators be elected in two classes so that as nearly as possible half the members are elected biennially. Vacancies, Adjournment Any vacancy in the legislature caused by death, resignation, or otherwise is filled by an election for the unexpired term. The house with a vacancy votes to issue a writ of election, which is signed by its officers. If the legislature has adjourned sine die, the governor issues a writ over his name. The writ is transmitted to the clerk of the county affected by the vacancy, and he in turn notifies the chairmen of the political parties in his county. Candidates are selected in the usual manner and their names go on the ballot at the next general election. The winner fills out the unexpired term.

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Neither house may conduct business unless a quorum, that is, a majority of the members, is present. Both houses choose their own officers, set up rules for themselves, and have the power to expel any member. Neither house may adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other. When a long recess is planned by both houses, neither seeks the consent of the other. Each passes a resolution, which specifies successive meeting dates within three days of each other until the intended date of return. Such a resolution would read: "Resolved, that when the Senate (or Assembly) adjourn, it be to meet on Thursday afternoon, April 16, at two o'clock; and that when it then adjourn it be to meet Saturday afternoon, April 18, at two o'clock, and that when it then adjourn," and so on until it concludes with the day both houses will actually meet again. When asked why both houses fail to follow the constitutional rule of mutual consent and pass a simple resolution setting the date of the next meeting, a veteran employee of the legislature said: "It may be stupid, but that's the way it has been for some time." Special Sessions The governor may call the Senate alone into session to confirm appointments he has made or to take up special legislation. The governor also has the power to call both houses into special session as spelled out in the executive and legislative sections of the Constitution. All acts of the legislature become law once they are approved by the governor. If the governor vetoes any act of the legislature, the two houses may override him and make the act a law. This requires a two-thirds vote in both houses. Acts of the legislature may be declared null and void by the courts if sufficient reason is presented by the governor or by any citizen or group of citizens. Some acts of the legislature, such as an amendment to the Constitution or the authorization for raising funds through a bond issue, require the approval of the people. This approval is obtained through a referendum, that is, an affirmative vote at an election.

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Drafting Bills In recent years the legislature has had before it about 1,000 bills and resolutions annually. It has put into effect about 600 each year. Every effort is made in advance to be sure the bills are worded correctly, are constitutional, and that they conform with laws already in effect. T h e slightest flaw, even in the wording of the title of a bill, will cause it to be cast aside even if both houses have passed it and the governor has signed it. Each year, despite great care, one or two bills which apparently have become law are found to be faulty. A Commission on Law Revision and Bill Drafting works over every bill and resolution. T h e commission consists of a senator and an assemblyman appointed by their respective houses and three commissioners appointed for six-year terms by the governor with the consent of the Senate. T h e commission edits bills drafted for consideration by the legislature and carries on a continuing revision of the state's laws. T h e commission from time to time submits revision bills to the legislature to reconcile, consolidate, or simplify the laws. It also recommends repeal of laws that have become obsolete or suggests amendments to meet current needs. T h e commission also compiles bills passed by the legislature and provides an up-to-the-minute card index of bills pending before each house. T h e card index is made available to chairmen of the committees of both houses to give them a ready reference in considering what bills should be brought onto the floor for action.

Caucus T h e legislature has been controlled by the Republican party through most of this century. In the course of years the Republicans in both houses developed a system of secret meetings of their own before, during, or after a session of the legislature. At these meetings, or caucuses, the party leaders determined what bills would be considered and what bills would be rejected before they received floor action. T h e caucus system caused the Democratic party such annoyance that it campaigned against it. T h e caucus was continued,

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nonetheless, until early in the 1950's, when some Republicans began to talk against it, describing the system as "basement government." This was a reference to conference rooms located below the Assembly and Senate chambers where the Republican leaders generally met. In 1954 the Senate announced that it had adopted a committee system to replace the caucus, but Assembly Republicans continued their caucuses even though they adopted in name, at least, the same committees as the Senate. Under the committee system, bills introduced in one house are assigned to an appropriate committee for study. T h e committee may hold a public hearing on any bill on the authority of the chairman or on acceptance of a petition by interested citizens. T h e committees—dominated, of course, by Republicans—were instructed to report bills to the floor for action without prearrangement with the Republican majority of the house. Party Leaders The Democratic and Republican parties depend on floor leaders to translate policy into action in each house. The majority and minority leaders can easily be spotted in the Assembly. Their desks are on opposite sides of the center aisle of the house. T h e majority leader in the Senate also has his desk on the center aisle, but the minority leader generally sits with the few members of his party and is recognized when he speaks along policy lines on a bill that is before the Senate. In either house, the Republicans are seated to the left of the presiding officer and the Democrats to the right. Several years ago there began a custom for the majority and minority leaders of both houses, together with the president of the Senate and the speaker of the Assembly, to confer with the governor prior to each meeting of the legislature. This legislative conference is intended to fuse the thinking of the executive and legislative branches of the government on various bills. T h e governor generally outlines the views of his administration on certain measures and the legislative leaders tell him what can be expected in each house that day. It also has become a custom for the majority leader of the Assembly to advance the next year to be speaker of that body and the majority leader of the Senate to be president. On the rare occasions

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since 1900 when the Democrats have won a majority in either house, the minority leader became the presiding officer. From Bill to Law This is the way a bill goes through the legislative machinery. The first step is to have the bill introduced and given a number. Formal introduction of a bill is called a "first reading." T h e clerk of the house makes an entry in a record book, listing the bill by its title and giving it a number. The presiding officer then refers the bill to an appropriate committee. If the committee acts favorably on the measure, it is reported to the floor for action. The clerk calls out the bill by its title, and the bill has had its "second reading." The rules of both Assembly and Senate require that a bill must "lie over" for at least 24 hours between the "second reading" and the "third reading," which is actually a vote. In the Assembly a bill must receive at least 31 affirmative votes, a simple majority, to pass. In the Senate a bill requires 11 votes for passage. There is a provision in the rules of the legislature that, if it is urgent and requires immediate attention, a bill may be introduced, read a second time, and put up to a vote at one session. This is accomplished by a suspension of the rules. It takes three-quarters of the Assembly, or 45 votes, to suspend the rules. In the Senate 16 votes are required to suspend the rules. Before the Assembly or the Senate acts on a bill, the presiding officer announces "bill on the clerk's desk." The clerk then reads the title of the bill and the name of the sponsor. The presiding officer then asks "who speaks on the bill" and usually the sponsor stands and is recognized. T h e legislator who introduced the bill tells the house why he believes it should receive a favorable vote. The presiding officer then asks if anyone else wishes to speak on the bill. Each legislator who has something to say rises at his place and asks to be recognized. When an unusually controversial bill is on the floor, debate can become heated between proponents and opponents. Sometimes members of both parties will join in favor of a bill. This happens usually when the bill affects a particular section of the state where both political parties have similar aims. No record

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is kept in either house of what is said and there is no legislative publication similar to the Congressional Record in which all speeches, resolutions, and other matters are recorded. T h e Assembly chamber is equipped with a $15,000 public-address system which gives each member a microphone. There are no microphones in the smaller, more sedate Senate chamber. Roll Call When all debate has been concluded, the presiding officer authorizes a roll-call vote. In the Senate the clerk reads the roll and each senator answers "yea" or "nay." In the Assembly the vote is taken on an electric machine. Each member has a switch on his desk to record his vote. T h e results appear on twin scoreboards above the presiding officer's rostrum. Affirmative votes appear in green lights on the left side of the names of the Assembly members on the scoreboard and negative votes appear in red on the right side of the names. When the voting appears to be completed, the speaker of the Assembly says, "I now close the machine and ask the clerk to make a tally." T h e scoreboard shows the vote above the names, affirmative totals in green and negative totals in red. Several assistants to the clerk record the voting. Neither house puts resolutions up for roll-call votes unless the sponsors make such a demand. Usually the presiding officer perfunctorily calls for a voice vote, slams his gavel, and announces the vote as he wishes. Spectators in the public galleries generally are shocked to hear the presiding officer say a resolution has been approved after hardly a murmur from the members. Resolutions offered by minority members are declared defeated, no matter what the response may be from the members, if the presiding officer decides against the legislation. If the minority sponsor demands a rollcall vote, it is taken and the majority members vote against it to support the presiding officer. Reconsideration If a bill fails to pass, the sponsor can obtain another vote at a later date simply by having himself recorded as opposed to the bill.

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If a bill runs into a long debate and the legislature is scheduled to adjourn sine die by midnight, the house can remain in session simply by stopping its clock. There have been occasions when a group of legislators decide that the best way to defeat a bill was to leave the chamber before a vote was called. T o prevent such a move, the presiding officer has the authority to lock all doors to the chamber and put state troopers on guard against anyone's leaving. If a bill is passed in one house and then is amended and passed in the other, the bill is sent back for reconsideration by the house of origin. T h a t house must concur in the amendment before the bill can go to the governor for his consideration. In some instances a sponsor may find that his bill has been rewritten in part or in whole by a committee. This method of amendment is sometimes employed for political purposes and forces defeat of the measure because the sponsor and his supporters will not agree to the changes. All bills intended to raise revenue must originate in the Assembly, but the Senate may amend such bills just as it may amend other measures. Designation of Bills Each bill and resolution carries a letter and number designation. For instance, a Senate bill will become known as SI, S2, and so on, depending upon the order of its introduction. Similarly in the Assembly, bills are designated as Al, A2, and so on. Here is a list of other designations: AJR (plus a number)—Assembly joint resolution SJR (plus a number)—Senate joint resolution ACR or SCR (plus a number)—Assembly or Senate concurrent resolution. These resolutions must be approved by both houses and a joint resolution also requires approval by the governor. AR or SR (plus a number)—Assembly or Senate resolution, requiring approval of only one house SCA—Senate committee amendments ACA—Assembly committee amendments SCS or ACS (plus a number)—Senate or Assembly committee substitute.

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A resolution marked AJR14SCA is Assembly Joint Resolution No. 14 with Senate committee amendments. Sponsoring Bills All bills and resolutions are not drawn up by the sponsor. Some bills are introduced at the request of a civic organization or some other group. When the sponsor wants to make it clear that he did not originate the measure he marks its face with "By Request." Some legislators are members of special groups before their election or commit themselves to special groups when running for office. In recent years many legislators have identified themselves, for instance, with a labor organization. Bills that will benefit that organization usually are prepared by it and submitted to the legislature through the lawmaker identified with it. The legislator also opposes any measures he feels may be harmful to the organization with which he is identified. Lobbyists Some special groups, like the State Chamber of Commerce, the New Jersey Manufacturers Association, the trucking and railroad industries, utility and insurance firms, bankers, and others employ individuals to attend legislative sessions to watch out for the interests of the group. These individuals are known as lobbyists. They get that name because they congregate in the halls or lobbies of the State House. The lobbyist serves a good purpose, generally. He is not required to register with any state official, although bills for such a purpose have been introduced from time to time. The lobbyist draws up measures that will be beneficial to the group he represents and he seeks the defeat of bills that may injure his group. In either of these pursuits he sometimes joins with other lobbyists in an effort to influence the voting. The popular notion that a lobbyist is a cloak-and-dagger operator, a furtive individual who scurries from one dark corner in the State House to another, can be readily exploded by anyone familiar with the activity during a legislative session. Most lobbyists are well known, not only

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to the legislators themselves, but to the corps of newsmen who report the legislative session for newspapers, radio, and television. The Assembly and Senate chambers have special sections set aside for use by the newsmen and press copies of all bills and resolutions are made available as soon as they are ready for introduction.

Origin of Bills The New Jersey Commission on Legislative Procedure and Research has this to say about the way bills come before the legislature: "The origin of most legislation is something like this: "The legislator's constituent has discovered a situation affecting his rights or, if he is a lawyer, affecting the rights of one of his clients, or, if he is a municipal or county official, affecting his municipality or county, which he believes should be corrected by legislation. "Being busy with other pursuits, the proposal does not crystallize in his mind until he realizes that the legislature is in session or is about to begin its session. "He then gets in touch with his senator or assemblyman and either drafts the bill himself, or has someone draft it for him, or the senator or assemblyman requests the law revision and bill drafting commission to draft a bill, covering the subject matter."

Printing The legislature has had no difficulty in obtaining printed copies of bills. It has a printing service that sometimes has bills printed and distributed on the day they are introduced. Bill printing has caused legislative delays in many states. The Commission on Procedure and Research says: "Notwithstanding the highly partisan character of the membership of the New Jersey legislature, difficulties in organization of the legislature, late printing of bills, lack of proper notice of public hearings upon bills, delaying tactics by dilatory motions, filibusters and other devices for obstructing the progress of the legislature's work are practically unknown in New Jersey."

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Constitutional Provisions The Constitution provides for specific actions by the legislature and also lists actions which it is prohibited from taking. For instance, the Constitution says the legislature cannot grant a divorce. And, in its relationship with municipalities, the Constitution makes this provision for the legislature: " T h e legislature may enact general laws under which municipalities, other than counties, may adopt zoning ordinances limiting and restricting to specified districts and regulating therein, buildings and structures, according to their construction, and the nature and extent of their use, and the nature and extent of the uses of land, and the exercise of such authority shall be deemed to be within the police power of the state. Such laws shall be subject to repeal or alteration by the legislature." The Constitution also provides that no gambling of any kind may be authorized by the legislature unless the specific kinds and their controls are approved by a referendum. New Jersey has legalized pari-mutuel horse race betting, bingo, and raffles under this section of the Constitution. The legislature is prohibited from putting any riders on bills that come before it. This means that all bills must be confined to one subject and cannot have additions made to them, as members of Congress sometimes add to bills before that federal legislative body. No bill that has any provision for a special, private, or local advantage may be introduced in the legislature. And in connection with that prohibition the Constitution says: " T h e legislature shall not pass any private, special or local laws: "1. Authorizing the sale of any lands belonging in whole or in part to a minor or minors or other persons who may at the time be under any legal disability to act for themselves. "2. Changing the law of descent. "3. Providing for change of venue in civil or criminal causes. "4. Selecting, drawing, summoning or empaneling grand or petit jurors. "5. Creating, increasing or decreasing the emoluments, term or tenure rights of any public officers or employees.

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"6. Relating to taxation or exemption therefrom. "7. Providing for the management and control of free public schools. "8. Granting to any corporation, association or individual any exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise whatever. "9. Granting to any corporation, association or individual the right to lay down railroad tracks. "10. Laying out, opening, altering, constructing, maintaining and repairing roads or highways. "11. Vacating any road, town plot, street, alley or public grounds. "12. Appointing local officers or commissions to regulate municipal affairs. "13. Regulating the internal affairs of municipalities formed for local government and counties, except as otherwise in this constitution provided." T h e Constitution, in an explanatory fashion, says that "the legislature shall pass general laws providing for the cases enumerated in this paragraph, and for all other cases which, in its judgment, may be provided for by general laws. T h e legislature shall pass no special act conferring corporate powers, but shall pass general laws under which corporations may be organized and corporate powers of every nature obtained, subject, nevertheless, to repeal or alteration at the will of the legislature." Oaths Members of the legislature are required to take two oaths. One says: " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of Senator (or member of the General Assembly) according to the best of my ability." The second one says: " I do solemnly promise and swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully, impartially and justly perform all the duties of the office of senator (or member of the General Assembly) to the best of my ability and understanding; that I will carefully preserve all records,

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papers, writings, or property entrusted to me for safekeeping by virtue of my office, and make such disposition of the same as may be required by law." Members of the legislature cannot be arrested while going to or from a legislative meeting or while attending a session except for treason or a high misdemeanor. They cannot be arrested for any statement or speech, no matter how slanderous, and they cannot be held accountable outside the house on what they say on the floor. Members may not hold any other state or federal office, but they may hold an elective or appointive office in a municipality and county. A mayor of a city, for instance, could also be an assemblyman or state senator. The legislature has no power to appoint a judge or any officer in the executive branch of the government, but it does appoint the state auditor. The auditor is appointed by a joint session of the Assembly and the Senate and serves for five years. He is responsible for audits of all state transactions and is required to make independent verifications of assets of the state. In a sense, he is the legislature's watchdog over the expenditures made by the executive and judicial branches of the government. If he finds anything wrong he is required to make a report to the legislature and to the governor. The legislature also has its own budget director. He draws up the monetary needs of the legislature and its commissions and submits them to the governor for inclusion in the general state budget. The legislature's budget officer also has the power to veto the transfer of any funds within the executive departments. Authority for administering all legislative commissions is vested in the Office of the Director of Legislative Budget and Finance.

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The Judiciary E i v e r y Monday morning, except in summer, seven distinguished men wearing black robes march solemnly into a room on the fourth floor of the State House Annex in Trenton and take their places in a row of chairs behind a high bench. The men are the chief justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey and the six associate justices. T h e chief justice is the administrative head of all New Jersey courts and has the power to assign judges from one court to another and from one county to another as need arises. T h e chief justice and his six associates make up the highest court in a judicial system that was instituted in 1948 and has become a model for other states and foreign nations. Below the Supreme Court are the Superior Court, the county courts, and the courts of limited jurisdiction, such as surrogates courts, district courts, juvenile and domestic relations courts, and municipal courts. There are some 80 full-time and 500 part-time judges and magistrates. T o handle litigation in the state there are about 7,500 practicing lawyers. Supreme Court Justices All members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. Justices are first named for seven-year terms; if they are reappointed they serve "during good behavior" until they become 70 years old. Retirement is compulsory at that age, and the justices receive three-fourths of their salary for the balance of their lives. The chief justice is paid $25,000 and an associate justice $24,000 a year. T o be appointed to the Su64

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preme Court a justice must have practiced law in the state for at least 10 years. A Superior Court judge may become an associate justice temporarily on appointment by the chief justice if an associate justice is ill or for some other reason cannot perform his duties. Lawyers and Juries The Supreme Court and all other courts receive their power from the New Jersey Constitution. The Constitution gives the Supreme Court the power to make rules for itself and for all the other courts in the state. It also gives the Supreme Court jurisdiction over admission of lawyers to practice and over disciplining them for infractions of professional ethics. The court may suspend a lawyer from practice or disbar him, depending on the charges brought against him. T h e Supreme Court has appointed a special committee of lawyers in each county and charged them with the responsibility of investigating complaints against lawyers; if they find evidence of unprofessional or unethical conduct, they must call the matter to the court's attention. T h e legislature has given the Supreme Court additional powers, including the appointment of jury commissioners in the counties. The jury commissioners are responsible for the selection of members of the county grand juries and trial juries. The power to name jury commissioners was once vested in the Supreme Court that was abolished by the 1947 Constitution. For a while the legislature gave the governor the right to name jury commissioners but eventually returned that right to the Supreme Court. Five of the Supreme Court justices form a quorum. That is, the court could operate with two justices missing; but attorneys feel that a split adverse ruling by five justices might have been a favorable ruling had a full court heard the case. If the chief justice is absent from a court session, the senior associate acts in his place. Justices of the Supreme Court are subject to impeachment and, if one of them is brought up for impeachment, he is not permitted to sit as a member of the court until he has been acquitted. The Constitution contemplated that the Supreme Court should have the power to remove superior and county court judges for good cause, but the procedures have never been established by the legislature.

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The Supreme Court may inform the governor that one of its members is incapacitated and unable to serve. T h e governor then appoints a commission of three persons to investigate. If it reports that the justice cannot continue in the court, the governor may pension the justice and appoint someone to take his place. No justice is permitted to practice law privately or hold any other state or federal office that provides a salary. If a justice decides to become a candidate for a public office, he must give up his post on the Supreme Court. Administrative Director The chief justice turns over most of his administrative work to an administrative director, who keeps a close check on the number of cases that come up before all the courts and the dispatch with which judges handle litigation. The administrative director, who is paid $17,000 a year, supervises the organization of annual judicial conferences to which judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and laymen are invited. The judicial conference is employed to review the court's work, determine changes in the judicial system, and recommend areas in which law enforcement may be improved. New Jersey is the first state to establish an administrative office of the courts: the director is the budget and fiscal officer. He also handles Superior Court trust funds made up of money in litigation, such as condemnation proceedings and contested wills. Jurisdiction Cases that come before the Supreme Court generally are in the form of appeals from decisions in lower courts. The Supreme Court need not wait for a case to go through the intermediate appellate court, but may have an appeal brought before it directly from the trial court. T h e Constitution specifies what appeals may be taken to the Supreme Court. T h e appeals are: "1. In causes determined by the appellate division of the superior court involving a question arising under the constitution of the United States or this state. "2. In causes where there is a dissent in the appellate division of the superior court.

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"3. In capital causes (that is, a criminal case in which the defendant could have been sentenced to the electric chair). "4. On certification by the supreme court (that is, calling it up at the desire of the supreme court) to the superior court, and, where provided by rules of the supreme court, to the county courts and the inferior courts." Rules Most of the Supreme Court's rules are technical and are, in effect, a body of laws that regulate the activities of the courts and those who appear before them. T h e Supreme Court also has a set of procedures which must be followed in every case. Many of these, too, are technical and apply to the manner in which lawyers must present their cases. But there are a few rules and procedures which are easily understood and will give some idea of how New Jersey's courts act speedily. All attorneys in New Jersey are required to submit briefs on cases in the appellate courts and may be required to submit briefs in the trial courts. A brief is a document in which an attorney writes out arguments in support of his case. T h e attorney cites cases similar to his which were decided previously in New Jersey, in some other state, by a federal court, or even by an old English court. T h e briefs by attorneys for both sides in the case are given in advance to the appellate or trial judges so that they may familiarize themselves with the facts and legal points to be presented in the case. There are two levels of lawyers in New Jersey—attorneys and counselors. Only counselors may appear before the appellate division of the Superior Court and the Supreme Court. T o become a counselor an attorney must pass a special examination. Chief Justice Arthur T . Vanderbilt, former dean of New York University's law school and a lawyer of national reputation, explained in 1948 the reason for the rule requiring submission of briefs in advance of trial. Vanderbilt, who is credited with shaping the state's court system, said: • "Litigation is no longer to be thought of as a battle of wits, or a trial as a sporting event conducted for the benefit of the spectators. . . . No longer will it be possible for counsel to conceal the

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real issue until the trial is really over or to talk aimlessly in an argument on appeal about facts not to be found in the record." Opinions W h e n the seven justices of the Supreme Court seat themselves at 10:00 A.M. on Mondays, the court announces its decisions on cases heard on a previous Monday. T h e decisions are known as opinions, and in cases where all seven justices do not agree there may be a majority opinion and a minority opinion. T h e minority opinion usually is classified as a dissent from the majority opinion. I n some cases a justice may dissent without writing out his reasons. Once the court's decisions are made public, the justices begin listening to new cases. Counselors are limited to 45 minutes for oral argument before the justices. T h e seven black-robed men know the case fairly well, for each has received copies of briefs on the case 10 days in advance. T h e justices frequently question counselors during the oral argument and many times a note of humor will creep into the case as a justice banters with an attorney. Displays of anger are rare and most counselors know that it takes an exceptional orator to impress the court. Generally the justices seek to channel arguments by the counselors to questions of law or fact that may have troubled them as a result of reading the briefs. T h e Supreme Court listens to arguments for almost five hours on Mondays. T h e justices make notes and are prepared to discuss the cases with each other the following Thursday. Counselors who submitted briefs are required to appear in person for the oral arguments. This prevents one counselor from shading a fact here and there in a brief submitted by another counselor. T h e justices do not know in advance of their Thursday conference which one will be assigned by the chief justice to write the court's majority opinion on any case. T h e chief justice usually selects a justice for the opinion writing after the case has been discussed at the conference. Since, at the time a case is being heard, no justice knows who will write an opinion, each is alert to assemble for himself all available information. T h e justices also have a system that helps them to reach decisions. Each prepares a tentative opinion in advance of oral argu-

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ments. This tentative opinion is based on a reading o£ the briefs of both sides and reference to pertinent laws. After hearing the case, each justice makes revisions of his tentative opinion as a result of the oral arguments. This revised opinion becomes his recommendation for handling the case at the Thursday conference. In addition to coming to decisions on the cases heard Monday, the justices discuss the cases to be heard the next Monday and receive copies of briefs on cases to come up the following Monday. Court attachés estimate that the justices read about four million words a year in briefs and almost fifteen million words on matters pertinent to each case. T h e justices do their work in chambers provided for them by the state. When one of them is assigned to write the majority opinion on a case, he is not freed of his other judicial duties. Each justice writes an average of 23 opinions in a year. Once a justice has written the opinion, copies are sent through the mail to the other justices. They, in turn, make suggestions by telephone to the writer or at the next Thursday conference. As a result, an opinion of the Supreme Court embodies the thinking of all the justices, and not just that of the writer. T h e records of the Supreme Court are kept by a clerk, who is appointed by the entire court to a five-year term and is paid $12,000 a year. T h e Supreme Court also appoints court reporters for all courts. Superior Court T h e Superior Court consists of 38 judges and, under the Constitution, it has original general jurisdiction throughout the state in all causes. The court is divided into an Appellate Division, a Law Division, and a Chancery Division. T h e Appellate Division comprises several parts of three Superior Court judges each, assigned for one year by the chief justice. T h e Law Division hears civil and criminal cases and the judges are assigned by the chief justice. T h e Chancery Division handles equity cases, but the Constitution provides that "the law division and the chancery division shall each exercise the powers and functions of the other division when the ends of justice so require, and legal and equitable relief shall be

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granted in any cause so that all matters in controversy between the parties may be completely determined." Superior Court judges are appointed by the governor, with advice and consent of the Senate, and each is paid $20,000 a year. T h e judges are forbidden to practice law or hold any other state or federal job that provides a salary. In practice, the chief justice has the power to assign county judges to sit as Superior Court judges. When cases pile u p in any section of the state, the chief justice has the power to transfer judges from divisions of the Superior Court or from county courts to expedite the calendars. T h e Appellate Division hears appeals from the Law and Chancery Divisions and from county or lower courts. T h e division also reviews decisions, actions, and rules of state agencies operating within the executive branch of the government, such as the Board of Public Utility Commissioners, the Civil Service Commission and professional boards. Superior Court Judge Frederick W. Hall explained the review function of the Appellate Division in a 1956 opinion: "The court concerns itself with whether there has been any violation of the state or federal constitutions, whether the result is within and in accordance with the legislative grant and the standards prescribed thereby and whether there has been fraud, bad faith, or manifest abuse of discretion in the sense of unjustly discriminatory, arbitrary or capricious action. "Any review of the facts must be confined to the question of whether they are supported by substantial evidence, i.e., such evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. "It is soundly and frequently stated that a reviewing court should not substitute its independent judgment for that of the administrative tribunal where there is 'a mere difference of opinion concerning the evidential persuasiveness of relevant testimony.' "It is also fundamental that the function of the administrative tribunal under this type of legislative delegation, where it is under a duty to consider evidence and apply the law to the facts as found, is quasi-judicial in nature and not merely ministerial. T h e agency must make an independent determination in each case on the facts." T h e Law Division conducts trials with juries to determine rights

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and other legal relations under the Constitution and state laws. The Chancery Division gives relief in equity cases where no decision can be obtained in any other court, handling controversies in connection with property and trusts. Matrimonial cases also go before the Chancery Division. Superior Court judges are assigned jurisdiction in matrimonial cases by areas, or vicinages, within the state. Several counties are placed in one vicinage, and the judge holds court, generally at a place centrally located in the vicinage. There are three causés for which a divorce may be granted by a Superior Court judge. The causes are adultery, desertion for two years or more, and extreme cruelty, provided the complaint is filed within six months after the date of the last act of cruelty. A divorce judgment does not become final until three months after it is rendered. Terms of Judges Like Supreme Court justices, the judges of the Superior Court are appointed to seven-year terms and, if reappointed, serve until they reach the age of 70. They also are retired at three-quarters of their annual salary. Although the governor is not required by the Constitution or by law to keep a political balance in the Superior Court, the practice has been for him to keep the court evenly divided between the Democratic and Republican parties. The Supreme and Superior Court member gets beyond politics once he is reappointed. County Judges The County Courts, however, still are within the political orbit. But there is a state law that requires the governor to make appointments of county judges in counties where there are two or more judges "in such manner that the appointees shall be, as nearly as possible, in equal numbers, members of different political parties, so as to constitute the county court in any such county bipartisan in character." County judges, appointed by the governor with advice and consent of the Senate, serve five years, and where they act on a full-time basis they receive $18,000 a year. Each county has at least one county judge, but a law provides that the governor may appoint additional judges in these cases:

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" I n counties now or hereafter having 400,000 or more inhabitants, three additional judges making four in all in each of such counties. "In counties having a population of more than 275,000 and less than 325,000, three additional judges, making four in all in each of said counties. "In counties now or hereafter having more than 150,000 and less than 400,000 inhabitants, an additional judge, making two in all in each of such counties. "In counties bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and now or hereafter having not less than 50,000 nor more than 100,000 inhabitants, an additional judge, making two in all in each of such counties. " I n counties having not less than 100,000 nor more than 150,000 inhabitants (fifth-class counties), an additional judge, making two in all in each of such counties and in said counties having more than 150,000 inhabitants, three additional judges, making four in all." None of the judges in counties having more than one judge may practice law. Where there is only one county judge, the law permits him to appear as a lawyer outside his county. A law provides the following salaries for county judges who are the only ones in their counties: "In counties having more than 75,000 population, $12,500. "In counties having more than 50,000 inhabitants and less than 75,000 inhabitants, $10,000. "In counties having not more than 50,000 inhabitants, $7,500." T h e state pays 40 per cent of all county judges' salaries and the counties pay 60 per cent. If a county judge is assigned to sit in a court outside his county, he receives an additional $60 a day. If the county judge also sits in a district court within his county, he receives an additional $1,200 a year. For administrative purposes, the county court is divided into two parts, a probate division and a law division. The county surrogate acts as clerk of the probate division of the county court and the county clerk is clerk also of the county court's law division. T h e jurisdiction of the county court is prescribed by law, which may be altered under the Constitution "as the public good may require." T h e law now reads that county courts "shall have cognizance of all

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crimes and offenses of an indictable nature which have been or shall be committed or attempted in the county . . . and shall have authority to punish all persons convicted thereof, according to law." A county judge may try and sentence in any criminal case, except murder, without a jury if the defendant waives trial by jury. T h e county court also may review all cases, except a civil cause, heard in a district or municipal court. T h e sheriffs and constables of the counties execute all orders and processes of the county courts. District Court T h e County District Court handles civil actions in which recoverable damages do not exceed $1,000; proceedings between landlords and tenants; and, up to $3,000 in recoverable damage cases concerned with automobile liability. T h e district court also has jurisdiction in criminal cases that are not of an indictable nature, such as assault, malicious mischief, and larceny where the value of a stolen article is under $200. Generally, any criminal offense for which the penalty is a fine of less than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than a year may be brought into the district court. A county Board of Chosen Freeholders also may set up a Small Claims Court with a county district court judge as the presiding officer. The small claims court has jurisdiction of actions in contract only where the matter in dispute does not exceed $50. District Court Judges County district court judges are appointed by the governor, with advice and consent of the Senate. T h e full-time district court judge has a five-year term and his salary is $16,000 a year. Each district court is one of continuous record, which means that when any judge is replaced his successor may proceed with any action pending in the court. T h e court has several employees, including a clerk, deputy clerks, clerical assistants, and sergeants at arms. A summons can be served by the court on any defendant within its county and can call upon any other district court to serve a summons in another county. T h e district court judge is permitted to destroy any papers that have been on file for more than 25 years, except in

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landlord and tenant cases where such papers may be destroyed after six years. District court judges vary in number according to the size of the counties, and their number must be equally divided between the two major parties as in the case of county judges. A district court judge may sit in another county if requested by a district court judge in that county. Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts New Jersey has in five counties separate juvenile and domestic relations courts. In other counties, where the citizens ask for such a court, one may be established. Where such courts are not established separately, a county judge sits as judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. T h e law permits county judges in counties where there are two or more judges to determine which will sit in the juvenile and domestic relations court. If they cannot agree, the chief justice assigns one of them. In establishing the juvenile and domestic relations court, the legislature said: " T h e purpose of this chapter (of law) is to secure for each child coming under the jurisdiction of the juvenile and domestic relations court such care, guidance and control, preferably in his own home, as will conduce to the child's welfare and the best interest of the state; and when such a child is removed from his own family, to secure for him custody, care and discipline as nearly as possible equivalent to that which should have been given by his parents. "It is hereby declared to be a principle governing the law of this state that children under the jurisdiction of said court are wards of the state, subject to the discipline and entitled to the protection of the state, which may intervene to safeguard them from neglect or injury and to enforce the legal obligations due to them and from them." T h e governor is authorized by law to appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, two juvenile and domestic relations court judges in counties with more than 800,000 population and one judge in each county with more than 600,000 but less than 800,000 inhabitants. T h e governor also may appoint one juvenile

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and domestic relations court judge in each county with a population of at least 305,000, but not more than 370,000. The judges in the counties with more than 800,000 population must serve full time and cannot practice law. The salaries of all juvenile and domestic relations court judges are set by their County Boards of Freeholders. The Board of Freeholders also must pay any costs of the court. T h e judge may appoint a probation officer of the county or anyone he considers suitable to act as a referee in juvenile cases. All juvenile cases are heard without a jury and are private hearings. Any youth under 16 who is taken into custody may be released to his parents on their written promise to be responsible for his appearance in court. If the child is not released by the court, he is held at a place designated by the judge pending a hearing. But the place designated must not be a prison, jail, or police station. If the youth is between 16 and 18, he may be held at a police station, but apart from adults convicted of crime or under arrest. If a youth is found guilty of an offense, he may be placed on probation to the county's chief probation officer or sent to a public institution established for juvenile offenders, such as the State Home for Boys at Jamesburg. Or the judge may turn the youth over to the State Board of Child Welfare for custody. All youths arrested may be fingerprinted, but if they are cleared of the charges against them, the fingerprints must be destroyed on orders of the judge or referee. Whatever action is taken against a youth, it may not be held against his record in any future civil service examination, appointment, or application. In setting up jurisdictions for the juvenile and domestic relations court, the legislature said: "Juvenile delinquency is hereby defined as the commission by a child under 18 years of age of any act which when committed by a person of the age of 18 years or over would constitute: "1. a felony, high misdemeanor, misdemeanor or other offense, or "2. the violation of any penal law or municipal ordinance, or "3. any act or offense for which he could be prosecuted in the method partaking of the nature of a criminal action or proceeding, or

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"4. being a disorderly person, or, of the following acts: "habitual vagrancy, immorality, incorrigibility, knowingly associating with thieves or vicious or immoral persons, growing up in idleness, knowingly visiting gambling places or patronizing other places or establishments, his admission to which constitutes a violation of law, idle roaming of the streets at night, habitual truancy from school or deportment endangering the morals, health or general welfare of said child." The court also handles support of dependent cases. New Jersey grants automobile driver licenses at 17 years of age. Any driver under 18 who violates the state's motor vehicle laws is not considered a juvenile delinquent, but must pay the penalties of the laws. The Surrogate The only elected judicial officer in New Jersey is the county surrogate. If a surrogate is unable to qualify for the office, the governor has the power to declare the office vacant and appoint a replacement. If the surrogate dies, his deputy continues as acting surrogate until the next election or until the governor appoints a successor. The surrogate's term is five years and his salary is fixed by the county he serves. State law provides that the surrogate must act as probate clerk of the county court and keep these records: "Orders and judgments of the county court, probate division, except such orders as he shall deem unnecessary to be recorded; bonds required by law or order of the court given by fiduciaries; accounts of executors, administrators, guardians, assignees and trustees, and revocations, requests and renunciations, necessary or proper to be recorded, if desired by any party in interest; wills proved before him or the county court, together with the proofs thereof; letters testamentary, of administration, of guardianship and of trusteeship granted or issued by him and all things concerning the same, and also all inventories; receipts and discharges given to executors, administrators, guardians or trustees upon the payment or delivery by them of legacies, distributive shares or personal property to the persons entitled thereto, or their executors or administrators, which receipts and discharges shall be acknowledged or proved as deeds of

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real estate are by law required to be acknowledged or proved; receipts and discharges given to receivers, masters, trustees, or persons ordered to sell real estate, upon payment by them in the proper execution of their trust, of shares or sums of money to persons entitled thereto, or to their executors or administrators, which receipts and discharges shall be acknowledged or proved as deeds of real estate are required by law to be acknowledged or proved." Municipal Courts There are about 500 Municipal Courts in the state, some of them serving more than one municipality. Magistrates are the judges of the municipal courts. They serve three-year terms and their salaries are determined by the local governments. Chief Justice Vanderbilt has said that some of the salaries paid to magistrates are niggardly. A law provides that a magistrate in a municipality governed by a mayor-council form of government is appointed by the mayor with consent of the council and in all other municipalities by the governing body as a whole. In cases where the municipal court has jurisdiction over two or more municipalities, the magistrate is appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. All municipalities with at least 200,000 population may have as many as four magistrates. When, for some reason, a magistrate cannot sit in his court, he is permitted to designate any other magistrate to substitute for him or select an attorney to hold the office temporarily. Another law provides that the chief justice may assign a Superior Court or county court judge to sit in the municipal court "either with or without the magistrate of such court." In municipalities where there are two or more magistrates, one of them may be designated by the governing body as the presiding magistrate with authority to assign the other magistrates to cases. T h e municipal court has jurisdiction over these offenses: Violations of the motor vehicle and traffic laws, violations of the fish and game laws, violations of ordinances of the municipality, offenses that are classified as less than a misdemeanor or where no indictment by a grand jury is required. If a person charged with certain minor crimes waives indictment

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and trial by jury in writing, the municipal court may dispose of the case. Such offenses would include: Simple assault and battery, malicious mischief, and larceny and embezzlement where the value of the property involved is under $200; fornication and adultery; selling cigarettes to minors or permitting minors to congregate and play in poolrooms; defrauding hotels or landlords; overdrawing credit on a checking account; and other criminal offenses where the penalty does not exceed $1,000 in fines or imprisonment for more than a year. No magistrate may dismiss a person from court who is there for an indictable offense. T h e magistrate is required to inform the county prosecutor and either hold the defendant or set a sufficient bail. T h e costs and fees set by the magistrate in any case become municipal funds and where the magistrate sits in a court covering more than one municipality, the fees and costs collected are apportioned according to the ratio of contributions by the municipalities to meet the court's expenses. General Laws T h e r e are general laws which apply to all the courts of the state. These laws provide that the Supreme Court has authority to prescribe the form and style of its seal and the seal of the Superior Court. T h e county clerk's seal is employed by the county court and by the surrogate. T h e seals are used on all commissions, writs, processes, and other instruments of writing to make them valid. Every courtroom must have the flag of the United States on display. Each judicial officer of the Supreme and Superior Courts is entitled to a law secretary and a secretary-stenographer. The Court System I n a review of the first five years of the court system of New Jersey since adoption of the new Constitution, Chief Justice Vanderbilt remarked that elimination of surprise in trials did away with the "sporting theory of justice." Vanderbilt also said: "Surprise is avoided not only by liberal pretrial procedures such as interrogatories, depositions in discovery, inspections of premises

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and documents, physical examinations and demands for admissions and by according counsel a fair amount of time for their accomplishment, but also by making mandatory, except in criminal and matrimonial cases, a pretrial conference. At the outset fear was expressed from time to time that these pretrial procedures . . . would be abused. "There can be no doubt that the arsenal of offensive and defensive weapons furnished by pretrial procedures has gone far to eliminate surprise. There have, of course, been those who regret the passing of 'the good old days' when one might turn a fast trick on an adversary—it would be too much to hope that one of the disgraceful and inveterate aspects of trial tactics could disappear unlamented in a mere five years—but by and large there is increasing agreement in the fundamental thesis that a trial should be an orderly search for truth, both as to the facts and the law, in the interest of justice." Vanderbilt said that the New Jersey court system makes the judge "the master of the situation from the outset to the conclusion of the trial" and "one of the most important of our administrative rules provides for all judicial business being transacted in open court rather than in chambers." And, in remarking about the duty of a judicial system, Vanderbilt said that "the primary function of any judicial system is obviously to provide a forum for the determination, according to law, of disputes between parties and of the guilt or innocence of those charged with offenses against society."

7

The Political Parties JLolitics may be defined as the art of exercising the power of government or public affairs. It follows that a politician is a person who is active in government or public affairs. There are so many public offices within a state that from time to time unscrupulous persons become more interested in gaining power than in forwarding the best principles of government. As a result, politicians sometimes are looked upon as men and women who scheme to make themselves wealthy at the expense of the taxpayer. But in general the politician is a person skilled in the functions of his party and, if he is a candidate for office, in the conduct of some phase of government. Unfortunately, elective public offices do not provide salaries commensurate with their demands. Campaigning for an office and conducting it once it has been won is so expensive that the everyday American rarely aspires to be a candidate. T h u s we find that many of our public officeholders are men and women who have private incomes and are not dependent on the salaries paid to them. Most governors of New Jersey have completed their terms with personal financial losses. There are numerous commissions and boards in state government that provide no salary for the members. On the other hand, many appointive public offices provide good salaries. These offices are held by members of the party which wins the governor's chair, and are considered the plums of politics, dispensed under the so-called spoils system. Andrew Jackson, on assuming the presidency in 1828, began the custom of dispensing appointive positions in government as "patronage." One of Jackson's supporters, Senator William L. Marcy of New York, justified the system with 80

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the now famous comment, " T o the victors belong the spoils of the enemy." Patronage, at times, is the lifeblood of a political party because the appointed officials may be called upon to work diligently and contribute generously to the party to which they belong. The Parties There are two major political groups in the state—the Republican and Democratic parties. Only a comparatively small group of citizens are active members of the parties. Many Jerseyans will tell you they are independent, but customarily when they go to the polls they vote for the candidates of the same party year in and year out. New Jersey is considered a Republican state but, as politicians will point out quickly, it is not always "safe" for the Republicans. In the years since the end of World War II there has been a notable increase in the number of persons voting for Democratic candidates, particularly in those counties which have had rapid industrial expansion. Both political parties must conduct themselves according to law. Each sets up its own rules of organization. From a strictly legal or organizational view, there is little to choose between the two parties. Both have municipal, county, and state committees. Each has its own organization within the 4,000 election districts in the state and within each of the 21 counties. T h e difference in the parties lies in their approach to government. Even here the distinction between the parties is so fine that the citizen is expected to make his choice of candidates on the basis of personalities and issues. In a campaign for office, each party overemphasizes the personality of its candidate and employs the difference in party policies and aims to embellish an issue, which may be something as simple as whether teachers should be given a salary increase or as explosive as whether a candidate or his party has a tendency to wink at underworld activities. Almost everything a political party does is controlled by laws: how much money it may spend, when it must meet in a body, how it must elect members of its committees, and the manner in which it must select its representatives on national bodies. T h e laws pro-

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vide that there can be more than the two parties generally recognized as the major political groups. T h e state's election laws define a political party as one "which, at the election held for all the members of the General Assembly next preceding the holding of any primary election held pursuant to this title, polled for members of the General Assembly at least 10 per centum of the total vote cast in this state." Conventions Each party is required by law to meet in convention at least once a year. T h e parties must meet at T r e n t o n on the second Thursday after the primary election, but if that day is a legal holiday, the convention must be held on the preceding day. T h e party conventions are required to adopt platforms upon which candidates will campaign. A platform is a recital of the aims of the party and its position with respect to current public questions. Once a proposed platform has been introduced, the conventions are required to adjourn for two weeks. At the second meeting the conventions are required to adopt their platforms, employing the session to revise any parts by deletion or amendment. In the year when a president is to be elected, the party conventions are required to nominate electors who will cast the state's vote for president and vice-president according to the results of the general election in November. T h e law requires that candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the state Senate and General Assembly, and governor are to be delegates to the conventions. In addition, those holding such offices are delegates, as are members of the state committees of the parties. State Committees T h e state committees comprise one male and one female from each of the 21 counties. Committee members are elected every four years, in the year that a governor is elected. T h e state committee members are chosen at the primary election of that year and are required to take office at a meeting, usually in Trenton, on the Tuesday following their election. T h e new state committees select their chairmen either from their own membership or from outside the committees. T h e chairman holds office for four years or until

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his successor is selected by a new state committee. T h e chairmen of both state committees normally receive no salary. But in 1954 the Republican party decided to pay its chairman $10,000 a year and to give him an annual $3,000 expense account. No specific meeting dates are set by the committees, whose functions generally are taken over by the chairmen. Each committee chairman hires an executive director who becomes the administrative officer of the state committee headquarters. T h e salary of the executive director ranges from $8,500 to about $15,000 a year. When the chairman is not available, the executive director acts as spokesman for the state committee. T h e chairman of each state committee is required by law to meet before March 1 each year with the chairman and vice-chairlady of his party's 21 county committees and with the state committeeman and state committeewoman of the party to nominate a person for each of the 21 county boards of election. T h e persons nominated serve for two years. Each party is represented by two persons on each County Board of Elections. The selection of the two persons is so arranged that one is selected each year, giving the county board continuity. Once the selection of county board members is made, the names are submitted to the governor by the state chairmen. If a chairman fails to submit a name for a county board, the governor is authorized to appoint a person of his own choosing from within the party requiring a board member. Each county board is authorized to appoint four member election district boards, two from each party. T h e election district boards supervise balloting on election days and have authority to enforce all election laws. Election district board members serve one year and may be assigned by the county board to any district within the municipality in which they reside. In addition to supervising elections within their own counties, the County Boards of Elections act as County Boards of Canvassers. It is the duty of the county canvassers to certify to the Board of State Canvassers that election returns in their counties are official. T h e State Board of Canvassers, comprising the governor and two state senators from each party, certify the election returns from all the counties and issue certificates of election. In the case of candi-

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dates for Congress, the State Board of Canvassers sends certificates of election to the clerks of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. A candidate cannot be sworn into office unless a certificate of election is on file. For state offices, the certificates are sent to the secretary of state or to the clerks of the two houses of the legislature. Election Schedule T o eliminate some of the confusion that was prevalent for years in New Jersey, the 1947 Constitution reorganized the manner of elections. Voters in the state now go to the polls in even-numbered years to vote for candidates for national offices and in odd-numbered years for candidates for state offices. Under this arrangement, Jerseyans are not asked to vote in the same year for a president of the United States and for a governor. Members of Congress are elected in even-numbered years and members of the legislature in oddnumbered years. T h e Constitution also provides that all 60 members of the General Assembly are to be elected at the same time, but only half the state senators. Assemblymen serve for two years and senators for four. T h e political parties have found this system of elections to their advantage, permitting them to concentrate on state offices without having to plan campaigns for federal offices. Primaries Each party selects its candidates for office at primary elections in April. Jerseyans evince so much interest in politics that there have been times when as many as eight candidates sought the Republican nomination for governor. When more than one candidate enters the primary election campaign, the state committee and its chairman are expected to take a neutral stand, favoring no candidate. Once the candidate is selected at the primary election, it becomes the function of the state committee to work for election of the candidate in November. T o vote in a primary campaign, the citizen must declare at the polls to which party he belongs. This declaration, however, is not binding on his November vote. But the declaration establishes to which party the citizen has given his support and he can be desig-

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nated definitely as a Republican or a Democrat. A majority of Jerseyans stay away from the polls at primary elections and it is these stayaways who consider themselves independent voters. Until recent years, candidates for office were quiescent after their selection at the primary election. They began to campaign vigorously about Labor Day. With the advent of television, however, candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate began their campaigns immediately after the primary, stepping them up noticeably by county tours, debates, advertising, and radio and television appearances in the month preceding the general election. Candidates for the legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives usually ride along on the coattails of the candidate at the top of the party ticket, whether the office sought is the governorship or the presidency. New Jersey has been divided into 14 Congressional districts, some of them made up of one county, two counties, parts of a county or parts of several counties, depending on the population distribution. T h e Democratic party won a U.S. Senate seat in 1936 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt was swept into office in a landslide. Except for that election, New Jersey has consistently sent Republicans to the U.S. Senate in the past four decades. For many years, also, the state's delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives has been dominated by Republicans. Financing Campaigns T h e candidates for all offices rely on the state committee for finances to meet campaign costs. A candidate for a federal office may also receive financial help from his party's national committee and from his party's election committee in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. T h e state committee depends on contributions from party members to meet its costs and the expenses of campaigns. T h e state's election law has this to say about the handling of money by state committees: "Any state committee, county committee or municipal committee of any political party may receive and disburse moneys for the general purposes of maintaining such organization during the whole or any part of the year. T h e expenses for maintenance of organization shall be confined to the hiring of suitable rooms for meet-

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ings of such committee, for stationery, for hiring of necessary clerks, for the expenses of notices of the meetings of such committee, for giving publicity to the policies and candidates of their respective party organizations, and other expenses incidental to the maintenance of such organization. "Within 20 days after the day of the general election, the person who has had the custody of the moneys contributed to or on account of any state, county or municipal committee during the previous year shall file with the secretary of state in the case of the state committee, and with the county clerk in the case of the county or municipal committee, a statement of the amount of money received by or on behalf of such committee during the previous year, together with the names and addresses of the persons from whom the money was received, and also a statement of the purposes for which it was expended, itemized as to all items in excess of five dollars, and with a general statement as to the purposes for which the items less than five dollars were expended. The person making such statement shall make an affidavit that the same is true." Petitions A candidate for governor or U.S. senator is required to file with the secretary of state 40 days before the primary election a petition carrying the signatures of at least 1,000 citizens supporting his candidacy. A candidate running independently of the Republican or Democratic party for governor or U.S. senator in the November general election also must file petitions with 1,000 signatures 40 days before the primary. Candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives must file petitions carrying at least 200 names. The petitions also must carry the names of three persons who are to act as a committee on vacancy should the candidate die or withdraw from the election. T h e committee on vacancy is authorized to substitute a candidate should death or a withdrawal occur before the primary election. A candidate selected at the primary who chooses to withdraw may do so within 37 days of the general election. If the withdrawing candidate had been seeking the governorship or a U.S. Senate seat, his party's state committee is authorized to name a substitute. The state committee has the same authority in the case of

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a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. But should a candidate for the state Senate or General Assembly withdraw, the county committee has the authority to name a substitute. Campaign Expenditures A state law prescribes limitations on the amount of money spent by candidates for public office. A candidate for governor or for the U.S. Senate is permitted to spend up to $100,000 "at any primary election of a political party or at any general election or at any special election." Candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives are limited to $15,000. Candidates for the New Jersey Senate are limited to 10 cents for each voter in the county who went to the polls in the preceding presidential election. For instance, a candidate for the Senate running in populous Essex County and using the 1952 presidential vote as the guide to his campaign spending would have a little more than $40,000 as his limit. Meanwhile, a candidate for the Senate from sparsely settled Sussex County, using the same presidential vote as a guide, would have less than $1,800 as his limit. A candidate for the Assembly also may use the 10-cent base, provided he is running alone. But the law says that in a case where two or more candidates arrange for a joint campaign or have their names bracketed in a group on the ballot, they are limited to $2,000 for each candidate. Again using Essex County as an example, its Assembly delegation of 12 members has a combined limit of $24,000. Sussex County has only one member in the Assembly, and a candidate for that office would be limited, like the candidate for the Senate, to less than $1,800. A candidate for a county office that has a fixed salary is limited to half the annual salary of the office for campaign purposes. If there is no fixed salary for the county office, the candidate uses the 10-cent base, counting all the persons who voted in the presidential year within the county if the office is county-wide in nature or only the persons within that portion of the county which the candidate will represent. A candidate for a municipal office also must use the presidential vote as a guide, but he may spend u p to 15 cents for each person who voted within the municipality. Candidates seeking election

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as delegates to their party's national convention are limited to $10,000 and candidates seeking to be electors to $5,000. A candidate for member of a state committee may spend up to $1,000 and a candidate for member of a county committee is limited to $50. Campaign Managers T h e campaign managers of candidates for governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives must file with the secretary of state on the Friday or Saturday before primary and before the general election a statement showing how much money was contributed and how much money was spent in the campaign. Campaign managers of candidates for the legislature or county offices must file similar statements with the county clerk. A candidate who is limited to less than $500 for campaign expenses is not required to file a statement. Candidates for any office where expenses of more than $500 are permitted must appoint a campaign manager before any contributions may be received. T h e name of the campaign manager and the name of the cashier of the bank in which campaign funds will be handled must be filed with the secretary of state when the candidate is running for governor, U.S. senator or U.S. representative and with the county clerk when the candidates are running for the legislature or for county office. A candidate is permitted to name himself as campaign manager but he still must file the required papers. The campaign manager is responsible for the spending of all money by the candidate. T h e campaign manager may use all money contributed if he receives it within five days of the election. Any contributions received in the five days preceding an election must be returned. Contributions T h e law permits the state committee and county committees to solicit funds for candidates after the primary election. If money is donated to the state committee or county committee and marked for use by a particular candidate, the committee must forward the contribution to the campaign manager. If the donation is not earmarked for a particular candidate, the committee may use it to

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further the candidacy of all the party's candidates or of one particular candidate. Since the cost of running a campaign for governor or U.S. senator can go as high as $250,000, the legal limitation on expenses is sometimes circumvented. In recent years this has been accomplished by the formation of organizations by supporters of the candidates. These organizations invite the candidates to participate at no cost to them in radio and television programs, rallies, and other functions. Candidates are limited to contributing $5,000 of their own money for campaign purposes and the same limitation is placed on all other individuals. Members of a candidate's family may each contribute $5,000 if they so desire. None of the money contributed for campaign purposes is employed to meet the costs of the election. A law provides: "All general elections, special elections, municipal elections, primary elections for general elections and primary elections for delegates and alternates to national (presidential) conventions held in the state or in any of its political subdivisions (counties or municipalities) shall be conducted at the expense of the state or its political subdivisions." National Committees and Conventions T h e state committee of each party elects a national committeeman and a national committeewoman to represent it on the party's national committee. The national committee, comprised of representatives from all the states, functions as the over-all body of the party. Among its duties is the calling of the national (presidential) convention every four years. New Jersey sends delegations to the conventions of both parties. T o be a delegate, a person must be a member of one of the parties and be elected at the primary election in the year the national convention is held. Two delegates are elected in each of the state's 14 Congressional districts. In addition to the 28 delegates elected from the Congressional districts, a number of delegates at large are elected in state-wide voting on primary election day. T h e number of delegates at large depends on rules of the national committee of each party. The chairmen of the state committees are required to inform the secretary of state before February 1

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in a presidential year of the number of delegates at large the party plans to send to the national convention. If a chairman fails to file the proper notice, the secretary of state must learn from the national committee how many delegates at large have been granted to its party in the state. Generally, there are at least 10 delegates at large permitted in each party in New Jersey. Once elected, the party delegation selects a chairman at an organizational meeting. The delegation may go to the convention committed to vote in a body for one of the candidates for the presidential nomination or it may go uninstructed. New Jersey delegations rarely have gone to conventions with complete unanimity. Sometimes to achieve a position of strength at a convention, particularly when the governor is selected as a delegate at large and made chairman of the delegation, the party resorts to a device by which it presents a "favorite son" as a candidate for president. T h e favorite son usually is the governor and, on the first roll call at the convention, the state delegation votes as a bloc in his favor. The manner in which a state delegation conducts itself at a national convention usually has a direct bearing on the amount of federal patronage the state party can anticipate if the candidate selected wins the presidency. Like candidates for public office, delegates to national conventions are men and women of more than moderate means. The patronage that dangles before these delegates if their party candidate wins the White House include cabinet or subcabinet posts, ambassadorships, and high international and national appointive offices. Victory by the party in a presidential election opens up thousands of jobs within the state, including U.S. attorney and assistants, postmasters, and administrative jobs in local federal offices. An effective state delegation can be influential, too, in the selection of the vice-presidential candidate. The candidate for vice-president is chosen by national party leaders after the convention has selected the candidate for president. Hague For three decades, ending in 1949, New Jersey politics was dominated by one man, Frank Hague. As mayor of Jersey City, in teeming Hudson County, Hague held the balance of power in state poli-

T h e State House in T r e n t o n , center of the many d e p a r t m e n t s and agencies which perform the complicated functions of state governm e n t in New Jersey.

The Governor addresses a joint session of the New Jersey Legislature. Historic Morven at Princeton, now the Governor's mansion, was a gift to the state by former Governor Walter H. Edge. (Nezu Jersey Department, of Conservation and Economic Development)

Such pastoral scenes as this are numerous in the Garden State. T h i s is a dairy farm in the hill section. Interior view of livestock ring at. the Flemington Auction Market with auctioneer at the block. Ringmaster, center, holds l a m b to be sold to the highest bidder. (Flemington Auction Market)

Bridge over bridge crossing the New Jersey Turnpike. (Ostergaard, Aven el, N.J.) New Jersey is a central point for air and sea transport and travel. In foreground is busy Newark Airport with Port Newark behind it.

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r . . . * f '< l i i r f ; Surf a n d sand meet city street at A t l a n t i c City's • f a m o u s Boardwalk. (Atlantic City Press Bureau) '/j'V*v*

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Y

Families picnic and swim in the lake at Leba n o n State Forest in { S o u t h Jersey.

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New Jersey's streams are kept supplied by the world's largest fish hatchery at Hackettstown.

Trout fishing on the Musconetcong River. (New Jersey Department of Conservation and Economic Dexielopment)

Many of New Jersey's children attend makeshift schools while waiting for the construction of buildings to catch up with the growing school population. ( N a o m i H. Farnham) The colorful pageantry of an academic procession during graduation exercises at Rutgers, T h e State University.

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tics. He controlled the political fortunes of Hudson County with an iron hand and could deliver more than 100,000 votes to any candidate for governor. For some inexplicable reason, Hague's influence never was used to swing an election in favor of a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. Hague was one of the last of the big political "bosses" of the nation. He fell from power when one of his trusted lieutenants, in consort with Republicans, succeeded in 1949 in taking over the municipal government of Jersey City. When Hague's political star descended, the Democratic party in New Jersey was leaderless and inept. There were political savants who thought that the Democrats in the state had been reduced to an almost inarticulate minority. But they had not counted on a disintegration of Republican leadership and, in 1953, long-suffering anti-Hague Democrats scored a surprise gubernatorial victory and the two-party system in the state appeared ready to exert itself in full bloom for the first time in decades. Johnson Even with Hague in power, the Republicans had boss rule of their own. Probably, the most fabulous of New Jersey Republican bosses was Enoch L. ("Nucky") Johnson of Atlantic City. Here was a man who at the height of Prohibition was photographed with underworld notable "Scarface" Al Capone of Chicago. Johnson was the munificent boss, the man who always attended funerals, tipped waiters lavishly, bought drinks for everyone, used the entire ninth floors of the Ritz-Carlton hotels of New York and Atlantic City as entertainment centers, sent coal and food to the needy, and wound up in 1941 in federal prison for income tax evasion. Trends From time to time each county in New Jersey has been politically controlled by an organization or by an individual. Each county now is controlled by a political organization, operating directly out of the office of an individual or through a hard core of politicians whose aims range from the highest principles of good government to strongest desires for power. Election returns for the past decade

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have classified Camden, Hudson, Mercer, and Middlesex counties as predominantly Democratic. T h e other 17 counties usually produce favorable Republican returns in varying degrees. T w o of the more populous counties, which had been counted as strongly Republican for years—Essex and Union—have shown tendencies toward a switch to the Democratic column. This turn of events has come as a result of increasing industrial activity and the attendant boost in the number of workingmen and -women in the population. All of New Jersey's major cities—Newark, Jersey City, Elizabeth, Paterson, Passaic, New Brunswick, Trenton, and Camden—have been politically Democratic for years. Their residents have been spreading out in fanlike fashion to suburban areas, changing the political outlook in those residential sections from Republican to Democratic. As city residents move out to the suburbs, the suburbanite Republican moves farther away into once-clear rural areas.

8

Elections . E v e r y citizen of the United States, of the age of 21 years, who shall have been a resident of this state one year, and of the county in which he claims his vote five months, next before the election, shall be entitled to vote for all officers that now or hereafter may be elective by the people, and upon all questions which may be submitted to a vote of the people." These words are from the New Jersey Constitution. They sum u p the fundamental right of a citizen in our democratic republic, ensure free elections, and provide the vehicle for good government. The only persons barred from voting are idiots, insane persons, and those convicted of major crimes. T h e precious privilege of voting has been made extremely easy in New Jersey even though many lawyers and students of government consider the state's election laws confusing and full of ambiguity. There are admittedly technical faults with the election laws, which have grown haphazardly and are in need of revision. These faults have not seriously hindered the election machinery of the state and the technical flaws have not been obvious to the citizens. Some critics of the laws, for instance, object to a section that permits an illiterate person to vote. Many states require that voters be able to read and write, but New Jersey's election laws permit signature with an "X" or some distinctive mark. Election officials are required to certify that the " X " or other mark was made by the person listed in the official record. Registration Every citizen is required to register before he may vote. T o register, the citizen must present himself to the municipal clerk or, in 93

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municipalities which are county seats, to the commissioner of registration. In recent years some counties have provided mobile registration facilities. Registration officials set up their mobile offices in various neighborhoods, often in evenings, to expedite the recording of eligible voters. Until 1955 registration could not be made through the mails. But the legislature that year authorized registration and absentee ballots for persons unable to leave home or the hospital because of chronic illness. An affidavit from a doctor must accompany the application. T h e principle behind registration is twofold. It establishes an official record of the state's voters and it is a safeguard against fraudulent voting. Once a citizen registers as a resident of an election district, he need not register again unless he moves to another address within the state or unless he fails to vote in four successive general elections. This system is known as permanent registration and contrasts with methods in many states where a citizen must register every year to be eligible to vote. A New Jersey citizen may register at any time up to and including the fortieth day before any election. When he registers, the citizen is asked several questions and the answers are recorded in duplicate on appropriately printed forms which fit into a loose-leaf binder. Before being asked the questions, he must take this oath: "You do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you will fully and truly answer such questions as shall be put to you touching your eligibility as a voter under the laws of this state." He is asked his name, the names of his father and mother, whether he is married or single, where he now lives, whether he is native born or a naturalized citizen, and where he last resided. T h e registration form requires the exact address—the apartment number and the floor of a multiple dwelling if such a place is used for residence. A member of the County Board of Registry or the municipal clerk must sign the registration form under a section which reads: "I certify that I have read to the elector (voter) each of the foregoing questions and that I have truly recorded his answer to each of the said questions." And, immediately above the place where the citizen signs his name or makes his mark these words are printed: "I, being

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duly sworn on oath (or affirmation) depose and say (or affirm), to the best of my knowledge and belief, that the foregoing statements made by me are true and correct." Binders The law makes this provision concerning filing of registration forms: " T h e original and duplicate permanent registration forms when filled out shall be filed alphabetically by districts at the office of the commissioner in separate sets of locked binders, one for the permanent office record and the other for use in the polling places on election days. Each set of the locked binders of duplicate and permanent registration forms shall consist of two volumes for each election district to be known as Volume I and Volume II. Volume I shall contain an index alphabetically arranged beginning with the letter 'A' and ending with the letter 'K,' and Volume II shall contain a similar index beginning with the letter 'L' and ending with the letter 'Z.' In filing the forms there shall be inserted after the original and duplicate permanent registration forms of each registrant a record of voting form with the corresponding serial number and name and address of the registrant thereon. T h e binders containing the duplicate permanent registration forms and the corresponding record of voting forms shall constitute and be known as the signature copy registers. " T h e original permanent registration forms shall not be open to public inspection except during such period as the duplicate registration forms are in process of delivery to or from the district boards or in the possession of such district boards. The original permanent registration forms shall not be removed from the office of the commissioner except upon the order of a court of competent jurisdiction. The signature copy registers shall at all times, except during the time as above provided and subject to reasonable rules and regulations be open to public inspection. The permanent registration forms shall be the official record of a person's eligibility to vote in any election in a municipality having permanent registration."

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The law also makes these specifications for persons who cannot write their signatures because of illiteracy, blindness, or the loss of a hand: "No person shall be required to sign the signature comparison record as a means of identification if he shall have been unable to write his name when he registered, or if, having been able to write his name when registered, he subsequently shall have lost his sight or lost the hand with which he was accustomed to write or shall by reason of disease or accident be unable to write his name when he applies to vote, but each such person who alleges his inability to sign his name on the signature comparison record shall establish his identity as follows: one of the members of the district board shall read the same list of questions to the voter as were required upon registration, such questions shall be provided at each election by the commissioner of registration and are to be known as 'identification statements for election day.' The member of the board shall write the answers of the voter upon the identification statement. These statements shall be inserted in front of the duplicate registry binders, at each election, and shall be numbered serially from 1 to 20." The commissioner of registration in each of the 21 counties is responsible for the safekeeping of the registration forms. He keeps the original in his office at all times and distributes the duplicate, which is known as the signature copy, to the election districts within his county in time for their use by voters at elections. The citizens are listed alphabetically in the registration books. The signature copies of the registration forms are public records and may be inspected by anyone at any time, but the commissioner of registration is not required to open the books containing the original forms unless when requested the signature copies are in the possession of election officials. Superintendents T h e law provides that in those counties where there are superintendents of elections, they also will act as commissioners of registra-

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tion. In other counties, the secretary of the County Board of Elections is the commissioner of registration. Superintendents of elections are appointed by the governor with advice and consent of the Senate for terms of five years at annual salaries ranging from $5,000 to $12,000. The superintendents have all the police powers of constables, policemen, and other peace officers and are responsible for the enforcement of the state's election laws. Only Essex, Hudson, Monmouth, and Passaic counties have superintendents of elections. Reregistration A citizen who moves from one county to another is required to reregister and his registration form in the original county is placed in an inactive file by the commissioner of registration. The same inactive file holds the forms of persons who failed to vote in four successive general elections. The commissioner also maintains a death file and a conviction file. The county health officer is required to report all deaths to the commissioner of registration. And the county prosecutor is required to report the names of persons convicted of crimes. These reports are made each month. A person convicted of a crime but subsequently pardoned may reregister if his pardon restores his voting privilege. A person whose name is changed by marriage, divorce, or by a court is required to reregister, but if the name change occurs within the prescribed 40 days before an election, the law permits that person to vote provided he signs his former and his new name. Reregistration is required before that person may vote in a subsequent election. Election Districts Election districts are established in New Jersey for every 600 voters. If the voter population of an election district grows to more than 700, but less than 1,200, the district may be divided into two districts. If the number of voters in an election district drops below 250, that district may be consolidated with another. There are approximately 4,000 election districts in the state. The County Board of Elections or the municipality must provide a building for use as a polling place for each election district, but the law says one poll-

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ing place may be used by two election districts if that is convenient for the voters. When a person registers, he receives a card bearing the number of his election district and the municipal clerk can tell him the location of the polling place in that district. Kinds of Elections There are four kinds of elections in the state: general, primary, special, and municipal. The general election is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and voters select officials for state-wide positions, such as governor, and federal positions, such as president or U.S. senator. In addition, public questions of state-wide importance, such as an amendment to the Constitution, are on general election ballots. The primary election, held in April, is the procedure by which members of a political party nominate candidates to be voted for at general elections and at which party officers, such as state committee members, are selected. In a presidential year, the political parties elect delegates and alternates to their national conventions. A special election is one that is ordered by the governing body of the state, a county, or a municipality. For instance, special elections may be called by the governor to fill a vacancy in the U.S. House of Representatives, or a municipality may call a special election to authorize construction of a new school. Municipal elections are held to fill offices within a particular municipality. Some of these elections are held in May and others at the same time as the general election. County officials, such as freeholders, surrogates, and supervisors, are elected on general election day. Special Features T h e candidate receiving the greatest number of votes at any election is deemed elected, even though two or more opponents polled an aggregate vote that was greater. The law provides that, if the voters are asked to pass on any public question, the language must be easily understood. If the public question involves an amendment to the Constitution or any other legal change, a statement interpreting the question in simple lan-

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guage must be printed on the ballot. The polling place in each election district is opened at 7:00 A.M. and closed at 8:00 P.M. on each election day. Places that dispense alcoholic beverages are forbidden to carry on business during those hours. Officials Elections are supervised by a four-member District Board of Elections in each election district. Two members are from the Democratic and two from the Republican party. The law requires that three members must be present at all times during election day. One member may be absent for a period not exceeding an hour, provided the other three are present. The board members in counties having voting machines are paid $20 a day for any election and those in counties having paper ballots are paid $30 a day. As we saw in the chapter on political parties, the district board members are named by the County Board of Elections. The four-member county board consists of two Democrats and two Republicans, whose names are submitted by the state chairman of each party and confirmed by the governor. County board members are paid from $600 to $3,900 a year, depending on the size of their counties. The compensation for county board clerks ranges from $3,500 to $6,500 a year, also depending on the size of the county. No one who holds an elective office may be named as a member of an election board. The county boards are entitled by law to two assistant clerks and one clerk-stenographer, each of whom must qualify through a civil service examination. The county boards are required to meet at 10:00 A.M. on the second Tuesday in March or at least within the first 15 days of that month to select a chairman and a secretary, who cannot be from the same party. If the board cannot agree, the member who is senior in age becomes the chairman and the next senior member of the opposite party becomes the secretary. Each member is required to take an oath to discharge the duties of his office. T h e oath is administered by the county clerk. The county boards are required to be at the board office, usually at the county courthouse, from 6:00 A.M. to midnight on election days.

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T H E NEW JERSEY CITIZEN Advertising the Election

In order to familiarize the voter with the names of candidates and the contents of any public question, the County Board of Elections or the county clerk, depending on the availability of equipment, is required to provide sample ballots and stamped envelopes for mailing by municipal clerks to every registered voter. The law says the number of sample ballots must be one and one-tenth times the number of registered voters and that the sample ballots must be delivered to the municipal clerks for mailing not later than noon on the eighth day before a general election. Newspaper advertisements advising the voters of the coming election also must be provided by the County Board of Elections. Every county clerk is required to have printed by noon on the seventeenth day before a general election a copy of the contents of the official ballot. This copy is to be posted for public inspection until the sample ballots are in the hands of the voters. T h e clerk must have on hand in his office by noon of the fifth day before a general election "one and one-fifth times" as many official ballots as the number of registered voters within the election districts of the county. On the third day before a general election the county clerk must deliver the ballots to each municipal clerk, who in turn must deliver the ballots to a member of each election district the day before the general election. T h e municipal clerk also must deliver the day before the election voting machines or ballot boxes and keys and other election equipment to a district board member. The member, in turn, delivers the election equipment to the board before the polls open on election day. Ballots T h e election laws prescribe how ballots are to be printed. The position of candidates' names on the ballots is determined at a drawing by the county clerk in each county at 3:00 P.M. on the fiftieth day before the general election. The first name drawn is placed at the left of the ballot, the second name next to it, and so on. Public questions of state-wide importance are printed above the names of the candidates and, if there is more than one question, the secretary

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of state determines in what order they shall appear on the ballot. Other public questions of county or municipal importance are printed below the names of candidates as near to the center of the ballot as possible. If more than one such question is to be voted upon, a drawing is made in a manner similar to the selection of ballot positions for candidates. On voting machines, public questions are placed at the upper right and their order is determined in the same manner as for paper ballots. T h e legislature in 1956 authorized proponents and opponents of public questions to have challengers at polling places. The challengers may question the eligibility of any voter. Such challenging previously had been confined to candidates for office. A tendency to have the public decide controversial questions has grown in New Jersey. By the late 1950's it was difficult to find a ballot that did not contain some public question. If a citizen finds an error in his sample ballot, he may ask a Superior Court judge to have the clerk make a correction. If it was a printing error, the clerk must destroy all copies and have corrected ballots printed. He must follow the same procedure for any error of omission or transposition of the names of candidates, or of the language of a public question. Each ballot must have a detachable coupon across its top. The coupon carries the ballot number and these words "to be torn off by the member of the board of registry and election in charge of the ballot box on election day." This coupon permits an accurate count of the number of ballots cast. Each ballot must carry the name of the municipality, the election district, the date, and a facsimile of the name of the county clerk. The voter using a paper ballot will find spaces in which he can place an " X , " a cross, or a check mark to show his vote. Keys alongside names on voting machines are pushed to record the vote. Each ballot also has provision for voters to write in the name of a person for any office if the voter does not wish to cast a ballot for the nominated candidates whose names are printed. Voting Procedure When the voter goes to the polling place in his election district he usually will find, in addition to members of the board, chal-

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lengers selected by each party and a police officer assigned to keep peace and enforce election laws. If the voter arrives near closing time, he is entitled to vote provided he was inside the polling place or on line at the time of closing. The voter is asked his name and one of the members of the district board opens the signature book of registration forms to the proper place. The voter then signs his name and, if the board member is satisfied that the signature on the form and the one just written are identical, the voter is handed a ballot or directed to a voting machine. If the voter says he cannot write his name, the board member asks the same questions that were required at registration. This questioning is in public and if the board is satisfied with the answers, the voter is permitted to mark a ballot. The party challengers may question the right of any person to vote. Each voter marks his ballot secretly in an enclosed booth and not more than one voter is permitted within a booth at a time. A blind person or one who cannot write may be given assistance by a member of the board. If a voter spoils a ballot, he may receive one more by returning the spoiled ballot or making known to the board that he spoiled a voting machine ballot. Counting As soon as the polls close the election district board begins a count of the ballots. The law says that the board "shall complete such count without delay or adjournment" and "the counting shall be open and public, but not to the extent that the number present shall hinder, delay or inconvenience the election officers in counting the ballots and ascertaining the result." In some rural areas, the boards put off the ballot counting until after dinner or interrupt the counting to dine. It is up to the board to determine the validity of each ballot and it can declare ballots null and void for several reasons, such as extra markings or where "yes" and "no" have been recorded on a public question. The law says: "No ballot shall be declared invalid by reason of the fact that the mark made with ink or the mark made with lead pencil appears other than black. "No ballot cast for any candidate shall be invalid by reason of the

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fact that the name of such candidate may be misprinted, or his Christian name or his initials may be omitted. "No ballot cast for any candidate shall be invalid by reason of the use of any paster permitted by this title on which the title of office may be printed or the name of such candidate may be misprinted or part of his Christian or surname or initials may be omitted, or because the voter in writing the name of such candidate may misspell the same or omit part of his Christian name or surname or initials. "No ballot shall be declared null and void by reason of having a cross, plus or check appearing in a square at the left of a blank space or a space wherein no name is printed." All ballots declared null and void by the board must be marked that way, numbered consecutively and preserved like the other ballots. T h e board is required to keep two tally sheets on the counting, one sheet to be placed in the receptacle containing the counted ballots and the other to be delivered to the county clerk. T h e board members must sign the tally sheets. Once the count is complete, the chairman of the board must announce the results "audibly and publicly." The board must make out a statement in quadruplicate showing the results of the count for each candidate and public question. One copy is sent to the municipal clerk, a second to the suprintendent of elections in counties with such superintendents, a third to the county clerk, and in elections for state-wide or federal posts, a fourth to the secretary of state. T h e ballots, sealed in their receptacle, are delivered to the municipal clerk who must keep his office open until delivery is made. T h e clerk is required by law to hold the sealed ballots for three months unless he receives a court order for a recount. At the end of three months the clerk may remove the ballots from the receptacle and file them in some suitable place for a period of two years, when they may be destroyed. All other election records must be preserved for five years, when they may be sold as scrap paper or destroyed. The Canvass T h e County Board of Elections is required to meet on the Monday following an election and certify as official the statements sub-

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mitted by the district boards. This is known as the official canvass of the election. The county board then makes a statement in quadruplicate setting forth the official returns of the election. One copy is sent to the county clerk, one copy each to the chairmen of the political parties, and one statement to the secretary of state. The county board chairman also issues a certificate of election to each candidate elected for a seat in the legislature or for a county or municipal post. In elections involving a president, governor, U.S. senator or member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a State Board of Canvassers certifies their election on the basis of statements submitted by election boards to the secretary of state. T h e State Board of Canvassers consists of the governor and two state senators from each of the political parties. The secretary of state acts as clerk of the board. T h e State Board of Canvassers is required to meet at Trenton on the fourth Tuesday after the general election. The board sends certificates of election to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Primary Election Procedure Primary elections are conducted in substantially the same manner as general elections. A voter, however, must declare which party he supports when he arrives at the polling place. A new voter at a primary election must sign an affidavit which says: "I am a member of the . . . party (giving name of party) and am not a member or identified with any other political party. I intend to vote for the nominees of the said party at the next ensuing general election. I am not a member of any political organization espousing the cause of candidates of any other political party." Once a person has signed such an affidavit he is considered by law to be a member of the stated party for the next two years. Any voter who contributes toward the campaign funds of a political party is considered a member of that party and is not permitted to vote at a primary election for the opposite party. If a voter is challenged at a primary election, he may vote for the party he says he espouses if he takes an oath that he voted for candidates of that party at the preceding election. Party primary poll books are open to public inspection.

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Recount When any candidate feels an error has been made in the returns of an election, he may apply for a recount, provided he obtains an order from a Superior Court judge or a county court judge on or before the second Saturday following the election. T h e law makes these specifications concerning the recount: "Any applicant or group of applicants, as the case may be, for such recount, upon applying therefor, shall deposit with the county clerk or such other public officer or officers as such judge shall direct, such sum of money proportioned to the number of votes to be counted, but not exceeding $25 for any one district recount of which is asked, as the judge shall order as security for the payment of the costs and expenses of the recount in case the original count be confirmed. Such judge shall fix and determine the amount of compensation to be paid for making the recount, and the costs and expenses thereof. If it appears that an error or errors have occurred as a result of which the election is changed or the difference in the vote between any candidate and any other candidate for the same office or between the negative and the affirmative of any such public question is altered in any district by more than 10 votes or 10 per cent of the total vote cast in the district, whichever is the greater, the costs and expenses of the recount of such district shall be paid by the state, county or municipality in and for which the election was held, upon the warrant of such judge, as other election expenses are paid. If no error shall appear sufficient to produce such a change, the costs and expenses of the recount shall be paid out of the deposit made as security by the party or parties making the application." If the recount reverses an election, the certificate of election issued by the appropriate board of canvassers is declared void and a new certificate is issued. There is a slightly different procedure for obtaining recounts in voting machine election districts. A defeated candidate may petition a Superior Court judge for a recount. T h e candidate must deposit with the county clerk $2 for each district to be recounted. If the recount causes a change in the results of the election, the money paid by the candidate is refunded. If there is no change, the money is deposited in the county treasury.

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T H E NEW JERSEY CITIZEN Contesting an Election

Any citizen or group of citizens may contest the nomination or election of a candidate for public office or the outcome of a public question. These grounds for contesting an election are set forth in the law: "Malconduct, fraud or corruption on the part of the members of any district board, or of any members of the board of county canvassers, sufficient to challenge the result; "When the incumbent was not eligible to office at the time of election; "When the incumbent had been duly convicted before such election of any crime which would render him incompetent to exercise the right of suffrage, and the incumbent had not been pardoned at the time of the election; "When the incumbent had given or offered to any elector (voter) or any member of any district board, clerk or canvasser, any bribe or reward in money, property or thing of value for the purpose of procuring his election; "When illegal votes have been received, or legal votes rejected at the polls sufficient to change the result; "For any error by any board of canvassers in counting the votes or declaring the result of the election, if such error would change the result; "For any other cause which shows that another was the person legally elected; " T h e paying, promise to pay or expenditures of any money or other thing of value or incurring of any liability in excess of the amount permitted by this title for any purpose or in any manner not authorized by this title; "When a petition for nomination is not filed in good faith or the affidavit annexed thereto is false or defective." A petition to contest a nomination must be filed in court not later than 10 days after the primary election and a petition to contest the outcome of a general election must be filed within 30 days after the election. A petition also may be filed within 10 days after

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a recount. Such contests of nominations and elections must be determined by a court trial. Penalties Penalties for violations of the election laws are severe, carrying heavy fines and jail sentences from two to five years depending on the infraction. For instance, a district board member who refuses a voter his right to a ballot or replaces one voter's name with another may be fined u p to $1,000 and sentenced to prison for two years, or both. If a person registers in more than one district for the purpose of voting twice in any election, the fine may be as high as $1,000 and the prison term as high as five years, or both. Any tampering with ballots brings with it a similar penalty in fine and imprisonment. A person interfering with any voter may be fined $500 and put in jail until the fine is paid. Anyone who tries to find out how a citizen voted by opening his ballot faces a fine and imprisonment. If the person involved is a member of the district board, he may be punished by a fine up to $2,000 and imprisonment for as much as five years. Anyone soliciting a vote within a polling place or within 100 feet of it may be punished by a fine or imprisonment, or both. At a primary election if a voter who has declared himself for one party casts his ballot for the opposite party he is liable to a $500 fine and a prison term of two years. Bribing a voter calls for a maximum $2,000 fine and a five-year prison term. A voter accepting a bribe may be punished by a fine up to $1,000 or a year in prison. Insurance Firms Among the more interesting provisions of the election laws is this one: "No insurance corporation or association doing business in this state shall, directly or indirectly, pay or use, or offer, consent or agree to pay or use, any money or property for or in aid of any political party, committee, organization or corporation, or for or in aid of any candidate for public office, or for nomination for such office, or for any political purpose whatsoever, or for the reimburse-

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ment or indemnification of any person for money or property so used. "Any officer, director, stockholder, attorney or agent of any corporation or association which violates any of the provisions of this title, who participates in, abets, or advises or consents to any such violation, and any person who solicits or knowingly receives any money or property in violation of this title, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor." Absentee Voting New Jersey permits servicemen on duty outside the state and civilians who for business or other reasons cannot be at home on election day to cast their ballots by mail. Absentee ballots are obtained by application to the county clerk or the municipal clerk for municipal elections. An absentee ballot is issued only when the voter, civilian or military, is out of the state or will be out of the state on election day. The law does not permit absentee voting by persons who are away from their homes but within the state on election day. Absentee ballots are counted by the County Board of Elections on election day and are recorded as such. Military personnel from other states, assigned to posts within New Jersey, are not permitted to use the posts as their residences for the purpose of voting.

9

Agriculture Industry, breathing fire from products of petroleum and advances in electronics, has trod like a fairyland giant across the width and breadth of New Jersey, but its great bulk has not overshadowed the agricultural pre-eminence of the "Garden State." T h e farmers of the state have put the giant to work for themselves and with his help they have led the nation in gross receipts per acre. The average farm cash income for New Jersey is better than $200 an acre compared to $70 an acre in California, $32 an acre in Florida, and $4 an acre in Wyoming. There are only two million acres of farmland in New Jersey, of which just a little more than half is devoted to crops. There are about 23,000 farms in the state. T h e average farm consists of about 75 acres, compared to farms of 200 to 700 acres in Arizona and California. Farms in those states have higher cash receipts over-all than the smaller farms in New Jersey, but they are the only states that rank higher in that respect. New Jersey farmers have concentrated on perfecting methods and equipment, rather than on increasing the number of acres they hold. The state's agriculture has been geared to the production of perishable foods for the great metropolitan areas of Philadelphia and New York. T o these areas flow by fast truck over modern highways as many varieties of vegetables and fruits as can be found in any market. T h e value of the state's farm products is more than $400 million a year. The high yield is due, in addition to scientific use of fertilizing agents, to a moderate climate, a well-distributed and adequate supply of moisture, and a long growing season. Each year the state's farmers can count on almost 170 days free of frost. And he works in five distinct soil zones, which have a decided effect on the types 109

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of farming carried on. The soil zoning was one of the services rendered by the state's Department of Agriculture, which has worked vigorously in behalf of the farmer. Soil Zones The rolling country of the northwest corner of New Jersey, which is Zone No. 1, has a heavy soil most adaptable to grazing land and growth of sturdy apple trees. The valleys of this hilly country have rich muck land areas ideal for market gardening. Immediately to the southeast is Zone No. 2, also a hilly section with occasional mountainous regions. This zone, picturesque and inviting to the Sunday motorist, also is dairyland and highly recommended for fruit orchards. Following the southeast direction, there is Zone No. 3, with its gently rolling terrain and some low, stony ridges. The soil in this zone is rich in plant food and is used for the production of hay, corn, grain, and forage crops. Then comes a heavy coastal plain belt that is fairly level and the most productive in the nation. Here in Zone No. 4 are the truck crops that have given New Jersey its nickname of "Garden State." Skilled farmers, their eyes constantly on the market, their hands adept at machinery, produce potatoes, tomatoes, corn, and fruit. Some parts of Zone 4 have been employed to raise poultry. In the last zone, predominantly flat and with light, sandy soil, New Jersey produces cranberries, strawberries, peaches, some garden crops, and poultry. Poultry In recent years there has been a noticeable shift from crops to livestock, with the poultry industry the most important. This highly specialized industry requires a considerable outlay of capital and great skill. No other area in the United States, except perhaps that centered on Petaluma, Calif., has been developed so intensely for poultry farming as the areas around Vineland and Lakewood. The climate and soil are exceptional for poultry activities and fresh Jersey eggs are a byword with New York and Philadelphia housewives. Scientific advances in the raising of baby chicks and the development of broilers and other poultry meat have come with the growth

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of the industry in the state. The value of eggs in New Jersey is approximately $112 million and, in recognition of the importance of the industry, the state Department of Agriculture maintains a pathology substation at Vineland to fight poultry diseases. The legislature also authorized a pathology substation in the vicinity of Lakewood. T h e state's poultry farms have a population of more than 15 million hens which turn out more than two billion eggs a year. Each New Jersey hen averages 187 eggs a year, about a dozen more than the national average. One of the most remarkable tributes to the egg is given each year at Vineland, where some 10,000 eggs are scrambled in what is reputed to be the "world's largest frying pan." The pan has a circumference of 40 feet and is set up in downtown Vineland. Dairy Farming The state's dairy industry, sandwiched between the great milksheds of New York and Philadelphia, depends almost entirely for its existence on the astute handling of the Office of Milk Industry, an agency within the Department of Agriculture. Although New Jersey ranks second among the 48 states in the production of milk per cow, the dairy farms do not produce enough milk to supply the demands of New Jersey residents. The state's dairyland, like many other things in New Jersey, is divided in two. Major herds are in Sussex, Warren, and Hunterdon counties and in Burlington, Cumberland, and Salem counties. There also are some dairy farms in Mercer and Monmouth counties. Almost 4,000 dairy farmers maintain about 150,000 milk cows. Holstein and Guernsey breeds predominate, but there has been increasing interest in Brown Swiss. Another 90,000 head of cattle are raised for the beef market. Some beef cattle raisers have been developing herds of Aberdeen Angus and have their own association. The Office of Milk Industry, which has a $12,000-a-year director, is the outgrowth of a chaotic condition existing in the 1930's. Dealers in New York and Pennsylvania flooded the state with cheap milk, threatening the economy of New Jersey's dairy farms. The OMI was established primarily to guarantee drinking milk in sufficient quantity to meet the needs of New Jersey citizens. It was given the authority to set minimum prices for milk sold at the farm, sold by dealers, and sold by retailers. The price-setting power was in-

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tended to guarantee the dairy farmer a profit and keep him in business. The federal government, also interested in protecting the dairy farmer, sets prices, too. But only the 12 most northerly counties of New Jersey come under federal regulation. A difficulty in milk economy develops when the federal mínimums, which apply in New York as well, are lower than OMI mínimums. North Jersey milk farmers are permitted to choose whether to sell milk under federal or OMI mínimums. They may not do both at the same time. Livestock In addition to its efforts to keep the dairy industry healthy, the Department of Agriculture has made great strides in the control of bovine diseases. Tests conducted by the department in 1953 showed that only one cow in every 1,400 suffered from bovine tuberculosis. All herds are tested regularly, not only by federal authorities, but by agents of the state's Department of Agriculture. The department reported in late 1956: "Our agriculture is dominated by a livestock economy in which the poultry, dairy and meat animal industries account for at least 64 cents out of each dollar of New Jersey farm income. "Consequently, effective disease control in livestock is an important factor in the welfare of our agriculture and related industries." The legislature authorized the department's Division of Animal Industry to subject all cattle in the state to tests for brucellosis and ordered all disease-carrying animals to be destroyed. In taking its action, the legislature said that all milk sold in New Jersey after April 1, 1958, must be produced by brucellosis-clean dairy herds. Comparatively few hogs and some sheep are raised on farmland in New Jersey. The state does have major swine-fattening plants, particularly in the Secaucus section of Hudson County and a few areas in South Jersey. These plants, which feed garbage to imported swine, are considered outside the realm of agriculture. Truck Crops The New Jersey agriculturist is most enthusiastic about the vegetables and fruits grown in the state. Of the 150,000 acres on which

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truck crops are grown, about half the production is sold fresh and the other half goes into frozen or canned goods. Vegetable truck farms that send produce to the Philadelphia and New York markets are concentrated in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Monmouth, and Salem counties. Some marketgardening operations also are conducted on relatively small acreage in Bergen, Essex, and Passaic counties. Other crops grown in the state include grains, such as field corn, wheat, oats, barley, and soybeans; hay; fruits and berries. T h e truck farms turn out some 60 different kinds of vegetables. T h e state ranks second in the production of asparagus for both fresh and processed sales; first in lima beans for fresh sales; second for eggplants; third, for peppers and beets. Only seven states devote more acreage to truck crops than New Jersey. For the freezing and canning of vegetables, there are 40 processing plants in the state. Here are the leading vegetable crops of the state according to their average production and acreage employed: Asparagus—grown chiefly in Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties. Some 75 million pounds from 30,000 acres. Beans—on most truck farms in the state, 218,000 bushels from 1,900 acres. Beets—generally in North and Central Jersey. 270,000 bushels from 1,000 acres. Broccoli—some 325,000 crates produced on 2,700 acres. Cabbage—about 13,500 tons on 1,800 acres. Carrots—some 442,000 bushels from 1,300 acres. Cauliflower—one of the smallest crops by volume, 185,000 crates on 500 acres. Celery—about 133,000 crates from 350 acres. Corn—about 12 million bushels from 195,000 acres. Lettuce—about 400,000 crates from 1,800 acres. Lettuce crates contain from 4 to 6 dozen heads each. Peppers—some 1,650,000 bushels from 7,500 acres. Potatoes—almost 6 million bushels from 22,700 acres. The first potato harvested is the Irish Cobbler, followed by Katahdins and lateseason Chippewas. The best customers for the state's potato crop, which comes largely from Mercer, Middlesex and Monmouth counties in Central Jersey, are the southern states. Truck shipments of potatoes generally go to 28 states. Pennsylvania is the biggest buyer, with Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida next in line. New Jerseyans are listed as eighth in demand for their own potatoes.

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Spinach—is raised on 1,200 acres and approximates 400,000 bushels in production. Sweet potatoes—about 2.5 million bushels on 16,000 acres. Tomatoes—for fresh consumption are produced on about 10,000 acres and almost 2 million bushels are sent to market. Thousands of Jerseyans grow their own tomatoes in their back yards. The canners and soupmakers obtain about 200,000 tons of tomatoes for processing from 23,000 acres. The average acre turns out 8 tons of tomatoes for such major processors as Campbell Soups. New Jersey ranks third behind California and Indiana in tomato production. Fruits Of the tree fruits enjoyed by Americans, one of the most luscious is the peach. This fruit is susceptible to plagues and scientists have worked hard and long to develop varieties that can withstand disease. There was a time just before 1900 when the state rivaled Georgia in peach production, and the principal orchards were located in Hunterdon and Somerset counties, considerably north of their present locations. A disease known as the San Jose scale attacked the trees and cut down half the orchards. It was in this field that the state Department of Agriculture played an important role. One of its specialists at the Agricultural Experiment Station at New Brunswick began a peach-breeding program in 1914. In the next 30 years the late Professor Maurice A. Blake developed more than 30 new varieties of peaches which grow unhindered by disease in the state. He developed the varieties known as Golden Jubilee, Goldeneast, Triogen, and Summercrest, among others, and as a result New Jersey produces almost two million bushels of the delectable fruit every year. Burlington County now ranks first in the state for the number of peach trees, followed by Atlantic, Gloucester, Camden, Monmouth, and Cumberland counties. Only six other states rank higher than New Jersey in the production of peaches. Behind the peach comes the apple as the next most important tree fruit. The apple lends itself to many more processes than the peach, and New Jersey produces almost three million bushels a year. One of the processes through which the apple goes has developed an industry peculiar to the state, the distilling of apple brandy or apple-

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jack. Mcintosh, Grimes Golden, and Cortland are the principal apple varieties in New Jersey, although almost every other kind from the Delicious, Stayman, and Rome Beauty to the Paragon and other winter types can be found. Apples are shipped out of the state primarily from Bridgeton, Glassboro, Burlington, Freehold, Moorestown, and Ramsey and go as far south as Alabama and as far north as Canada. Some apples have been shipped each year to South America and the West Indies. New Jersey's red Delicious is popular in England. Berries T h e state's first ranking small fruit is the blueberry, with important plantings in Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, and Ocean counties. T h e blueberry took on significance as a crop in 1932 and by 1956 there were about 5,000 acres planted. This acreage gave the state an annual production exceeding a million 12-pint crates and an income exceeding that of cranberries, which had been a small fruit leader for years. The other major small fruit is the strawberry. T h e state ranks fifth among the late-spring states in the production of this delectable fruit. Strawberries grown commercially total about 250,000 24-quart crates from almost 3,000 acres. Other Products Little noticed as an agricultural pursuit is the production of honey. Apiarists maintain 31,000 colonies of bees in the state and turn out about 775,000 pounds of honey annually. T h e colonies are maintained primarily for rental to farmers interested in pollinating fruit crops. The bees work at pollination in the spring and summer, and the nectar they gather from blooms of fruit trees and plants is collected for commercial purposes in the fall. T h e production of cherries and grapes is practically negligible in the state. Similarly, there is very small production of blackberries, dewberries, and raspberries. Most of the state's nurseries concentrate on the production of evergreens, shrubs, shade trees, and other landscaping plants. Millions of roses, carnations, and orchids are grown for sale in the Philadelphia and New York markets.

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The Department of Agriculture, through its Division of Markets, keeps abreast of the ways and means by which farmers sell their produce. The farmers have nine cooperative auction markets and five wholesale markets in the state. The farmer sells his produce through bids at the cooperative markets, but must deal directly with buyers at the wholesale markets. Large farms sell to shippers on orders or telegraphed bids. Most farms sell directly to the consumer or have agreements with retail outlets. Most of the hauling of farm products is handled by trucks, despite the highly concentrated number of rail lines in the state. Associations and Fairs Farmers in New Jersey will not accept that general term. They consider themselves specialists, and prefer to be known as apple growers, poultrymen, dairymen, and so on. Each specialty line has its own association, and members of one farm group rarely will be seen at the meeting of another group. Every county except Hudson, which is highly industrialized and residential, holds an annual fair. One of the major fairs is that at Flemington in Hunterdon County. At the fairs, the farmers compete with each other in their specialized fields for prizes. A state fair is held annually just outside Trenton, but most farmers look upon it as something approaching the honkytonk, with sideshows intended to draw the general public. In an effort to draw together the interests of farmers in New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware, an annual farm show has been instituted at Atlantic City. There, each December, farmers from the three states vie for prizes in all fields of agriculture. The Department New Jersey established a Department of Agriculture in 1916 to replace a state Board of Agriculture which had been the overseer of farming beginning in 1872. The history of the development of the state board from a conglomeration of various local, county, and state

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societies is interesting enough to be the subject of a book of its own. T h e department formed in 1916 is unusual in many respects. It consists of an eight-member unpaid Board of Agriculture, which selects the state secretary of agriculture. T h e secretary, who became a member of the governor's cabinet with adoption of the 1947 Constitution, is paid $18,000 a year and serves for a five-year term on appointment by the Board of Agriculture and consent of the governor. T h e board members serve for four years on appointment by the governor and the terms are staggered so that they carry over in several instances beyond the term of the governor. T h e department has divisions, including the office of milk industry, plant industry, markets, animal industry and information. Operating within the department, too, are the agricultural experiment station at New Brunswick and a division of administration. T h e Division of Animal Industry has bureaus of animal tuberculosis control, brucellosis control, and a veterinary laboratory service. The Division of Markets has bureaus of poultry service, fruit and vegetable service, market reporting, cooperatives, and a dairy products marketing project. T h e Division of Plant Industry has bureaus of entomology and plant pathology and seed certification and statistical projects. T h e Division of Animal Industry has as its prime function the establishment of diagnostic facilities and inspection services designed to prevent animal diseases. Its Bureau of Tuberculosis Control concentrates on eradication of the disease in animals, giving tests annually to all cattle. In a similar way, the Bureau of Brucellosis Control vaccinates calves and conducts tests each year to fight that bacterial disease among cattle and swine. T h e Division of Markets disseminates information to farmers, buyers, and processors on crop conditions and market futures. Its Bureau of Fruit and Vegetable Service seeks in cooperation with farm associations to develop new outlets for fresh farm products. It cooperates with federal agencies in the establishment of standards for produce. T h e Bureau of Poultry Service provides grading and inspection services and seeks, through cooperation with other states and the federal government, to improve the breeds of poultry. T h e Division of Plant Industry is responsible for the protection and improvement of crops and its Bureau of Plant Pathology inves-

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tigates crop diseases and recommends treatment. T h e Bureau of Entomology is charged with the conduct of an insect-control program. This program is twofold, calling for elimination of insects that injure crops and the propagation of insects beneficial to farming. Employees of the Division of Administration are responsible for the enforcement of state laws on the distribution of milk, vegetables, fruit, and cattle. Distributors of milk, for instance, require a state license, which is obtained from the Division of Administration. Experiment Station T h e Agricultural Experiment Station, which is operated by a board of managers, including the president of Rutgers University, is a research and teaching center. T h e station concentrates on animal breeding and nutrition, improvement of fruits and vegetables, poultry husbandry, soil advancement and conservation, and research on horticultural crops and machinery. From the station have come new varieties of hybrid corn, peaches, and other produce. T h e station maintains experimental fields and greenhouses. It has its own herds of cattle. From the station the average Jerseyan may receive information that varies from how to plant an evergreen to the best way to grow tomatoes or handle a horse. T o assist the farmer, each county, except Hudson, has an agricultural agent. He is the adviser on most problems that face the farmer, including such nonagricultural matters as social security, civil defense, and selective service. Many of the agents write weekly columns for county newspapers. The columns contain information on current developments within the county, the state, and the nation. The Farmer New Jersey farmers, generally, have been opposed to price supports by the government for products they deliver to the market. The one major exception has been the poultryman, who began to complain early in the 1950's that he needed price supports for eggs. Most of the state's farmers are politically conscious, although their aggregate vote amounts to only 4 per cent of the ballots cast in a general election. T h e farmer receives little special consideration

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from the state, but he has obtained legislation to protect him against ravages by wild animals and the thousands who pour over his lands in hunting seasons. The legislature also has given the farmer a special rate for license plates for the trucks he uses to carry his produce to the market. Garden State And, in 1954, the legislature approved addition of the words "Garden State" to all motor vehicle license tags. The origin of "Garden State" has long been a matter of speculation. The Department of Agriculture says the first reference to the state as a "garden" was made in a printed notice issued in Scotland in 1684 to attract settlers to the colony established by Berkeley and Carteret. The poster described the colony as a "pleasant and profitable country, where one may live in great plenty and pleasures . . . and one man's ordinary labor will with ease and plenty maintain a family of 10 or 12 persons." The poster also said: "The woods and plains are stored with infinite quantities of deer, elk, beavers, hares, cunnies, wild swine and horses and wild honey in great abundance. The trees abound with several sorts of wine grapes, peaches, apricots, chestnuts, walnuts, plums, mulberries, etc. The soil is so excellent and fertile that the meadows naturally produce plenty of the more tender plants, which will hardly grow here in gardens . . . Wheat, rye, barley, oats, pease and beans and indian corn. Sheep never miss to have two lambs at a time and for the most part three. The winter lasts not ordinarily above two months . . ." Several other colonial promoters described New Jersey as a "terrestrial paradise." But "Garden State" was applied to New Jersey in the 1800's by New Yorkers who had come to depend on the state for their vegetables and fruits. The development of industry after World War II cut sharply into New Jersey farmland. Construction of superhighways, such as the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, forced many farmers either to abandon their land or to watch it cut up by ribbons of concrete. The New Jersey farmer has been increasing his use of irrigation

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equipment. Such equipment is now employed on about 60,000 acres of crops. Farm real estate values continually rise. T h e Department of Agriculture reports "continued purchases for residential purposes or for part-time farming by those employed in other fields have kept Garden State farm values at continued high levels." Many farmers, displaced by industry, highways, or spreading residential areas in North Jersey, moved to the southern part of the state where broad expanses of forest are readily transformed into crop-producing land.

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Conservation and Economic Development ^ L n y o n e who is in business for himself, rents his home, likes to fish or hunt game, fly an airplane, operate a boat on a lake or river, search for uranium, eat clams or oysters, build his own home, take a drink of water, bathe in the ocean or a lake, picnic in a state forest or park, take a sea voyage from New York, claim any veteran's privileges, or make a tour of New Jersey's historic sites will find himself more or less directly involved with the Department of Conservation and Economic Development. T h e department, headed by an $18,000-a-year commissioner appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, is charged with making policies to ensure the proper development of the state's economic and natural resources. Six divisions and several bureaus within the department have supervisory and regulatory powers over the operations of aircraft, ships, inland waterways, veterans' affairs, shell fisheries, water supplies, sportsmen, commercial fishing, state forests and parks, ocean beaches, historic sites, public housing, riparian lands, soil conservation, pilotage in New York Harbor, navigation on all state waterways and lakes, mineral and other natural resources, and zoning of land for business and residential areas. Each division of the department is headed by a director, who is paid from $6,600 to $12,000 a year, depending on the size and functions of his agency. Each division, except the Division of Administration has a policy-making council whose members are appointed 121

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by the governor, with the advice and consent o£ the Senate, and who serve without remuneration other than expenses. Planning and Development The Division of Planning and Development, established in 1948, has a 12-member council with specific duties outlined by the legislature. The legislature prescribed these duties for the division: "Promote and encourage the expansion and development of markets for New Jersey products. "Promote and encourage the location and development of new business in this state as well as the maintenance and expansion of existing business, and for that purpose to cooperate with state and local agencies, individuals and officers, both within and outside the state. "Plan and develop an effective business information service both for the direct assistance of industry of this state and for the encouragement of industry outside the state to use business facilities within the state. "Cooperate with interstate commissions, agencies and authorities engaged in formulating and promoting the adoption of interstate compacts and agreements helpful to business, industry and commerce. "Conduct or encourage research designed to further new and more extensive uses of the natural and other resources of the state and designed to develop new products. "Advise and cooperate with municipal, county, regional and other local agencies and officers within the state to plan and otherwise coordinate the development of a system of air routes, airports and landing fields within the state and to protect their approaches. "Cooperate with interstate commissions and authorities, state departments, and with councils, commissions and other state agencies and with interested private individuals and clubs in the coordination of plans and policies for the development of air commerce and air facilities." The legislature charged these duties to the council, provided the commissioner approved in each instance: "Formulate comprehensive economic policies for the development

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and use of the natural and economic resources of the state, for the development of technical services and information useful to small business units, for the increase of employment opportunities, for the promotion and encouragement of the expansion and development of markets for New Jersey products, and for the promotion and encouragement of the development of new business in New Jersey as well as the maintenance and expansion of existing business. "Formulate comprehensive policies for the preservation and conservation and use of all state forests and state parks, except those regulated by interstate compact, and all the historic sites within the state; formulate plans for the improvement, use and extension of state forests, parks and historic sites under the jurisdiction of the department, and for the establishment of a uniform forest and park policy by the state, so far as the character and use of such forests and parks will permit; and formulate plans for the best methods to reforest cut-over, denuded, waste and other lands and to prevent injury of forests, brush land and salt marshes by fire, insects and disease. "Formulate comprehensive policies for the prevention and control of beach erosion." T h e council is required to hold hearings on division activities whenever that appears desirable and to make at least one report annually to the governor. Zoning and Parking As industry grew in the state after World War II, businessmen and manufacturers sought eagerly for new land on which to build plants, office buildings, warehouses, garages, and other buildings essential to expansion. The threat of atom or hydrogen bombing caused dispersion of industry, many firms moving into once-rural areas. T h e growing tendency for Americans to live in suburban areas also caused a general movement away from crowded municipalities. T h e pressure resulting from mushrooming residential areas and the springing up of new industrial plants in one-time garden areas of the state brought about new zoning laws in 1953. T h e Division of Planning and Development sought through the new laws to prevent industry from crowding out residential living space or causing it

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to deteriorate into new slums. Under the 1953 laws each municipality may, by ordinance, set up a local planning board and provide rules, regulations, and standards to govern the subdivision of land. The state agency sent to each municipality material to guide it in planning its future. Such planning also included suggestions for municipal parking areas to meet the increasing use of the automobile. A state law permits establishment of municipal parking areas by condemnation if the owner of the property is not willing to sell. Beaches New Jersey's 120 miles of beaches once were free to anyone, resident and nonresident alike. But ever since the mid-1930's the sea has been chewing away at the sand. And the ocean has been abetted by hurricanes that form deep in the Caribbean Sea in late summer and strike the eastern seaboard of the United States with winds of devastating force. A fierce hurricane in 1944 made a shambles of the beachfronts at Atlantic City, Asbury Park, and Long Branch, uprooting boardwalks and crumbling seaside streets. Long Branch never recovered from that storm and subsequent hurricanes have added to the damage. A road along the beachfront at Long Branch was permanently cut in half. Atlantic City obtained passage of a state law giving resort cities the right to impose certain luxury taxes. These taxes are intended to help the municipalities recover from storm damage. Many municipalities now charge a nominal fee for the use of their beaches. And all the municipalities from Cape May to the Highlands seek beach-erosion funds from the state. Bureaus Here are the bureaus within the Division of Planning and Development and their functions: Bureau of Aeronautics—This bureau establishes standards for airports, landing fields, and other aviation facilities. It issues licenses for all aviation operations and sets up safety regulations. Bureau of Forestry, Parks and Historic Sites—This bureau is responsible for the conservation of forests and supervises the opera-

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tion of publicly owned forests, parks, and historic sites. It operates a state nursery at Washington Crossing Park, just north of Trenton. The nursery provides for a nominal fee about a million seedlings a year for the reforestation of idle land. A purchaser must own at least 10 acres of land to be eligible for the seedlings which will produce white pine, Austrian pine, Norway spruce, hemlock, larch, black locust, red oak, and tulip poplar trees. A State Forest Fire Service, headed by a chief warden, has its headquarters within the bureau. Forest fire wardens and stations are located at strategic places throughout the state with trained volunteer workers equipped to fight wood blazes. Equipment controlled by the Division of Civil Defense and Disaster Control is employed for transportation of fire fighters and for any needed evacuation of citizens threatened by a fire. Forest fires cost hundreds of thousands of dollars each year and the state expends more than $80,000 for control. Here are the forests and parks under the jurisdiction of the bureau: State Forests Bass River—located in Burlington and Ocean counties. This forest has 9,270 acres, mostly pine and fir. Has facilities for bathing, picnicking, hiking, hunting, and fishing. Belleplain—located in Cape May and Cumberland counties, this forest has 6,942 acres, with facilities for bathing, boating, picnicking, hunting, and fishing. Green Bank—along the Mullica River in Atlantic and Burlington counties, it has 1,833 acres, most of it white cedar swamp and inaccessible for recreation. Picnic and bathing facilities along the river. Jackson—at Cassville in Ocean County, this 43-acre tract is listed as a demonstration forest with no recreational facilities, but hunting is permitted. Jenny Jump—high in the Warren County hills, this 967 acres is scenic and has facilities for camping, picnicking, and hunting. Lebanon—the largest forest in the state—22,185 acres—is located in Burlington County's pine belt. Facilities for bathing, picnicking, hunting, and camping. Norvin Green—an undeveloped 2,260-acre tract in Passaic County.

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Penn—noted for its 90-acre Lake Oswego; this 2,958-acre forest has facilities for bathing, picnicking, hunting, and fishing. Stokes—a scenic forest in the Kittatinny Ridge of Sussex County, this 12,429-acre site has log cabins, trailer parks, and facilities for bathing, camping, fishing, and hunting. Wharton—a 94,000-acre tract, lying partially in Atlantic, Burlington, and Camden counties, is held for eventual development as a water supply and fish and game area. State Parks

Allaire—in Monmouth County, this park is not open to the public and is not developed for recreational use. Cheesequake—in Middlesex County, this 1,000-acre park is of interest to students of botany and has facilities for bathing, picnicking, and hiking. Cranberry Lake—in Sussex County, provides for access by the public but has no recreational facilities. Edison—near Menlo Park in Middlesex County, the Thomas Edison Memorial is located here. A charge is made to enter the memorial and a museum dedicated to Edison's inventions. Farny—undeveloped, in Morris County. Fort Mott—in Salem County, this park affords a view of the lower Delaware River. One of three forts built over the past century and a half to guard against an attack up the river, but no longer in use as a defense unit. Hacklebarney—in Morris County, it is located in a scenic gorge. Facilities for picnicking and fishing. High Point—in northwest corner of Sussex County, it gets its name because it is the highest point in the state, 1,803 feet above sea level. Comprising 10,935 acres, it has facilities for bathing, boating, and camping, as well as picnicking and fishing. Also has a lodge, cabins, and an inn. Hopatcong—in Sussex County, this 107 acres has facilities for bathing, fishing, and picnicking. Mount Laurel—an undeveloped 20 acres near Moorestown. Musconetcong—in Sussex County, this 351-acre park has a 315acre lake.

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Parvin—in Salem County, this 1,000-acre tract has a 100-acre lake and an abundance of bird life and flora. Facilities for bathing, boating, picnicking, camping, and fishing. Considered by the state as one of its finest parks. Princeton Battlefield—a commemorative site of 39 acres at Princeton. Ridgewood Manor—in Passaic County, this 579-acre park has a museum with Revolutionary War mementoes. Provides picnicking and fishing facilities. Saxton Falls—cut from a former guard lock of the old Morris Canal, this nine-acre tract has facilities for picnicking, swimming, and fishing in the Musconetcong River. Stephens—in Warren and Morris counties, this 237 acres has picnicking facilities. Swartswood—in Sussex County, this 704-acre park has a lake well known for fishing. Has facilities for boating, picnicking, and bathing. Voorhees—in Hunterdon County, facilities have been developed only for picnicking in this 429-acre tract. Washington Crossing—eight miles north of Trenton, this 375acre park commemorates George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River in 1776. Washington Rock—in Somerset County, this 27-acre site commemorates a winter encampment of the Continental Army. There are facilities for picnicking. Island Beach—a 10-mile stretch of sand dunes left in their natural state, located on the southern end of Island Beach, a peninsula lying parallel to Ocean County. Purchased in 1953, the park eventually will be developed partially to provide a public bathing beach and picnic facilities. For years several families have leased sections of the park and have built summer residences ranging from shacks to large homes. Special permits are issued for fishermen to enter the park. Palisades Interstate—a 50,483-acre park extending from Fort Lee up the west shore of the Hudson River to Cornwall, N.Y. T h e New Jersey section stretches 12 miles, with 1,059 acres atop the Palisades. There are picnic groves, refreshment stands, two motorboat basins, 20 miles of trails, a parkway, and parking areas in the state section.

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The bureau has jurisdiction over several buildings which figured in Revolutionary and later periods of state history. T h e bureau maintains 140 highway markers which tell of events in the marked areas. In addition, the bureau maintains several monuments, including those erected at Freehold in memory of the Battle of Monmouth, and at Trenton in memory of Washington's defeat of the Hessians. Among houses maintained by the bureau are the Caldwell birthplace of President Grover Cleveland, Walt Whitman's home at Camden, and George Washington's headquarters at Rocky Hill. New Jersey also has contributed to the erection of monuments to honor her citizens who died in the Civil War and to commemorate historical events. Among the Civil War monuments are those at Antietam and Monocacy in Maryland, and a monument to the memory of Major General Philip Kearny, who was killed in Virginia and for whom the city of Kearny, N.J., was named. Navigation T h e Bureau of Navigation sells and leases riparian lands (coastal strips of sand between low- and high-tide marks), but all documents concerned with the rental or transfer of land under tidal waters must be approved by the commissioner of conservation and economic development and the governor. The state has realized some $20 million from the sale or lease of riparian land. Unsold riparian land in New Jersey has an estimated value of $65 million. T h e bureau licenses structures erected on navigable or tidal waters. It installs and maintains navigation aids on lakes and issues licenses for boats and their operators on lakes and streams. The bureau maintains a yacht basin at Atlantic City and the motorboat basins at Palisades Interstate Park. Beach protection structures, such as groins and jetties, must be approved by the bureau, which maintains all antierosion structures on a 50-50 fund-matching basis with resort municipalities.

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Other Bureaus Bureau of Geology and Topography—The state geologist heads this bureau, which also is known as the New Jersey Geological Survey. It gathers information about the state's mineral resources, ground water, and other geological formations. Its engineers keep up to date the state's topographic map and maintain a series of bench marks, boundary monuments, and triangulation points. These are essential to land surveyors. In the mid-1950's the bureau worked at the redevelopment of iron deposits in the northern part of the state and pursued exploration for deposits of uranium and rare earth minerals. Bureau of Commerce—This bureau comprises a research section and a state promotion section. The research section compiles economic statistics and makes analyses for public dissemination and to meet requests from industry, government, and business. T h e promotion section is responsible for state advertising and assists industries desiring to locate in the state. Literature prepared by the section is intended to make New Jersey a desirable place for tourists, new residents, and industry. Bureau of Recreation—This bureau provides technical consultation to agencies, organizations, and municipalities desiring to develop recreational programs and facilities. It conducts surveys to determine the advisability of state and local recreational development. Bureau of Planning—This bureau is charged with maintenance of a master plan for the future development of the state. The plan defines land-use patterns of the state for fish and game preserves, forests and park areas, watersheds and water resources, roads, airports, and other major facilities. The bureau prepares maps and makes studies and surveys to guide the physical development of the state, the counties, and the municipalities. The bureau cooperates with subdivisions of the state in planning problems, zoning, and organization of local resources. Soil Conservation—This committee works to conserve the soil resources and preserve the fertility of the land of the state and acts

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as a coordinator for farmers interested in increasing productivity. Housing—This bureau administers the operation of public housing and in the mid-1950's assisted in the disposal of emergency veterans' housing units built immediately after World War II. Water The Division of Water Policy and Supply, through a nine-member council appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, is responsible for the conservation, protection, and regulation of the use of surface and underground water. The division, headed by a $12,000-a-year director appointed by the governor with advice and consent of the Senate, has jurisdiction over flood control, the construction of dams and the building of bridges, walls, fills, and other structures that affect the passage of floodwaters. In addition, it manages and maintains the Delaware and Raritan Canal as a source of public and industrial water supply and as a recreational facility. The division has the authority to allocate water supplies and grant consent for diversion of water for public or other uses. It approves water-supply contracts between municipalities, licenses well drillers, and controls the number of wells that may be dug. It gauges stream flow, rainfall, and underground water levels, maintains records of water consumption and yields, and computes and levies charges for water diverted from streams in excess of the amount permitted without cost. In interstate water development based on supplies in the Delaware River, the division is the authorized agency to protect the state's interests. The Water Policy and Supply Council acts as a quasi-judicial body in water disputes and passes judgment on proposals affecting future water supplies. Experts have warned for years that New Jersey faces critical shortages of water. For many years local governments have prohibited the use of hoses for watering lawns and washing cars in midsummer. State officials, including governors, have said that industries, drawn to New Jersey by its low per capita state tax and its nearness to markets, have shied away because they have received no assurances of adequate water supplies. T h e Water Policy Council is under legislative mandate to "con-

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serve, protect, control and regulate the use, development and diversion of surface, subsurface and percolating waters of the state, regulate construction and maintenance of dams." A 1948 law provides that the council, which serves without pay, must formulate policies for the preservation and improvement of water facilities and look for new water supplies. The council also is required by law to act as a watchdog over the activities of the Division of Water Policy and Supply. The division also must guard against the diversion of any state water to other states. T h e state geologist is designated by law as the police officer to prevent the transportation of water from the state. The Wharton Tract It is interesting to note that Joseph Wharton, Philadelphia financier and industrialist of the late 1800's, purchased 150 square miles of land in South Jersey with the intention of developing a water supply for his home city. New Jersey's law against transporting water out of the state foiled the Wharton plan. Wharton built a palatial home near Batsto, historic site of a forge that was an ordnance depot for the Continental Army under George Washington. T h e Wharton tract will play an important part in the future development of water supplies for all of South Jersey. There are so many conflicting interests in the state's water situation that extra supplies virtually are squeezed through a political wringer. Residents in the northwest lake area violently oppose tapping any streams that rise in the lakes for fear all water will be drawn off. New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania draw water from the Delaware River only to the extent permitted by U.S. Supreme Court decisions. South Jersey interests fight against deepening of the Delaware River between Trenton and Philadelphia for fear that brine will seep into underground water that flows into wells in the southern part of the state. District Water Commissions The legislature gave permission in 1916 for the establishment of a North Jersey District Water Supply Commission and a South Jersey District Water Supply Commission. These agencies were to com-

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bine the resources of voluntarily participating municipalities into an over-all water-supply organization. Only the North Jersey agency was activated. Under its direction, reservoirs were built and water was supplied through pipe lines to most of the major municipalities in the northern part of the state. Politics prevented activation of a South Jersey agency. In addition to municipal water supply agencies and the North Jersey commission, many private corporations provide water at rates established by the state. Should the commission, a municipality, or a water company desire to dig a new well or develop any other water facility, it must seek permission from the Water Policy and Supply Council. The applicant must agree to pay for the cost of a hearing and the cost of publicizing the hearing in advance. Any one member of the council may sit as the presiding officer of the hearing unless the applicant objects. The presiding council member or members are required to take stenographic accounts of all testimony at the hearing and make transcripts available to all members before a decision is reached. Shell Fisheries The history of shell fisheries in New Jersey would fill a book of its own. It is replete with violence, larceny, and a peculiar adventure lore. Fights over natural beds of oysters and clams, particularly in Delaware Bay, led to enactment of strict state laws. Boundary lines were set up and seasons for dredging were established. The Shell Fisheries Division of the Department of Conservation and Economic Development has a fleet of guard boats whose crews are alert to stop poachers and to enforce other shell-fishery laws. A person cannot gather oysters and clams outside a pond or creek on his own property unless he has a license. In addition to the license, he must have a lease on an oyster or clam bed. He must have been a resident of the state for at least 12 months before he can qualify for a lease or a license. A lease may be granted by a majority of the nine-member Shell Fisheries Council for a period not to exceed 30 years. Licenses must be renewed annually. About 7,500 licenses are issued each year. T h e number of the license must be painted in numerals at least four inches high on the bow of a shell fisher's boat. A law divides Delaware Bay from the mouth of Straight Creek

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to the Cross Ledge Lighthouse. This is known as the southwest line. Above the line oysters may be dredged from May 1 to June 30. Below the line the season is from September 1 to June 30. There is no season limit for oysters in the mouth of and in the Maurice River. But no one may dredge for oysters between sunset and sunrise or on Sundays. On the Atlantic Ocean, from Cape May up to Shark River in Monmouth County, the oyster season is from May 1 to June 30, except at Great Bay and in the Mullica River where the shell fish may be taken in October and November and in April and May. Oyster and clam beds are surveyed and each lessee must know his section of underwater land. The council establishes the size of oysters that may be taken and specifies the equipment that shell fishers must use. Anyone may fish in the water above oyster and clam beds. Fish and Game For all its industrial might and its agricultural development, New Jersey still is one of the major fish and game states of the nation. The Division of Fish and Game and its council have the authority to regulate sportsmen, establish seasons, and specify hunting equipment. The Fish and Game Council is authorized by the legislature to publish each year a Fish and Game Code, which sets forth the regulations and penalties under which anyone may fish or hunt in the state. The council is an 11-member group, "each of whom shall be chosen with due regard to his knowledge of or interest in the conservation of fish and game." Each member is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and serves without remuneration. The law provides that three members must be farmers, recommended to the governor by the annual agricultural convention; six members must be sportsmen, recommended by the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs; and two must be commercial fishermen. The law also specifies that one of the farmers and two of the sportsmen must be chosen from Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren counties; one farmer and two sportsmen from among residents of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, and Union counties; and one

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farmer and two sportsmen from Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties. Each member member serves for four years. T h e governor selects the council chairman. Council members may serve two successive four-year terms, but cannot be appointed to a third term. In the selection of the sportsmen, the law says: "In order to permit for the broadest possible representation of sportsmen in the making of recommendations for appointment of sportsmen to membership in the council, every sportsmen's club, duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of this state, and having a membership of 25 or more persons interested in the conservation of the natural resources of the state, shall be eligible for membership in the appropriate county federation of sportsmen's clubs. Any refusal by any such county federation of sportsmen's clubs to accept any such club into membership shall be subject to reversal by the state federation of sportsmen's clubs." Seasons and Limits T h e council has authority to determine when and where fish and game may be taken. It establishes seasons for hunting and fishing, sets bag and size limits, and prescribes the manner and the means of pursuing any fish or game. For instance, in the ruffed grouse, quail, and squirrel season in the late fall a hunter is limited to seven quail, three grouse, and six squirrels. Only deer with antlers at least three inches long may be shot; and the season on deer usually is one week in mid-December for firearms and four weeks for hunters using bows and arrows. The bow-and-arrow hunter also may shoot does. New Jersey has hunting seasons for pheasant, rabbit, mink, muskrat, otter, raccoon, woodchuck, and beaver. A special trapping permit is required for taking beaver. It is illegal to kill or attempt to kill a bear or a female ring-necked pheasant. There are also seasons for ducks, mergansers, geese, brant, coot, railbirds, gallinules, clappers, Wilson's snipe, jacksnipe, and woodcock. A special license is needed to shoot woodcock. There is no open season on the swan, snow goose, or dove.

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Stocking The state maintains a fish hatchery at Hackettstown where a variety of fish are developed. The streams throughout the state are stocked with fish from the hatchery prior to the various seasons. The Hackettstown hatchery was begun in 1912 and by 1927 it had become one of the major trout hatcheries in the nation, its fishrearing station covering 33 acres. The hatchery now is the largest in the world and breeds bass, bream, catfish, and other fish as well as trout. There are more than 1,400 miles of trout streams in the state. From receipts obtained from licenses and fines the state maintains a 537-acre game farm, at Forked River and smaller game farms at Rockport and Holmansville. The Forked River farm consists of equal amounts of woodland, marshes, and cultivated land enclosed by an eight-foot high fence except for the marshland where the fence is only four feet high. Forked River is best known for its English pheasants, producing about 25,000 annually. Pheasants also are produced at Rockport and quail at Holmansville. The farms also act as duck refuges and ducks are bred at Forked River. Public Grounds and Licenses A Public Shooting and Fishing Grounds Fund was established by a 1931 law. It provides that a portion of all game license fees is to be set aside for the purchase and maintenance of public shooting and fishing grounds. The state now owns 10,324 acres in Atlantic County, 214 in Burlington, 891 in Camden, 2,800 in Cape May, 13,581 in Cumberland, 2,342 in Gloucester, 1,018 in Hunterdon, 1,500 in Monmouth, 1,140 in Morris, 14,494 in Ocean, 6,292 in Sussex, and 1,500 in Warren. In some of the South Jersey coastal marshes, the state also has erected shooting traps for public use. There are 34 regular fish and game wardens throughout the state. They operate under district protectors in North and South Jersey. The two district protectors are under the supervision of a state protector, whose office is at Trenton. The wardens have authority to enforce the fish and game code

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and have power to subpoena persons for appearances before magistrates or district courts. The Fish and Game Council also maintains a three-man coastal patrol. Hunting and fishing licenses may be obtained from municipal or county clerks or from specially designated fish and game agents. The agents generally are proprietors of sporting goods stores. A New Jersey resident may obtain a hunting license for $4.15 and a fishing license for $3.15. T o qualify, the resident must be over 14 years old and if a new hunter he must pass an examination on the handling of firearms. The Fish and Game Division, which conducts courses in firearms, may at its discretion issue a hunting license to a person between 10 and 14 years of age for a fee of $1. A nonresident must pay a fee of $15.50 for a hunting license and $5.50 for a fishing license. If a resident or nonresident fishes for trout, a stamp must be purchased and affixed to the fishing license. This additional fee is $1 for residents and $5 for nonresidents. There is also a special license with a fee of $25 to fish for shad in the Hudson River. A duck hunter must obtain a federal stamp at his postoffice. T h e fee is $2. The Fox The fox is an animal that has a law designed especially for it. The fox may be hunted with the help of hounds from Nov. 10 to April 30 except during the week set aside for the firearms deer season. A fox may be killed at any time when he is found destroying poultry, crops or property. No one may keep a live fox or coyote on his property without permission from the Division of Fish and Game. There is a bounty of $3 paid by each county for any dead fox. Under an ancient law, the county clerk or a notary clips off the ears and issues a certificate addressed to the County Board of Freeholders, which then pays the bounty. Veterans A Veterans' Council of nine members, each a war veteran, has been set up within the Department of Conservation and Economic Development to handle veterans' affairs. Like the other councils in

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the department, each member is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. T h e council works with the director of veterans' affairs. One of the functions handled by the council was the construction of emergency housing for veterans of World War II. T h e Division of Veterans' Services, headed by a $10,000-a-year director appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, assists veterans or their dependents in obtaining all federal and state benefits to which they are entitled. The division administers state pension laws for war orphans, paraplegics, hemiplegics, osteochondritics, double amputees, and blind veterans. Set up within the department is a six-member Pilot Commission, which examines pilots employed to steer oceangoing vessels into and out of New York Harbor. The commissioners are appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and each is paid $2,500 a year. Morris Canal A unique agency within the Department of Conservation and Economic Development is the Morris Canal and Banking Company, which has title to such places as Little Basin in Jersey City, Greenwood Lake, Cranberry Lake, Lake Hopatcong, Lake Musconetcong, and Saxton's Falls on the Musconetcong River. Officers of the company are the state treasurer, the director of the Division of Budget and Accounting, and the commissioner of conservation and economic development. They are responsible for the administration of the company's property and for its eventual sale. The Morris Canal was built by the company in 1831 from Phillipsburg to Jersey City. There were 28 locks and 23 inclined planes on the 102-mile canal. It took a barge about 10 days to make a round trip. The company leased the canal in 1871 to the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The state purchased the company and all its holdings in 1922 and abandoned the canal for navigation two years later. Much of the canal was sold or given to municipalities through which it ran, except for Little Basin at Jersey City. The Delaware and Raritan Canal which is administered by the Division of Water Policy and Supply, took four years to construct.

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It was completed in 1834, connecting Bordentown and New Brunswick by way of Trenton, where a feeder canal from Raven Rock joined the main stream. The canal was abandoned for navigation in 1933 and the state purchased the canal's water rights and land the following year. Part of the canal bed was used in the construction of Trenton's through way in 1949, but the main channel between New Brunswick and Trenton is a source of drinking and industrial water.

11

Education O f all the services rendered by government, Americans cherish most their public schools. They like to think of them as centers of free education. Few people realize that public schools are the most expensive public service in our democratic system. In New Jersey, about a third of every tax dollar goes to the support of public schools. In recent years there has been a growing demand for more money from the state to meet the costs of grammar and secondary schools. As population shot up following World War II, existing public schools became overcrowded and, by the mid-1950's, it was commonplace to find two sessions a day in some school districts, classes in basements, firehouses, and other public buildings. Many municipalities had stretched their fiscal positions to danger points after school boards obtained clearance from the state to exceed statutory debt limits for new school facilities. More than a million children were in New Jersey schools—some 200,000 of them in parochial schools—in 1955. That number was expected to increase in each succeeding year, giving educators worrisome problems generally translated into pleas for help. Some educators are convinced that only grants of federal funds will solve their problem. Others are of the opinion that public schools should be turned over to the state. In 1954 the governor and legislature received a special report by the Commission on State Tax Policy. T h e commission, which had sought ways and means to improve the financing of public schools, studied two laws which were the basis for state aid to schools. Each of the laws was, in effect, a formula for granting state money annually to more than 500 school districts. This aid was to assist in meeting the expenses of each year and was 139

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not employed for the improvement of facilities or the construction of new buildings. Under the two laws, the school districts received allotments to make up an average of $94 a year for each child registered in the public schools. Five Premises The commission summed up the general attitude of New Jersey toward the public school system when it reported that it had made its study on five basic premises: "First, local schools in New Jersey must remain local in fact as well as in name. It would be an easy matter to equalize educational opportunities for all children in the state if all schools were operated, financed and controlled from Trenton. But, there would be no home rule and equalization would be reduced to standardization. "Second, any foundation school program included within a state aid formula must be sufficient to provide a satisfactory minimum educational offering. No realistic equalization can be accomplished under a formula based upon a foundation program of $94 per child so long as no school can operate at this level. "Third, local school districts must make a satisfactory effort to support themselves before they can qualify for any state aid above a minimum required to express the state's responsibility to all children. The purpose of state aid is to supplement and equalize local tax resources, but not to replace them. "Fourth, any state aid program must be developed to fit the environment in which it is to apply. This means that the program must not only be sound from a theoretical standpoint, but it must also be practical from the standpoint of local interests, practices and customs. "Fifth, as a financial instrument, a state aid program must not become a vehicle of educational policy. Although the line separating policy from finance is not always a clear one, the development of a state aid formula should emphasize means of financing the school program as it is known and accepted, as contrasted with reforms or changes in the program itself."

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Financing the Schools Within a few months of the report, the legislature bypassed the two laws for state aid and substituted a new one. Under it the state gives financial assistance to school districts in such a manner that, combined with local expenditures, there is a guaranteed minimum of $200 a year for the education of each child. The local school districts depend largely on property taxes for finances. Some school districts encompass all of a municipality; others cover more than one municipality. The districts work on budgets which are approved by the local governments. Boards and Salaries District board members are elected by the citizens residing in the district, much in the same manner as other public officials are chosen. The number of members on a district's board of education may vary from three to nine depending on regulations established within the district. All boards of education are vested with the title to all school property and are obliged to pay any indebtedness arising from erection of new buildings, purchase of land, repairs, heating and lighting, janitorial services, the hiring of teachers, and the establishment of their pay scales. Teachers' salaries require the greatest expenditure for any board of education. Teachers were guaranteed a minimum annual salary of $1,200 a year at the close of World War II, but that minimum was raised by the state in a series of new laws until it reached $3,000. There are some 35,000 public school teachers in the state, with a payroll well above $100 million a year. Teachers Colleges The state operates six teachers colleges—at Paterson, Montclair, Union, Trenton, Glassboro, and Jersey City. High school teachers are trained at Montclair and Trenton. The other colleges concentrate on grade school teachers. The State Board of Education has authorized several private institutions of higher learning to carry

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out curricula for grade school teachers. These private institutions include Fairleigh Dickinson College, Georgian Court College, and Upsala College. The state's program, beginning in 1954, was aimed at producing 3,000 teachers a year over a 10-year period. State Board A 12-member State Board of Education is the controlling agency for all levels of schooling in New Jersey. The members, who receive no salary, are appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The board recommends a commissioner of education, who becomes on appointment by the governor the head of the Department of Education and a member of the governor's cabinet. The commissioner is one of three department heads—the others are in agriculture and institutions and agencies—who are appointed for five-year terms and do not serve concurrently with a governor. The commissioner of education appoints five assistant commissioners who head the divisions of business, vocational education, curriculum and instruction, controversies and disputes, and antidiscrimination. The Division of Curriculum and Instruction has within it directors of elementary and secondary education. Within the Division against Discrimination, there is a seven-member Commission on Civil Rights. The department operates other divisions, headed by directors. These divisions include one for adult education, another for health, safety and physical education, the state library, and the state museum. There also is a Division of Academic Credentials and Teacher Certification with a director at its head. The commissioner of education is charged with supervision of all schools receiving money from the state, including Rutgers University, which was designated the state university in 1945 by a legislative act. The commissioner is authorized to apportion state aid to schools and to license private schools and child-care centers. All county superintendents of schools, who supervise education in the state's 21 counties, are appointed by the commissioner. The superintendents advise boards of education in the school districts within the counties and supervise the transportation of pupils. The state

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pays about 75 per cent of the cost of school buses, contributing about $4 million a year. The commissioner is secretary to the State Board of Education and acts as its agent. He also is a member of the Board of Governors of Rutgers University during his term of office. As secretary of the state board, it is the responsibility of the commissioner to supervise the standards of higher education. Colleges and universities in the state are required to make reports on demand to the State Board of Education. The commissioner delegates to a director the control of the six state teachers colleges, holding the director responsible for budgets for the colleges and the formulation of their curricula. Divisions Here are the functions of the various divisions of the Department of Education: Business—Inspection, supervision, and direction of all school district accounting are the responsibility of this division; also the compilation of statistics for departmental use and the maintenance of financial records. Vocational Education—This division licenses private trade schools, maintains liaison with the U.S. Office of Education, approves onthe-job and apprentice training for industries and other business organizations. Curriculum and Instruction—This division supervises grade and high school education, including that of parochial schools. Inspects and licenses child-care centers and nursery schools. Controversies and Disputes—With assistance from the attorney general, this division acts as a legal adviser for the department. It holds hearings and prepares decisions on cases arising from disputes about school laws. A majority of disputes concern tenure of teachers and their rights to such posts as principals, supervisors, and heads of school departments. Antidiscrimination—This division goes beyond the strictly educational field. Assisted by a deputy attorney general, the Division against Discrimination investigates complaints concerning actions taken against persons because of their race, color, creed, or national origin. It also holds hearings and has the power of subpoena. In a

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1954 report, the division head said that 93.3 per cent of the state's five million people are white and 6.7 per cent colored. Of the white population, 80.3 per cent were born in the United States and 13 per cent in foreign countries, he reported. The 1947 Constitution banned racial discrimination and a 1954 United States Supreme Court decision ending segregation in schools was moot for New Jersey. Assisting the Division against Discrimination is the Commission on Civil Rights. The commission members, appointed to five-year terms by the governor, with advice and consent of the Senate, advises the commissioner of education on developments in civil rights within the state. Health, Safety, and Physical Education—This division is the watchdog of the department, advising schools on the legal requirements for health and safety within buildings, on playgrounds, and other board of education property. It also provides the schools with upto-date information on health, safety, and physical education, including the conduct of sports. Adult Education—This division assists local boards of education in the conduct of classes for foreign born, evening schools, and local adult education centers. State Library—This division maintains a general reference library in the State House Annex at Trenton to serve state officials and employees, assists legislators in research, and provides information for the courts. The library began in a wooden case in 1796 when the clerk of the Assembly was ordered to preserve all books that belonged to the legislature. By 1804 the clerk had 168 books in his library and in 1813 a law established the State Library. A state librarian was created in 1821 and by 1878 his term of office had been increased to five years. A separate law library that had been maintained by the courts was consolidated with the State Library in 1837. The library now has shelves for 180,000 books and has become a four-division organization. There now is a law library, a general reference library, a bureau of archives and history, and a bureau of public and school library services. A five-member council, appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, helps the librarian formulate regulations for use of the library's facilities. The Public and School Library Services Bureau operates

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an interlibrary loan service to supplement local library facilities. A special committee in 1954 estimated that 276,000 persons were without any local library service in the state. T h e library also is responsible for microfilming state documents. State Museum—The museum is located in the State House Annex at Trenton. It was established in 1890 by the legislature "for the reception and exhibition of collections of natural products and mineral staples of the state" and to classify "collections of specimens illustrating the structural and economic geology, physical geography and natural history of the state." T h e museum is the coordinating agency for county educational audio-visual aid centers and maintains an extension service which provides instructional films, slides, and other exhibits free of charge to schools and community groups in the state. Academic Credentials and Teacher Certification—This group grants teachers' certificates and sets up regulations and standards for qualifications of teachers. It also issues preprofessional qualifying certificates in law, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, chiropody, nursing, and accountancy. Attendance T h e Constitution enables all children between 5 and 18 years of age to go to school. No child may be banned from school because of his race, color, creed, or national origin. Any member of a board of education who votes to bar a child from school because of his religion, nationality, or color is guilty of a misdemeanor and may be fined from $50 to $250 and sentenced to jail for 30 days to 6 months. Boards of education may take a census of children within their districts every five years. Every parent, guardian, or other person having custody of children is bound by law to have the children attend school regularly. Any child who, through incorrigibility or viciousness, refuses to attend school is deemed a delinquent and is handled by a juvenile court. Truant officers are required to return children absent from regular sessions of school either to their parents or to teachers. If a parent or other custodian of a child fails to comply with the law he is liable to a fine of $5 on the first offense, $25 on the second, and a similar amount for each subsequent

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truancy. Parents and custodians of children are liable for any damage to school property perpetrated by a child. Bible Reading T h e U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a New Jersey law which says: "At least five verses from that portion of the Holy Bible known as the Old Testament shall be read, or caused to be read, without comment, in each public school classroom, in the presence of the pupils therein assembled, by the teacher in charge, at the opening of school upon every school day, unless there is a general assemblage of the classes at the opening of the school on any school day, in which event the reading shall be done, or caused to be done, by the principal or teacher in charge of the assemblage and in the presence of the classes so assembled." No religious service other than the reading of verses of the Bible are permitted in any public school. Pupils in every school are required to salute the flag of the United States and repeat the oath of allegiance to the flag every school day. All public school children in the grades are required to take instruction in geography, history, and civics of New Jersey. Another law requires that "the nature of alcoholic drinks and narcotics and their effects upon the human system shall be taught in all schools supported wholly or in part by public moneys. . . ." All schools are authorized to designate a member of the staff to collect savings each week from the pupils and open bank accounts for them. A law prohibits fraternities and sororities in the state's public schools, calling such organizations "inimical to the good of the school system." No teacher or other person employed in the public school system may inflict corporal punishment upon a pupil. All public school medical inspectors were ordered by the legislature in 1955 to make annual examinations of school children to determine whether they had any physical defects. T h e legislature made this exception: Any child who presents a statement from his parents saying such a physical examination would interfere with the free exercise of his religious beliefs may be examined "only to the extent as may

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be necessary to determine whether he is ill or infected with a communicable disease or to determine his fitness to participate in the health, safety and physical education course required by law." Construction Millions of dollars have been spent since the end of World War II for school buildings. But it was not until 1956 that the state took a hand in school construction. T h e legislature approved a school construction act that made at least $12 million a year available to school districts for building purposes. T h e money was allocated by a formula similar to the regular school aid program. T h e Department of Education estimated that by 1960 it would take $600 million to provide adequate classroom space for the state's children. More than half the school buildings in the state were 35 years or older in 1956. U p to 1947 school districts could not spend more than 6 per cent of the assessed valuation of real estate within the district for elementary school construction, nor more than 8 per cent for high school building. Municipalities were limited by law to 7 per cent of assessed valuation in allocating funds for school buildings. But the legislature, in 1947, granted the school districts and municipalities the right to exceed those debt limits if they obtained special permission from the commissioner of education, the Local Government Board at T r e n t o n and the approval of the voters in the school district. Since World War II almost 200 school districts have obtained permission to exceed their debt limits. A procedure for obtaining consent from the commissioner of education and the Local Government Board was set up. T h e school and municipal officials must appear before a joint hearing by the Department of Education and the Local Government Board. T h e department must be convinced that existing facilities will be less than 80 per cent adequate in five years, that new facilities will be fully utilized in 10 years, that no alternate plan is more economical, and that the proposed building program is educationally sound. T h e board must be satisfied that the amount to be spent is not unreasonable, that the credit of the municipality will not be impaired, that the project is not possible without an extension of the debt

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limit, and that the school district will return within its borrowing limit within 15 years. Special Classes Boards of education are permitted, with the approval of the state commissioner, to establish special classes in hospitals and convalescent homes when eight or more physically handicapped persons are available for instruction. Anyone who has not earned a high school diploma and becomes a patient at a hospital or convalescent home may be enrolled in the special class and earn sufficient credits for a diploma. Instructions end when a patient is discharged from the hospital or has earned a diploma. The state pays half the cost of educating crippled children and has established procedures for instruction for mentally retarded children. The state also supports manual training courses within school districts, providing funds up to a maximum of $5,000 a year. It helps support vocational training courses on the same basis, except that it provides a maximum of $10,000 in this field. Each year the legislature appropriates $10,000 for school districts and counties to purchase library books. The legislature also appropriates $100,000 annually as a relief fund for use by the commissioner of education in cases of unusual hardship in any school district. Vocational Education The Commission on State Tax Policy has said that vocational education in New Jersey is divided between one wholly state-supported institution, three independent industrial schools, four counties offering full-time day instruction, five counties offering evening vocational instruction, and 42 school districts offering part-time day school instruction. The commission also said half the cost of operating evening classes for foreign-born students can be collected from the state, but the legislature has made no appropriation for such classes since 1948. In the interim, evening classes for foreign-born increased nevertheless.

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For the Deaf and Migrants The Department of Education operates a school for the deaf at West Trenton. At the school, deaf boys have the opportunity to study industrial arts or take prevocational and then vocational training. The students in the industrial arts section range in age from 9 to 12 years, learning fundamental shop habits and acquiring elementary skill with tools. The industrial arts graduate moves on to prevocational training. General scholastic courses in grade and high school are given to boys and girls from 4 to 21 years of age. The department also conducts a summer school for children of migrant workers who are employed during the few months of fruit and vegetable harvests. The school at Freehold in Monmouth County is open to children from 2 to 12 years of age, with the state police providing transportation from farms to the schools. TV A department experiment that collapsed for lack of funds in 1954 was operation of a station for education by television on the Rutgers University campus at New Brunswick. State educators and television industry officials cooperated in establishing the station when the federal government gave priority to education on allocation of ultrahigh-frequency channels. A grandiose plan calling for broadcasting centers at New Brunswick, Paterson, and Camden was proposed. Generally, the educators had hoped to pipe programs onto screens in public school classrooms. But the T V experiment died when Governor Robert B. Meyner said that no television screen should come between teacher and pupil. Teacher Retirement New Jersey's public school teachers come under a state annuity and pension fund, which was integrated with Social Security in 1956. A law provides that any teacher with 35 or more years of service must receive a minimum annual pension of $1,200 on attaining age 62 or thereafter. If a teacher has 35 years or more of service

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and retires before reaching 62, the law provides for a minimum of $1,000 a year in pension. Generally the pension for a teacher with 35 or more years' service comes to about half pay if he or she contributed all along to the annuity and pension fund. As a result of teachers' contributions and appropriations by the legislature, the annuity and pension fund for teachers consisted of about $250,000,000 in bonds in 1956. The bonds are purchased by the Retirement System Board of which the state treasurer is an ex officio member. Higher Education In the field of higher education, the state concerns itself primarily with the activities of the six teachers colleges and with Rutgers University. T h e other 30-odd colleges and universities, including Princeton, Seton Hall, and Drew, must comply with regulations of the Department of Education. T h e legislature designated Rutgers as the state university in 1945, basing its act on several former state laws beginning with the charter granted in 1799 to what was then Queen's College at New Brunswick. The name Queen's, adopted under a royal charter in 1766, was changed to Rutgers by the legislature in 1825. Under the Morrill Act of 1862, by which the federal government granted land and land scrip to several states for the establishment of at least one college, the legislature in 1863 acted to obtain federal funds. A legislative commission then designated the Rutgers Scientific School of Rutgers College as a land-grant college to benefit from Morrill Act funds. Under a second Morrill Act, the legislature in 1891 set up an agriculture department at Rutgers. A few years earlier the state had established the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers as part of the scientific school. In the years that followed additional federal funds were poured into the land-grant college at Rutgers. The New Jersey College of Pharmacy was incorporated into Rutgers University in 1927. In 1945 the legislature approved a law which provides "that the educational facilities of the trustees of Rutgers College in New Jersey may be utilized by the state of New Jersey as an instrumentality of public higher education and thereby to increase the efficiency of the public school

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system of the state and the state will appropriate such just and reasonable sums as may be necessary to enable the trustees . . . to maintain and to render education services heretofore and hereafter required by the state. . . ." In 1956 the legislature went a step further and established a Board of Governors to operate the university. T h e board comprises 13 members, six appointed by the governor, five by the university's board of trustees, and two ex officio members who are the president of the university and the commissioner of education. T h e legislature left in the hands of the board of trustees control of about $50 million worth of endowments and property. T h e board was given the power to withdraw its holdings from the university at any time it appeared that the educational purposes of the university were being thwarted by the state government. Each year the legislature appropriates millions of dollars for the maintenance of various Rutgers University buildings, construction of new buildings, and the payment of staff salaries. Employees of the university are eligible for participation in the Public Employees Retirement System on the same terms as any other state employee. Rutgers grew rapidly after World War II, absorbing the University of Newark in 1946 and establishing Paterson College at Paterson in 1947. T h e university's central campus is located at New Brunswick, where it maintains its major units. These are the College of Arts and Sciences, including a school of chemistry and a school of journalism; the College of Engineering, including the School of Ceramics; the College of Agriculture; Douglass College for Women; the School of Education, and a graduate school. At Newark are the colleges of pharmacy and arts and sciences and the schools of law and business administration. An Institute of Microbiology was established in 1949. Extension service is offered in agriculture, home economics, teaching, and banking. Extension division educational centers are located at Newark, New Brunswick, Jersey City, Paterson, Camden, and Dover. A unique Institute of Management and Labor Relations was established by a 1947 law. Rutgers University covers 3,441 acres and the institution has assets approaching $100 million. There are more than 800 professors, instructors, and lecturers on the faculty.

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The governor, chief justice, attorney general, president of the Senate, the speaker of the Assembly, the president of the State Board of Education, the state treasurer, and the state comptroller are ex officio members of the university's board of trustees. In 1945 the legislature authorized five public trustees who are appointed by the governor to five-year terms, with the advice and consent of the Senate.

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Health M edical science in the twentieth century has developed new drugs, better methods of diagnosis, more accurate techniques in surgery and postoperative care. Research has cut away veils of ignorance that once shrouded dread illnesses such as tuberculosis, typhoid, pneumonia, and poxes. Specialists in glands, blood, tissue, and bones have contributed volumes to man's knowledge of his body. The most striking results of their work are seen at the beginning and the ending of life. More newborn babies live than ever before. More people are enjoying old age. Yet Americans appear more and more to hold their lives cheap. Traffic fatalities in shocking numbers each year are one indication of the abandon with which many people live. More startling, perhaps, is the attitude toward public health, a field that is so important that most states set aside a department of government to administer it. Most people pay little or no attention to public health. T h e maintenance and improvement of the health of the people and meeting new hazards to health occupy much of the time of government agencies working in this field. New Jersey citizens are surprisingly lax in the maintenance of public health, even though they have available for the asking all the services needed for an ideal situation. State and Local Tasks There were only 54 licensed health officers working full time for New Jersey municipalities in 1955. There are 567 municipalities in the state. Some of the health officers work for more than one 153

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municipality so that their collective effort is enjoyed by 92 communities. Eight of the 21 counties have no full-time licensed health officer serving any municipality, but four of the eight have some part-time health officers. Palisades Interstate Park, which is not a municipality, has a board of health of its own. Hudson County has a county board of health in addition to the several local boards of health. T h e state Department of Health is not equipped to work on the local level. It is charged by the legislature with encouraging municipalities to discharge their legal responsibility of providing health services directly to the people. The department, in cooperation with advisory committees, has written model ordinances for various phases of public health activity, but municipal governing bodies have not been pressed by citizens to adopt them. The department has experts who record vital statistics on births, deaths, population trends, and national origins; seek to control communicable diseases; provide maternal and child health services; enforce sanitation; promote dental health, industrial hygiene, accident prevention; inspect foods and drugs and enforce the laws in those fields; provide laboratory services and give nutritional counsel; control the methods of milk production and the sale of milk and milk products; and seek ways and means to eradicate chronic and degenerative diseases. State of Health It is estimated that one of every six persons in New Jersey suffers from a chronic illness such as alcoholism, heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. Half of these people are under 45 years of age. Some 250,000 persons in New Jersey suffer annually from hay fever because apparently unconcerned citizens permit ragweed to flourish. Some 20,000 persons in the state have epilepsy or some other convulsive disorder. Another 20,000 suffer from tuberculosis, a disease that appears to strike more than 3,500 persons a year in the state despite all the efforts made to stamp it out. There are about 20,000 crippled children on the State Register in New Jersey, most of them requiring help from public health agencies. The Department of Health estimates that about 50,000 persons in New Jersey suffer from diabetes and do not know it, although campaigns designed to

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screen citizens without charge are conducted every year. There are about 30,000 alcoholics in New Jersey. The number of persons suffering from cancer or a heart condition cannot be accurately estimated. New Jersey officials in the field of dental health have come to the conclusion that fluoridation of drinking water is beneficial. Fluorides were added to the drinking water of 230,000 New Jerseyans in 30 municipalities in 1955. The Department of Health estimated fluoridation reduced tooth decay in children up to 60 per cent. New Jersey's attitude toward fluoridation recalls that it was the first state to treat water with chlorine. A chlorination plant was installed in 1909 at the Boonton reservoir which supplied water to Jersey City. Pollution The Department of Health has been working for years to end pollution of rivers. Yet in 1955 the department reported that "some of our rivers are grossly polluted because the communities lying along them did not take affirmative action to prevent their own effluent or that of their factories from polluting the waters." There is in operation a Hackensack Valley trunk sewer treatment plant serving 19 municipalities to abate pollution of the Hackensack River basin; pollution control programs for the Passaic and Delaware River basins; and the beginning of a trunk sewer system to end pollution in the Raritan River. Sewage-treatment plants are in operation in some communities along the Hudson River and on the Atlantic coast. Some steps have been taken by the legislature toward elimination of air pollution, but this problem still exists in serious measure in the North Jersey-New York metropolitan area. Council New Jersey took its first interest in public health from a governmental point of view in 1865 when the legislature appointed a state Sanitary Commission. The commission eventually was replaced in 1877 by a state Board of Health. The board went through numerous administrative changes until 1947, when a state Department of Health was established. The 1947 act created a seven-member Public

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Health Council and in 1954 the legislature raised the number to eight to include a dentist. The members serve without remuneration for seven years after appointment by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Two of the members must be physicians, one must be a dentist, and the others must be selected because of their interest in public health. The Code The council is charged with promulgation and revision of a state Sanitary Code, which is a body of regulations that has the force and effect of law. The code must be enforced by local boards of health, the police, county prosecutors, and agents of the Department of Health. T h e council also determines the qualifications for health officers, food and drug inspectors, laboratory technicians, and sanitary inspectors. Any violation of the Sanitary Code is punishable by a fine of from $25 to $100. If the violator is unable to pay the fine, he may be placed in a county jail "until discharged by the court in which the judgment was obtained," or by a Superior Court judge when the court is satisfied further confinement will not result in payment of the fine. The council also is required to study and investigate matters of public health and report findings to the legislature and the governor. The council has the power to modify or annul any order, regulation, bylaw, or ordinance of a local board of health if the local law affects public health beyond the jurisdiction of the board. The Sanitary Code comprises seven chapters. The first sets up regulations for local boards of health. The second lists diseases which must be reported to boards by attending physicians, schools, hospitals, or the owner of a camp, apartment building, factory, or other occupied building. Among diseases listed as communicable in the Sanitary Code are cholera, dengue, diphtheria, influenza, malaria, measles, meningitis, plague, pneumonia, poliomyelitis, psittacosis, rabies, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tuberculosis, typhoid, typhus, yellow fever, and venereal diseases. The third chapter of the code specifies conditions of health for animals and birds. The fourth controls the activities of laboratories, and the fifth is con-

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cerned with the preparation, handling, transportation, burial, and disinterment of dead human bodies. The sixth is concerned with the use of X-ray and other radiation, and the seventh covers the production, distribution, and sale of milk, cream, and skim milk. Local Codes The Department of Health has prepared codes dealing with specific areas of public health. The codes may be adopted by a local board of health by ordinance and in that case they have the force and effect of law within the municipality. The department usually sets up a committee comprising specialists of its own, local health officials, and other persons likely to have expert knowledge to draw up model codes. Once the committee has completed a code and it is approved by the commissioner of health, the code may be adopted by a local board of health. T h e department has approved codes on the handling of food by retail establishments, plumbing, individual sewage disposal systems, weed control, smoke control, and public health nuisances. The Plumbing Code covers the minimum safety and health requirements for the design, installation, inspection, and performance of plumbing equipment; and prescribes methods for the protection of drinking water and the collection of water-borne wastes. The code also sets forth fees for the examination for a license as master plumber, the issuance of the license and its annual renewal, the filing of plans for proposed plumbing work, and the issuance of a permit to do the work. The Smoke Control Code gives the local health officer the means to combat pollution of the air by excessive smoke from fuel-burning equipment or internal-combustion machines. The Individual Sewage Disposal System Code was established for municipalities not provided with a public sewer system. The code covers the means of construction, location and maintenance of individual sewage-disposal systems, and provides for the licensing of cleaners of such systems. The Retail Food Handling Establishment Code, if adopted locally, gives municipal health officers the authority to inspect all

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restaurants, taverns, and other food-handling establishments and enforce sanitary practices. T h e Weed Control Code declares ragweed and poison ivy to be public nuisances and permits a local governing body to order property owners under penalty of a fine to remove the weeds. T h e Public Health Nuisance Code is general in nature. When adopted it permits local governments to force elimination of accumulations of garbage, refuse, stagnant water, or any other matter that would provide a breeding place for rodents or insects. This code also sets forth October 1 to the following May 1 as the period in which landlords are required to provide 68 degrees of heat to their tenants from 6:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. each day. The Commissioner T h e Department of Health is headed by a commissioner, who must be a licensed physician, graduated by a chartered medical college. He must also be skilled in sanitary science and have at least five years of full-time experience in an administrative or executive capacity in a public health agency. T h e commissioner is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to serve at the pleasure of the governor during his term and until his successor is appointed and approved. T h e commissioner receives $18,000 a year and is a member of the governor's cabinet. T h e commissioner has the authority to appoint all persons in the department and fix their salaries, subject to civil service regulations and approval. T h e commissioner is charged by law with: Enforcement of all public health laws and the Sanitary Code; Maintenance of liaison with local, state, and federal officials and agencies concerned with public health; and Institution of legal proceedings to enforce his authority. In addition, the commissioner has authority to enter any building, including homes, if he has reason to believe a violation of any health law exists there. If he is of the opinion that unhealthy conditions exist, he has the authority to make a survey of the whole state or any part of it. He may enter upon and examine any source of water supply, any sewage system or plant, prison, public or pri-

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vate place of detention, asylum, hospital, school, factory, or restaurant. He also may inspect any person or any property that is being transported through the state in a motor vehicle, boat, or train and detain or disinfect the person or property. He is required once a year to call all local health officials to a general conference on public health and ways and means to prevent disease. The commissioner may call to the attention of any local board of health conditions he considers unsanitary or recommend enforcement of any section of the Sanitary Code or other health laws by the local body. If it fails to comply, he has the authority to take whatever action he deems necessary. T h e 1947 law setting up the Department of Health says: "In all legal proceedings, the order of the commissioner shall be prima facie evidence of compliance with the provisions (of the law) and conclusive evidence of the violation recited in the order." Local Powers T h e commissioner is authorized to require local boards of health to remove health nuisances or sources of foulness and if his order is disregarded he may obtain a court injunction to prohibit continuance of the nuisance. He also is empowered to order examinations by the state laboratory of samples of water, food, drugs, pathological materials, and any other substances if he is requested to do so by a physician, dentist, pharmacist, or veterinarian. T h e commissioner fixes the charge for the analysis and turns over the receipts to the state treasury. If the commissioner desires to call in a federal agency for any purpose, he must have the approval of the Public Health Council. T h e commissioner may receive and administer any gifts or grants intended for the improvement of public health in the state. T h e Department of Health is required by law to formulate policies for the promotion of public health and the prevention of disease. It must collect and preserve all information concerning births, deaths, marriages, and other vital statistics. T h e department administers a program of public health nursing and prescribes the minimum qualifications for public health nurses. T h e department must maintain serological, bacteriological, and chemical laboratories,

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each with a staff sufficient to make necessary routine analyses and be prepared for original investigations and research. Whenever it is necessary, the commissioner may order an investigation or call a hearing on a public health matter. He may sit as the presiding officer at a hearing or designate a member of the department to act for him. T h e presiding officer has the authority to administer oaths and examine witnesses and any witness who gives false testimony is liable to face a charge of perjury. T h e commissioner may issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses and the production by them of books and papers. Any witness who fails to comply with a subpoena from the commissioner is liable to a fine of $500 and the attorney general is authorized to prosecute for collection of the fine. Districts T h e department has set up four health districts within the state. Each of these districts is headed by a district health officer appointed by the commissioner. T h e districts are located to assist local health boards in their work, particularly during the prevalence of any contagious disease. T h e district health officer also represents the commissioner in the enforcement of the Sanitary Code and other public health laws. He makes studies of such matters as the causes of excessive mortality from any disease in his district, calls meetings of public health officials of the district, and supervises the collection of vital statistics. Divisions T h e Department of Health operates through seven divisions, each headed by a director and subdivided into bureaus and programs. There are divisions of constructive health, chronic illness control, environmental sanitation, laboratories, local health services, preventable diseases, and vital statistics and administration. Constructive Health T h e Division of Constructive Health comprises: Adult and Occupational Health Bureau—This bureau is charged with providing health protection services for all persons employed

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in the state. The bureau concerns itself with three important tasks, in-plant industrial hygiene, radiological monitoring, and control of neighborhood air pollution. Commission on Crippled Children—This commission consists of 10 members, one of whom must be the commissioner of health or a health officer designated by him; one representative each from the Elks, Rotarians, Kiwanians, Shriners, Lions, and the Medical Society of New Jersey; one member of the Senate and one member of the Assembly; and one citizen selected by the governor. All members of the commission, except the legislators and the commissioner of health, serve five-year terms. The legislators are named for one year and the commissioner for his term of office. T h e commission members serve without pay. They are required to provide care and treatment for indigent crippled children and provide doctors and nurses for children suffering from cerebral palsy or rheumatic fever. Dental Health Bureau—This bureau supervises dental programs in 18 of the state's 21 counties, in cooperation with local dental societies, in which topical application of sodium fluoride solution to children's teeth is a routine procedure. It also encourages the addition of fluorides in controlled amounts to public water supplies. Maternal and Child Health Bureau—Public health nurses, particularly in rural areas, give instruction to expectant mothers in prenatal care and to mothers in the care of their children. Nurses throughout the state receive information for the care of prematurely born babies. Nutrition Program—This section trains public health workers in nutrition and gives special lectures on the subject to civic groups. Emphasis in the lectures is placed on nutrition for persons with diseases of the heart and the circulatory system and persons in old age. The section also advises schools in their lunch programs. Sanitation The Division of Environmental Sanitation comprises: Food and Drugs Bureau—This bureau works in cooperation with the Federal Food and Drug Administration in the prohibition of the sale of misbranded foods, drugs, and cosmetics. It helps inspect meat-packing plants, and the shell-fishery grounds, and its personnel

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assists local boards of health in enforcing the Sanitary Code for all establishments handling food and drugs. T h e bureau has a direct responsibility for enforcement of laws regulating the production, distribution, and sale of milk and milk products. Each milk plant in the state is inspected twice a year and dairies supplying the plants are inspected at intervals. T h e bureau issues permits to persons engaged in collecting or distributing milk. Bureau inspectors also check out-of-state milk plants which send supplies into New Jersey. An out-of-state milk operator also must have a permit from the Department of Health. Public Health Engineering Bureau—The state's water supplies are inspected by personnel of this bureau to assure that they are reasonably free of disease-producing organisms. T h e bureau also inspects sewage-treatment plants, bathing beaches, and the condition of streams and lakes. On recommendation of this bureau, the commissioner may issue orders to permit municipalities to exceed their statutory debt limits in order to construct sewage or water facilities. Engineers of the bureau also examine proposed individual sewage-disposal systems in new housing developments. Veterinary Public Health Bureau—This bureau is concerned with the preventipn of diseases which may be transmitted from animal to man. T h e bureau conducts a rabies-control program. It reported only one case of clinical rabies in a dog in 1954. Laboratories T h e Division of Laboratories comprises bureaus in bacteriology, chemistry, pathology, and serology. It performs diagnostic tests for tuberculosis, diphtheria, syphilis, gonorrhea, and intestinal diseases. It conducts examinations of food, drugs, waste, air, and water. T h e Bureau on Pathology maintains a tumor registry and has a histologist trained in medical photography. T h e services of the laboratories are available to local health boards, physicians, and other departments of the state. T h e services include technical aids to physicians in the detection of cancer and allied diseases. T h e Serology Bureau's work was increased with the adoption of blood-typing and blood-grouping programs by the Division of Civil Defense. All drivers' licenses carry a space in which motorists may note their blood type.

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Local Health Services The Division of Local Health Services comprises: Bureau of Grants-in-Aid—This bureau is the public health missionary providing funds, personnel, and equipment to local boards of health, general hospitals, and other agencies so that they may establish or improve some health service. The bureau does not pretend to continue full subsidy of any new health project by any of the beneficiaries. The grants-in-aid are intended to provide a municipality or hospital with the means for a new or improved health service where the initial cost would be too great for the sponsor to bear. The beneficiary is expected to take over an increasing amount of the costs of the service until eventually it needs no further state aid. When the bureau withdraws from participation in a specific service it employs an equivalent amount of aid to establish a needed service somewhere else. Public Health Nursing Bureau—This bureau, headed by a chief public health nurse, provides consultations and advice for local health nurses, coordinates their services, and seeks to improve the standards of public health nursing. The bureau also makes public health surveys for the department. Chronic Illness The Division of Chronic Illness Control comprises bureaus of cancer control, chronic disease control, heart diseases, tuberculosis control, and a program on alcoholism control. The division provides both professional and nonprofessional educational materials. It has underwritten the cost of courses for physicians in the control of heart disease. It distributes to physicians quarterly a treatment digest on alcoholism. It has underwritten the cost of services and facilities to strengthen community health agencies. For example, the division has helped to finance development of four study clinics for the control of alcoholism in conjunction with other clinic services provided by four geographically dispersed alcoholism clinics. The division's assistance has been on a temporary basis so that ultimately hospitals will maintain clinics independently of state assistance. The divi-

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sion haS participated in multi-group efforts to find unknown diabetics in New Jersey. Its chest X-ray facilities are used in municipalities where such services are inadequate in efforts to find tuberculous persons and see that they seek proper professional care. T h e division has fostered the development of community homemaker programs under which mature women trained in household management are available for hire to help prevent disruption and demoralization of a household in event of illness. T h e division has provided electroencephalograph machines to four general hospitals, one in each state health district, to provide physicians with a readily accessible diagnostic tool for the study of suspected conditions such as epilepsy. T h e division does not provide medical treatment. Preventable Diseases T h e Division of Preventable Diseases comprises bureaus on acute communicable diseases and venereal-disease control. T h e division seeks to prevent or control acute communicable diseases and, through the Sanitary Code, supervises the quarantining of all such cases. T h e division has discontinued mass serologic surveys in venereal-disease control and replaced them with contact interviewing and investigation of known cases. Vital Statistics T h e Division of Vital Statistics comprises bureaus for administrative services, personnel, public health statistics, and examination, licensing, and registration of barbers, beauticians, operators and superintendents of public water and sewerage systems, and health officers, sanitary inspectors, plumbing inspectors, and laboratory technicians. T h e Bureau of Administrative Services is responsible for the dissemination of health education material, and the distribution of biologicals and vaccines. T h e Bureau of Personnel handles employment and personnel records for the department and the Bureau of Public Health Statistics collects and preserves records of deaths, births, marriages, and other vital information. T h e Bureau of Examination, Licensing and Registration consists of two boards and a chief of bureau. T h e bureau examines appli-

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cants for health officer, sanitary inspector, and laboratory technician. Members of the Board of Barber Examiners, of which there are four, are appointed by the governor and receive $5,000 a year. T h e sixmember Board of Beauty Culture Control is appointed by the governor and each member receives $2,500 a year. T h e Board of Barber Examiners is responsible for giving examinations and licensing barbers. A fee of $15 is charged for each applicant for an examination, and successful applicants pay an annual $5 license fee. T h e Board of Beauty Culture Control holds examinations and licenses beauty parlor operators, but is authorized to grant licenses without examination to persons at least 19 years old who have had three years' experience as teachers. There is no board that controls plumbers from a state level. Licensing of plumbers is a municipal function. Development in the technology of modern weapons added new responsibilities for the Department of Health. A health and medical care preparedness plan was worked out by the Department of Health in conjunction with the Division of Civil Defense. T h e commissioner of health was named director of emergency medical and health services, and when the Division of Civil Defense was expanded to take in peacetime disaster control his duties were expanded. Under the commissioner's supervision, the state set up, with assistance from the federal government, a system of selection, procurement, warehousing, and unit packaging of first-aid medical supplies, blood bank, and hospital supplies. T h e relatively new field of radiological-chemical defense is being thoroughly explored by the Department of Health. T h e activities of the public health officials in preventable-disease control and sanitation have been coordinated with teams carrying out radiological and chemical monitoring, detection, and decontamination. Training programs have been held at both Princeton and Rutgers and at the Montclair State Teachers' College. T h e department has stockpiles of survey and laboratory instruments, personnel protective devices, and lead pig for storage and transportation of essential radioactive training equipment. T h e department has been active in the establishment of procedures for the early detection and control of biological warfare and biological sabotage. Personnel of the state and local health laboratories have been trained in emergency blood pro-

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cedures. The New Jersey Society of Clinical Pathologists has cooperated in the training of volunteers for the emergency blood activity. The New Jersey State Nurses Association has cooperated in the training of volunteers for the nursing corps. The department supplies technical information on methods to combat radioactivity and the spread of harmful bacteria. A routine of the department is radiological monitoring of streams and rivers and investigation of radioactive wastes by plants engaged in the processing of nuclear products. New Jersey has experienced an increase in the number of migrant workers who come into the state primarily to work on farms at harvesttime. The Department of Health has set up stationary clinics at several locations to examine migrant laborers, who pour in from Puerto Rico and the South each summer. The laborers must show evidence of satisfactory health or submit to an examination. In addition to the clinics, the department operates a mobile unit which examines migrant laborers on farms too remote from the stationary clinics. Mosquitoes A discussion on public health in New Jersey would be incomplete without mention of that most annoying summertime pest—the mosquito. Fortunately, most mosquitoes who buzz and bite Jerseyans are not the disease-bearing kind. There are malaria carriers, but on the whole the New Jersey mosquito is noted for his size. Texas may boast that it is the biggest state, grows the biggest steers, and has the biggest of most things, but even Texas must bow to New Jersey when it comes to big mosquitoes. The pesky insect is fought by extermination commissions in 15 of the state's 21 counties. The commissions have cut the mosquito population to a minimum, but, unless a person is careful, a fine assortment of welts can be collected on any summer evening. Care of the institutionalized, the diseased, and the mentally ill in New Jersey is the responsibility of the Department of Institutions and Agencies, rather than the Department of Health. Hospitals, sanatoria, and nursing homes are under the supervision of the Department of Institutions and Agencies.

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Institutions and Agencies I^nologists, social welfare experts, and leaders in the field of mental hygiene in the United States and abroad have for years considered New Jersey's system of prisons, hospitals, sanatoria, child welfare, parole, community service, and assistance to the indigent and the blind one of the best in the world. The various functions in fields of public welfare, mental hygiene, and correction generally are in separate departments of state government, but all are controlled by one department in New Jersey. The Department of Institutions and Agencies has been directed since 1918 by a State Board of Control consisting of nine members, who serve without compensation and are appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The governor is an ex officio member of the board. The board appoints a commissioner as executive head of the department. The commissioner, who must be approved by the governor, receives $18,000 a year, a house and maintenance, and serves at the will of the board, but may be removed from office by the governor. In addition to being the executive officer of the department, the commissioner also is the budget officer. Unless the board appoints a separate fiscal officer, the commissioner fills that post as well. Institutions All general and special hospitals, nursing homes, and sanatoria in the state must hold licenses from the department. The department operates state hospitals at Trenton for insane and tuberculous patients; at Ancora, for the insane; at Greystone Park, near Morristown, for insane and tuberculous patients and for the training of 167

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nurses in psychiatrics; and at Marlboro, near Red Bank, for the insane and senile. The department also has a neuropsychiatric institute at Skillman, in Somerset County; a school at Vineland for mentally deficient girls and women; colonies for feeble-minded men at Woodbine and New Lisbon; a training school at Totowa for mentally retarded girls; a diagnostic center at Menlo Park for juvenile delinquents and sex offenders; a child treatment center at Allaire, near Farmingdale, for treatment of children 5 to 12 years of age, suffering from maladjustment, nervous disorder, or mental upset; homes for disabled servicemen at Menlo Park and Vineland; a home for aged firemen at Boonton; and a sanitarium at Glen Gardner for tuberculous patients. In the field of correction, the department supervises a state prison at Trenton; prison farms at Rahway and Leesburg; a reformatory for young men at Bordentown; a reformatory for women at Clinton; a first-offenders' reformatory for young men at Annandale; a state home for boys at Jamesburg and for girls at Trenton; and an experimental reformatory for youthful offenders whose sentences are suspended if they agree to go to Highfields, near Hopewell, for from one to six months. Parole Board With adoption of the 1947 Constitution, a three-member Parole Board was authorized within the Department of Institutions and Agencies. The board, established in 1949, makes decisions to grant or revoke paroles without influence from the department or the State Board of Control. Members of the board are named by the governor, with advice and consent of the Senate, to six-year terms that are staggered. The chairman, selected by the governor, serves on a full-time basis at $12,000 a year. The other two members are on part-time at $10,000 a year. Once a convict has been paroled, the board turns over supervision to a Division of Parole within the department. There are more than 21,000 persons on parole in New Jersey. It costs the counties almost $2 million a year to conduct a probation system.

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Welfare T h e State Board of Child Welfare consists of seven members appointed by the State Board of Control, with approval by the governor. T h e members serve three-year terms and supervise programs intended to meet the needs of dependent and neglected children. An executive director is paid $10,440 a year. There are four units within the board: one to handle children who become wards of the state through negligence by parents or indigency, one to provide financial assistance to dependent children and their mothers in their own homes, one to provide services to children in rural areas and in cases not covered by the other units, and one to inspect and approve private agencies and institutions handling adoptive children and to supervise dependent children brought into the state. T h e board also is responsible for supervision of youths on parole from juvenile delinquency terms. A deputy commissioner heads the department's Division of Welfare, which supervises public assistance to the indigent. Within the division there is a Bureau of Assistance, which provides financial aid to the aged, the totally disabled and the poor. Welfare rolls, which carry the names of persons receiving financial assistance, are kept confidential. T h e state spends more than $8 million a year for assistance programs. For the Blind A Commission for the Blind within the department is responsible for the care and training of visually handicapped persons. T h e commission, consisting of three members, appointed by the State Board of Control, with the approval of the governor, offers educational opportunities to the blind and provides them with financial assistance when needed. T h e commission operates a summer camp for blind children. Its executive director is paid $9,000 a year. Other Divisions T h e department has several divisions to assist it in such matters as educational and training programs within institutions; the pro-

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duction and sale of articles by inmates; the supply of food and clothing for inmates; the operation of farms within institutions, and the handling of legal matters. Inmates in New Jersey institutions produce or manufacture 30 different classes of articles, including such items as shoes, men and women's clothing, sheet-metal articles, furniture of all kinds, mattresses, pillows, towels, blankets, brushes, mops, brooms, printing, cattle and poultry, highway directional signs, motor vehicle license plates, and manhole covers. The Mentally 111 There are more than 30,000 persons in New Jersey's state and county mental hospitals. The state has something like 14,000 of the mentally ill in its four hospitals and other institutions. The balance are in six county hospitals. Of the patients, more than 400 are insane criminals who are housed in a special, prisonlike building on the grounds of the state hospital at Trenton. The Department of Institutions and Agencies estimates that 65 per cent of the patients committed for mental reasons suffer from psychotic disorders, the most prevalent of which is dementia praecox, or, as it is called by an increasing number of doctors, schizophrenic reaction. The balance suffer from less severe disorders of the brain, including personality upset, mental deficiency, and senility. The department has found more than 30 per cent of its hospital population is below 45 years of age. More men than women patients are under 45. In the older ages, there are more women than men. Here are some details on each of the hospitals, colonies, schools, centers, homes, the Neuropsychiatric Institute, and the tuberculosis sanatorium operated by the Department of Institutions and Agencies: The State Hospital at Trenton—The first building was opened in 1848 in the western outskirts of the capital. It now covers 1,000 acres and is valued at $12 million. No restraint has been employed at the hospital since 1908 except for patients in the building for the criminally insane. Even there, the insane convicts, housed in separate cells, eat together three times a day in cafeteria style. On the grounds there is a psychopathic building for men and women,

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in separate wings. The hospital population is more than 4,000 persons. The staff has employed shock therapy since 1937 and reports a high percentage of discharges of patients. There also is a building that accommodates 240 tuberculosis patients who receive various forms of therapy, including pneumothorax. The hospital conducts mental hygiene clinics in various municipalities in Central and South Jersey for outpatient treatment of persons suffering from psychiatric or psychological disturbances. Inmates of the state prison work on a farm, which has a dairy herd, a piggery, and a poultry area. Receipts from the farm exceed $200,000 a year. The medical director of the hospital is paid $11,280 a year, plus $5,040 for maintenance. This hospital costs the state almost $6 million a year. The residence of the commissioner of institutions and agencies is on the hospital grounds. The State Hospital at Ancora—This is the state's newest hospital, located in South Jersey, and intended primarily for the care and treatment of the insane. The hospital was built with part of the proceeds of two bond issues approved by the citizens at referenda in the early 1950's. The hospital was in full operation in 1955, with some 2,500 patients from South Jersey counties. The medical director receives $9,600 a year and maintenance. The State Hospital at Greystone Park—More than 6,500 patients are cared for at this hospital, located on a tract of 1,273 acres near Morristown. Another 1,000 persons are treated on an outpatient basis. The hospital and its grounds are valued at better than $16 million. Some 350 head of cattle and 500 head of hogs are maintained on the hospital's farm, which is operated by patients. This hospital was begun in 1876, and it was here, in 1947, that the staff began brain surgery techniques intended to relieve patients. It has a working agreement with 21 general hospitals, which send nurses for three-month training courses in the care of the mentally ill. The nursing school is one of the largest of its kind in the nation. The medical director is paid $11,280, plus maintenance. This hospital costs more than $7 million a year. The State Hospital at Marlboro—More than 3,000 patients from Hudson, Middlesex, and Monmouth counties are housed in 19 units on this 1,000-acre hospital site. The housing permits classification of patients for specialized training. A farm at this hospital engages in

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truck gardening and produces vegetables and fruit for consumption by the patients. Experiments in occupational therapy are conducted here. T h e medical director receives $11,280 and $2,808 for maintenance. T h e cost of this hospital is $4 million a year. T h e Neuropsychiatric Institute at Skillman—This institution originally was designed for the care and treatment of epileptics. It was opened in 1898 and restricted its activities to patients suffering from convulsive disorders. But in 1953 the legislature expanded the institute's activities to include juvenile psychotics under 14 years of age, nonpsychotic alcoholics, drug addicts, sex offenders, and persons suffering from neurological diseases. T h e institute, which costs almost $3 million a year, covers 1,080 acres in scenic Somerset County and has 24 buildings for more than 1,000 patients, plus 69 farm buildings, employee homes and general purpose buildings. Between 300 and 400 heifers are kept here along with hogs and a large poultry plant. T h e superintendent is paid $11,280 and maintenance. T h e State School at Vineland—Established in 1888, this school is located on a 267-acre site and is designed to provide care and training for mentally deficient females from 5 to 45 years of age. T h e r e is a special building for psychopathic cases and a children's unit. A school that provides grammar grades and domestic and industrial training is the center of the institution. T h e 1,500 inmates are committed by court order. They are employed within the institution at knitting, weaving, sewing, and household arts. Some also are employed on the institution's farm and in its dairy. T h e school supervises a Service Center at Red Bank, in Monmouth County, and girls are sent out daily from the center to domestic service in private homes. T h e girls return to the center each night. T h e superintendent receives $10,020 and maintenance. T h e school costs almost $2 million a year. T h e State Colony at Woodbine—This 210-acre colony, once an agricultural school, cares for more than 1,000 idiots and imbeciles, some of whom are crippled. T h e department estimates the median mental age of the patients, all male, to be about 2% years. T h e patients, whose average age is about 22, receive physical training and do simple outdoor and domestic work. T h e colony costs about

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$1 million a year. T h e superintendent is paid $7,500 and maintenance. T h e State Colony at New Lisbon—The patients here are of higher grades of intelligence than those at Woodbine. T h e feeble-minded men are employed on a 284-acre farm and in training programs suited to their levels of intelligence. T h e colony costs about $1 million a year. Some 1,000 patients are under care and are housed in dormitory buildings. T h e state also has established a section of the colony as "Little Boys Village" for about 300 youngsters who have secluded play areas and live in dormitories of their own. T h e superintendent receives $8,700 in salary and maintenance. T h e State Training School at Totowa—Girls from 5 to 20 years of age, whose mental development prevents them from fitting into the public school system, are committed here by the courts. T h e population in 1954 was just under 1,000. They receive special schooling in industrial and vocational pursuits and many eventually obtain self-supporting jobs and are released from the school. T h e school, on a 245-acre tract, also maintains a nursery for infants. T h e mentally retarded infants are kept in the nursery section until they become 5 years old. T h e school costs the state $1 million a year. T h e superintendent is paid $8,700, plus maintenance. T h e State Training School at Vineland—This is a private, nonprofit institution that cooperates with the Department of Institutions and Agencies by caring for state wards on a per capita basis. T h e more than 500 children on the school's rolls live in cottages and receive individualized training. T h e school property covers 1,600 acres. T h e Child Treatment Center at Allaire—This is the 65-acre estate donated by the family of the late journalist Arthur Brisbane to the state in 1944 for use as a veterans' convalescent home. T h e Department of Institutions and Agencies obtained permission from the family to use the estate instead for treatment of children from 5 to 12 years of age suffering from nervous disorders. No psychotic children are taken at the center, which can house 66 patients. T h e children's treatment includes play, walks in the woods, boating, and talks with the director. T h e average stay is from 18 to 24 months. T h e director receives $8,400 a year, plus $1,848 for maintenance. T h e Johnstone Research and Training Center—This is the latest

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state institution, established in 1955 at Bordentown. Its purpose is to provide research in the field of mental deficiency and to train instructors in the care, treatment, and training of mentally retarded persons transferred from other institutions. The center comes under the direct supervision of the commissioner of institutions and agencies through a superintendent he selects. No board of managers is authorized. The dairy herd at Totowa training school was transferred to this institution in 1956. No vegetable or fruit is grown at the center, which formerly was the state's manual training school. The Diagnostic Center at Menlo Park—Some 76 children under 18 years of age, committed by courts, are treated at the center. Established in 1949 as an experimental institution, a majority of the children are truants and juvenile delinquents of various shades. Some adult sex offenders also are examined at the center. The staff has worked on the theory that juvenile delinquency and crime are the result of mental disease and that they do not rise from such generally credited sources as comic books and television programs. The director receives $10,440 a year, plus maintenance. The Disabled Servicemen's Home at Vineland—This 175-room home on a 40-acre plot was organized in 1898 to provide nursing care for chronically disabled soldiers, sailors, marines, their wives and widows. There also is a cemetery for veterans on the grounds. The superintendent is paid $7,800 a year and maintenance. The Disabled Soldiers' Home at Menlo Park—Disabled veterans, with honorable discharges, who served in New Jersey military units or have at least two years' residence in the state before making application, are eligible for admission to this home. It is located on a 126-acre wooded site. The superintendent receives $8,700 in salary, plus $900 in lieu of maintenance. The State Firemen's Home at Boonton—Aged New Jersey firemen in need of such an institution are eligible for admission. The average age of 67 firemen in the home in 1956 was 77 years. A manager serves a four-year term at no salary. The State Sanatorium at Glen Gardner—This $3 million institution, established in 1907, is located on the side of a mountain in Hunterdon County and is about 1,000 feet above sea level. It has a capacity of 335 patients, of which 16 usually are children from 5 to 14 years of age who suffer from tuberculosis. The sanatorium costs

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$1 million a year. The superintendent receives $11,280 in salary and $3,336 for maintenance. Institutions for Correction The criminal population of New Jersey institutions is something close to 5,000 men, women, boys, and girls. The state has been extremely reluctant over the years to be harsh with women criminals. No woman ever has been electrocuted for murder. Female lawbreakers are committed to Clinton Reformatory, a special prison that has no walls and permits freedom of the grounds to all inmates. Men are committed to three types of prisons: one for maximum security at Trenton, one for medium security at Rahway, and one for minimum security at Leesburg. There are no walls or fences at Leesburg. Young men between 17 and 30 who have previously been convicted are sent to the Bordentown Reformatory and young men between 17 and 26 who are first offenders are sent to the Annandale Reformatory. Boys from 8 to 16 are committed to the State Home at Jamesburg and girls from 8 to 17 to the State Home at Trenton. Young boys who are incorrigible, or who may be convicted of a minor crime, may elect to be sent to Highfields, near Hopewell. Highfields, former residence of Charles A. Lindbergh and site of the kidnaping of his son in 1932, is an experimental institution seeking rehabilitation of its charges. The State Prison The State Prison at Trenton is one of the most archaic in the United States. The first buildings were erected in 1836 on a 13-acre site overlooking the Delaware River at Trenton. At that time the prison was on the outskirts of the capital, but now the institution is surrounded by the sprawling industrial city. The state's first prison, built in 1797, is now the residence of the principal keeper (warden) and is located along the west side of the institution's exercise yard. A 20-foot wall encloses eight acres of the prison, except for the north corner where the administrative building and a cell block serve as a barrier. Some 300 convicts in the cell block, which has barred windows overlooking the street, rioted in 1953 and several

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sought to cut their way through the bars before their efforts were stifled by a spray of machine-gun bullets. Guards in 10 watchtowers atop the wall are armed with 12-gauge shotguns, pistols, and gas grenades. The guards may look down on passers-by in the streets as easily as they may watch activities within the prison. One of the wings of the prison is a cell block modeled on those at Eastern Penitentiary in Philadelphia. Eastern was built in 1829 with cells designed to hold prisoners in solitary confinement throughout their stay. This method of confinement, known as the Pennsylvania system, was abandoned at Trenton in 1860, but the original cell block was retained. The cells, larger than modern ones, are entered through a small door set so high off the floor that one must crouch and then step up to get over the sill. The doors are secured by padlocks and each cell can hold three men. There are five other cell-block wings in the prison, some built of concrete and others of steel. A section of one wing has screened tiers and the cells house the most hardened criminals. These convicts have their own fenced exercise yard and are not permitted to mingle with other prisoners. Another section of a cell block is used to house passive homosexuals. A cell block built in 1861 has been converted into a mess hall where some 300 prisoners may be seated at one time. They are fed in cafeteria style. A chapel was built above the mess hall in 1897 and is used also for motion pictures and other recreational activities. T h e six cell blocks and a 43-bed hospital will accommodate 1,190 prisoners without doubling up. The average population of the prison is about 1,200. At one time in 1950 there were as many as 1,600 convicts crowded into the prison. Overcrowded conditions, the presence of rats, and a lack of jobs for hundreds of prisoners led to two serious riots in 1952. These rebellions appear to have set a pattern for disturbances in other prisons in the United States and Canada. A special commission appointed by the governor to study the prison situation recommended abandonment of the institution and construction of a new maximum security prison. The commission estimated construction cost at $13 million, but by 1956 it appeared that the archaic Trenton prison would continue in use. Prisoners, who range in age from teens to advanced senility and who are incarcerated for crimes ranging from bookmaking to theft,

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rape and murder, are permitted several hours a day in an exercise yard. T h e y may rent or purchase earphones for their cells to listen to controlled radio programs. If their behavior is good, they may see two movies a week. They may be employed for from 8 to 12 cents a day in bindery, shoe manufacturing, machine, woodworking, tailor, auto license plate, upholstery, or print shops. If a prisoner is being held until he pays a fine imposed along with his sentence, he may earn u p to $3 a day toward paying off the fine. Under the administration of Governor Robert B. Meyner, the Department of Institutions and Agencies began a system of honor camps and outside-the-prison employment. Although inmates at T r e n t o n are considered the most antisocial, those classified as minim u m security risks are employed in shops across the street from the main prison and on the farm at the T r e n t o n State Hospital. Inmates of Leesburg prison farm, Bordentown and Annandale reformatories, and some from Rahway prison farm are transported daily to areas distant from their institutions for work on institution farms or in state parks and forests. A 1956 law provides that such inmates, considered trustworthy, may receive remission of time on their sentences for work outside the prison. T h e law set the remission rate at three days a month for the first year and five days a month for subsequent years of work in honor camps or on institution farms. Proponents of the law said it would provide increased work and rehabilitative opportunities for the inmates and "accelerate the rate at which these individuals may be returned to society to achieve their potential usefulness as good citizens." Generally, the Department of Institutions and Agencies sends men between 18 and 21 to either Annandale or Bordentown, but some in that age group are held at T r e n t o n because they are considered so hardened or so highly unstable that they would be injurious to inmates at the reformatories. Penologists have recommended a special institution for hardened teen-agers. Some 210 officers of all grades make u p the custodial force of the prison. T h e principal keeper is responsible for the conduct of the prison at T r e n t o n and the prison farms at Rahway and Leesburg. Superintendents are in charge of the two prison farms. T h e principal keeper is appointed by the State Board of Control and serves at

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its pleasure. He receives $10,200 a year, a house, and maintenance. Prisoners are fed according to a standard ration allowance which provides these amounts of various kinds of food daily: Meat, fish, fowl, and cheese Milk Eggs

Fats and oils Sugar and syrups Cereals Flour Potatoes Root vegetables Green and leafy vegetables Fruit, fresh and canned Fruit, dried Dried peas, beans, and nuts Beverages Miscellaneous

Ounces

7 16 2

1.05 3 3 6 12 4 12 4 2 1 1 2

It costs the state more than $1,000 a year to keep each convict. Executions Capital punishment in New Jersey is carried out in an electric chair that was installed at the Trenton prison in 1907. Before that time capital punishment was a county responsibility and was carried out by hanging, under the direction of the sheriff. Of the almost 200 men who have been electrocuted for murder, the most infamous was Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who was convicted of the kidnap-killing of the Lindbergh baby. Hauptmann died in 1936 protesting his innocence. The executioner is a New York electrician, variously employed by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. The fee paid by New Jersey to an executioner is $150 for each electrocution. There have been as many as three men executed in one night. The court that sentences a murderer specifies a week in which he is to be electrocuted, and the principal keeper is given the discretion of selecting the time within that week. It has been a practice to hold executions at 10:00 P.M. on Tuesday evenings. A state law re-

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quires a minimum of 12 outside witnesses for each execution. Usually among the witnesses there are police officers who were involved in the murder case. The law requires at least two physicians and representatives of the press to be present. Relatives may claim the body of an electrocuted person for burial; no religious service is permitted. Relatives are prohibited from conducting a public funeral or permitting any demonstrations during the funeral or burial. Hundreds of persons annually send requests to the state prison asking to be invited to view an execution. T h e principal keeper restricts the invitation list to those persons required by law and to persons he feels have a reasonable request. Relatives of a person to be executed or of his victim are barred. Only the most immediate relatives, wives, mothers and fathers, children, or brothers and sisters may visit the condemned man on his last day. In addition, the man's attorney and a clergyman are permitted to see him. He has the privilege of ordering any food or drink, other than alcoholic, that he desires for a last meal. No barbiturates or drugs are given to him in advance of the electrocution. Rahway T h e Prison Farm at Rahway, opened in 1901, was a reformatory for young men until 1948, when it became a branch of the state prison for those convicts considered to be more trustworthy than the hardened criminals. Many prisoners are kept in dormitories, although there are three cell blocks, such as are found in most prisons. T h e Rahway prison is known for its dome over the center building, which now is used as an auditorium and can seat 815 persons. T h e prison, which can accommodate more than 1,000, has printing, shoe, electric, foundry, carpentry, paint, tinware, plumbing, blacksmith, machine, textile, and tailor shops. There are 21 acres of drill fields and baseball and recreational grounds. Although the prison is adapted for industrial activity, it has a 285-acre farm on which truck vegetables are grown. T h e farm also has a dairy herd and a piggery. A special wing for tubercular convicts is maintained at Rahway. Only 75 to 100 convicts work on the farm because of the escape risk if more were permitted outside the walls of

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the main prison section. The superintendent is paid $7,800 a year and maintenance. Leesburg and Bordentown T h e Prison Farm at Leesburg has a 1,026-acre site with 525 acres under cultivation and in pasture. It is an institution for those criminals whom the state's penal authorities consider most likely to be rehabilitated. T h e buildings, most of them one-story bungalow type, are without bars. There are four dormitory buildings, each with three wings. Two wings contain beds and the third serves as a recreation room. T h e population varies between 300 and 350 convicts who are employed in growing fruit and vegetables, canning, and conducting a dairy. A number of Leesburg convicts were employed in the construction of the State Hospital at Ancora, staying under guard at the hospital site during the work week and returning to Leesburg for the weekend. T h e Department of Institutions and Agencies used Leesburg inmates for clearing pine and cedar from the vast Wharton tract taken over in 1954 as a water reserve. The superintendent is paid $5,240 and maintenance. The Reformatory at Bordentown is a four-winged prison for criminals 16 to 30 years of age who are considered suitable for rehabilitation. It is located about eight miles outside Trenton on a 589-acre tract, some 475 acres of which are devoted to farming. T h e main buildings are enclosed by a woven-wire fence. T o assist in its program the staff carries full-time psychologists and social workers and part-time psychiatrists. The reformatory has been able to handle about 600 men who live in outside cells and in dormitories. T h e normal capacity is approximately 475. The dairy herd on the Bordentown farm supplies milk to the prison at Trenton. The superintendent is paid $8,400 a year and maintenance. T h e reformatory costs about $1 million a year. Annandale and Clinton The Reformatory at Annandale is an unfenced institution with a normal capacity of 450, but in 1955 its population was 550. Designed to handle first offenders between 16 and 26, the reformatory

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has had several escapes. Those over 21 committed here are given maximum five-year sentences with no minimum. Authorities claim that those who escape are unstable and should be sent to other institutions. The reformatory is located on a 747-acre site, with 500 acres under cultivation. Field crops of all kinds are grown and the dairy herd supplies milk for the sanatorium at Glen Gardner and the State Hospital at Greystone. The inmates are housed in eight cottages in dormitory style. The reformatory costs the state more than $700,000 a year. The superintendent receives $8,100 a year and maintenance. The Reformatory for Women at Clinton is used for females above the age of 16 who are convicted of crimes punishable by a term in state prison, including murder. All women, except the most incorrigible, live in cottages and participate in a local government of their own. Those who are considered escape risks, or whose instability might be injurious to other inmates, are kept in a 40-room segregation building. Women who are not segregated have the freedom of the unfenced grounds of this 370-acre site. The reformatory has accommodations for almost 400 women and a nursery for babies. A three-story, 40-bed hospital has facilities for major and minor surgery and obstetrics. The inmates are employed on a farm that covers 265 acres and in cooking, power sewing, beauty culture, infant care, general housework, and laundry. Inmates also may complete grade school and obtain beauty culture licenses. T h e superintendent is paid $8,700 a year and maintenance. The reformatory costs about $700,000 a year. For Boys and Girls The Home for Boys at Jamesburg, established in 1865 as the state reform school, became known as the home for boys in 1901. There are 888 acres surrounding the 40 buildings at the home. Some 150 acres are in pasture, 150 in woodland, and 50 in orchards. There are no bars on any building, and there is no restraining wall. The boys, more than 400, live in groups of 40 with a cottagefather, cottage-mother, and an assistant. Committed as juvenile delinquents and ranging in age from 8 to 18, the boys remain wards of the state until they are 21. Their parents, if able, are required

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to pay toward support of the boys. They may be paroled by the Home's board of managers if they show a willingness to adhere to principles of good citizenship. T h e superintendent is paid $8,100 a year and maintenance. T h e home costs more than $800,000 a year. T h e Home for Girls at Trenton was founded in 1871 for girls between 8 and 17, committed by courts for juvenile delinquency. Like the boys, inmates of the home for girls are wards of the state until they are 21, but may be paroled at the discretion of the institution's board of managers. An academic school gives training for some 200 girls through the tenth grade and vocational training in beauty culture, home economics, farming, gardening, and sewing. T h e girls do most of the cooking and housekeeping at the home. T h e home is located in Trenton, on property that covers 183 acres. T h e superintendent receives $7,800 a year and maintenance. Highfields is an experimental institution which, in its first two years of operation, was financed by the New York Foundation and the Vincent Astor Foundation. T h e state took over the cost of operating the institution in 1952, but the Vincent Astor Foundation continues to finance research work in juvenile delinquency among boys 16 and 17 years of age. T h e director is paid $6,600 a year and maintenance. Boards Each institution in the state is supervised by a board of managers, who are named to three-year terms with no pay by the State Board of Control.

14

Law Enforcement T h e attorney general of New Jersey is directly responsible for law enforcement throughout the state and to carry out his functions he has been given powers second only to those of the governor. T h e attorney general is more than the chief legal officer of the state. He is the head of one of the largest departments in state government and as such he is a member of the governor's cabinet. The Department of Law and Public Safety, which is administered by the attorney general, includes, in addition to a Division of Law, the State Police, the Division of Motor Vehicles, the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Division of Weights and Measures, a Traffic Safety Bureau and professional examining boards which license public accountants, architects, dentists, doctors, nurses, optometrists, pharmacists, veterinarians, funeral directors, engineers, surveyors, and shorthand reporters. T h e attorney general, who receives $20,000 a year and is the highest paid cabinet officer, is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. He serves at the pleasure of the governor, but he and the secretary of state are the only two cabinet members who automatically go out of office with the governor. Most other cabinet members may be held over by a re-elected or a new governor. T h e attorney general may select any lawyer he chooses to be assistant attorney general, a deputy attorney general, or an assistant deputy attorney general. T h e governor or the attorney general also may name special deputy attorneys general to carry out certain tasks for a specified time and for a salary that is on a per diem, weekly, monthly, or annual basis. Special deputy attorneys general have been named to make investigations, handle highly 183

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technical civil cases, and act as public defenders. T h e number of staff deputy attorneys general in 1956 was 38, many of them assigned to handle legal matters for the various divisions of the state's departments. T h e deputy attorneys general, who make u p the Law Division of the Department of Law and Public Safety, also are used to conduct investigations and may draw upon the State Police for uniformed troopers a n d / o r detectives. A deputy attorney general, working through the Division of State Claims and Workmen's Compensation, represents the state in all cases where a suit is brought by an employee or other parties seeking compensation for injuries and charging negligence on the part of the state or one of its agencies. An administrative director, who need not be an attorney, heads an Administration Division and is responsible for coordinating the fiscal and personnel policies of all the divisions and bureaus of the department. T h e director, who receives $15,000 a year, draws u p the department's budget requests and controls purchases of supplies and other material. In addition to his deputies, the attorney general may employ the prosecutors of the 21 counties, individually or in groups, to conduct investigations and enforce state laws. From time to time at his discretion, the attorney general may call prosecutors, individually or in groups, to T r e n t o n for conferences on criminal or other matters. Although the prosecutors are appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for five-year terms, the attorney general may supersede a prosecutor he believes incapable or who refuses to cooperate in any matter. A superseded prosecutor retains his title, but must give u p control of his office to the attorney general. T h e prosecutor may be reinstated by the attorney general or the governor any time before his term of office ends. T h e attorney general may conduct any law-enforcement act within a county without consent of the prosecutor and the attorney general or an assigned deputy may present material seeking an indictment to any county grand jury. In practice, however, the attorney general works with each prosecutor, limiting the relationship between the state and the county officials to supervision from Trenton.

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Escheat T h e attorney general may bring action in the Superior Court to have escheated to the state any real estate he has reason to believe was left by a person who died without apparent heirs. T h e attorney general also may sue to have escheated to the state dividends or other unclaimed money which is held by a bank or a business for more than 14 years. Title to the real estate passes to the state if a jury returns a verdict in favor of the attorney general. In the case of personal property, such as money, stocks, bonds, savings accounts, dividends, machinery, farm products, livestock, or furniture, the Superior Court may place title in the state by a judgment. If the escheated personal property is not money, the state treasurer may sell it at either public or private sale and deposit the proceeds in the general funds of the state. In the case of unpaid dividends or wages, state law provides that the attorney general may apply to take the money into protective custody if it is unclaimed for five years. The state treasurer then seeks to locate the rightful owners, informing them by mail or postcard at their last known address of the money in protective custody. If no claim is made within two years, the money goes into general state funds. Gambling Any sheriff, mayor, or head of a local police department may be ordered by the attorney general to make an arrest or conduct a raid. The order from the attorney general is in effect a warrant, and no official carrying out the order may be sued for false arrest by a person taken into custody. T h e attorney general was given this power by the legislature in an effort to obtain direct action by the state in criminal matters, particularly in gambling. New Jersey's Constitution specifically permits pari-mutuel horse race gambling at three running tracks and one harness track, and bingo and raffles for charitable purposes. Gambling has been a knotty problem in the state for many years because some elements in resort areas consider games of chance an inducement to vacationers and because several nonresort interests believe gambling will draw

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money into the state from the populous New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. Professional gamblers sometimes seek to control local officials through bribes or through financing candidates. Once the local officials are under control, gambling may proceed without fear of arrest by municipal or county law-enforcement agencies, depending upon which level of government has been brought to heel. The citizen finds himself helpless to combat such a situation and must turn to the state for assistance. The most striking example of action on the local level by an attorney general occurred in 1950. Under pressure from various sources, including the office of the district attorney of New York City, the New Jersey attorney general moved into Bergen County. The prosecutor of the county was superseded and a major investigation of gambling and political corruption was conducted for more than three years. The prosecutor, who eventually was indicted and declared innocent by a jury of misconduct in office, retained his title until a successor was named in 1954. T h e investigation brought about the arrest and conviction of gambler Joe Adonis and several of his henchmen and reached a climax with the still-unsolved gangland slaying of mobster Willie Moretti late in 1951. Repercussions from this investigation were so widespread that in the 1953 elections the Republican party lost control of the governorship for the first time in a decade. T h e threat of a resurgence in gambling keeps the attorney general constantly alert. Protestant churchmen in the state have attacked gambling as a moral issue and have wanted it decided on moral grounds. They are opposed by other citizens who consider gambling an economic matter on the ground that pari-mutuel horse race betting furnishes revenue to the state and bingo and raffles help finance charitable and fraternal organizations. The attorney general must consider the political consequences of any gambling raid or arrest he orders. If he acts on information received from sources other than a municipal police force or a prosecutor's office, the attorney general must decide whether it is wise to call on local officials or order an arrest or raid without their knowledge. If he takes the latter course he runs the risk of antagonizing the local officials even when they are innocent of any connection with the arrested persons. An arrogant attorney general easily could disrupt law en-

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local level. A passive attorney general would political corruption within municipalities and or raid directed by the attorney general without is carried out by State Police troopers and The State Police

The State Police was organized in 1921, on a semimilitary basis, primarily for the protection of citizens in rural areas and to assist local police departments when called upon. A state trooper has the authority to enforce any law or municipal ordinance. Since its inception, the Division of State Police has increased in size and responsibility and today, in addition to giving protection against crime in rural areas, it enforces traffic laws on state highways, conducts investigations into gambling, illegal traffic in narcotics, and any other matters requested by federal or local authorities. The division maintains safety patrols in rural school districts, assists the Division of Civil Defense in disaster control, and provides special detachments to police the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway. The division maintains a dual teletype system, one for its own work and one for all police departments in the state. Identification It offers free of charge to all local police organizations the facilities of a Bureau of Identification, which has more than a million criminal fingerprints on file, photographs of known criminals, and other identification material and information concerning the underworld. The bureau also maintains a scientific crime detection laboratory. A state law requires all law-enforcement officers to take fingerprints of persons arrested for indictable offenses and forward them in duplicate to the State Police. One copy is held by the State Police and the second is forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Fingerprints received by the State Police are put through a search of the files at the headquarters in West Trenton and information is returned to the arresting agency within 24 hours. More than 500 police departments submit fingerprints to the State Police. The

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warden of the state prison and the superintendents of other penal institutions are required to forward fingerprints of all convicts on their reception. There are more than 300,000 photographs of criminals in State Police files, subdivided by color, sex, crime, and height of the person. The crime detection laboratory, established in 1935, employs a medium quartz spectrograph to analyze even the most minute piece of material. The laboratory also has a chemical section to detect types of substances and stains and to make blood analyses. Available to all law-enforcement agencies in the state is a portable X-ray machine for examination of suspicious packages. A firearms laboratory makes identification of projectiles and powder marks and handles analyses of such pieces of evidence as glass from headlight lenses and metal parts of automobiles in hit-and-run cases, cutting marks, and tools employed in a crime. Administration T h e head of the State Police is a superintendent with the title of colonel. He is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is paid $13,000 a year. It has been the custom to select a member of the State Police, usually with the rank of captain, as superintendent. There were only three majors in the State Police in 1956, one as the assistant to the superintendent, one as head of the detective force, and one as operations officer. For administrative purposes, the State Police is divided into four troops with headquarters at Hammonton, Morristown, New Brunswick, and Princeton. Each troop is commanded by a captain. T h e headquarters supervises the activities of stations within assigned areas of the state. The New Brunswick troop is limited to supervision of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway. Strength The authorized strength of the State Police is just over 1,000 troopers and officers. More than a tenth of the strength has been assigned to police duty on the state's two superhighways, 77 to the turnpike and 88 to the parkway. Five troopers are on assignment

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to the Division of Civil Defense. Details on detective assignments are not made public. The Division of State Police operates an academy at which it gives 90-day training courses that are so vigorous that at least a third of the candidates drop out. The academy is located at headquarters in West Trenton, but its staff also conducts training programs for local police departments at Sea Girt several times a year. Tenements and Hotels A Bureau of Tenement House Supervision is maintained within the Division of State Police. The bureau is responsible for the enforcement of laws concerning buildings occupied by at least three families who live independently of each other. Owners of such buildings are required to provide specified fire equipment, such as escapes and extinguishers, proper ventilation, and adequate sanitary facilities. Plans for any new tenement building must be approved by the bureau before construction may begin. Also within the division there is a Bureau of Hotel Fire Safety, which is required to inspect all hotels in the state that are located in municipalities with fire departments of less than five paid employees. The division is charged with the enforcement of state laws controlling safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry. Inspectors For many years the state's major highways were patrolled by State Police and motor vehicle inspectors. The state trooper is easily recognized not only by his two-toned blue uniform but by the whiteand-black patrol car he usually operates while on highway duty. The motor vehicle inspector, who wears a midnight blue uniform, generally rides in a black sedan that is recognized only by the "MV" designation on the license plates. Because they covered the same highways, there was a tendency for animosity to arise between the state trooper and the motor vehicle inspector; and, because state highways run directly through many municipalities, the area of responsibility between the trooper, the inspector, and the local police

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officer had been confusing. Late in 1954 the attorney general announced the gradual withdrawal of motor vehicle inspectors from highway patrols. T h e inspectors were given responsibility for all violations of the motor vehicle laws and moving traffic violations on the highways, and roads in rural areas became the exclusive province of the trooper. Division of Motor Vehicles The Division of Motor Vehicles controls, through registration and licensing, the operation of more than two million automobiles, trucks, and buses, and their drivers. T h e division is responsible for an annual safety inspection of all registered vehicles at some 40 state-operated stations. More than 200,000 persons are examined each year for new driver licenses by division inspectors, who also operate accident-prevention clinics. The chief justice of the Supreme Court, through instructions to municipal magistrates, cooperates with the State Police and the Division of Motor Vehicles in a continuing program to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities in New Jersey, where the density of motor vehicles is seven times the national average. Four major projects have been undertaken by the Motor Vehicle Division on authority of the legislature in an effort to reduce accidents and their consequences. These projects are the "no-fix" traffic summons, a point system that determines license revocation, a security-responsibility law to protect the citizen against economic hardships resulting from motor vehicle accidents, and the annual inspection of all vehicles. If a person receives a summons for a traffic violation, the piece of paper handed to him or left on his windshield is one of four copies. T h e issuing police officer retains a copy. He also sends one copy to the magistrate before whom you are to appear and one copy to the Division of Motor Vehicles to be entered against his driving record if the man is found guilty of the offense. No single individual is able to pick up all four copies of the summons and destroy them. As a result, the no-fix ticket has caused a jump of almost 150 per cent in the number of traffic arrests in the state since 1948 when the new-type summons was begun. The greatest number of violations in the state is for speeding—almost 50 per cent of all traffic

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arrests. Next in number of violations come careless driving, passing through red lights, and ignoring stop street signs. Demerits and Revocation The division's point system was begun July 1, 1952. It provides for no fine, but it permits the director of the division to revoke the driver's license of an operator of a motor vehicle who earns 12 or more demerits in a three-year period. Here is the scale of demerits: Driving, or permitting someone else to drive a vehicle, while under the influence of liquor or drug 12 points If held responsible for a fatal accident 12 " Leaving the scene of an accident 8 " Reckless driving 6 " Exceeding the speed limit 4 " Any other violation 3 " If convicted three times of traffic violations within 18 months 3 " Revocation of a license may be from 30 days to two years or more, depending on the severity of the violations. When a driver accumulates 12 or more points within a three-year period, he is required to appear before the Driver Improvement Section of the division to show cause why his license should not be revoked. A driver whose license is revoked is required to take psychophysical tests at the division's accident-prevention clinic. T h e clinic was set up originally through the cooperation of the Automobile Association of New Jersey and the Center for Safety Education of New York University. Members of the division's inspector force staff the clinic. They may require a driver whose license was revoked to undergo a driving test and a written examination before restoration of the license. A New Jersey driver is liable to the point system even if his violation occurred in another state. If an out-of-state driver accumulates 12 or more points, his privilege to drive in New Jersey is revoked and his home state motor vehicle officials are notified. The rate of accident involvement in New Jersey is about one accident for every 16 drivers. T h e point system was established to weed

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out drivers whose accident proneness or disregard for the law was not retarded by a series of fines. Security-Responsibility Law The Security-Responsibility Law became effective April 1, 1953, and was augmented April 1, 1955, by an Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund Law. Under the Security-Responsibility Law every driver of a motor vehicle involved in an accident resulting in death, injury, or property damage of more than $100 must file a report within five days with the director of the Division of Motor Vehicles. Failure to make the report may result in revocation or suspension of the driver's license and registration. Under the Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund Law all licensed motorists were required in 1954 to pay $1 if they carried insurance and $3 if they were uninsured. By 1956 the payments were changed to require an $8 payment by the uninsured and no payment by the insured. The fund is administered by a special nonsalaried board comprising the commissioner of banking and insurance, the director of the Motor Vehicle Division, and four representatives of insurance companies. Insurance companies are required to pay half of one per cent of their direct net premiums for automobile liability policies written in New Jersey. Any person injured by an insured driver may not make a claim against the fund. Any person injured by an uninsured driver who cannot meet damages from other sources must notify the special board of an intention to collect from the fund. If the claim is $1,000 or less, settlement may be made with the approval of the state treasurer. If the claim is for more than $1,000, it must be settled by a court. In a hit-and-run case causing death or injury any qualified person may bring suit against the director of the Division of Motor Vehicles by making a written application to the Superior Court. The applicant must not have been a passenger or the operator of an uninsured automobile. Permission to carry a suit against the motor vehicle director will be given by the court if the amount of damages to be recovered is more than $200. In such a case, the applicant may obtain a judgment up to $5,000, less the $200 for which he cannot sue. If there is more than one injured party, a judgment up

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to $10,000 may be obtained, less $200 for each party seeking damages. The Motor Vehicle Division said of the Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund: "When a judgment within specified minimum and maximum limits is obtained in a New Jersey court, the person who obtained the judgment, upon 10 days' notice to the board, may apply to the court for an order to have the amount of the judgment paid from the fund. The applicant for payment will be required to show, among other things: "That his damages were not covered under workmen's compensation insurance; that he is not the spouse, parent or child of the person against whom judgment was obtained; that he was not a guest-occupant of the motor vehicle owned by the person against whom the judgment was obtained; that he was not at the time of the accident riding in or operating an uninsured motor vehicle owned by him or his spouse, parent or child, or that the person against whom the judgment was obtained was not insured; and that he, as the applicant, had taken all possible steps to collect the amount of the judgment but was unable to collect in full. " T h e minimum amount payable from the fund will be $200. The maximum amount covering any one accident is $5,000 for injury or death of one person, $10,000 for injury or death of more than one person, and $1,000 for property damage. Thus, damages resulting from any one accident which exceed $200 may be paid from the fund up to the limits stated. This law provides additional protection than would be afforded under a compulsory insurance law. Compulsory insurance does not, but this law does, afford protection: "a. Where damages result from the negligence of an out-of-state financially irresponsible and uninsured motorist; "b. A hit and run driver; and, "c. An unauthorized driver." Liability Security In addition, the state has a Motor Vehicle Liability Security Law which protects holders of liability insurance against losses if the

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company which issued the insurance becomes insolvent. Insurance companies themselves set up the fund with each company contributing twice a year on the basis of half of one per cent of its net direct premiums. This fund is administered by the commissioner of banking and insurance. Inspection Semiannual inspection of motor vehicles was begun in 1937, but was reduced in 1956 to annual inspections when stations became clogged with waiting motorists. Each driver must show the registration certificate for his vehicle and his driver's license when applying for inspection. The vehicle is moved through a series of tests to determine how it operates and whether it complies with motor vehicle laws. All glass on the vehicle, its horn, windshield wipers, rear-view mirror, exhaust system, wheel alignment, steering alignment, lights, beam indicator, brakes, directional signals, fender flaps, wiring and switches are required to be inspected and approved. A colored sticker is fixed on the lower right side of the windshield and the registration certificate is stamped by the inspection station. An owner must have an inspection stamp on his registration certificate for renewal. The division mails warning notices to all owners of motor vehicles informing them when inspection is due. Failure to have a vehicle inspected results in revocation of registration. Registration and Licenses A certificate of ownership of a motor vehicle is issued for $1.50 when it is purchased outright and $2 when it is bought on an installment plan. Fees for registration of vehicles such as taxicabs and buses vary from $5 to $40, depending on the number of passengers that may be carried. Interstate buses pay an excise tax at the rate of a half cent a mile of travel. In 1955 New Jersey instituted an optional mail-order system of licensing drivers and registering motor vehicles other than trucks, buses, and farm equipment. Registration fees range from $15 to $25 depending on the weight of the vehicle. T h e registration fees are collected annually and include the cost of inspection. License

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plates are permanent. That is, they are issued for the life of the vehicle, but an owner may transfer the plate to a new vehicle if he sells the one he has been operating. The new plates carry no year designation, but they are current if the proper inspection sticker is displayed on the windshield. Renewals of registration depend on the month the vehicle is purchased. Owners have the option of paying registration fees through the mail or at one of 49 motor vehicle agencies in the state. After passing his first driver examinations and obtaining a license, an operator may renew the license annually or every three years in the month of his birthday. The one-year license fee is $3 and the three-year fee is $8. Like registration certificates, driver licenses may be obtained through the mail or from a motor vehicle agent. A new driver must be a resident of the state, at least 17 years of age (special licenses are granted to 16-year-olds who operate vehicles employed by farmers), pass a written examination, and take a driving test. A learner's permit, which requires a licensed operator to accompany the student driver, is issued for a $1 fee. Out-of-state drivers who become residents of New Jersey rarely are required to take the driving test if they can produce a license from another state, but they must pass the written examination. The inspector force of the Motor Vehicle Division, with an authorized strength of 158 uniformed officers, examines applicants for driver licenses, issues summonses for violations of motor vehicle laws, seeks recovery of stolen vehicles, and supervises issuance of special licenses required of bus drivers. Two members of the force are permanently assigned to locating stolen cars and apprehending motor vehicle thieves. The inspectors also are assigned to investigate cases in which drivers are reported to be suffering from epilepsy, related diseases, or mental illness. The force supervises auto race tracks and enforces laws on spectator and participant safety. Auto race tracks are located at Pitman, Atco, Columbus, Pleasantville, Hightstown, Flemington, Trenton, Manahawkin, Morristown, Jersey City, Old Bridge, New Egypt, and Belmar. More than 90 commercial driver schools in the state are licensed by the division and their activities are supervised by the inspector force. The inspectors also have the responsibility of enforcement of the Automobile Junk Yard Law. The force is required

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to make sure such junk yards located on or visible from state highways are as sightly as possible. T h e law was intended to prevent unreasonable depreciation of surrounding property. There are more than 60 automobile junk yards in the state, all licensed by the division. T h e greatest number of yards in any county—15—is in Middlesex. Traffic Safety A Bureau of Traffic Safety within the Department of Law and Public Safety cooperates with the Division of Motor Vehicles in analyzing and approving traffic-control and speed-zoning plans proposed by municipalities. T h e bureau compiles accident and other traffic statistics for research purposes and conducts educational programs for high school students, civic organizations, and the public in general. Speed Speed limits and zones within the state must be approved by the director of the Division of Motor Vehicles. A state law sets a maximum speed of 50 miles an hour on all open roads, unless otherwise posted, and 25 miles an hour in built-up areas. Municipalities may apply for lower speed limits and, if their applications are approved, they must post zones where the lower limits are in effect. T h e speed limit on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway is 60 miles an hour. A driver is just as likely to receive a summons for going too slow on a highway as too fast. A minimum speed of 30 miles an hour is expected on highways where the maximum is 50 miles an hour. T h e director of the division is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. T h e director is paid $13,000 a year. Alcoholic Beverage Control All alcoholic beverages manufactured, distributed, and sold in New Jersey come under the control of a state director. He issues all manufacturing and wholesaling licenses and special permits, such as those required by organizations holding one-day affairs at which alcoholic beverages are to be sold. T h e director of the Division of

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Alcoholic Beverage Control, who is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is paid $17,500 annually, supervises the issuance by municipalities of liquor licenses to retailers. Municipal liquor licenses are highly prized and their holders usually are in a position to obtain many times the fee when they put their establishments up for sale. The division director employs an investigating staff which conducts routine inspections of all licensed premises and sometimes employs undercover methods to obtain evidence of illicit activities. The director has the power to hear appeals from municipal actions on licenses and he sits in judgment on violations of ABC regulations. He has the authority to discipline violators, usually through suspension or revocation of licenses. In some instances, ABC investigators enforce municipal ordinances which are passed over by local authorities. As an example, a Trenton ordinance prohibits package store dealers from selling tobacco products. Trenton police rarely enforced the ordinance, but ABC investigators put a clamp on the sale of tobacco products in package stores. Weights and Measures The Division of Weights and Measures, established in 1912, is headed by a $>10,000-a-year superintendent, appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. T h e division is responsible for the inspection and approval of all industrial and commercial weighing and measuring devices, including the corner store scale, the pharmacist's weights and scales, and the more than 30,000 fuel pumps in the state's 10,500 gasoline stations. The division also licenses coal dealers, poultry dealers and distributors, and mechanics who repair weighing machines. The superintendent works with a staff of 40 and is assisted by municipal and county weights and measures personnel. The division goes beyond its normal function of checking weighing instruments by looking into the practices and ethics of tradesmen. In one report to the attorney general, the superintendent said: " T h e task of the weights and measures officer is to ferret out the merchant of dishonest tendencies and exact the toll of punishment prescribed for those who violate the principles of equity. . . .

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"If we learn that a tradesman is underselling his competitor to a degree that appears unreasonable, we look into his practices, as he may be making up the difference by short weight or short measurement." With the increase in the number of self-service food stores, the division increased its inspections of the prepackaging of meats and other products. The division has reported its inspectors have found conditions in New Jersey self-service stores to be "quite satisfactory." And the division said suspicion by motorists that gasoline stations were giving short measure during price wars was unfounded. Through licensing of coal dealers, the division reported it had put an end to coal bootleggers who trucked the fuel into the state from nearby Pennsylvania fields and undersold the legitimate concerns. Periodically, weights and measures officers, working with state troopers, make night inspections of coal trucks to check on the weight of fuel prepared for delivery to a consumer. The division has the responsibility for the operation of four truckweighing stations located at Mahwah, Mountain View, Woodbridge, and Bordentown. Trucks on state highways near these stations are picked up at random by state troopers and motor vehicle inspectors and escorted to the weighing stations. Overloading trucks is an offense punishable by a fine and possible revocation of registration. In his report, the superintendent said: "It is a peculiar commentary to state that, while each and every delivery of coal made in the state must have its weight certified, there is no such restriction on such commodities as livestock, grains, hay, straw, construction materials, essential oils (outside of petroleum classifications), precious and base metals, scrap materials and others." Professional Boards T h e Division of Professional Boards comprises those regulatory bodies set up over the years to be responsible for the examination, licensing, and enforcement of standards of practice and ethics of public accounting, architecture, dentistry, mortuary science (embalming and funeral directing), professional engineering and land surveying, medicine, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, shorthand reporting, and ophthalmic dispensing. For their

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operations the state appropriates almost $400,000 a year. Members of the boards vary in number according to standards set up within their organizations and societies. The governor appoints the members, usually from lists recommended by the various professional groups. The boards serve without pay, but may bill the state for their expenses. They have the power to grant and revoke licenses within their fields. They rarely make public the proceedings of hearings on complaints against licensed practitioners.

15

Finances INiew Jersey has long boasted that it has the lowest per capita state taxes in the nation. Officials of the state have proclaimed proudly that there is no sales or income tax in New Jersey. A sales tax authorized by the legislature in the mid-1930's was repealed quickly and any hint of a broad-based tax has been quashed ever since. It cost roughly $800 million in 1955 to finance municipal, county, and state governments. Of that sum the municipalities raised some $500 million in real estate and personal property taxes. T h e state government collected close to $300 million from a limited number of specialized taxes, such as levies on race track receipts, motor vehicles and their fuel, the net worth of corporations, inheritances, railroads, and on the sale of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages. From the early nineteenth century the state left collection of real estate and personal property taxes to local governments. T h e government at Trenton was able to get along until this century on levies against railroads, insurance companies, and banks. Taxes to meet the cost of government in New Jersey began in 1670, with a levy of a halfpenny an acre for support of the colonial government. Twelve years later, with the establishment of counties, taxation began its unpopular career on the local level. In 1686 townships were permitted to raise money for public improvements. Critics of the state's tax system feel that New Jersey still operates in colonial style when it comes to collecting money to defray the cost of government. Almost every governor since 1850 has cried out against what he called inequities in the property tax system. Special commissions have studied the system and have agreed that it needs major surgery if the state and local governments are to avoid 200

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a disastrous financial crisis. Some of the study groups have deplored the manner in which local officials have assessed property, both real and personal. Others have warned that unless an income or sales tax is levied, the state will run up against an awesome deficit before 1960. The state Constitution prohibits deficit financing and, because of that prohibition, one study group reported that the government at Trenton will either have to approve a new kind of tax or cut back services to the citizens. The assessed value of all property in New Jersey in 1956 was approximately $7 billion and the average real estate tax in the state was about $7.50 for each $100 worth of assessed valuation. The full market value of real estate in New Jersey is estimated in the neighborhood of $20 billion. Experts have estimated assessed value of property in the state is about S5 per cent of its appraised value, or the price they believe it would bring if sold. The Commission on State Tax Policy, in a report on property taxes, said that a survey of postwar homes in New Jersey showed they ranged in value from under $4,000 to more than $20,000, making the average value of a home built since 1946 something like $10,000. Property Taxes Here is New Jersey's system of real estate and personal property taxation: T h e director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury has the power to investigate, review, revise, and equalize assessments and to remove local assessors. As soon as a citizen purchases a piece of property, the deed must be recorded with the county clerk and the County Board of Taxation informed. The purchaser must assume taxes levied against his property. The levy is determined by the municipality within which the property is located. The municipal assessor or Board of Assessors, depending on the local form of government, receives an abstract of the deed to the property from the county clerk. The assessor is required to list the names and addresses of all owners of property within his taxing district and assess the property each October 1. The assessor is required to turn over a copy of his list

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of assessments to the County Board of Taxation by January 10 each year. The County Board of Taxation has supervision and control over all assessing officers, subject to the approval of the state director of the Division of Taxation. The county board may issue rules, orders, and directions to assessors and the board acts as the initial appeal body for an aggrieved taxpayer. If the taxpayer feels he has been discriminated against in the valuation of his property by the assessor, he must make an appeal to the county board before August 15. If the taxpayer is dissatisfied with the judgment of the board, he may appeal to the Division of Tax Appeals, making his petition before December 15. If he still is dissatisfied after a hearing before the division, the taxpayer may carry his case into the Appellate Division of the Superior Court. In addition to setting the taxable value of real estate, the assessor is required to determine the levy for all tangible personal property held by persons residing in his taxing district. Tangible personal property includes household goods, farm stock, farm and business machinery, business inventories, and equipment. New Jersey citizens paid about $70 million in personal property taxes in 1956. Of all taxes collected on property in the state, about 87 per cent comes from real estate and 13 per cent from personal property. Securities and accounts receivable are not considered tangible property and are not taxed. Motor vehicles are not taxed as personal property on grounds that the owners pay registration fees for them. Business pays a major portion of the personal property tax, turning over something close to $60 million a year compared to about $ 11 million on household goods and farm stock and machinery. Railroad Taxes From the time they first threw wood smoke against the landscape until today when they operate on electricity, coal, or diesel oil, railroads have paid taxes to the local and state governments. Since the development of automotive and air transport, the railroads have fought to have their competitors either pay as much as they do or have their own payments reduced. The battle between rail and rubber has been fought vigorously and sometimes undercover in

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the lobbies of the legislature and through media of information. A remarkable decline in railroad revenues has heightened the ferocity of the fight. Unable to make much headway in the form of tax concessions, the railroads have sought permission to discontinue services they claim are not only unprofitable but drain off resources which could go toward improvements. As a public utility, the railroad must prove that the traveling public will not be inconvenienced by any proposed service elimination. Railroad taxes became a paramount political issue in the heyday of former Mayor Frank Hague of Jersey City. Eight trunkline railroads have terminals in Hudson County and almost 80 per cent of the local railroad taxes paid in the state are collected by municipalities in that county. The taxes paid by railroads to those communities approximate $40 million. This figure is in contrast to about $4 million paid by the railroads to the state. When Hague's powerful Democratic organization controlled the state, any move to reduce railroad taxes was met by an extremely cold shoulder at Trenton. Since the fall of Hague in the 1949 Jersey City municipal election, the railroads have reduced their services, with a resultant decline in revenue to Hudson County municipalities. All railroad property is assessed annually by the director of the Division of Taxation. He assesses the railroads according to three designations: Class I, under the Railroad Tax Law, applies to the "main stem" or "the roadbed not exceeding 100 feet in width, as measured horizontally at the elevation of the base of the rail, including the full embankment or excavated area, with slopes, slope ditches, retaining walls or foundations necessary to provide a width not to exceed 100 feet at base of rail, together with all tracks, appurtenances, ballast and all structures erected thereon and used in connection therewith, but not including passenger or freight buildings erected thereon." Class II is all railroad real estate used by the carrier other than the "main stem," and including roadbeds of branches, passenger and freight stations, water tanks, riparian rights, docks, wharves, and any other real estate, such as yards and warehouses. Class III consists of the personal property of the railroad, such

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as cars, locomotives, ferry boats, machinery, tools and equipment built for its use or run under its control, such as sleeping cars. The state collects taxes on Class I and III and the municipality on Class II. The municipality may tax the railroad for its use on local real estate of such community property as streets, sidewalks, sewers, and any other improvement. T h e railroads are not required to pay franchise taxes to municipalities such as those paid by telegraph, telephone, and water companies. Transportation companies, other than railroads and taxicabs, and sewerage, gas, electric light, heat and power corporations that use wires, cables, poles, pipes, viaducts, conduits, and other forms of transmission pay franchise taxes to municipalities. Exemptions T a x exemptions, which fall into two classes, are defined by law. Exemptions are made either because of the status of the individual, which is considered "class exemption," or because of the manner in which property is used. An example of "class exemption" is that which applies to veterans and their widows. The New Jersey Constitution provides that they must be given $500 in exemption for real and personal property. As a result, very few veterans are required to pay personal property taxes. Their real estate taxes are lower by an amount equivalent to about a $400 reduction in the assessed valuation of their property. The law on property tax exemption specifies that no levy may be made against real estate: "1. actually used for colleges, schools, academies or seminaries; "2. actually used for historical societies, associations or exhibitions when owned by state, county or any political subdivision thereof; "3. actually and exclusively used for public libraries, religious worship or asylum or schools for feeble-minded or idiotic persons or children; "4. actually and exclusively used for volunteer first aid squads; "5. actually and exclusively used for any association or corporation engaged in preventing cruelty to animals; "6. actually and exclusively used for associations and corporations

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organized exclusively for the moral and mental improvement of men, women, and children or for religious, charitable or hospital purposes; "7. the building actually occupied as a parsonage by the officiating clergymen—to an amount not exceeding $5,000." Furniture and personal property in exempt buildings and used for the same purposes as the building also are exempt. But an outof-state college or university cannot obtain an exemption, for instance, for a textbook printing plant in New Jersey. A property used only in the summertime for charitable or religious purposes and left vacant the balance of the year qualifies for exemption. Personal property stored in a warehouse also is exempt from tax. Among other property exempt from taxation are burial grounds not exceeding 10 acres and usually adjoining a church; cemeteries and buildings on them; property of cemetery associations that does not exceed 125 acres in size or $75,000 in taxable value; all buildings, land and personal property used by veterans organizations for their own purposes; the real and personal property of YMCA, YWCA, YMHA, and YWHA organizations; property of funds and benevolent institutions and associations; exempt firemen's associations and volunteer fire companies; household effects not exceeding $100 in value; and unrefined metals owned by nonresidents, but refined in New Jersey. Fraternal organizations and lodges and fraternities and sororities are not exempt from taxation. Any property employed by an exempt corporation to produce pecuniary profit may be taxed. For instance, if a religious organization rents its school building for use as an office building, the lessee must pay taxes on the assessed value of the structure. All state and federal property, including forests, parks, and historical sites are tax exempt. In addition, any property secured by the state for future improvement, such as a highway, tunnel entrance, or bridge plaza area, is tax exempt. Tax Problems Property taxes are collected by municipalities to support their governments, schools, and county governments. The schools take about 44 per cent of the taxes collected by the municipalities and receive more than a third of the state's budget in the form of aid.

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CITIZEN

About 38 per cent of the property taxes collected is retained by the municipalities and some 18 per cent goes to the county. Several municipalities in North Jersey pay property taxes to other municipalities. Cities in Essex and Hudson counties, for instance, which own land used as watersheds and reservoirs in Bergen and Passaic counties pay taxes on the property. T h e Commission on State T a x Policy, which was established by the legislature in 1945, is of the opinion that the personal property tax has completely broken down. T h e commission has taken a dim view not only of the manner in which the personal property tax law is administered but of the general property tax system itself. Of the personal property tax, the commission has reported to the legislature: "Under the personal property tax as now applied, cross currents of favoritism, inequalities, and inequities are so extensive and in many cases so compounded, that the establishment of equality of treatment must be expected in and of itself to produce some marked tax readjustments with respect to individual taxpayers and municipalities." Following an exhaustive study of the real estate tax system, the commission summarized it in this way: " T h e burden of the general property tax on a statewide basis is about equally divided between homeowners and commercial and industrial property owners. "Commercial and industrial real estate is generally assessed at higher ratios to full value than is residential real estate. "Gross inequalities in individual assessments are widespread—the variations of assessment ratios as among individual properties within municipalities is as great, if not greater than, among municipal averages which range from under 10 per cent to over 60 per cent. "Heavily tax-burdened real estate is not necessarily found in municipalities with high official tax rates. "New Jersey taxes on residences are almost double the national average. " T h e cheapest parcels of real estate are generally assessed closer to true value than the dearest ones—but assessments are not consistently regressive.

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"Real estate in large urban municipalities is generally assessed at a higher ratio to full value than in smaller taxing districts. "Land is generally assessed at a higher ratio than improvements. This is especially true of residential properties. "Residential property in one-family zones is more lightly assessed than properties in other parts of the municipality. "Real estate in poor neighborhoods tends to be assessed at higher ratios than real estate in good neighborhoods. "Houses in owner-occupied areas are more favorably assessed than those in tenant-occupied areas. "Real estate in blocks largely built-up tends to be assessed at higher ratios than real estate in blocks less completely built-up. "Old neighborhoods tend to be more heavily assessed than new ones. Similarly houses over 30 years old tend to be assessed at higher ratios than new ones, and those built between 1932 and 1940 are most favorably treated by current standards." A Local Property Tax Bureau was established in 1953 within the Division of Taxation of the Department of the Treasury. In a report to the governor later that year the director of the division said the bureau was activated because of "universal public interest in local taxing problems due in part to an acute awareness of underassessed, unassessed as well as some overassessed property in the face of constantly rising tax burdens." The bureau's function is to bring about uniformity in local tax assessments by assisting county tax boards and local assessors in their work. Department of the Treasury All financial transactions of the state are handled through the Department of the Treasury, which is headed by the state treasurer, a cabinet member who receives $18,000 a year and is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The treasurer must post a $100,000 bond on taking office, with the state paying the premiums. The department consists of an administrative division and divisions of budget and accounting, purchase and property, taxation, local government, tax appeals, investments, pensions, and the New Jersey Racing Commission. The Racing Commission

208

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N E W

J E R S E Y

CITIZEN

will be treated separately in Chapter 19,

AUTHORITIES

AND

COM-

MISSIONS.

T h e Administrative Division of the department handles business and personnel details and, in addition, operates a print shop which does the printing and designing for the divisions of the department and for other agencies of the state. The Division of Budget and Accounting, headed by a $16,000-ayear director appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, comprises the bureaus of the budget and of accounting. The director also holds the title of state comptroller. He must post a $50,000 bond on taking office, with premiums paid by the state. The Budget Bureau is required to make continuous studies of the fiscal requirements of the 14 departments of the state, conduct budget hearings at which the departments make appropriation requests, and formulate the annual budget that is submitted by the governor to the legislature. The governor's budget is a three-section spending program for the state government for each fiscal year, which begins July 1 and ends June 30. The budget carries the governor's recommendations for appropriations to pay the cost of operating the state's departments, to provide state aid to counties and municipalities for schools, roads, welfare, beach protection, and other assistance, and to meet the cost of capital improvements, including highway construction and repairs, new buildings, and maintenance of existing state government property. The budget is employed by a joint committee of the Senate and Assembly in drawing up appropriations bills. T h e governor's budget lists anticipated revenues from the various state taxes and must, by constitutional mandate, be balanced. During the decade following World War II, budget estimates of anticipated revenue have been below the actual income, providing surpluses at the end of each fiscal year which have been appropriated for expenses in the succeeding year. Some tax experts have warned that before 1960 there will be a leveling off of revenue and chances for a surplus will be very slim. A few of the experts have predicted that deficits will replace the surpluses and New Jersey will face recurring fiscal crises. T h e Accounting Bureau maintains a centralized accounting system for the state and is responsible for the preparation of monthly

FINANCES

209

and annual reports showing the financial condition of the state treasury. All state employee paychecks and payments of other claims are drawn u p by the bureau. T h e Division

of Purchase

and Property,

h e a d e d b y a $13,000-a-

year director who is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, comprises bureaus of purchase, property, insurance and special services, and architecture. All state purchases must be cleared through the division and all property seized by various police agencies of the state is handled, stored, and disposed of by the division. Any state property declared surplus is turned over to the division for reassignment or sale. T h e Purchase Bureau sets standards and specifications for property bought by the state and keeps an inventory on equipment and supplies of all agencies. T h e bureau is the buyer for all departments and their subdivisions. All major purchases are made following solicitation for bids. T h e Property Bureau is responsible for the maintenance and repair of state-owned or -leased buildings located in Trenton, except those under the jurisdiction of the Departments of Education and Institutions and Agencies. T h e bureau also operates cafeterias in the State House and at the Highway Department Building in Ewing Township. T h e Bureau of Insurance and Special Services maintains the State House telephone system and post office, in addition to purchasing all insurance needed to protect the interests of the state. T h e bureau also negotiates for the rental of any property desired by a state agency. T h e Bureau of Architecture prepares all plans and specifications for buildings to be constructed by the state and awards construction contracts. Also within the Division of Purchase and Property is a section to handle the agricultural commodity distribution fund. This section distributes federal surplus foods that are made available for free distribution to state, county, and municipal institutions, schools, and charitable organizations. T h e Division of Taxation is a nine-bureau agency, headed by a director who is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and paid $13,000 a year. T h e bureaus admin-

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ister and collect the taxes which are the main sources of income for the state. The director is charged with levying property and franchise taxes on railroads and franchise and gross receipts taxes on other public utilities. He has the power, as was pointed out earlier, to investigate and equalize local assessments and to supervise the activities of local tax officials. Beverage and Cigarette Taxes The Beverage Tax Bureau collects levies on alcoholic beverages sold or delivered in New Jersey to consumers. The tax rate ranges from 3.33 cents a gallon on beer to $1.50 a gallon on liquor. The bureau makes its collections from some 400 manufacturers, wholesalers, transporters, and warehousers, all of which must post bonds and file reports each month disclosing all their transactions. The bureau also processes monthly reports filed by about 12,500 tavernkeepers and package store owners. Alcoholic beverages sold to authorized military organizations or for medicinal uses by hospitals, doctors, and dentists are tax exempt. Alcohol used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicines, food products, flavoring extracts, and scientific products also is exempt from taxation. The Cigarette Tax Bureau, created in 1948, collects a 5-cent tax on each package of cigarettes through the sale of revenue stamps to licensed cigarette distributors. The distributors are permitted a discount of 3 per cent on the purchase of stamps in excess of $100 worth. T h e bureau enforces an Unfair Cigarette Sales Act, which was approved in 1952, and puts a floor on the price of cigarettes, prohibiting sales at a price less than cost. License fees charged by the state are $350 a year for distributors, $200 for wholesale dealers, $5 for retail dealers, and $1 for vending machines. Corporation Taxes The Corporation Tax Bureau collects corporation business, financial business, and insurance premium taxes and issues tax lien and tax clearance certificates and releases of corporation franchise tax liens. T h e bureau determines and certifies the franchise taxes payable by insurance companies in the state. Taxes collected from

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211

fire insurance companies of other states and foreign countries on premiums against risks in New Jersey are distributed by law to the New Jersey Firemen's Home (Chapter 12) and the New Jersey State Firemen's Association. One-eighth of the taxes collected from out-of-state and foreign insurance companies on premiums covering automobile risks in New Jersey is turned over to the State Police Retirement and Benevolent Fund. T h e bureau also allocates $4 million of corporation business tax collections to the state's school aid fund. T h e state shares equally with municipalities and counties the collections on financial business taxes. Franchise taxation on corporations dates back to 1884 in New Jersey. From that year, until 1946, the franchise tax was based on the amount of capital stock issued by a corporation. Out-of-state corporations were not taxed until 1936. Since 1946 both domestic and out-of-state corporations have been taxed on a net worth basis. In determining net worth, corporations are permitted to deduct their liabilities, and the remaining figure is taxed through an allocation percentage method. For instance, a corporation which does not have offices outside the state must pay 100 per cent of the tax rate on net worth. For corporations with offices outside the state, the net worth taxable in New Jersey is determined by a pair of formulas. One formula arrives at the percentage of the corporation's net worth in New Jersey simply by dividing all of its assets into its assets in the state. The second formula determines the percentage of net worth by dividing the value of the corporation's real estate and personal property everywhere into the value of its real estate and personal property in the state, dividing its receipts everywhere into its New Jersey receipts, and dividing its over-all payroll into its payroll in the state and then dividing the aggregate by three. T h e corporation's percentage of net worth is determined for tax purposes by whichever formula produces the higher amount. The rate of tax is $2 for every $1,000 on the first $100 million of allocated net worth, 40 cents for every $1,000 on the second $100 million, 30 cents on a third $100 million, and 20 cents on all allocated net worth above $300 million. T h e minimum tax for corporations is $25 a year for those that operate only within the state and $50 for those that do business from out-of-state offices. Any corporation in the state with a net worth allocation of $45,000 or more

212

THE NEW JERSEY CITIZEN

pays above the $25 minimum and any out-of-state corporation with a net worth allocation of more than $80,000 in New Jersey pays more than the $50 minimum. An exception to the general corporation tax is an investment company, which must pay a minimum of $250 a year. Financial Business and Insurance Premium Taxes The financial business tax is applied to all individuals, partnerships, and corporations in substantial competition with national banks by employing money to make a profit, such as industrial banks, dealers in commercial paper, personal finance companies, and small loan and mortgage finance companies. Excluded specifically from the tax are national banks, credit unions, savings banks, savings and loan associations, stock and mutual insurance companies, state banks and trust companies, pawnbrokers and credit associations organized under the 1933 Federal Farm Credit Act. The financial business tax rate is three-quarters of one per cent of allocated net worth and the minimum tax is $25 a year. The insurance premium tax is measured on gross premiums collected in the state by stock, mutual, and assessment insurance companies. Life insurance companies are required to pay 2 per cent on taxable premiums from all policies on residents in the state except for annuity contracts on which the tax is 1 per cent on the premiums. The insurance companies are permitted to deduct specified local taxes. Insurance companies, other than those handling "death" policies, pay 2 per cent on all taxable premiums. The law specifies taxable premiums for these companies shall not exceed a sum equal to 12.5 per cent of total premiums paid to them. Sundry Other Taxes The Railroad Tax Bureau and determines the tax upon lects in the Class I and III was 1.20 per cent. Franchise the rate of 10 per cent of net law puts a limit on taxes that

sets the value of all railroad property it. As was noted earlier, the state coldesignations, where the rate in 1955 taxes in the two classes are levied at railroad operating income, but a 1948 must be paid. The limit on total taxes

FINANCES

213

by a railroad is $3,000 a mile of track where the line's revenues in New Jersey are not in excess of $1 million and $4,500 a mile where the revenue exceeds that amount. The Motor Fuels Tax Bureau collects from licensed distributors a tax of four cents a gallon on motor fuels and charges $5 a year for retail dealer licenses and $2 a year for wholesale dealer and motor fuel transport licenses. The Outdoor Advertising Tax Bureau collects from every individual or company in the business of outdoor advertising a $100a-year license fee and a permit fee ranging from 80 cents to $25, depending on the size of billboards employed. Revenue from the billboard business is used to defray expenses of the bureau and any balances at the end of a fiscal year are distributed to municipalities in proportion to the number of billboards within them. There were more than 23,000 billboards licensed in the state in 1955. The Public Utility Tax Bureau apportions franchise and gross receipts taxes against telephone, telegraph, water, sewer, street railway, and gas and electric companies. The taxes are collected by the municipalities, which in turn are assessed proportionately to pay the expenses of the bureau. Franchise taxes are assessed against 136 public utility corporations, two municipal electric corporations, and nine individuals, and gross receipts taxes against 26 corporations and the two municipal electric corporations. T h e gross receipts tax was instituted in 1940 and is applied against electric, gas, and sewerage utilities only. The tax is in lieu of a personal property levy and its rate had been determined by the average state property tax. But in 1956 the legislature put a 7.5 per cent ceiling and a 5 per cent floor on the tax. Electric, gas, and sewerage utilities pay franchise, gross receipts, and local real estate taxes, but are not assessed under the state's corporation net worth tax. Inheritance Tax T h e Transfer Inheritance Tax Bureau supervises administration of taxes on the transfer of any property by will, intestate law, deed, grant, sale, or gift in contemplation of death. The tax rate ranges from 1 to 16 per cent, depending on the value of the property and

214

T H E NEW JERSEY CITIZEN

the relationship of the beneficiary to the deceased person. Any transfers under $500 to relatives or nonrelatives is tax exempt. If the transfer is $500 or more, the tax rate begins at 8 per cent and goes up to 16 per cent. An exemption of $5,000 is granted to husbands, wives, children, mothers, fathers, grandparents, stepchildren, and mutually acknowledged children, with the rate of tax on anything over $5,000 beginning at 1 per cent and going up to 16 per cent. Bequests of $5,000 to charitable, religious, and benevolent organizations also are tax exempt, with anything over $5,000 taxed at 5 per cent. Any bequests to the state or to nonprofit educational institutions are completely tax exempt. Transfer inheritance taxes are payable within the year following death of the benefactor and bear a 10 per cent interest rate after that. The bureau also assesses estate taxes and collects the difference between credit allowed for federal estate taxes that are paid and the total amount of inheritance taxes paid in New Jersey and other states. Counties receive a 5 per cent refund on all taxes collected by the bureau. Anticipated revenue from inheritance taxes in the 1955-56 fiscal year was $11 million. Local Government T h e Division of Local Government whose $13,000-a-year director is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, works with a Local Government Board of three members also appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. T h e board holds hearings on various local government problems and establishes regulations for the interpretation and administration of state laws that apply to counties and municipalities. The division is required to see that all municipal sinking funds are up to standards set by law and must take over jurisdiction of the fiscal policies of municipalities that may default on their bonds. T h e division makes municipal audits or examinations on request, or when they are necessary, and maintains a uniform system of accounting for all counties and municipalities. Local governments are required to submit to the division statements of financial condition, and the state agency examines all local government budgets to determine if they comply with state law and division regulations. The director and the commissioner of education consider requests by school dis-

FINANCES

215

tricts to exceed their debt limits and issue bonds for construction of additional school facilities. Tax Appeals The Division of Tax Appeals, headed by a board president who is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, handles all questions concerning assessments. Any individual, corporation, municipality, or county may appeal to the division, which is a seven-member body appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The members of the board are paid $10,500 a year and the president receives $11,500 annually. The board hears appeals on all taxes levied by the state or local governments except transfer inheritance levies. Investments T h e Division of Investments is responsible for the investment and reinvestment of general treasury funds and almost 30 other funds, mostly pension money and disability benefit premiums. The division is headed by a $ 13,000-a-year director, who is selected by the Investment Council and appointed by the state treasurer. The council comprises five members appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and one member each from the Public Employees' Retirement System, the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund, the Police and Firemen's Retirement System, the Prison Officers' Pension Commission, and the Consolidated Police and Firemen's Pension Fund Commission. T h e council was organized in 1950 and, by 1954, was handling almost $600 million worth of investments, mostly federal bonds. T h e division director is required to make public monthly reports on the status of all investments. Tax collections turned over to the state treasurer for general state uses are placed in checking accounts, normally in Trenton or Newark, for payroll and housekeeping purposes, and in savings accounts throughout the state that pay at least 1% per cent interest. T h e treasurer at his discretion, but usually with advice from the Investment Council, deposits tax receipts, which are not needed im-

216

T H E NEW J E R S E Y C I T I Z E N

mediately, in the interest-bearing bank accounts or purchases shortterm, interest-bearing federal government notes. The interest earned becomes part of the state's general funds. T h e Investment Council idea was unique when it was adopted in 1950, and its practices have been considered a model for adoption by other states. The Division of Pensions is responsible for the collecting, accounting, and supervision of employee and employer contributions to the Alcoholic Beverage Law Enforcement Officers' Pension Fund, the Consolidated Police and Firemen's Pension Fund, the Police and Firemen's Retirement System, the Prison Officers' Pension Fund, the Public Employees' Retirement System, and the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund, and the state agency for Old Age and Survivors' Insurance. There were approximately 140,000 employees and beneficiaries concerned with the various funds. The division issues approximately 15,000 checks a month to qualified pension recipients. Assets of the pension funds are approximately $380 million. Dedicated Funds Students of state government finance in New Jersey have for many years been conducting a running fight on the subject of dedication of revenue, that is, earmarking certain taxes for certain projects. The dedication of revenue was a prime issue in the convention that adopted the 1947 Constitution. It later became a political issue with the Democratic party charging that the Republicans diverted revenue, particularly motor fuel taxes and motor vehicle license fees, from highway construction and maintenance purposes to general spending programs. Minutes of the convention and the Constitution itself are not clear whether the legislature may dedicate state taxes, but certainly there are several dedicated funds in the state. No one has taken the matter to court for an opinion. The Constitution does give the legislature the authority to make special appropriations annually from specified revenue sources. As noted earlier, part of the franchise tax collected from corporations is earmarked for school aid and part of the tax collected from out-of-state fire insurance companies is allocated to the New Jersey Firemen's Home and the New Jersey Firemen's Association, and a portion of revenue from automobile insurance premium taxes goes to the State Police Retirement Fund.

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217

In a special report on dedicated funds, the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce listed the state's Unemployment Compensation Fund, the state Disability Benefits Fund, the Workmen's Compensation Fund, the Unsatisfied Claim and J u d g m e n t F u n d for automobile accidents, and the Motor Vehicle Liability Security F u n d as supported by dedicated tax revenues. T h e chamber also noted that portions of the revenues from the motor fuel tax, the alcoholic beverage tax, and the transfer inheritance tax are earmarked to pay off several bond issues. A portion of the railroad tax also has been dedicated to aid for public schools. Fees collected by t h e Division

of Fish

and

Game

are e m p l o y e d for the benefit of

sportsmen. Highway user groups, such as trucking and bus concerns, argue not only in New Jersey but in most states that motor fuel taxes and license fees should be employed exclusively for highway purposes. T h e i r opponents in New Jersey point out that registration fees charged for motor vehicles exempts them from personal property taxes, which would normally go to general purpose use by municipalities and counties. Opponents of dedicated funds argue that they prevent establishment of an over-all fiscal policy and weaken executive control of governmental operations. New Jersey's cigarette tax was instituted in 1938 as a source of revenue for education, b u t collections have gone into general treasury accounts since 1947.

Federal and State Aid Another area of finance that has caused fiscal officers of N e w Jersey much concern is the subject of federal aid to the states and state aid to local governments. T h e federal government grants aid to the states for such projects as road and school construction, beach protection, and housing. T h e governor's budget each year makes allocations of state aid for schools, county and municipal roads, inland waterways, beach protection, welfare, county mental and tuberculosis hospitals, maintenance of the aged and of dependent children, teachers' pensions, school buses, county libraries, the blind and crippled, and 40 per cent of the salaries of county judges. T h e state aid program amounts to more than a third of the state's annual budget. Some municipalities in a help-ourselves attitude have worked out

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T H E NEW J E R S E Y C I T I Z E N

special tax programs. They have assessed portions of their municipalities to finance certain services, such as a sewer system available only in one section of the town or city. The legislature granted seashore resort cities the right to impose luxury taxes, but only Atlantic City put the levy into effect. Residents and visitors to Atlantic City pay extra taxes on tobacco products, amusement tickets, alcoholic beverages, and hotel rooms. Revenue for the city approximates $1.5 million a year. Banking and Insurance The state maintains a Banking and Insurance Department, headed by a commissioner who is paid $18,000 a year and holds cabinet rank. T h e commissioner, who is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, must post a $25,000 bond on taking office. T h e department is responsible for the enforcement of laws regulating banks and insurance companies and makes periodical examinations of all banks, savings and loan associations, insurance companies, credit unions, provident loan associations, small loan brokers, persons engaged in the business of cashing checks, money remitters, and sales finance companies. There are 23 state-chartered savings banks, 109 state banks and trust companies, 454 savings and loan associations, 6 life insurance companies, 21 fire and casualty insurance companies, 10 title insurance companies, 8 fraternal insurance associations, 3 mutual benefit insurance companies, 19 farmers' mutual insurance companies, and 3 hospital service insurance groups in New Jersey. In addition, 77 life insurance companies, 439 fire and casualty insurance companies, 10 title insurance companies, and 76 fraternal insurance companies with out-of-state offices do business in the state. T h e Department of Banking and Insurance licenses insurance agents, brokers and solicitors, and small loan brokers. It approves various forms of insurance policies issued in the state and ascertains the pure cost and approves the rates of workmen's compensation insurance. T h e department has jurisdiction over all rates charged by insurance companies other than life, health, accident, and ocean marine. T h e rates for the excepted companies must be approved by law before they can be applied. The department assesses taxes

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219

against all insurance companies and informs the director of the Division of Taxation, who collects the levies. An eight-member advisory board, of which the commissioner of banking and insurance is ex officio chairman, formulates regulations governing the activities of all banks. The board is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The department comprises the bureaus of banking, insurance, savings and loan associations, and actuary. The New Jersey Real Estate Commission is, administratively, a division of the department, but will be treated separately in Chapter 19, AUTHORITIES AND COMMISSIONS.

The Bureau of Banking requires all banks to file with it and at least twice a year to make reports on their condition. Periodic examinations, but not audits, are made of all banks, credit unions, provident loan associations, sales finance companies, and small loan brokers. The bureau also works with the state treasurer and state auditor to keep a check on state funds on deposit with banks and savings and loan associations. T h e Bureau of Savings and Loan Associations operates in the same manner as the Bureau of Banking, but limits its activities to institutions for which it is named. The Bureau of Insurance requires financial statements annually from all insurance companies which do business in the state. Insurance agents, brokers, and solicitors, following examinations by the bureau, are issued licenses to do business. The Actuarial Bureau keeps tabs on policy forms, valuations of policy liabilities, and carries out necessary accounting and statistical work. T h e bureau also examines, periodically, various retirement systems and makes analyses of pension funds. Starting a Bank A state law provides that seven or more persons of voting age may incorporate a state bank, which must have an initial $ 5 0 , 0 0 0 in capital stock if it is located in a municipality with a population of 1 0 , 0 0 0 or less; $ 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 in capital stock where the municipal population is 5 0 , 0 0 0 or less; $ 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 where municipal population is between 5 0 , 0 0 0 and 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 ; $ 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 for municipalities with popula-

220

T H E NEW JERSEY CITIZEN

tions between 100,000 and 200,000; and $500,000 in municipalities with more than 200,000 population. T h e par value of stock issued by the bank must be at least $5 a share, and only one class of capital stock is permitted. A savings bank may be incorporated by at least nine persons of voting age, with capital stock ranging from $25,000 to $100,000, depending on municipal population. When the bank obtains a surplus greater than its initial capital, the capital may be withdrawn or deposited as a regular account in the bank. Once incorporated, the bank must obtain a charter from the commissioner of banking and insurance before it can open for business. T h e commissioner must hold a public hearing on the bank's application for a charter and make a decision within 90 days after the hearing on whether to grant the charter. If he grants the charter and is satisfied with the bank's certificate of incorporation, the commissioner issues a certificate of authority permitting the bank to begin business. No bank is permitted to assume a name that is similar to the name of any other bank in the state. Permission to open branch offices must be obtained from the commissioner of banking and insurance. Banks are authorized to become members of the Federal Reserve System and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. T h e various powers of banks in the lending of money, renting safe-deposit boxes, and handling mortgages, bonds, stocks, promissory notes, bills of exchange, installment obligations, trade acceptances, letters of credit, assisting in the handling of payrolls, and other services are specified in state laws. No bank organized under the laws of a foreign country is permitted to do business in New Jersey or maintain an office in the state. T o do business in New Jersey, a foreign bank must incorporate and obtain a certificate of authority from the commissioner of banking and insurance in the same manner as a newly incorporated domestic bank. Forming an Insurance Company T e n or more persons are permitted to form a corporation to handle insurance of any kind. Like a bank, an insurance firm must obtain a certificate of authority from the commissioner of banking

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221

and insurance after specifying the types of insurance it will handle. T h e various categories of insurance are specified in state law. Insurance companies may be formed on a stock or mutual plan. No stock insurance company is permitted to do business unless it has $200,000 worth of capital stock paid for in cash and $100,000 worth of additional stock for each type of insurance it will handle. Mutual insurance companies, to begin business, must have entered into contracts on which at least $50,000 will be paid into the company on premiums for each kind of insurance it will handle. Every stock insurance company organized to insure against loss or damage of property must deposit with the commissioner of banking and insurance $50,000 worth of public bonds.

16

Highways f r o b a b l y the most disheartening position in New Jersey government is that of highway commissioner. Each new commissioner since 1935 has come into office with high hopes of building new highways and repairing old ones. Each has gone out of office, having contributed something to the betterment of the highway network, but with his head battered by critics who say continually that every motor vehicle avenue in the state is obsolete. Before the first automobile was driven on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1953, self-styled traffic experts proclaimed the 118-mile superhighway obsolete. There are several state highways and county roads which obviously need repairs or widening every year but, on the whole, the road system compares favorably with that of any other state. There are in the state almost 30,000 miles of highways, roads and streets, plus the turnpike and the 165-mile Garden State Parkway, each a toll road built and operated by a special authority. The highway commissioner is responsible for the development and supervision of almost 2,000 miles of state roads. Counties maintain about 7,000 miles of roads, and there are some 20,000 miles of municipal streets. Another 450 miles of roads exist in state parks, forests, and institutions. Since 1916 the state has spent a little better than $1 billion to build state highways and assist in the construction of county and municipal roads. More than twice that amount has been requested by state and county officials to build new highways and improve existing roads by 1964. Congress came up in 1956 with a multibillion dollar highway construction program under which all states would benefit through federal grants. New Jersey's allocation of federal funds over a 13-year 222

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period amounted to almost $2 billion. The national construction program contemplated 41,000 miles of freeways. These limited-access highways will connect most of the major cities in the country. T h e 1956 federal highway program provided that Washington would pick up 90 per cent of the cost of the interstate freeway network and the states would pay 10 per cent. The funds to be provided in the program also would permit construction by the states of other highways on a 50-50 basis, the federal government sharing equally with the states in the building costs. T h e 1956 grants were in addition to aid provided by Congress under highway acts in 1952 and 1954. The 1952 act allowed a limited program for highway construction on a 50-50 basis. The 1954 act went a bit further, providing a 60-40 ratio for interstate highway building with the federal government paying the larger share. With adoption of the 1956 act, Congress defined highways as interstate, primary, and urban. An interstate route is one that would be part of the national freeway system. Primary highways could be interstate roads or major feeders to the freeway system within a state. Urban highways are those within specified metropolitan areas. One member of the federal Bureau of Public Roads explained that an urban highway could be a county road, heavily traveled, and connected with a primary or interstate route. An urban highway could be a primary road, he said. The designations of highways were made to control the disposition of federal funds. Money allocated for urban highways may not be used for construction outside the specified metropolitan areas. The metropolitan areas have been outlined in each state. In addition to the three main categories of roads, the federal government increased allocations for secondary highways on a 50-50 basis. T h e secondary system comprises mainly county roads, and their construction or reconstruction would take a back seat in the over-all 13-year program. New Jersey, like the other states, was obliged to inform the federal Bureau of Public Roads by September 10, 1956, of the origin and destination of all interstate routes in the state. A chief concern of the Highway Department was ways and means to obtain revenue needed to go along with the federal program. Until the 1956 federal act New Jersey never had purchased rights of way in advance of

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construction. The federal act contemplated grants expressly for purchasing rights of way. T h e Highway Department said in a memorandum to the legislature: "Frequently, as soon as a project is announced there is quite a turnover in parcels on and contiguous to the new highway's proposed alignment. In order to acquire the necessary parcels prior to improvements of various kinds being put into effect, it is important that the Highway Department step in and pick up the necessary land, and by so doing save substantial sums of money." T h e Highway Department recommended that the legislature provide it with a minimum of $10 million a year as a revolving fund for purchase of rights of way. T o take full advantage of the 13-year program, the Highway Department estimated that New Jersey would have to spend about $473 million in that period. That amount, the department said, would permit construction of roads under the 1952, 1954, and 1956 acts and under a state program of road building for which no federal funds would be available. T h e state program calls for normal maintenance, purchase of rights of way, and aid to counties and municipalities for their own road and street building and maintenance. Traffic The traffic density in New Jersey is the highest in the world, seven times the national average. There are about two million automobiles, trucks, and buses registered in the state. In addition, thousands of transient vehicles move on the state's road network daily. T h e Highway Department estimates 20 per cent of the vehicles on New Jersey highways come from out of the state daily. Lying between the great metropolitan areas of New York and Philadelphia, New Jersey forms a natural traffic corridor. It has been estimated that some 20,000 buses run between New York and Philadelphia or from those cities to numerous municipalities in New Jersey daily, giving the state two buses for every square mile. The greatest concentration of traffic is on the feeder roads to crossings of the Delaware and Hudson rivers. Traffic flows with comparative ease out of New York and Philadelphia onto New Jersey highways, where it disperses over fanlike roads, but there are daily

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crushes of vehicles moving into the two great cities with traffic piled up for several miles in the morning and evening rush hours. Working with the New Jersey Highway Department to alleviate the traffic tie-ups are the Port of New York Authority, which operates the Lincoln and Holland tunnels under the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge, which connects Fort Lee with Manhattan, over the Hudson; and the Delaware River Port Authority, which operates two bridges connecting the Camden area with Philadelphia. The Port of New York Authority plans addition of another level to the George Washington Bridge, has added a third tube to the Lincoln Tunnel, and plans a bridge to span the Narrows of New York Harbor to connect Staten Island with Brooklyn. Multilane Highways and Bypasses New Jersey has the highest ratio of multilane highways to total mileage of operating state roads in the country. For several years, the Highway Department has worked at dualization of highways in highly congested areas, separating opposing lanes of traffic with safety center islands. T h e widest and most spectacular of the multilane highways is that connecting Elizabeth with the Pulaski Skyway, an elevated road that runs from Newark Airport to the entrance of the Holland Tunnel. T h e traffic circle, which was pioneered by New Jersey, is considered obsolete and is being replaced by traffic light intersections or cloverleaf-type interchanges. T h e state was the first to build the cloverleaf interchange and, in 1956, there were 11 in operation. New Jersey also has been a leader in the field of elevated highways and bridges, the elimination of grade crossings at railroad intersections, and the bypassing of cities and towns. One of the major bottlenecks for motor vehicle traffic results from routing a state highway through the streets of a municipality. Where building a bypass has proved impractical, the Highway Department has developed the throughway, an elevated or depressed dualized road that cuts through a municipality with a minimum of access side roads. Main streets of the municipalities are rebuilt either over or under the throughway, which serves as an express highway for transient traffic. Outstanding examples of the throughway are in operation in Camden, Newark, and Trenton. Highway officials are giving

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serious consideration to the construction of parking areas outside major resort cities and in the vicinity of the Delaware and Hudson river crossings. Motorists going to the resorts or to Philadelphia or New York for business or pleasure would park their vehicles and proceed from the parking areas by bus. Plans are moving forward for construction to connect the turnpike and the Garden State Parkway with the New York Throughway. In Central New Jersey the turnpike is connected by a spur and bridge with the Pennsylvania Turnpike. With completion of these connections, a motor vehicle may be driven from Maine through to Ohio without a stop for a traffic light. T h e New Jersey T u r n p i k e also has a spur connection with the Holland T u n n e l . T h e turnpike and parkway, built on the proceeds of bond issues that will approximate a total of $1 billion when all links and spurs are completed, are toll roads that were designed eventually to become part of the state's free highway system. Both superhighways are without traffic lights and are built so that no left turns can be made. T h e parkway, primarily a pleasure highway intended to serve beach resorts and alleviate traffic conditions in populous North Jersey, prohibits trucks on its roadways north of Lakewood. Trucks may ride the full distance of the turnpike. T h e Highway Department employs a force of 1,400 men for road maintenance and repair work. T h a t number is increased to 2,000 by the employment of part-time workers for snow clearance and ice melting in the winter. T h e regular road force has some 700 pieces of equipment at its disposal, about 200 of them hired for snow and ice removal. Almost 400 trucks are equipped to spread abrasives on and plow snow off the highways in the winter. Highway History T h e development of a highway system in New Jersey began in 1891, when the legislature made the first grant of state aid for the building of public roads by the counties. T h e aid, which was set at $75,000 a year, was intended to meet a third of the cost of road building, and the grant was administered by the secretary of agriculture. T h e motor vehicle was still something in the future at the time, but counties were under pressure to provide roads over which

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farmers could transport their produce to markets. A Department of Public Roads was established in 1894 and, under its direction, 2,052 miles of macadam and gravel roads were constructed by 1917. The state's annual contribution to road building had increased to $500,000, the largest amount ever set aside for highways up to that time. The legislature approved a state highway system of 679 miles in 1917, setting out 15 routes intended to connect urban and rural areas. A tax of $1 on every $1,000 worth of real estate was levied to raise funds for the highway system. When it became apparent by 1922 that the real estate tax would not meet the cost of the highway system, the legislature approved a $40 million bond issue to be amortized by the real estate tax. The bond issue was approved by a state-wide referendum and was applied to improvement of the 728 miles of highways then in existence. As the automobile and truck took on added importance to the economy and the number of vehicles began to increase by leaps and bounds in the late 1920's, the legislature authorized construction of new highways, increasing the road system to more than 1,800 miles. T o pay for the additional roads, the legislature in 1927 placed a tax of 2 cents a gallon on gasoline, earmarked motor vehicle license fees for the highway commission, and provided for a new $30 million bond issue to be amortized by the real estate tax. Three years later the legislature increased the tax on gasoline to 3 cents a gallon and approved a new bond issue of $65 million for the construction of bridges, viaducts, tunnels, and rights of way. The 1933 legislature repealed the real estate tax and authorized receipts from the gasoline tax for use in amortizing some $17 million appropriated in 1930 for institutional building and water conservation as well as the highway bond issues. The decision of the 1933 legislature to use part of the receipts from gasoline taxes to clear up the debt on institutional buildings and water conservation is considered by the proponents of dedicated funds as the starting point for diversion of money from highway purposes to general state expenditures. Dedicated fund champions claim that New Jersey has diverted about $300 million from gasoline and motor vehicle revenues in the years since that 1933 action by the legislature. They claim this diversion is contrary to a federal act which provides for highway aid to the states. The U.S.

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Bureau of Public Roads may punish New Jersey for diversion of highway funds by withholding aid in the amount of the diversion, the proponents of dedicated revenue have warned. The federal program of aid to the states is based on U.S. government taxes on gasoline. Dedicated Highway Funds State aid to municipalities for the construction of streets began in 1916 and grants to counties were made mandatory in 1933. The estimated revenue from gasoline taxes, which went up to 4 cents a gallon in 1954 to help increase funds for school aid, and from motor vehicle fees in 1955-56 was almost $125 million. In 1954 the freeholders of the 21 counties began a campaign to have all gasoline and motor vehicle revenue dedicated to highway purposes. As was noted in Chapter 14, there has been no court decision on the matter of dedicated funds. The freeholders charge that only 34 per cent of the gasoline tax and motor vehicle fees is used for road construction and maintenance. County Government, official publication of the Association of Chosen Freeholders of New Jersey, said in May, 1954: "The fight against diversion in our state is an honest fight, which fully recognizes the desperate need to discover and apply wise taxing measures to provide for essential public services other than roads. The state gasoline tax is nothing but a sales tax by another name, discriminately applied to a particular product and its users. The ABC of this is: A, to conduct any kind of business or secure a livelihood, a person must have a car; B, to operate this car, a person must pay the gas tax; C, to pay this gas tax is to pay a sales tax. "History clearly shows that in order to get measures passed to adopt the gas tax, promises to forever dedicate its use to good roads were indisputably made in every county of the state. Large blocks of supporters, such as the Granges of the Garden State, were wholeheartedly won to support the measures, when it became clear that such a road policy was meant to 'take the farmers out of the mud' and put them in touch with city markets. The counties agreed to cooperate, based on full knowledge that road revenues would reflect forever in larger grants-in-aid to assist in building and maintaining an adequate network of good highways.

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" T h e mistake made by supporters of the original gas tax was in their failure to establish beyond question by constitutional amendment (a method now used in 23 states) the inviolability of road revenues and taxes. Such a fiscal procedure is thoroughly compatible with the general fund system of accounting through a highway credit method of handling all such revenues. State grants-in-aid may never be expected to live up to their original expectation and keep pace with the tremendous additional needs for county road expenditures, unless an honest means is found to end diversion and spend road dollars for highway purposes exclusively." Former Governor Walter E. Edge spearheaded the drive to eliminate dedicated funds, telling the legislature in 1945 that there was "no rhyme or reason" for a budget that allocated a huge sum for the Highway Department and a separate fund for the other departments of the state. He said that "in place of this system I also strongly urge that all state revenue now in the treasury and the general fund be put into a single state fund for use as the legislature may see fit . . . It is of the utmost importance that all our state revenue be made available for any and all requirements regardless of where such funds originate." A year later in his budget message to the legislature, Edge said: "Modern government has become too complex to allow the continuance of separate funds like the highway fund. The concept of such a separate fund connotes that the Highway Department is, in effect, a government unto itself instead of being a part of an integrated state administrative system. As long as a separate fund the size of the highway fund exists, there must be a fractionalization of the fiscal program and the policy of the state. "A single state fund will make for a better budgeting, a more unified and effective control of expenditures, simplified accounting procedures and a clearer, more complete picture of state finances." Edge's arguments were carried to the floor of the 1947 constitutional convention by former Governor Alfred E. Driscoll. As a result of arguments on dedicated funds, this clause became part of the New Jersey Constitution: "No money shall be drawn from the state treasury but for an appropriation made by law. All moneys for the support of the state government [which includes the Highway Department] and for all

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other state purposes as far as can be ascertained or reasonably foreseen, shall be provided for in one general appropriation law covering one and the same fiscal year . . . " Commissioner and Engineer T h e Highway Department is headed by a commissioner appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The commissioner receives $18,000 a year and holds cabinet rank. As his first assistant the commissioner appoints a state highway engineer who must have had actual experience in road and bridge construction and maintenance. T h e engineer is appointed by the commissioner and paid $15,000 a year to exercise technical supervision over design and construction units of the department and take over the administration of the department in the absence of the commissioner. T h e engineer works with an assistant, who must also be a qualified engineer with actual road and bridge construction and maintenance experience. Divisions T h e state highway engineer directly supervises these divisions of the department: T h e Division of Planning, Research, Soils and Tests, which is a service group for the other divisions of the department; the Division of Bridges and the Division of Roads, Design and Construction. T h e assistant engineer supervises the Division of State and Federal Aid and the Division of Maintenance and Operation. T h e Division of Planning, Research, Soils and Tests has these bureaus: Planning and Traffic—This bureau makes statistical surveys of traffic and is responsible for road planning. It also conducts research on traffic trends and safety measures and studies highway economics for the purpose of projecting the state's road needs. Engineering Research and Soils—This bureau conducts engineering research and keeps tabs on the condition of pavement and its reaction to all kinds of traffic. On various highways there are sometimes sections of different kinds of pavement with identification

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posters at the side of the road informing the motorist that he is entering an experimental area. The area has been set up as part of the bureau's research work. T h e bureau also conducts research into soils and subsurface conditions. Testing and Materials—This bureau approves the kind of materials used in construction and maintenance of roads. It also tests the durability of materials used. The Division of Roads, Design and Construction is responsible for new construction and has two bureaus: Road Location and Design—This bureau makes all the studies required for road alignments and prepares specifications for the awarding of contracts for construction. It maintains liaison with the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads, which dispenses federal highway aid. Road Construction—This bureau is responsible for the supervision of contractors hired to build roads. The Division of Bridges is responsible for the design and construction of all bridges on the highway system. T h e Division of Maintenance and Operation, the largest in the department, is responsible for the repair and maintenance of state highways and bridges and has these bureaus: Maintenance—This, bureau repairs and keeps in operation all highways and highway bridges and carries out the snow- and icecontrol program of the department. Plant and Equipment—This bureau repairs and maintains all equipment, including trucks, passenger cars, and snow-removal apparatus. Electrical Operations—This bureau is responsible for the design, installation, and maintenance of highway lighting systems and traffic signals and the operation of electrically controlled bridges. The bureau also installs highway traffic signals that may be operated by pedestrians at abnormally busy stretches of roadway. T h e Division of State and Federal Aid administers the state program of aid for county and municipal roads and obtains federal grants to be used in state highway construction. Each county in the state receives a minimum of $55,000 a year in state aid, plus $100,000 a year which must be used for municipal street construction or reconstruction. The Division of Administrative Services, headed by a chief clerk,

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handles the hourly payrolls and accounting of the department and is responsible for departmental purchases. An Office of Right-of-Way Purchases, comprising the bureaus of titles and of appraisals and negotiations is responsible for obtaining property required for highway construction. The bureaus conduct searches and make settlements for property acquired. If a condemnation proceeding is necessary, the bureaus prepare the case, which is handled by a deputy attorney general assigned from the law division of the Department of Law and Public Safety. An Office of Personnel cooperates with the Department of Civil Service and supervises the training of employees and on-the-job training programs. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the New Jersey Highway Authority were at their inception placed within the Highway Department for "housekeeping" purposes. The Turnpike Authority, however, obtained a Supreme Court opinion which, in effect, divorced it from the department. But, the Highway Authority, builder and operator of the Garden State Parkway, remains a part of the department although it removed its headquarters from the department's building in Ewing Township to offices at Eatontown in anticipation of construction of its own building in Holmdel Township.

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Labor and Industry t j v e r y workday in the year almost two million Jerseyans—of whom 500,000 are women—take their places at machines, pick u p specialized tools, or sit down behind desks in factories, on farms, and in office buildings in the state. They earn a gross average of about $75 a week. They meet the cost of everyday living with the assistance of installment or budget buying plans. They pay taxes that are in the open or hidden on almost everything they use. They accept all the hazards of modern living that are contributed by criminals, motor vehicle traffic, and their own and their neighbors' carelessness. They eat and dress well, educate their children, and strive for a higher standard of living. They love, hate, or are indifferent to the people and places surrounding them. They discuss politics and baseball with almost equal vigor. They obey some laws and disregard others. They join organizations and make contributions to causes. They like television at home, taking large or small doses with a flick of a switch. They can be jealous, prideful, critical, neighborly, kind, self-possessed, or bubbling with brotherliness. They are normal Americans. For their benefit, the Department of Labor and Industry functions in the state government. T h e title of the department is a bit deceiving because the "industry" in it does not connote a function comparable to that of a department of commerce. Rather, it covers operations intended to promote safety and good working conditions within the factories and businesses of the state and on farms that employ migrant laborers. None of the 250,000 self-employed, 200,000 professional and technical persons, and 170,000 government employees will find a bureau or division of the department set up 233

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specifically for him. Thousands of clerical and sales people, whose employer has less than four persons on his payroll, do not qualify for unemployment compensation benefits administered by the department. T h e law specifies who may or may not be covered by unemployment insurance, which requires contributions by employers as well as employees. On the other hand, New Jersey is the only state which provides 100 per cent coverage for all except casual employees. All employers, except those hiring farm laborers or domestic servants, are required by law to carry insurance to protect their employees against costs arising from injuries on the job. T h e r e are in New Jersey about 7,000 physicians and surgeons; 3,000 dentists; 7,500 practicing lawyers; 35,000 teachers; 3,100 editors and reporters; 4,000 clergymen; 58,000 bus or taxicab drivers; 28,000 carpenters; 17,000 nurses; 136,000 sales people; 300,000 clerical workers; and 118,000 laborers—to mention but a few occupations. Some 800,000 are engaged in manufacturing, 122,000 in construction, 50,000 in agriculture, and about 5,000 in mining. T h e textile and apparel industries employ about 150,000; chemical concerns, 75,000; food firms, 50,000; electrical industry, 70,000; the railroads, 38,000. More than 125,000 are unable to work because of age or disability. Unemployment has averaged about 100,000 a year, of whom about half were women. A little more than 500,000 persons in New Jersey, about onetenth of the population, are foreign born. T h e greatest n u m b e r of foreign born, some 150,000, came from Italy, followed by 75,000 from Germany, 70,000 from Poland, 50,000 from Russia, 60,000 from England, Scotland, and Wales, and 35,000 from Ireland. T h e r e are about 8,000 from Asiatic countries, 16,000 from Canada, and 6,000 from Latin America, including Mexico. Almost 50,000 New Jerseyans are over 80 years of age, and the 1950 census showed 65 were more than 100 years old. Of the persons over 100 there were 25 men and 40 women. The Commissioner T h e Department of Labor and Industry is headed by a commissioner appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. T h e $18,000-a-year commissioner also is commissioner

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of the Workmen's Compensation Division, chairman of the Workmen's Compensation Board, executive director of the Migrant Labor Board, a member ex officio of the state Rehabilitation Commission for Physically Handicapped Persons, and chairman of the Board of Boiler, Air and Other Pressure Vessel Rules. H e is responsible for promulgation of minimum wage orders governing the employment of women and minors, the adjustment of disputes on prevailing wage rates on public works, and the enforcement of all state labor legislation. T h e department has a Division of Labor, a Division of Workmen's Compensation, and a Division of Employment Security. Also within the department are the state's Migrant Labor Board and the Rehabilitation Commission for Physically Handicapped Persons. T h e Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a bistate agency, was placed in the department in 1953 for housekeeping purposes. It will be discussed in Chapter 19, A U T H O R I T I E S AND COMMISSIONS.

Labor Division Within the Division of Labor are the bureaus of engineering and safety, statistics and records, mechanical engineering, and wages and hours, the mediation board, the migrant labor board, and the rehabilitation commission. T h e Bureau of Engineering and Safety makes regular inspections of about 14,000 industrial establishments in the state, including factories, stores, bakeries, laundries, restaurants, newspaper plants, printeries, mines, quarries, and storage places for explosives. T h e bureau reports on the safety, health, and welfare of the persons employed in the establishments. It enforces laws regulating the employment of women and children. It seeks the elimination of dust, fumes, and excessive heat in plants. Anyone planning construction of industrial buildings, fire escapes, or elevators must have approval from the bureau. In areas where there is no local building supervision, the bureau is responsible for approval of plans for theaters and other places of indoor assembly. T h e bureau makes chemical analyses and studies of potential industrial dangers and checks the handling, transportation, and use of explosives. It supervises an industrial plant protection program intended to offset espionage and sabotage. T h e bureau checks safety factors, including age of em-

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ployees, hours of work and rest, and the upkeep of working areas. T h e bureau conducts an annual interplant safety contest, and it is the agency that supervises work manufactured in a home or any building removed from the main manufacturing plant. T h e bureau's section on explosives issues permits to anyone or any firm engaged in manufacturing, storing, transporting, selling, processing, or using explosives. The section promulgates rules governing blasting on construction and other industrial operations. This bureau also issues permits to farmers who employ fireworks to frighten crows and other birds that attack crops. The sale of fireworks in New Jersey is prohibited and the section, working with state and local police, runs down bootleggers of firecrackers and other explosive noisemakers usually employed by children on July 4. Women and Children at Work T h e women and children's section of the bureau is responsible for the enforcement of laws governing child labor, hours worked by women, homework, industrial homework, and sanitary conditions within bakeries and confectionery plants. Any child under 18 years of age must have a permit to work and, in 1956, some 100,000 permits were issued. Boys of 12 and 13 may be employed by permit to sell newspapers on the street, and boys and girls of those ages may be employed on farms provided they have permits. Less than 500 boys in this age group are employed in street trades, and more than 2,000 boys and girls 12 and 13 years of age work on farms by permit. Some 16,000 boys and girls, 14 and 15 years of age, are engaged in similar occupations, mostly during summer vacations. More than 70,000 youths between 16 and 17 are employed on farms, as clerks, telegraph messengers, newsboys, caddies, movie ushers, domestics, and in similar occupations. T h e section makes these distinctions between homework and industrial homework: "Homework refers to manufacture of any article in the home if the manufacturer is an independent operator with no employees and making a product with materials bought by him in the open market and with the finished product sold by him in the open market. Homework includes all home industries and some activities of larger manufacturing establishments.

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"Industrial homework is manufacturing done in the home for an employer and provides a large amount of part time work especially for home women as well as work for many partially invalided persons who are unable to travel to work. "Complete investigations of all activities of the manufacturer and the home conditions of the homeworker precede the issuance of the permit. Efforts also are made to find persons engaged in the distribution of homework in violation of the homework law." Statistics, Boilers, Wages T o the Bureau of Statistics and Records about 5,000 manufacturing and nonmanufacturing establishments in the state make reports. T h e bureau compiles statistics to show the trend in employment, payrolls, earnings, and hours by industry groups and industrial areas. It also publicizes consumer price indexes and food prices. This bureau considers the average New Jersey family to consist of 3.8 persons. T h e bureau also is responsible for the adjustment of complaints involving industrial relations between employers and employees and it maintains an industrial library. Its industrial area designations are Essex-Hudson-Union; Bergen-Morris-Passaic; Middlesex-Somerset; Mercer and Camden. T h e bureau's monthly reports permit anyone to follow the monthly fluctuations in employment, earnings, and hours within these areas. T h e Bureau of Mechanical Engineers enforces the state's boiler inspection law. It licenses refrigeration plants and notes that by 1954 ammonia plants in the state were being shut down or replaced by refrigeration systems using freon, methyl chloride, carrene, or propane. T h e state's law requires licensing of all ammonia plants and inspections of them by agents of the bureau. Other refrigeration plants need no licensed operators and are not inspected. T h e Bureau of Wages and Hours licenses operators of employment agencies and regulates their conduct. It also enforces laws concerning the time and manner of payment of wages, the state's minimum wage law, and minimum fair wage standards mandatory orders. It is a misdemeanor for an employer of women or minors not to

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keep accurate records of hours worked and wages paid. The commissioner of labor and industry or any 50 citizens of the state, by petition, may cause an investigation of any occupation to determine if women or minors are receiving unreasonable wages. In 1952 the legislature approved a law which forbids discrimination in the rate or method of payment of wages because of the sex of employees. T h e bureau has reported that "all of our experience and all of the information that has come to us clearly establishes that a very high percentage of the workers in New Jersey are paid all wages to which they are legally entitled without any undue difficulty and that the wages of most of these employees are on a reasonably high level." Migrants The Bureau of Migrant Labor is responsible for enforcing laws concerning some 18,000 migrant workers who come into New Jersey each season to work during harvesttime on farms in all parts of the state. The bureau inspects almost 3,000 camps established by farmers to house the migrants, who are for the most part Negroes from Florida and Georgia and Puerto Ricans. From 6,000 to 7,000 migrants, organized into crews and consisting of whole families, make their way annually to New Jersey from the South. Another 6,000 come into the state from Puerto Rico, mostly by air, at the expense of the big farm operators. From 1,200 to 1,500 New York and Philadelphia residents take part-time jobs in harvest periods. Increasing numbers of Jamaicans, taking a cue from the Puerto Ricans, also come into the state by air and return home the same way each summer. Other migrants drift into the state from as far away as Kansas, and occasionally some arrive from Mexico. With cooperation from the Departments of Education and Health, the bureau operates clinics and schools for the migrants. The summer school in Monmouth County has enrolled as many as 100 children from 3 to 12 years of age who receive kindergarten and grammar school instruction. Two school buses are used to pick up the children and return them to camp each day for a five-week course. Most of the camps are equipped with electricity and half of them have piped water. Where water has not been piped, the migrants depend on wells. A few are supplied by springs. Comparatively few

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have flush toilets and these are mostly in the large camps, particularly in Gloucester County, to which most Puerto Ricans are imported. The bureau has six full-time inspectors and eight seasonal inspectors who check up on camp conditions. New Jersey is the only state that registers and inspects all migrant camps regardless of size. The state's migrant labor law went into effect in 1945. It was intended to provide better housing and sanitation conditions for migrants and to discover any disease conditions among them in order to protect the state's citizens from exposure to communicable ills. The Migrant Labor Board in the Division of Labor consists of five members, appointed without salary for five-year terms by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Also on the board are the commissioners of education, institutions and agencies, labor and industry, conservation and economic development, and health, the secretary of agriculture and the superintendent of the State Police as ex officio members. The board works with the Bureau of Migrant Labor and has the specific duty of deciding policies. The board meets before and after each harvest season to determine necessary actions. It has a committee of its own that functions between times and directs the operation of the health clinics and the school for migrant children. Mediation

The Board of Mediation is a seven-member board appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. It is a government agency through which labor-management disputes may be settled without resort to strikes. The members, who serve three years and are paid $25 each for every day the board sits, are required to take steps toward voluntary settlement of a labor dispute as soon as one appears imminent. When a strike is called, the board arranges conferences between the disputants and offers assistance in negotiating adjustments leading to a settlement. A major endeavor for any state mediation board is the settlment of a dispute in the public utility field. The state's public utility antistrike law gives the governor power to seize any struck company which provides heat, light, power, sani-

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tation, transportation, communication, or water services. The law says any strike in any of these utilities "is a threat to the welfare and health of the people" and that companies in the field operate under franchise from the state and thereby "are clothed with public interest." The law says: "It is further declared to be the policy of this state that after the taking of possession of any public utility by the state . . . such public utility shall become for purposes of production and operation a state facility and the use and operation thereof by the state in the public interest shall be considered a governmental function of the state of New Jersey." The law provides that the management of a struck public utility and the union involved must designate one person each to represent them on a Board of Arbitration and file the names of the chosen persons with the Board of Mediation. The two persons chosen then must select three "disinterested and impartial persons" within 10 days to serve with them on the Board of Arbitration. If the labor and management representatives cannot agree on a selection of three other persons, the governor appoints them. If management and union do not designate representatives within 10 days of the seizure of the utility, the governor is empowered to name a full five-member board of arbitration. The board is given the power to subpoena and to administer oaths. After holding hearings and studying essential documents, the board is required to make a decision, which is conclusive and binding, but may be appealed to the courts. An appeal must be taken within 30 days of the board's decision. Any violation of a final decision of the board by either the utility or the union or any group connected with either may be penalized by a fine for each day the utility is nonoperating because of a lockout, strike or "concerted work stoppage." Concerning the individual worker, the law says: "Under no circumstances shall any employee be required to render, perform or engage in any work, labor or service without his consent; nor shall anything in this act, or in any amendment thereof or supplement thereto, be construed to make the quitting of his work, labor or services by an individual employee an illegal or prohibited act; nor shall any court issue any process to compel the

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performance by an individual employee of such work, labor or service without his consent." The Mediation Board has reported that in general labor disputes about 70 per cent of the cases it handles are referred to it by labor unions. About 15 per cent come jointly from labor and management, but management itself rarely refers cases to the board. The percentage of labor disputes in which the board intervenes of its own motion also is very low. The board reported in the mid-1950's that wages were the dominant issues in labor disputes, with fringe benefits such as vacations, holidays, pensions, hospitalization insurance, and group life insurance a close second. Most disputes are in the field of manufacturing. The board reported: " T h e difficult issues of former years relating to union security have faded into insignificance. For the most part, security disputes deal with the problems of individual workers in relation to one another [seniority] rather than with the status of the union." Rehabilitation The Rehabilitation Commission by law "shall direct the rehabilitation of all resident physically handicapped persons excepting aged or helpless persons requiring permanent custodial care, blind persons under the care of the state commission to ameliorate the condition of the blind, deaf persons under the care of the state school for deaf-mutes, epileptics, feeble-minded persons and persons who in the judgment of the commission are not susceptible of rehabilitation." The commission estimates that it cost the state about $150 to train or provide physical restoration for each handicapped person. The commission rehabilitates close to 1,000 persons a year. Each handicapped person is an individual problem and the commission makes these services available: "Medical, psychiatric and psychological examinations as the basis for determining the extent of the disability, possible hidden or secondary disabilities, work capacity, and for determining eligibility. "Vocational diagnosis, including study of the personal and social history, employment experience, educational background, interests, abilities, aptitudes of the individual and personality characteristics.

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"Individual counseling and guidance to determine services required to meet the needs of the individual, and to assist him in the determination of a proper job objective with assistance to attain this ambition. "Training for the selected job objective in schools, colleges or universities, on the job, in the plant, by tutor or through correspondence courses when indicated. "Placement in selected employment, including self-employment, to afford the best use of abilities and skills, with the individual's limitations and with due regard to preventing further injuries. "Follow-up after placement to insure that the rehabilitated worker has become adjusted to his job to his own satisfaction and that of his employer. "Selected referral to the New Jersey State Employment Service for job placement and counseling, in addition to, or when further rehabilitation services are not indicated." T h e state pays the cost of rehabilitation in full or in part depending upon the ability of the individual to meet the costs. T h e commission defines a disabled individual as one suffering from any physical or mental disorder, which, if not corrected, would cause the individual to become a charge of the state. T h e commission says a citizen must be of employable age, "have a disability which constitutes a vocational handicap and which is static or reasonably so, and have been domiciled within the state for one year" to be eligible for assistance. Some persons are rehabilitated within six months and others take as much as four years of preparation for gainful employment. T h e greatest number of rehabilitated persons earn from $31 to $50 a week, but quite a few obtain jobs paying $70 or more a week. T h e commission finds that the most job placements resulted from location of opportunities by the rehabilitated individuals themselves. T h e commission consists of the commissioners of labor and industry, education and institutions and agencies and eight persons appointed by the governor. One of the public members must represent labor and one management. And one member must be a woman chosen because of her special interest and knowledge of crippled children's problems. Among the more interesting duties prescribed by law for the

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commission is a requirement that it establish and supervise the operation of vending stands and other small businesses to be conducted by severely handicapped persons. Workmen's Compensation The Division of Workmen's Compensation is headed by the commissioner of labor and industry and consists of a director appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and deputy directors and referees appointed by the commissioner. T h e division is responsible for the administration and enforcement of workmen's compensation laws. The director is paid $13,800 a year. A dozen deputy directors and a like number of referees hold formal and informal hearings on accident cases in which employees seek compensation for injuries. The division estimates there are almost 175,000 accidents reported to it each year, but formal injury cases before referees or deputy directors run a little better than 20,000 annually. About half that number are handled informally. Most industrial accidents do not cause compensable injuries. The division summarizes the laws and its work this way: "New Jersey is the only state which provides 100 per cent coverage for all except casual employees. All employers, excepting those of farm laborers and domestic servants, are required by law to carry insurance for the protection of their regular employees. T h e latter, however, may elect to purchase such insurance if they so desire, and most do. " T h e employer must furnish such medical, surgical and other treatment and hospital services as shall, in the opinion of the division, be necessary to cure and relieve the employee of the effect of injury and restore the function of injured members or organs where restoration is possible. "No compensation is payable until after the injured has been disabled for seven days, whether these days be consecutive or not. If disability extends beyond four weeks, compensation is payable for this seven-day period, called the waiting period, and if at any time thereafter disability is suffered, compensation is payable, but not beyond 300 weeks for temporary disability. "Compensation shall be two-thirds of the wage at the time of the

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accident, but no weekly compensation shall be greater than $40 nor less than $10. In death cases, the maximum is $40 and the minimum may be less than $10 in certain cases. "In the event of amputation or other permanent injury, further compensation at the same rate is payable for a specified n u m b e r of weeks, according to the nature and extent of the disability. This is over and above what the employee may be earning after resuming work. " T h e loss of both hands, arms, feet, legs or eyes, or any two thereof, shall constitute total permanent disability, requiring compensation for 450 weeks. Following this, the employee may be entitled to further compensation, the weekly amount to be determined according to his earning capacity. Other injuries may also constitute total permanent disability. Compensation for a percentage of total disability must be calculated on a basis of 550 weeks. "In fatal accidents, the employer must pay for funeral expenses, but not more than $400. "Compensation for fatal accidents shall be paid to children until 18 years of age, and to others for 300 weeks as follows: "One dependent is entitled to 35 per cent of wages; two dependents to 40 per cent; three to 45 per cent; four to 50 per cent; five to 55 per cent; six or more to 60 per cent; but no weekly compensation shall be greater than $40. In making payment to children, only those under 18 years of age shall be included. "Compensation for all classes of injuries shall be paid one after the other, as follows: "Medical and hospital services. "After the first seven days of disability, compensation for temporary disability. "After that, compensation for each permanent injury, one after the other. "After that, if death results from the accident, expenses of burial, subject to the limitations stated above. "After that, compensation to dependents. " T h e same benefits applying to accidents apply to all occupational diseases, providing written notice of claim is given the employer within five months after the date when the employee shall have ceased to be subject to exposure to the occupational disease,

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or within 90 days after the employee knew or ought to have known the nature of his disability and its relation to his employment, whichever period is later in duration, or the employer has actual knowledge that the employee has contracted a compensable occupational disease during the continuance of the employment. "Compensable occupational diseases include all diseases arising out of and in the course of employment which are due to causes and conditions which are or were characteristic of or peculiar to a particular trade, occupation, process, or employment, or which diseases are due to the exposure of any employee to a cause thereof arising out of and in the course of his employment." T h e division employs a chief medical director who coordinates the activities of physicians hired by the state to handle workmen's compensation cases. Workmen's compensation payments average close to $35 million a year. Most accidents causing workmen's compensation cases arise from the lifting or moving of objects, with falls in second place and injuries from machinery a poor third. All insurance companies in the state which write workmen's compensation policies are taxed one per cent of the total each pays out in compensation each year. T h e tax makes u p a special f u n d from which the commissioner of labor and industry makes payments to persons totally disabled. Unemployment Compensation T h e Division of Employment Security administers the state's unemployment compensation and temporary disability benefits laws and operates a state employment service. T h e division has a director appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and paid $12,000 a year. Unemployment compensation is paid to eligible persons for full or partial unemployment. T h e n u m b e r of workers covered by the unemployment compensation law has been rising every year with the expansion of industry in the state; in 1956, the number was about 1,500,000. Compensation for full unemployment ranges from $10 to a maximum of $35 and is paid from a minimum of 13 to a maximum of 26 weeks. Partial unemployment compensation is fixed in proportion to the earnings of the part-time worker. All workers

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claiming compensation must wait one week, but they receive payment for that week if their unemployment lasts three weeks. Employers and employees contribute to the unemployment compensation fund. T h e employer's share varies from three-tenths of one per cent to 3.6 per cent of his payroll, contributions (taxes) based on experience rating factors that include the amount of charges made against his account as a result of separations from employment. Employees contribute at the rate of one-quarter of one per cent on the first $3,000 they earn each year. Disability Benefits T h e Disability Insurance Service} which is headed by an $11,280a-year superintendent, administers the temporary disability benefits law which provides for a compulsory system of payments to workers who become ill or suffer a disability not covered by the workmen's compensation law. Benefits range from $10 to a maximum of $35 a week. Employers pay one-quarter of one per cent of their payrolls into the disability fund. Employees pay one-half of one per cent of the first $3,000 they earn each year. Employers may, with the consent of a majority of their workers, provide disability insurance under a private plan, but an employee may not be charged more than he would pay into the state plan. Employees not covered by a private plan automatically are covered by the state law. T h e Division of Employment Security operates 36 offices at which workers may register for jobs and file claims for unemployment compensation or disability benefits. As overseer of the division's operations, a seven-member Employment Security Council is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Not more than four of the council members may be members of the same political party. T w o must represent employers and two must act for employees. T h e other three are selected from the general public. All serve four-year terms at no salary. T h e council acts in an advisory capacity for the commissioner of labor and industry and the director of the Division of Employment Security. T h e r e also is an Advisory Council on Disability Benefits consisting of four representatives of labor, two for employers, two for the

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insurance industry, and two from the medical profession. Council members serve five-year terms and are appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. This council formulates policies, rules, and regulations concerning the administration of the disability benefits law. It also makes recommendations intended to improve the operation of the fund. Unemployment compensation funds become part of the federal Social Security program and are placed on deposit in the Unemployment Trust Fund in Washington. T h e state may draw upon the fund to meet its requirements. T h e disability benefits fund is strictly a state function. Excess money in the fund may be invested, a function carried out by the Investment Council in the Department of the Treasury. A board of review within the Division of Employment Security acts as an appeal body in benefit disputes. Its three members are appointed by the director of the division. T h e state's unemployment compensation fund hovered in the neighborhood of $500 million in the mid-1950's, the amount rising and falling slightly depending on the labor market situation. Contributing to the fund, in addition to the 1.5 million employees, were about 50,000 employers.

18

State Services major complaint by students of government and some of its practitioners is directed against the comparatively low salaries paid by federal, state, and local governments. T h e complaint, stated simply, is that few elective offices are attractive to men and women of exceptional ability. As a result, industry and business have first call on the brains of the nation. At first glance, this appears to be a truism. If you carry it out to its end, however, it becomes obvious that your government is not in the hands of dunderheads. T h e man or woman who is a politician usually has a private income and does not depend on the salary of an elective office. It is true that some persons have used, and others will use, a combination of a poor government salary and a modicum of political power to steal, embezzle, blackmail, or take kickbacks from contractors or employees of their offices. Great and small scandals have been uncovered, but the percentage of dishonest persons in government is fortunately so low that it is barely worth mentioning. Politics in New Jersey has developed into a pursuit that seems highly attractive to lawyers. They, in turn, have called on their friends in business and industry to lend a helping hand. There is an increasing number of "teams" of businessmen making studies and recommendations for the betterment of government. It is what the elected official does that usually makes the newspaper headlines and the radio and television news broadcasts; but the everyday business of government is carried on year after year by public servants who do not depend on the ballot for their jobs. They are the 24,000 men and women who are on the payrolls of the state government's 248

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14 departments and the 56,000 men and women who work for county and municipal governments. Civil Service Most state, county, and municipal employees in New jersey obtain their positions through civil service. A state law has set the minimum annual salary for employees at $2,040 to start and $2,160 after completion of a six-month probationary period. Civil service salaries in the state run as high as $15,600 a year and more, depending upon length of service. For payroll purposes, there are classified and unclassified state employees. Unclassified employees are officers elected by popular vote, members of district boards of election, employees appointed by superintendents of election and commissioners of registration, persons appointed by mayors, heads of departments, law officers of a county, municipality, or school district, public school teachers and superintendents, police magistrates, officers and employees of park commissions, and superintendents of county hospitals which handle persons suffering from communicable diseases, the chief examiner and secretary of the Civil Service Commission, employees of the governor, officers and employees of the legislature, officers and enlisted men of the National Guard, judges, jurors, deputy attorneys general, temporary employees of the legislature, superintendents and directors of state institutions, and members of advisory boards of institutions who serve without pay. All other state employees are in the classified service and obtain their positions and promotions through examinations. All state positions are classified by the chief examiner and secretary of the Civil Service Commission, so that each employee knows in advance the duties he must perform, the promotion opportunities he has, the normal pay increase he may expect annually if he is not promoted, and the number of years he must serve to qualify for a pension. Examinations are held to fill vacancies or newly created positions, and the tests may be written or oral and include a physical checkup. T h e examinations are announced usually three weeks in advance, and the chief examiner is required to publish a notice in at least three newspapers of general, daily circulation.

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State employees are entitled to annual vacations of 15 working days with pay. In addition, they have sick leaves, which may be accumulated over the years until they reach 160 working days. The employees work a 40-hour week generally, reporting each weekday at 9:00 A.M. and quitting at 5:00 P.M. All employees are required to retire when they reach 70 years of age. State employees are banned from using their positions or authority for political purposes. The Application Anyone seeking a civil service position with the state, or with any local government, is required to fill out a formal application for an examination, giving this information: "A. Full name, residence and post office address; "B. Nationality, age and place and date of birth; "C. Health and physical capacity for public service (including a physician's certificate if required); "D. Business and employments and residences for the five previous years. "E. All other information as may reasonably be required concerning the applicant's merit and fitness for public service. No inquiry shall be made as to his religious opinions and political affiliations." T h e application will be rejected if the applicant lacks educational requirements, is physically unfit, has been convicted of a crime, dismissed from public service for misconduct, or made a false statement on the application. If a government post requires special technical training and no one in the state is found capable, the Civil Service Commission has the authority to permit residents of other states who have the training to compete for the position. All examinations are free to accepted applicants and are tailored to meet the needs of the position. New Jersey provides absolute preference to veterans of American wars, the disabled veteran receiving the highest preference in all examinations. T h e law says that veterans are to receive points depending on their military service to be added to the points they score in an examination. A disabled veteran becomes first in line for a new government post if he passes an examination, the law

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stating "the fact that a veteran with a record of disability incurred in line of duty has successfully passed the prescribed examination or test and that his name has been placed upon an employment list and certified as eligible for appointment shall be regarded as evidence that he possesses the business capacity and is qualified to perform the duties of the position and as entitling him to appointment." When a government agency at any level decides to reduce its force for economy or efficiency reasons, the veteran is given preference over nonveterans in retaining his position. In 1955 some state officials began a campaign to ease veteran preference on the ground that it caused capable persons to shun examinations for which veterans have applied. Lobbyists for veterans' organizations, however, were considered too strong to permit a change in the law. Department and Commission The Civil Service Department is headed by the president of the Civil Service Commission, a five-member board appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for five-year terms. The commission selects one of its members to be president, with the approval of the governor. The president is a cabinet member and is paid $18,000 a year. The other four commissioners receive $7,000 each annually. The president appoints a chief examiner and secretary who acts as an administrative officer. The department administers civil service laws for all state employees and for the employees of 18 counties—Gloucester, Salem, and Somerset have not adopted civil service—school districts, and 101 municipalities which have adopted civil service by referendum. The commission hears grievances and appeals from employees. Hearings may be held by the commission as a whole or by one member designated by the commission. Grievances or appeals cover a multitude of activities from dismissal, pension rights, and tenure to whether sufficient light, heat, or ventilation is provided. Department of Defense New Jersey's Department of Defense is an agency through which the Army, Navy, and Air Force conduct their business with the

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state. T h e department is headed by a chief of staff, who holds the rank of major general and is a member of the governor's cabinet. T h e chief of staff is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and receives $16,000 a year. Operating within the department are a deputy chief of staff, an adjutant general, a personnel officer, an operations and training officer, a supply and procurement officer, an engineer officer, a fiscal and finance officer, a war records division, and a civil defense and disaster-control division. T h e chief of staff is responsible for recruiting members of the National Guard within the state and, if the National Guard is called to federal service, he is charged with the organization and maintenance of a State Guard. T h e National Guard, which maintains armories in several municipalities, has an air arm with squadrons at Newark Airport and at McGuire Field, the Air Force base near Fort Dix. T h e governor, who is commander in chief of the National Guard, is required by law to select the chief of staff from "among qualified active officers in the military service." T h e law also specifies the chief of staff "shall be a person who has served as a commissioned officer in the armed forces of the state and who is a federally recognized commissioned officer in a military rank not below that of colonel or in a naval rank not below that of captain." T h e deputy chief of staff, who is appointed by the governor on the recommendation of the chief of staff, must have the same military qualifications as his immediate superior. T h e state's National Guard is built around the 50th Armored Division. All units were mechanized in 1952 and infantry battalions were discontinued. The National Guard consists of nearly 13,000 men and officers, with some 1,500 more in the air arm. T h e Defense Department describes the function of the National Guard this way: "The Army National Guard and the Air National Guard, in addition to their state militia status, are reserve components of the United States Army and Air Force, respectively. Their mission is to provide organizations capable of immediate expansion to war strength, able to furnish trained and equipped units fit for service anywhere in the world; to assist in covering the mobilization and concentration of the reserve forces; and to provide sufficient organi-

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zations to enable them to function efficiently in the protection of life and property and the preservation of peace, order, and public safety in time of emergency." With the rapid development of jet aircraft, the Air Force sought in 1955 to replace obsolete propeller-driven fighters of the National Guard at Newark Airport. But residents of Elizabeth, Newark, and other nearby municipalities objected strenuously to the use of jet fighters at the airport. They were fearful of crashes that might endanger the lives of residents in that thickly populated area. In resolving the situation by establishing a jet fighter squadron outside the Newark Airport, the Air Force made it clear that National Guard air units were not developed as defensive forces in case of an enemy air attack. T h e Air Force said that no part-time personnel, such as Air National Guard pilots, could be expected to become airborne in time to help repel a sudden attack. The purpose of the Air National Guard units was the training of reserve pilots. A Naval Militia of more than 3,500 officers and enlisted men also is maintained under the Department of Defense. All members of the militia are in the United States Navy Reserve. The Naval Militia was organized in 1895 by the legislature, but it has no vessels it can call its own. Naval armories at Jersey City, Perth Amboy, Camden, Trenton, and Newark borrow ships and boats from the Navy to train personnel. The Naval Militia is headed by an officer with the rank of captain. Civil Defense T h e Division of Civil Defense and Disaster Control is headed by a nonpaid director. T h e division is responsible for development of techniques for the protection of citizens in case of war or peacetime disaster. Because of the geographical position of the state, the division has worked with civil defense units in New York and Pennsylvania and has developed evacuation plans should disaster strike any of the three states. Several highways in the state have been posted with warnings that they will be closed to civilian traffic in case of war or disaster. A primary task for the division has been the training of citizens in protective measures should an enemy air attack strike New Jersey. An attack warning system, controlled by the 26th Air Wing at

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Roslyn, N.Y., was established, and an air defense filter center was set u p at T r e n t o n to handle attack alerts for New Jersey, Delaware, and southeastern Pennsylvania. T h e division also set u p 124 observation posts throughout the state, manned by volunteers. T h e volunteers keep a constant watch on the movement of aircraft and are alert for any kind of disaster. I n addition, the state's 22 forest fire towers are used as supplemental observation posts with wardens instructed along civil defense lines. Using telephones, radar, and telecommunications of the various police departments, the division estimates that 70 per cent of the state's population would be alert for an air attack within two minutes of the receipt of a warning and the balance of the population would be informed within five minutes. T h e attack warning system is tested once a month. The P U C Many years ago the legislature decided that a special agency of government must operate to protect citizens from excesses that might develop in the field of public utilities. T h e Public Utility Commission, comprising three members, was established in 1911 and given broad regulatory jurisdiction over companies engaged in supplying gas, electricity, water, sewerage, telegraph, trolley car, railroad, telephone, and motorbus services. T h e commission consists of three members, appointed for six-year terms by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and comprises one of the 14 executive departments. T h e president of the commission, who is a cabinet member, is paid $18,000 a year. T h e other two commissioners receive $15,000 each annually. A commissioner must be at least 30 years of age. Not more than two commissioners may be of the same political party. T h e P U C fixes rates which customers must pay for the services of the utility companies. These rates are intended not only to protect the citizen against exorbitant charges but also to keep the 800 companies in the various fields in business. T h e companies are required by law to adopt uniform systems of accounting and furnish the P U C with full financial and operational reports each year. T h e P U C is enabled to keep abreast of the monetary requirements of the companies through the financial reports. In the matter of op-

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eration, a striking example of PUC authority followed a disastrous railroad wreck at Woodbridge in 1951. Eighty-six persons lost their lives. T h e PUC, following an investigation, issued a set of regulations for all railroads, prescribing safety measures, including physical examinations of engineers and other railroad personnel, and the manner in which speed limit posters must be set u p for train guidance. Among duties of personnel of the PUC are checking the accuracy of meter equipment, investigating issuance of securities and sales of properties by utilities, supervising equipment, time schedules, and passenger and freight rates of railroads, and inspecting all buses operating in the state. T h e PUC approves bus routes and fares and the operation of trolley lines. Trolley cars, fast disappearing from the American scene, still are used for residents of Newark. The PUC commissioners as a whole, or any one of them, may preside at quasi-judicial hearings on matters pertaining to utilities. Hearings are held in Newark, Trenton, and Camden. Opinions are rendered by the PUC much in the form used by the courts. These decisions are binding, but they may be appealed to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court. In an opinion dealing with a public utility case the court said: "The greatest public good generally requires the private public utility corporation to be given a monopoly, or nearly so, in the geographical area of its operation, subject to strict regulation. This regulation in New Jersey has imposed on the PUC, at least since 1911, 'general supervision and regulation of and jurisdiction and control over all public utilities . . . and their property, property rights, equipment, facilities and franchises so far as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of law.' "The proper regulation of public utilities and the enforcement of the obligations of proper service are obviously matters of more than local concern. A utility rarely confines its sphere of operation to the boundary lines of one political subdivision. T h e performance of its obligations to the public and the power of the PUC to compel such performance in the interest of the general public good cannot be thwarted by contrary action of one municipality, which might well be inclined to view a situation only from the standpoint of its own citizens."

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T h e P U C handles about 1,000 cases a year. Helping the commissioners are examiners who take testimony in some cases and make recommendations to the commission. An examiner's findings are not final because they may be approved or disapproved by the commission. State T h e Department of State is required by law to keep original acts of the legislature, publish laws, file all corporation papers, and keep the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury informed each month on the number and the names of corporations in the state. T h e secretary of state is the only part-time cabinet officer in state government. H e is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is paid $13,000 a year. It has become accepted custom for the governor to name his campaign manager to the post of secretary of state. T h e secretary signs all commissions of state officials and commissions issued to members of state boards. H e acts as clerk to the State Board of Canvassers, and of the Board of Trustees for the Support of Public Schools. T h e secretary signs all certificates of parole, pardon, and restoration of citizenship. H e issues commissions to notaries public and licenses to pilots for Sandy Hook and New York harbors. H e also prepares all extradition papers and publishes election laws and the forms required by persons filing as candidates for political office. T h e secretary also is responsible for the distribution of ballots for state-wide elections. County clerks must certify returns to the secretary of state on all state and federal elections. Within the Department of State are the offices of the state athletic commissioner and the Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission, which are discussed in detail in Chapter 1 9 , A U T H O R I TIES AND C O M M I S S I O N S .

19

Authorities and Commissions O n e of the most remarkable trends in state government since the close of World War II is the increasing acceptance and use of the public corporation as an agency to build and maintain such facilities as toll roads, bridges, airports, ports, produce marketing centers, bus and railway terminals, power, water and sewer systems, recreation areas, armories, hospitals, schools, and other institutions. Better known now as an authority, the public corporation is not a new idea. The first public corporations sprang up late in the nineteenth century in England and were used at first to control the operations of seaports. The authority is intended to conduct a public enterprise along business lines. The authority is expected to find means to finance a public improvement without exceeding the debt limit of the government or governments which created it. In the United States, the authority was employed at first as an effective agency for handling interstate and later intercounty problems. The most striking example of a public corporation, and the model for most of those which have been established, is the Port of New York Authority, created in 1921 by New York and New Jersey to end jurisdictional disputes over the control and operation of facilities of the port of New York. The Port of New York Authority has grown into a multimillion-dollar corporation which, in 1955, operated 17 port facilities, including tunnels, bridges, airports, pier and dock facilities, a huge bus terminal, and truck terminals. Many states, including New Jersey, have now adopted the authority for intrastate projects. Outstanding examples of the intrastate public corporation in New Jersey are the Turnpike Authority 257

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and the New Jersey Highway Authority, in amazingly short spaces of time.

which built superhighways

Pro and Con T h e authorities, semiautonomous bodies whose financial structures are based on revenue bonds, have not been universally accepted as the panacea for construction and operation of public works. Some students of government are opposed to intrastate authorities on the ground that they conduct their business in a sphere that defies control by the executive or the legislative branch of government. Other critics insist that authorities become self-perpetuating bodies, continually growing either by building new or additional facilities or by taking control of public works which had been established within the regular framework of government. Advocates of the authorities insist that they provide ideal machinery for the construction and operation of facilities which otherwise would take years to accomplish, or might never be attempted. As an example, the supporters of the authority idea point to the Garden State Parkway, which was built and put into operation in two years by the New Jersey Highway Authority. Had the parkway been built by the Highway Department, as originally planned, it would have taken close to 40 years to complete. An authority can be sued and it can sue. It can make long-term contracts and incur indebtedness strictly its own. It can fix prices for its services, lease property to private companies or individuals, and adopt its own practices. Its managers are politically appointed, but they are free to administer the business of the authority as they choose. T h e authority hires its own personnel and sets salaries, free of civil service regulations. In effect, the authorities are monopolies, but their existence is unquestioned because they are established to serve the public interest. They are intended to operate without motive for profit, but critics will tell you they employ their profits to build themselves into bigger and bigger monopolies. Each authority begins with the avowed purpose of collecting fees or tolls only until its revenue bonds are retired. T h e project for which the authority was created presumably will become a free facility under an appropriate existing government agency once the bonds are paid off.

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Variations Some states have taken the authority and given it a new twist. Instead of a public corporation financed by revenue bonds, these variations of the authority are supported by taxes. Their projects are constructed for use only by a government and the revenue of the authorities consists of rent paid to them by governmental agencies using the facilities. New Jersey's only experiment in this field, a state office building authority, was begun in 1950. The courts decided in 1953 that such an authority was unconstitutional. The authority had built or planned to construct several state police barracks, armories, and motor vehicle inspection stations. Eventually, it was to construct a state office building at Trenton. Another variation came with the establishment of the New Jersey Highway Authority. This public corporation was domiciled in the Highway Department. It issued revenue bonds to finance construction of the 165-mile Garden State Parkway, but it was not held solely responsible for liquidating its debts. The credit of the state was put behind the bonds. Under this arrangement, bondholders will be paid from the revenue of general taxation if the tolls and other fees collected by the authority are insufficient to retire the bonds. Once it was a working authority and had committed the revenue from the bonds for construction contracts, the authority issued new debentures which did not have state backing. The new bonds are to be paid off on a percentage basis. The authority sets aside a percentage of its revenue to pay off the state-backed bonds and the balance of the revenue is used to retire the new issues. Authority officers have said that if revenue ever falls to a point where taxes will be required to meet bond demands, the state-backed issue will be handled first and no tax revenue will be employed to meet payments on the other issues. Commissions and Committees New Jersey has had exceptional success with another type of agency which acts outside the 14 executive departments, but is tightly controlled by either the governor or the legislature. This kind of agency is the commission, which may be permanent or tem-

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porary in nature. The commission has been found suitable for both interstate and intrastate functioning. Depending on its mission, the commission may be composed solely of members of the legislature or heads of executive departments, a mixture of the two, or a mixture of one or both with public members, or solely of citizens with no governmental ties. The commissions are financed by legislative appropriations. The members of commissions receive specified remuneration or are unpaid, again depending upon the mission assigned. The governor and the legislature also employ committees, formed as study groups usually. The committee method also is used for investigative purposes. Once the committee has made a report to its creator, its life is ended. Here are the major authorities and commissions established by New Jersey itself or in cooperation with neighboring states: Port of New York Authority In 1921 New York and New Jersey recognized that a "cordial cooperation" had existed between them since 1834 when they agreed on "the rights and obligations of the two states in and about the waters between the two states, especially in and about the bay of New York and the Hudson River." Both states decided in 1921 that commerce in New York Harbor had increased to such a point that the future of the nation hinged on proper controls. They formed the Port of New York Authority and gave it power "to purchase, construct, lease and/or operate any terminal or transportation facility" in the New York port district. The district's boundary in New Jersey can be readily envisioned by drawing a line from the vicinity of Old Tappan on the New York-New Jersey state line to Westwood and then to Paterson, Caldwell, Summit, Plainfield, New Brunswick, Matawan, and the Atlantic Highlands. The Port of New York Authority was given the power to establish tolls and fees for the use of any of its facilities, to borrow money, and to secure its properties by bonds or mortgages. In setting up the membership of the authority, the states agreed: "The port authority shall consist of 12 commissioners—six resident voters from the state of New York, at least four of whom shall

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be resident voters of the city of New York, and six resident voters from the state of New Jersey, at least four of whom shall be resident voters within the New Jersey portion of the district, the New York members to be chosen by the state of New York and the New Jersey members by the state of New Jersey. . . ." T h e members receive no salaries and in New Jersey they are appointed to six-year terms by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. T h e governor has veto power over the vote of any of the New Jersey commissioners. Minutes of meetings of the authority may be vetoed by the governor within 10 days, but if he fails to take any action in that time the minutes stand approved. A commissioner may be removed from office on charges after a hearing before the Senate. T h e authority built the $75 million George Washington Bridge and the $85 million Lincoln T u n n e l for trans-Hudson vehicular traffic and took over control of the $50 million Holland T u n n e l , connecting Jersey City with lower Manhattan. T h e Holland T u n n e l , built by the two states in 1927, was turned over to authority control in 1931. T h e authority constructed other facilities, such as the Outerbridge Crossing and Goethals Bridge, connecting New Jersey with Staten Island. In 1947 the authority was given control of the area's major airports, La Guardia and Idlewild in New York and Newark in New Jersey. T h e facilities of the authority have grown so that their combined assets are estimated at more than $400 million. Revenue from the facilities, which also include Port Newark, a bus terminal in New York, and truck terminals in Newark and New York, reach $50 million a year. T h e authority's tunnels and bridges carry more than 80 million vehicles and the airports handle about 8 million plane passengers whose destinations are both domestic and foreign. T h e authority's debt is in the neighborhood of $200 million, but it is retiring its bonds at almost twice the rate they fall due. It has announced plans that include a second deck on the George Washington Bridge, a new bridge to cross the Narrows of New York Harbor, high-speed cross-city parkways in New York, and facilities to tie together the New Jersey T u r n p i k e and the Garden State Parkway with the New York Throughway. T h e activities of the authority are directed by a $45,000-a-year manager, selected by the commissioners.

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Pennsylvania and New Jersey entered into a compact in 1931 to improve the transportation facilities across the Delaware River and develop the ports on the lower portion of the river. To accomplish this, the states created the Delaware River Joint Commission. Both states in 1948 entered into a supplemental compact, changing the name of the commission to the Delaware River Port Authority. This authority is made up of 16 commissioners, eight from each state. The eight New Jersey members are appointed to five-year terms by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The authority has powers similar to those of the Port of New York Authority. The Delaware River Port Authority operates the Camden-Philadelphia bridge and a new Gloucester-Philadelphia bridge. The authority is charged with promoting increased passenger and freight traffic on the river and the improving of terminal, lighterage, wharfage, warehouse, and other facilities in the Camden and Philadelphia area. The port district includes Philadelphia and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania and Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem counties in New Jersey. The Camden-Philadelphia bridge handles more than 30 million vehicles and gross receipts of the authority are in the neighborhood of $6 million. Before the authority entered into contracts for the Gloucester-Philadelphia bridge, it had a debt of somewhat more than $100 million. The authority's activities are managed by a $25,000-a-year executive director. Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission Although the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission is called a commission, it is, in effect, an authority. It was created in 1934 by New Jersey and Pennsylvania and its jurisdiction and powers were extended in 1947. The commission owns and operates 18 bridge crossings of the Delaware River. Five of the bridges are crossed by payment of a toll. The balance are free. Almost 40 million vehicles cross the free bridges and the toll bridges accommodate another 8 million.

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T h e governor of each state appoints five members to the commission. New Jersey members are appointed to three-year terms. T h e 1947 legislation gave the commission authority to demolish any bridge which it felt was no longer useful and to construct any new bridges that were needed. Residents of New Jersey and Pennsylvania were incensed in 1953 when the commission decided to demolish two bridges north of Easton-Phillipsburg. T h e commission had completed construction of three toll bridges and had declared the two bridges, which had been toll free, to be obsolete and dangerous. A citizens' committee failed to obtain court support and the two bridges were ordered destroyed. T h e commission, in a report to the governors of the two states, said the 1947 legislation gave it the power "to enter upon, use, construct and improve streets, roads or highways within any municipality in order to build, enlarge, or extend any bridge approach." T h e commission said it also had authority to "unite or group any bridges previously or subsequently constructed by it into a single project for financing purposes." As a result of additional legislation in 1953, the commission now has the power "to acquire, construct, administer, operate and maintain port and terminal facilities within the area north of the Philadelphia-Bucks County line, as extended across the river." T h e commission has funded debt of almost $30 million. Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor New York and New Jersey created the two-man Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor in 1953 after finding "that the conditions under which waterfront labor is employed within the port of New York district are depressing and degrading to such labor, resulting from the lack of any systematic method of hiring, the lack of adequate information as to the availability of employment, corrupt hiring practices and the fact that persons conducting such hiring are frequently criminals and persons notoriously lacking in moral character and integrity and neither existences of these abuses and evils interferes with and hampers, abridges and frustrates the proper exercise of the right to self-organization and collective bargaining granted to waterfront labor."

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The commission, which also is in effect an authority, was given powers similar to those granted to the Port o£ New York Authority and the Delaware River Port Authority, except for the issuance of revenue bonds. The governor of each state appoints one member to the commission. The New Jersey commissioner is appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate and serves a three-year term at a $17,500 annual salary. The commission has authority to license hiring agents, register longshoremen, and establish employment centers. It expected to support itself on license fees collected annually. The number of persons on the commission's million-dollar payroll is 180. The commission controls the activities of some 32,000 longshoremen, 600 hiring agents, 3,000 port watchmen, 400 pier superintendents, 60 stevedoring companies, and 13 employment information centers. The commission was formed to rid the New York waterfront of racketeers and subversives whose control of waterfront activities was described in legislation by New York and New Jersey as interfering "with the public welfare, the flow of commerce, the conduct of legitimate business and the exercise of legal rights of individuals and corporations in the port of New York district." Both states said that evils which existed on the waterfront for more than half a century included "unjust, unreasonable, oppressive, demoralizing, exploitative and corrupt waterfront labor practices by associations in the form of labor organizations and officials, agents, representatives and employees thereof, bribery, inadequate accounting of funds, inadequate books of account and other financial records and records of minutes and official actions, lists of members, improper use of funds, improper and dishonest elections, breaches of trust, fraud and deceit, gangster and criminal control of such organizations and criminals in positions of leadership, threats, violence, intimidation, extortion, coercion, racketeering, and undemocratic procedures and corrupt practices by employers of waterfront labor." The waterfront commission legislation also banned public loading. During a labor shortage in 1917-18, truckmen hired laborers at the piers to unload their trucks. As time passed, the laborers organized the public loading system and eventually these public loaders formed corporations and partnerships. Trucks with mer-

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chandise intended for overseas transport could not be unloaded except by employees of the corporations or partnerships. A New York State crime commission in 1953 declared the public loading system to be a racket. Palisades Interstate Park Commission Five members each from New York and New Jersey make up the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, which administers the 50,483-acre, eight-section park. The New Jersey commissioners, appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, serve five-year terms without pay. The commission's headquarters is located at Bear Mountain in New York. In addition to New Jersey's 12-mile stretch of park atop the Palisades, the commission oversees in New York the development of 781 acres at Tallman Mountain; 536 acres at Blauvelt; 788 acres at Hook Mountain, which includes the Nyack and Haverstraw beach parks; 45 acres at Stony Point; 44,947 acres at Bear Mountain, including beautifully landscaped artificial lakes, and Harriman State Park; 491 acres at High Tor; and 1,057 acres at Storm King near West Point. The commission was authorized by both states and approved by Congress in 1937 to succeed the Commissioners of the Palisades Interstate Park, a body set up in 1900. The commissioners from 1900 to 1909 acquired the Palisades as the first step in preserving the grandeur of the cliffs overlooking the Hudson River. Additional land in New Jersey and New York was either purchased by the two states or turned over to the commission as a gift. The value of land is in the neighborhood of $70 million. A 43-mile parkway connecting the George Washington and Bear Mountain bridges was completed in 1955. About two million visitors are drawn to the New Jersey section of the park every year. Incodel The Interstate Commission on the Delaware River Basin has come to be known as Incodel. It consists of five members each from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The New Jersey commissioners are appointed by the Commission on Inter-

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state Cooperation. Incodel is charged with developing plans for the conservation and equitable diversion of the water resources of the Delaware River. Early in the 1950's Incodel drew up an over-all plan for dams and reservoirs from which the participating states would draw water, but the plan was not received enthusiastically by Pennsylvania. Delaware evinced only an academic interest, but approved the plan. New Jersey sought to put the plan into action. New York approved the plan, but nothing concrete has developed. Interstate Cooperation The New Jersey Commission on Interstate Cooperation is a 15member commission created in 1936 to work with similar commissions in the other 47 states. It consists of five senators, five assemblymen, and five state officials appointed by the governor. The governor is an honorary member. Incodel has been the major interest of the commission, but its members also have participated with other states on conferences concerning rabies control, forest-fire control, traffic control, social welfare, parole and probation, highway safety, sanitation, and other interstate problems. Marine Fisheries The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, consisting of members from New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Virginia, was organized to promote fisheries along the Atlantic seaboard. Three members from each state serve on the commission. New Jersey's members are one state senator, one representative of the commissioner of conservation and economic development, and one citizen appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The members serve three years without pay. Sanitation The Interstate Sanitation Commission has five members each from New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, who supervise an interstate sanitation district, which extends from Sandy Hook up through New York Bay, northward on the Hudson River to the

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northerly boundaries of Rockland and Westchester counties in N e w York and easterly into Long Island Sound to N e w Haven, Conn., and to Port Jefferson on the north shore of Long Island. T h e district also includes the south shore of Long Island east from N e w York Bay to Fire Island Inlet. T h e commission has the authority to make rules and issues orders to end pollution of coastal, tidal, and estuarial waters in the district. It may resort to court action to have its orders obeyed. Its orders may include a demand on any municipality in the district to construct sewage-disposal plants. T h e commission determines whether or not the plants provide adequate treatment of sewage. N e w Jersey's commissioners are appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to five-year terms without pay.

Washington Crossing Bridge N e w Jersey established the Washington

Crossing Bridge

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sion in 1923 and still carries it on its records, but neither Pennsylvania nor Congress has approved the commission. It was intended to be an interstate body to take over control of the Pennsylvania and N e w Jersey parks at the site of George Washington's 1776 crossing of the Delaware River and to build a new bridge connecting the two parks.

Racing T h e New Jersey Racing Commission is a four-member commission, appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for unsalaried, six-year terms. It supervises horse racing at Atlantic City, Camden, and Oceanport, and harness racing at Freehold. T h e commission each year assigns each track a 50-day racing season and licenses 17 classifications of persons associated with racing, including jockeys, their agents, horsemen, pari-mutuel employees, and stable help, and the associations which own the tracks. T h e commission also collects fees for the registration of colors, partnerships, and assumed names. Persons or partnerships who, under assumed names, enter horses in races must pay an initial fee of $50 and give the commission the true names of the applicants.

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They must pay additional fees annually as set by the commission to continue use of the assumed names. T h e commission audits all pari-mutuel pools and verifies the prices on all winning horses, the sums wagered, the percentage due the state, and the breakage collected by the state. Breakage consists of all odd pennies from 1 to 9 cents not paid to the holder of a winning ticket. For instance, if a winning pay-off is computed at $3.27 for each $2 ticket, the holder of the ticket is paid $3.20. The remaining 7 cents is breakage and is taken by the state. The commission maintains its own fingerprint bureau and requires all officials, officers, and employees of a racing association, concessionary, and stable employees to be fingerprinted. The commission also maintains a record of all owners of stock—some 4,500 holders—in the four race plants. Proposed purchasers of race track stock are investigated by the commission and all transfers are recorded. Racing revenue has been one of the mainstays of state financing since 1940. In the early 1950's, racing revenue edged above $20 million a year and was expected to climb higher. Thirteen per cent of the pari-mutuel pool each day is paid to the state. T h e commission conducts hearings on violations of its rules and has the power to ban anyone from a race track. It may order a saliva or other chemical test for any horse and, if it finds that a stimulant has been administered, the commission may ban owner, trainer, and horse from further activity in New Jersey. Each racing association is required to meet standards established by the Jockey Club of New York, the National Steeplechase and Hunt Association, and the United States Trotting Association. The commission, by law, may modify any of the rules of the three organizations as applied in New Jersey after giving them an opportunity to be heard. T h e owners of a race track are required by law to police their grounds and "eject therefrom known undesirables, touts, persons believed to be bookmakers or connected with bookmakers, persons under suspension or ruled off, persons of lewd or immoral character, and persons guilty of boisterous or disorderly conduct or other conduct detrimental to racing or the public welfare." No person who has a criminal record is permitted to be employed at a race track. One of the commission's rules is:

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"All public telephones and telegraph wires at the track or in the grounds of the association conducting the meeting shall be closed with the opening of the pari-mutuel windows for the first race of the day. No calls or wires shall be allowed to be made or received after the telephones and telegraph wires are closed until after the last race has been finished except by officials of the New Jersey Racing Commission or duly accredited members of the press." Each race track makes a complete motion-picture film of every race. A series of cameras, located on towers, take records of every stride taken in a race. The film can be processed and assembled for viewing within six minutes. Athletic Commission The State Athletic Commission was established in 1918 to exercise control over all boxing matches and wrestling exhibitions. Domiciled in the Department of State, the commission consists of one man, assisted by a chief inspector selected by him. The athletic commissioner is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is paid $5,200 a year. The commissioner has the authority to enforce rules and regulations he deems necessary for boxing and wrestling. Boxing and wrestling promoters are required to file a $5,000 bond with the commissioner and guarantee to pay the state 10 per cent of their gross receipts for all but championship boxing matches, for which the commissioner may reduce the tax to 5 per cent. Wrestling is defined in New Jersey as an "exhibition" or a "show" and any promoter who advertises professional wrestling as a contest or championship match is liable to loss of his license. Amateur wrestling bouts must have the sanction of the Amateur Athletic Union before the commissioner will issue a permit for their performance. Promoters of boxing and wrestling are required by law to have tickets printed by a firm licensed by the commissioner. Licensed printers must file a $5,000 bond with the commissioner before they may accept contracts to print boxing or wrestling tickets. T h e commissioner appoints referees and other boxing and wrestling officials. T h e referees are assigned to bouts by the commissioner. T h e law requires that the commissioner must be notified two

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weeks in advance of any bout and that, within 24 hours after the bout, the promoter must submit a written report to the commissioner. The report must contain the exact number of tickets sold, the amount of gross receipts, and any other information the commissioner demands. T h e tax on the gross receipts must be paid at the time the report is submitted. Boxing, which once was a flourishing sport in New Jersey, has almost died out. Occasional bouts are held at Atlantic City and semimonthly contests are billed at Trenton during the late fall and winter. Promoters who once operated lucrative clubs in Newark and Jersey City blame television for the loss of patrons. T h e state has produced a fair share of notables in the boxing world including such champions as Mickey Walker, "Cinderella" Jim Braddock, Joe Walcott, and Ike Williams. Its most colorful contribution to the ring was Tony Galento. Games of Chance The Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission has five unsalaried members appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, who supervise laws permitting bingo and raffles. Only bona fide church, veteran, rescue squad, volunteer fire, and fraternal organizations with charitable purposes may be licensed to hold bingo games and raffles. Prizes are restricted to merchandise which cannot exceed in value the maximums set by the law. The commission prescribes the forms of licenses to be issued, but municipalities grant the licenses. Bingo and raffles have had a stormy career in New Jersey and for years played an important part in local and state politics. They were legalized by an amendment to the Constitution in 1953. T h e commission is authorized to conduct investigations to determine whether the games are conducted according to law. It has the power to suspend or revoke licenses after holding hearings and it is required to make a continuous study of bingo and raffles. From these studies the commission is expected to make recommendations to the legislature for changes in the law to eliminate defects. Protestant church leaders were vigorously opposed to legalization of the games, calling them immoral. State officials, fearful that un-

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derworld elements would try to take over control of the games, have been alert for any violations of the bingo and raffles laws. Organizations in the state which operated the games reported gross receipts of about $10 million in the first year of legalization. The state does not collect a tax on the games. Hall of Fame The National Football Shrine and Hall of Fame Commission is a seven-member body established by the legislature in 1950 to create a Hall of Fame and erect a shrine to collegiate football at Rutgers University. The commission, appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, serves without pay. It is authorized to nominate from year to year such collegiate football stars as it feels should be immortalized at the Hall of Fame in the same manner that professional baseball players are honored at Cooperstown in New York. Turnpike Authority In 1948 the legislature authorized creation of a three-member New Jersey Turnpike Authority to build the 118-mile New Jersey Turnpike from the Delaware Memorial Bridge, connecting New Jersey and Delaware, to the George Washington Bridge, connecting New Jersey and New York. T h e members of the authority, who serve part time, are appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to nonsalaried five-year terms. T h e chairman of the authority is selected by the governor and serves at his pleasure. An f 18,000-a-year executive director manages the operation of the turnpike. The authority, which was organized in March, 1949, built the black-topped superhighway in the record time of 23 months, opening it for traffic in 1951. In its first full year of operation more than 20 million vehicles traversed the turnpike, which has no sharp turns, no side roads, no traffic lights, and a speed limit of 60 miles an hour. The number of vehicles has increased each year. T h e toll for an automobile traveling the full length of the turnpike is $1.75 and the toll for a truck is $5. Tolls for intermediate points on the turnpike are based on the cost of construction per mile, making tolls

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in North Jersey, where the turnpike was cut through heavily populated areas, higher than in South Jersey, where the highway runs through farmland. The authority issued $255 million worth of bonds to meet initial construction costs and, in 1952, floated another $150 million worth of bonds. An additional $27 million worth of bonds were issued to meet the cost of connecting the superhighway south of Trenton with the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The bonds are listed to mature in 1985, 1986, and 1988, but revenues have been so much higher than anticipated that the authority expects to retire the bonds in the early 1970's. A turnpike extension from the vicinity of Newark Airport to the Holland Tunnel was completed in 1956 and the authority was considering other extensions. It also had under study an east-west turnpike from the vicinity of Phillipsburg to somewhere in Jersey City or Hoboken. There are 10 service areas along the turnpike where motorists may obtain fuel and food. No alcoholic beverage is sold at any of the 10 lunchrooms and restaurants, which are operated by the Howard Johnson Co. T h e Johnson people pay a minimum annual rental of $300,000, plus 15 per cent of its gross sales, even though it built and maintains its own establishments. Cities Service Co. pays rent on a similar basis for its sites at the 10 service areas. Both companies obtained exclusive rights on the turnpike through competitive bidding. When the authority was created, New Jersey citizens were given to understand that the turnpike would become a free highway once the authority's bonds were matured. In this respect, the language of the law establishing the authority is significant. The law says: "When all bonds issued under the provisions of this act to finance any turnpike project or projects and the interest thereon shall have been paid or a sufficient amount for the payment of such bonds and the interest thereon to the maturity thereof shall have been set aside in trust for the benefit of the bondholders, such project or projects, if then in good condition and repair to the satisfaction of the state highway department, shall become part of the state highway system and shall thereafter be maintained by the state highway department free of tolls; provided, however, that the authority may

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thereafter charge tolls for the use of any such project and pledge such tolls to the payment of bonds issued under the provisions of this act in connection with another turnpike project or projects, but any such pledge of tolls of a turnpike project to the payment of bonds issued in connection with another project or projects shall not be effectual until the principal of and the interest on the bonds issued in connection with the first mentioned project shall have been paid or provision made for their payment." Highway Authority T h e New Jersey Highway Authority is a three-member authority created in 1952 to build and operate the Garden State Parkway, a scenic superhighway running from the tip of Cape May in the south to Paramus in Bergen County and, by 1957, to the New York State line for a connection with the New York Throughway. T h e members, like those of the Turnpike Authority, serve part time and are appointed to five-year terms without pay by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Unlike the Turnpike Authority, the New Jersey Highway Authority is domiciled in the State Highway Department. T h e authority's initial issue of $285 million worth of bonds is secured by the credit of the state. T h e credit was granted in a referendum at the 1952 general election. T h e north and south dual lanes of this black-topped parkway are separated by a broad center island, which is so wide in some sections that motorists moving in opposite directions cannot see each other. Like the turnpike, the parkway allows free movement without stop signs, side roads, or traffic lights at 60 miles an hour; but the parkway does not have as straight an alignment as the turnpike. Trucks are prohibited on the parkway north of Lakewood. Motorists may use the parkway free of tolls for long stretches, going on and off at more than 60 entrances and exits. Tolls are collected at nine across-the-road stations and at five ramp stations. T h e road toll stations collect 25 cents for automobiles and from 35 cents to a dollar for trucks and buses. T h e ramp stations, some of which have automatic toll-collecting devices, collect 10 cents for each vehicle. A pleasure car would pay $2.25 to ride the full distance of the parkway. An $18,000-a-year executive director manages the operation of

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the parkway, which, like the turnpike, has service areas that include fuel and food establishments. The parkway also provides picnic areas at various points off the right-of-way. Supporters of the authority note that the Garden State Parkway was begun in 1946 by the Highway Department, but because funds were limited only 22 miles were constructed in six years. The authority built an additional 143 miles in a little more than two years. Regional Planning The New Jersey Regional Planning Commission was created in 1950 to study and make recommendations to the governor and the legislature on programs "designed to provide one or more regional intrastate agencies empowered to perfect and implement plans for supplying the regional projects and services, other than water supply and sewage disposal, deemed necessary in the public interest." The commission comprises two members of the Senate, two members of the Assembly, and five citizens appointed by the governor. Real Estate Commission The New Jersey Real Estate Commission was created in 1921 to regulate and license real estate brokers and salesmen. T h e commission consists of five members appointed to three-year terms by the governor. T o qualify as a commissioner, you must be a real estate broker with 10 years' experience. No one is permitted to accept any payment for arranging a transfer of real estate without a license. The commission requires applicants for licenses to pass examinations in reading, writing, spelling, simple arithmetic, and a general knowledge of the state's laws concerning mortgages, agreements of sale, and leases. The fee for a broker's license is $20 a year and for a salesman's license $10 a year. The commission is domiciled in the Department of Banking and Insurance. South Jersey Port Commission The South Jersey Port District comprises the counties of Mercer, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Cumberland, Salem, and Cape May and the South Jersey Port Commission exercises jurisdiction

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over the area. T h e commission consists of seven members elected by the legislature for seven-year terms without pay. Created in 1926, the commission has the power to enter into a contract with any county or municipality in the district to finance construction of port or transportation facilities. It also may lease, erect, equip, and maintain port facilities of its own and regulate the operation of privately owned port facilities. T h e commission built the Camden Marine Terminals in 1928. T h e terminals are employed mostly for the importation, storage, and shipment to farmers of nitrate soda and other fertilizer materials. In addition, the Division of Budget and Accounting reports that "through the use of these facilities, industries and manufacturers are relieved of the burden of acquiring high cost waterfront property and substantial savings are thereby effected in their transportation costs with resultant increases in production and employment." Commission on State Tax Policy One member of the Senate, one member of the Assembly, and five citizens, appointed to two-year terms by the governor, make u p the Commission on State Tax Policy which was created in 1945 to make continuous studies of state and local government tax structures and related fiscal problems. T h e commission has concentrated on one field of taxation each year, making a report to the governor and the legislature. State Beach Erosion Commission Four members of the Senate, four members of the Assembly, and four citizens, appointed by the governor for four-year terms without pay, make u p the State Beach Erosion Commission. T h e only paid employee is an attorney who receives $7,500 a year. T h e commission was created in 1951 to make studies intended to develop the best devices to protect the state's 120-mile seashore from erosion. Narcotic Control T h e Commission on Narcotic Control is a five-member body appointed by the governor. It was created in 1953 to make a continu-

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ous study of laws on the control of narcotic drug traffic and to make recommendations for changes that would eliminate illegal use of drugs. In 1955 the commission recommended establishment of a special hospital to care for drug addicts. Statute Revision The Commission on Statute Revision, created by the legislature in 1952, was ordered to make revisions in state laws as necessary to keep them up to date. One of its major contributions was revision of laws on crime and the administration of estates. Rapid Transit The Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission, created by the New York and New Jersey legislatures, continues a 30-year-old effort to solve the complex traffic problems caused by New Jersey and New York commuters and the transportation of goods into and out of the New York port area by rail and motor vehicle. The commission received $500,000 from the Port of New York Authority and $300,000 from the legislatures of the two states to finance its work. Most authorities on rapid transit are of the opinion that any new rail facilities in the New York metropolitan area would require subsidies from the governmental agencies approving them. Railroad officials have said that their commuter business has fallen off so badly that they must discontinue much of their services between New York City and suburban residential areas in New Jersey. State House Commission The governor, state treasurer, state comptroller, president of the Senate, speaker of the Assembly, and the chairmen of the Senate and Assembly appropriations committees make up the State House Commission. It meets once a month in the governor's office and is the body which authorizes the construction of state buildings, rental of office space by governmental agencies and the maintenance of the State House and the State House Annex. It also supervises the

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operation of cafeterias in the State House and at the State Highway Department Building at Ewing Township. Law-Enforcement Council This five-member New Jersey Law-Enforcement Council was created by the legislature in 1952 to examine continuously the performance of law-enforcement agencies. It was domiciled at first in the Department of Law and Public Safety. When critics pointed out that the council would be in an untenable position in case it should investigate the attorney general, who headed the department, the legislature removed the agency, but left it suspended in a governmental limbo. T h e New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in 1956 that the council was a legislative commission, ending a legal battle begun by Governor Robert B. Meyner. T h e governor had asserted he had the right to name the council's members. T h e legislature contested the matter. Following the court decision, the council received a new legislative charter and was charged additionally with developing "plans and programs insofar as possible to eliminate the basic causes of crime and delinquency." T h e five members are appointed jointly by the president of the Senate and the speaker of the Assembly. T h e members have no specific term of office and are unsalaried. No member may be employed by either political party or hold office at any level of government. T h e council has the power to subpoena and may hold closed or open hearings. It may call on any police agency to open its records for inspection and supply any assistance requested. Mosquito Control Commission In 1956 New Jersey took cognizance at the state level of the pesky mosquito, setting u p a seven-member commission to exterminate the pest by eliminating its breeding places. Six of the members were appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. T h e seventh member was designated as the director of the New Jersey State Agricultural Experiment Station in an ex officio capacity. T h e Station and the county mosquito-extermination commissions were called on to cooperate with the state commission. T h e members were given authority to call on the legislature for appro-

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priations to carry out the commission's work, but they were given no salaries. A companion law gave the commission authority to enter any property to look for breeding areas and authorized county commissions to require owners of private property to pay for extermination costs. Other Agencies Among other commissions and authorities operating in New Jersey are these, whose names indicate their duties: Bergen County Sewer Authority Hackensack River Sewerage Authority Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority Passaic Valley Water Commission State Capitol Building Commission Crippled Children's Commission State Coordinating Council on Traffic and Safety Air Pollution Commission State Air Safety Commission Inland Waterways Study Commission Commission on Municipal Government Railroad Laws Study Commission State Recreation Commission North Jersey District Water Supply Commission Gloucester County Tunnel Commission

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County Government E i v e r y state in the nation except Rhode Island has government by counties. A county may be envisaged as a buffer between state and municipal government, but that concept is misleading. T h e county performs real and necessary services for the citizen, some of which already have been described in earlier chapters. We have seen in some detail how the County Court, the County District Court, the surrogate, the county clerk, the superintendent of schools, the election board, the tax board, the welfare board, the Department of Weights and Measures, the Mosquito Control Commission, and the vocational schools operate. We have seen also how the state grants financial aid to the counties for such things as county judge salaries, beach-erosion work, the maintenance of dependent children and the aged, the construction of roads and bridges and their maintenance, the operation of mental and tuberculosis hospitals, and the care of the indigent.

Freeholders Most county governments in the nation consist of boards, whose members are elected or appointed and who are known as commissioners, supervisors, or some other readily understood title. Only in New Jersey will you find Boards of Chosen Freeholders as the governing bodies of the counties. T h e term freeholder was employed first in England and was carried over to its American colonies. T h e title described a person who owned land. Under old English law only a property owner could vote. From among these freeholders, a group was chosen to administer the government; but to279

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day in New Jersey a person need not be a property owner to be elected to the Board of Chosen Freeholders in any of the 21 counties. T h e number of freeholders in each county depends upon its classification and/or the determination of representation made by the county. The boards vary in the number of their members from 3 to 37, but all freeholders are elected to three-year terms. In some counties, they are paid fixed salaries and in others they receive a fee for each meeting they attend. A state law establishing the number of freeholders for each county board gives a choice between a population determination or representation for each ward, township, and borough. T o grasp the manner in which members of boards are determined by population, it is necessary to know how the counties are classified. Classes of Counties There are six classes of counties based on the 1940 census. Several counties since that census have increased their populations warranting a change of classification, but the legislature froze the classes on the ground that some counties could not afford a resultant increase in the number of officials required by a higher classification. Here is the classification of the counties: First Class—more than 600,000 population (Hudson and Essex). Second Class-200,000 to 600,000 (Bergen, Camden, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Passaic, and Union). Third Class—50,000 to 200,000 (Burlington, Cumberland, Gloucester, Morris, Somerset, and Warren). Fourth Class—less than 50,000 (Hunterdon; Salem, which has more than 50,000; and Sussex). Fifth Class—bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and having more than 50,000 population (Atlantic and Ocean). Sixth Class—bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and having less than 50,000 (Cape May). Using the population method to determine the number of freeholders permitted on a county board, a state law specifies that firstclass counties may have nine members; counties with between 150,000 and 300,000 population, seven members; 70,000 to 150,000, five members; less than 70,000, three members; and sixth-class counties, five members. Atlantic County, which would be permitted only five members under the population method, has the largest board

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in the state—37 members representing every ward in the county. Other counties using the ward method, or a variation of it, are Cumberland, 26 members; Gloucester, 23 members; and Salem, 14 members. Salaries and Budgets Freeholder salaries in the population method counties range from $5,000 to $8,000 a year, with an extra $500 for the member selected annually as director of the board. Atlantic County pays its members $1,000 a year. Cumberland and Salem pay their members $15 for each meeting; Gloucester pays $12.50 for each meeting. All counties elect a director for a one-year term, except Warren, which names a new director every six months, but pays him nothing extra. T h e Boards of Freeholders adopt annual budgets to meet the cost of their governments. They determine a county-wide real estate tax rate and have the municipalities collect a tax on a prorated basis. T h e freeholders build and maintain roads and bridges, maintain the offices of the county court system, the prosecutor and his staff, the sheriff and his deputies, the constables, county physicians, coroners, county clerk, surrogates, registers of deeds, agricultural agents, superintendents of schools, county jails, welfare boards, Departments of Probation and Weights and Measures, Mosquito Control Commissions, hospitals, Shade T r e e Commissions, vocational schools, and blood banks. T h e Board of Freeholders also pays for the services of jury commissioners, tax boards, election boards, and planning boards. Essex and Hudson counties have chief medical examiners instead of county physicians and coroners. T h e people of Essex and Hudson elect a county supervisor, who is, in effect, an overseer of the Board of Freeholders. Only Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Essex, and Hudson counties maintain mental hospitals. Several counties operate tuberculosis hospitals and some have general hospitals. County Officials For a close-up look at how county functions are conducted, here are brief sketches of the activities of various county officials:

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The prosecutor is the chief law-enforcement officer of the county. He is appointed to a five-year term by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, but he receives his salary from the county. His work is supervised by the attorney general, but the supervision usually is casual. The prosecutor has a legal staff that varies in number according to the size of the county. He also has a detective force large enough to make investigations and obtain evidence. T h e law requires a prosecutor to use "all reasonable and lawful diligence for the detection, arrest, indictment and conviction of offenders against the laws." Any person accused of a crime has a right to have the charges against him heard by a grand jury. If the jury considers the charges serious, it may return an indictment. If the jury considers the charges groundless, it dismisses them. The prosecutor or one of his assistants presents the charges to the jury. If an indictment is returned, the prosecutor or the assistant must represent the state at a trial. If an appeal is taken from the judgment of the trial court, the prosecutor or the assistant must be prepared to continue with the case through the higher courts of the state. For crimes that cross county lines, several prosecutors may cooperate and call upon the state for assistance. Prosecutors are paid from $4,000 to $12,000 a year depending upon population. Chief Medical Examiner Essex and Hudson counties were given legislative authority in 1927 to replace county physicians and coroners with chief medical examiners. The examiner has the power to administer oaths and examine witnesses, but he is not required to call an inquest in case of a violent death. Such an inquiry becomes the duty of the prosecutor. The examiner must view the body of any person whose death resulted from violence and make a report, including the results of an autopsy or examination for poison, to the prosecutor. Violent deaths which must be reported to the medical examiner include homicides, suicides, industrial accidents, occupational diseases, abortions, and highway accidents.

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Physician and Coroner In other counties the county physician, appointed by the Board of Freeholders, acts in the same manner as a chief medical examiner; but he does not have the power to administer oaths or examine witnesses. In cases of violent death, he makes a report to the county coroner. The coroner, an elected officer, may impanel a jury to investigate the circumstances of a violent death to determine if a crime was committed. He has the power to administer oaths and examine witnesses. Counsel, Adjuster, Clerk The Board of Freeholders appoints an attorney as its counsel, usually for a three-year term. He prepares resolutions, contracts, bonds, and other legal documents and represents the board in all litigation in which it is involved. The adjuster is usually attached to the county counsel's office. He acts as a referee in hearings for the commitment of persons to county mental or tubercular institutions or the feeble-minded to state institutions. He also investigates cases of needy persons who seek county care. The county clerk is elected to a five-year term and, in addition to his duties in the county courts as noted in the chapter on the judiciary, is responsible for much of the administrative work of county government. The clerk must keep files and records of petitions for county offices, criminal and civil bail, building contracts, changes of names, condemnation proceedings, merger agreements of businesses, gun permits, maps, board resolutions, registry of physicians, notary public oaths, county road work, writs of attachment, and postponements of judgments, to mention some. The clerk also issues hunting licenses, makes a drawing for positions on ballots, prints ballots and delivers them to election districts, mails ballots to servicemen and absentee civilians, maintains bank deposits for various county funds, prepares juror vouchers, checks attendance of trial jury members and reports delinquents to the court, and executes forms of the court.

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T h e county engineer is responsible for the design and construction of county roads, bridges, drainage systems, and in some counties, traffic signal systems. T h e engineer is appointed by the Board of Freeholders, which sets his term of office. He is required to draw up a county road budget each year and supervise the spending of appropriated money. T h e board appoints a county treasurer to a three-year term and makes him responsible for the collection of all money due the county. He is custodian of county funds and keeps the records of the county employees' retirement system. County payrolls are cleared through the treasurer's office. Probation Officer Each county has a chief probation officer and assistants to make investigations of persons before they are sentenced on a criminal offense and to supervise the activities of convicts released on parole. County judges are authorized by the legislature to appoint a chief probation officer and to approve his assistants. In some counties probation officers are assigned to hear juvenile delinquency cases in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court; and in some counties the chief probation officer checks all applications for gun permits. In addition, his office disburses to dependents the earnings of prisoners in the county jail. Sheriff T h e sheriff has an interesting title. It dates back to old England, when the chief law-enforcement officer in a shire (county) was known as a reeve. A combination of shire and reeve eventually became sheriff. T h e sheriff is elected for a three-year term and, while he has the inherent powers of a police officer, acts usually as a ministerial officer of the county court. He is responsible for proper conduct in the courts and takes custody of all persons awaiting trial or detained in the county jail. He serves warrants of the court personally or through a deputy. If a person is convicted of a crime re-

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quiring a term in a state institution, it is the duty of the sheriff or a deputy to transport the prisoner to the institution and report back to the court. The sheriff issues all jury summonses and has charge of the sale of all property seized under a writ of the court. Sheriffs are paid from $5,000 to $13,000 a year, depending upon the size of the counties. Agricultural Agent Every county except Hudson has an agricultural agent, who is the local representative of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His duty is to keep farmers in the county abreast of the latest developments in agriculture and to work with florists, nurserymen, shade tree commissions, and everyday citizens interested in home or municipal beautification. Register of Deeds All deeds and mortgages are handled by a register of deeds, whose office was created in 1859 by the legislature and adopted by Camden, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union counties. This official is elected to a five-year term. It is his duty to record bills of sale, chattel mortgages, liens, maps of land developments, tax sales, and other property documents as well as deeds. Most counties preserve their records by microfilming. In addition to these officials, several counties have commissions to supervise county parks, trees, and to exterminate the mosquito. Hudson County has a boulevard commission, which controls Hudson Boulevard, a wide avenue that runs through several municipalities. Some commissions, such as those supervising parks, have police forces of their own. Juries The New Jersey citizen becomes most aware of county government when he is called for jury duty. There are two kinds of juries, the grand jury and the trial jury. Each county has two jury commissioners appointed by the Su-

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preme Court for one-year terms. The commissioners draw names of prospective jurors from the county election registry list. All persons called for jury duty must be between 21 and 65 years of age. Each person selected as a juror must be able to read, write and understand English, and must never have been convicted of a crime. The law specifies that only the following classes of persons may be exempt from jury duty: "a. Members or employees of police forces, state or local. "b. Members of any fire department or fire patrol, volunteer or paid. "c. Persons appointed as fish and game wardens or protectors. "d. Regularly licensed and practicing physicians and dentists of this state. "e. Members of state or federal military, naval or air forces. "f. School teachers while their schools are in session. "g. Any person who has the actual physical care and custody of a minor child and who gives written notice to the jury commissioners of the county of his residence that jury service would interfere with the care required of such child. "h. All officers and persons regularly employed by any agency under the authority of the State Board of Control of the Department of Institutions and Agencies, or regularly employed by hospitals. "i. Telegraph and telephone operators and linemen and those directly engaged in the business of receiving and transmitting messages by telegraph or calls by telephone." Any person who serves on a jury may not be called for duty again for one year. Selecting Jurors This is the way jurors are selected: The jury commissioners make up two lists of eligible persons. One list is designated for grand jury duty and must contain at least 125, but not more than 300, names. Each name is numbered. The other list is for trial jurors and may not contain less than 250 names. Copies of the lists are given to the assignment judge of the Superior Court in the county. The judge may strike any name from

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the lists at his discretion and, if he does remove any names, the lists must be renumbered. T h e commissioners, on instruction from the judge, place numbered metal or plastic disks in boxes and draw out disks for the selection of grand jurors. In the presence of the judge, one of the commissioners draws out 35 disks to designate persons to be impaneled for grand jury duty. The persons against whose names corresponding numbers have been placed on the lists are notified that they have been selected for the grand jury. The law requires that at least one grand jury serve in each county at all times, but in counties with more than 250,000 population two grand juries must be selected. One of the two serves for six weeks and the second must report for duty at the end of that time. T h e assignment judge, however, may order the sheriff not to call the second grand jury if he wishes the first one to continue for another six weeks. Special grand juries may be called at any time. Trial juries are impaneled to be available for duty in either the county or superior courts. Members of trial juries are notified 10 days in advance of the beginning of a trial and a written summons is delivered by the sheriff, a deputy, the county coroner, or a courtappointed official six days before the trial date. The Grand Jury A grand jury consists of 23 persons selected from the 35 impaneled by the jury commissioners. All grand jurors are required to take an oath saying they "shall diligently inquire and true presentment make of all such matters and things as shall be given you in charge, or in any way come to your knowledge touching the present service; the counsel of the state and your own counsel you shall keep secret; you shall present no one through envy, hatred or malice; neither shall you leave any one unpresented for fear, favor or affection, for reward, gain or the hope thereof; but you shall present all things truly as they shall come to your knowledge, according to the best of your skill and understanding, so help you God." A grand jury is the highest judicial body in the county. It may make investigations of its own, calling upon the prosecutor to supply it with necessary personnel and equipment. T h e grand jury also hears complaints and listens to witnesses called on its own initiative

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or at the suggestion o£ the prosecutor. A grand jury may return either an indictment or a presentment. An indictment may consist of one or several charges against a person, a group of persons, or a corporation, partnership, or company. When the jury renders an indictment, the accused must stand trial. A presentment is returned by a grand jury when it acknowledges that it has received insufficient evidence to warrant an indictment but still feels there are grounds for correction. No one may be tried as a result of a presentment. Grand juries in New Jersey have been open to criticism because most of them depend for guidance upon the county prosecutor. It is said that any prosecutor who is determined to bring an indictment against someone usually can convince a grand jury to hand up the required charges. Some grand juries permit the prosecutor to mastermind their indictments and presentments. If it desires, the grand jury may treat a prosecutor as simply another source of information. It may disregard, if it wishes, any instructions it receives from a judge at the time it is impaneled. The jury may act as a supreme body, taking direction from no one but itself. Some juries return indictments after hearing the cause of the prosecutor or of complainants. The prospective defendant in such a situation is rarely, if ever, called before the jury to present his side of the case. As a result, several court actions are taken annually only to be dismissed by the judge before trial or rapidly disposed of by a trial jury without action against the defendant. Testimony taken by a grand jury is secret and may not be revealed by any member of the jury. Grand jury testimony may not be employed in a trial to prove a case unless the defendant waives his right to the secrecy of the testimony or a court order is obtained to have the testimony entered in the trial record. Anyone appearing before a grand jury may disclose what he has said, but normally he is admonished not to do so. Grand juries meet usually once a week at the county courthouse. More frequent meetings may be called at the discretion of the jury foreman. The jury foreman is designated by the Superior Court assignment judge. The foreman is given the power to administer oaths to witnesses. Each grand jury is given the services of a clerk, who is appointed by the county clerk for a three-year term. The

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court fixes the salary of the grand jury clerk who "shall, when requested by the grand jury, attend its sessions, but shall not attend its deliberative sessions." The Trial Jury Trial jurors are selected from the numbered list in almost the same fashion as the grand jurors. T h e sheriff or an officer of the court selected by the assignment judge writes numbers on slips of paper, rolls them up, and places them in a box. The sheriff or the designated officer then draws 12 slips of paper from the box in open court. The persons whose numbers are drawn constitute the trial jury. If the judge believes the case may be protracted, he may order 14 slips of paper drawn from the box. All 14 persons then hear the case and, if more than 12 jurors continue through the trial, the clerk of the court writes their names on slips of paper and places the slips in a box. The first 12 names drawn out by the clerk determine the issues. The Struck Jury If either side in a case proves in an affidavit to the court that the trial is of exceptional importance, the judge of a County or Superior Court may order a struck jury. A struck jury is one that is selected from a list of 36 or 48 persons. A state law specifies that a struck jury must be selected in the following manner: "At the time designated in the order for the struck jury, the jury commissioners shall cause to be delivered to the court a copy of the list certified by them. Thereupon, or at an adjourned day, the court may, on its own motion or on motion of any party, strike from the list the names of the persons who it shall be made to appear are unfit or not well qualified for service as struck jurors. " T h e parties or their attorneys shall then proceed to strike single names from the list alternately, or if there are more than two parties, then, in such order as the court directs, the party applying for the struck jury striking the first name. The striking shall continue until one-half the number of names on the list shall remain. The persons whose names remain shall constitute the jury panel returned to try the cause, and a list of their names and addresses shall

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be certified by the court as the panel struck for the trial of that cause and copies of that list may be certified by the clerk of the court. If any party does not appear or is not represented or does not act at the striking, the court shall strike for him. . . . "Whenever a struck jury panel shall have been returned for the trial of any cause, civil or criminal, as provided by this chapter, the jury for the trial of such cause shall be selected and impaneled from the panel in as nearly as possible the same manner as a jury from the general panel is required to be selected." All parties to a case may at the discretion of the judge challenge prospective jurors to determine whether they are impartial and without interest in the result of the trial. In cases where a death penalty may be imposed, the prospective jurors must be placed under oath before they are challenged. Questioning of prospective jurors must take place in open court. A County or Superior Court judge may at his discretion impanel a jury from persons who live in another county. This foreign jury is selected from among persons designated as competent within their own counties. All jurors are paid $5 a day. Anyone called for jury duty who refuses to serve without a reasonable excuse may be fined $50 and punished for contempt of court. A state law specifies that in any civil cause 10 members of a 12member jury may render a verdict which will have the same force as though given by a full jury. In certain civil cases, a jury of six persons may be impaneled. Such a jury must be agreeable to all parties in a case. Five of the six jurors may render a verdict. The Counties Here are thumbnail sketches of the 21 counties (with population figures of 1954): Atlantic County was carved from Gloucester County in 1837. Located in the southeast of New Jersey, Atlantic consists of 565 square miles. It is best known for its principal city, Atlantic City, which calls itself the "Playground of the World" and boasts of eight miles of boardwalk along a beachfront studded with luxury hotels. The

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county has a population of 135,000 persons and is represented in the legislature by one senator and two assemblymen. Bergen County is one of the original four counties of New Jersey and is located in the northeast corner of the state. Highly residential, it is known as the "Commuter County," because many of its citizens are employed in New York City. It boasts more than 1,000 industrial sites in 235 square miles. Its major cities are Teaneck, Garfield, and Hackensack. Its population is in the neighborhood of 570,000. It annexed a part of Hudson County in 1852, twelve years after that county had been carved out of Bergen. The picturesque Palisades are in Bergen. The New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge is located in Bergen and from the bridge plaza several modern highways fan north, west, and south. Bergen is represented in the legislature by one senator and five assemblymen. Burlington County is the largest in area, embracing 819 square miles and spreading from the Delaware River to the sea across the south-central section of the state. Organized in 1681, Burlington annexed portions of Atlantic and Camden counties in 1902. Its major municipalities are Burlington, Moorestown, and Florence. Rural in nature, Burlington is known for its dairy farms and recreational areas. It has a population of 141,000 and is represented in the legislature by one senator and one assemblyman. Camden County is South Jersey's industrial county, lying just south of Burlington. Its major city, Camden, is overshadowed by the huge metropolis of Philadelphia, just across the Delaware River. The city of Camden has a navigable water frontage of some 14 miles with facilities for ocean shipping. Other major municipalities are Pensauken, Gloucester, and Collingswood. Camden has become a leader in the food-processing industry. Some 311,000 persons live within the county's 222 square miles. Camden is represented in the legislature by one senator and three assemblymen. Cape May County, located in the extreme southeast corner of the state, is three-quarters surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay and is known for its numerous beach resorts. Cape May residents also engage in truck farming. Organized in 1692, Cape May annexed portions of Cumberland County in 1878, 1880, and 1891. It comprises 265 square miles and has a population of 37,000. Its major municipalities are Cape May Courthouse, Ocean City, and

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Wildwood. As the southern terminus of the Garden State Parkway, the county expects to grow in population when the parkway is connected by ferry to Delaware. Cape May is represented in the legislature by one senator and one assemblyman. Cumberland County, carved from Salem County in 1748, lies just northwest of Cape May along Delaware Bay and has a thriving poultry industry. Its major municipalities are Vineland, where the men's clothing industry has sought to develop; Bridgeton, and Millville. Cumberland has a population of 92,000 in its 502 square miles. It is represented in the legislature by one senator and one assemblyman. Essex County is the most populous of the state, with 933,000 persons living in 127 square miles. Teeming with factories, Newark is the major city in Essex and in New Jersey. T h e city boasts one of the world's major airports and the Port of New York Authority operates Port Newark, which has a 30-foot deep channel to accommodate oceangoing vessels. Newark also is a motor vehicle traffic h u b and is linked to Jersey City to the north by the remarkable Pulaski Skyway, a four-lane elevated highway. Essex also boasts fine residential areas. In addition to Newark, major municipalities include East Orange, Irvington, and Bloomfield, which has become a pharmaceutical center. Essex is one of the original four counties organized in 1675. It has the largest representation in the legislature—one senator and a dozen assemblymen. Gloucester County, lying along the Delaware River just south of Camden, has a population of 96,000 in 329 square miles. Industry from Camden has spilled over into Gloucester, which was organized in 1686 and annexed a part of Camden in 1871. T h e major municipalities in the county are Woodbury, Paulsboro, and Pitman, none of which has a population exceeding 11,000. T h e county is represented in the legislature by one senator and one assemblyman. Hudson County is the tightest little county in the state, lying south of Bergen along the Hudson River. Like Bergen, this county finds its life tied strongly to New York City. Although only 44 square miles in area, Hudson has a population of 666,000. T h e county was taken from Bergen in 1840. Totally industrial, it is the only county without agricultural pursuit. It is the major terminus for 10 railroads and claims the greatest concentration of rails in the world.

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Many of the county's residents are employed in New York City. Major municipalities are Jersey City, Bayonne, Union City, and Hoboken, all of them having major waterfront facilities for oceangoing vessels. Famed as a stronghold for the Democratic party in New Jersey, Hudson has for decades been a potent factor in state politics. It is represented in the legislature by one senator and nine assemblymen. Hunterdon County is one of the most scenic in the state and lies along the Delaware River, 50 miles away from both New York and Philadelphia. T h e county was taken from Burlington in 1714. More than 70 per cent of its 437 square miles is devoted to farming, with dairy and poultry pursuits predominant. It has a population of 44,000 and its major municipalities are Lambertville, Clinton, and Flemington. The county is linked at several places with Pennsylvania by picturesque bridges across the Delaware. It is represented in the legislature by one senator and one assemblyman. Mercer County lies in the center of the state, along its western border, at the head of a potential industrial area centered on the Delaware River Valley. The major city is Trenton, the state capital. In its 226 square miles live some 238,000 persons, almost a tenth of them government employees. Taken from Hunterdon, Middlesex, Burlington, and Somerset counties in 1838, Mercer boasts an agricultural backdrop for factory-full Trenton. Its farmers are engaged in the dairy industry or in the growing of potatoes and tree fruits. Princeton University is located about 11 miles north of Trenton in the center of a fine residential area. The county is represented in the legislature by one senator and three assemblymen. Middlesex County, another of the four original counties, lies northeast of Mercer. Its 278,000 residents in 308 square miles operate more than 1,000 farms and mushrooming industrial plants, served by the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the natural resources of the Raritan River and Bay. Its major municipalities are Perth Amboy, Woodbridge, and New Brunswick, which is the seat of Rutgers University and the State Agricultural Experiment Station. The county is represented in the legislature by one senator and three assemblymen. Monmouth County, also one of the four original counties, is in the center of the state facing the Atlantic Ocean. Monmouth con-

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tains some of the state's finer beach resorts, with Asbury Park as its gem. Inland, rolling country is ideally suited to the raising of horses and cattle. Several farmers concentrate their efforts on apple orchards and a number of them have earned a reputation for the manufacture of apple brandy, which during the prohibition era became known as "Jersey lightning." In addition to Asbury Park, the county's major municipalities are Freehold, near which the Battle of Monmouth was fought in the Revolutionary War; Long Branch, Middletown, and Neptune. T h e county has a population of 234,000 in 477 square miles. It is represented in the legislature by one senator and two assemblymen. Morris County, taken from Hunterdon in 1739, became one of the major residential areas in the mid 1950's. It is located in the north-central section of the state, contains 478 square miles, and has a population of 171,000. The county seat, Morristown, is a shopping center for residents of surrounding counties. Other major municipalities are Madison, Dover, and Parsippany-Troy Hills. T h e county is represented in the legislature by one senator and two assemblymen. Ocean County is the second largest in land area and probably the least developed in the state. Most of its 641 square miles is covered by scrub pine and oak forests. The county, lying just south of Monmouth, has 50 miles of oceanfront and almost 100 miles of bayfront. A long, thin peninsula runs off the mainland the length of the county. Ocean, taken from Monmouth in 1850, has several beach resorts along the peninsula. One of its inland municipalities, Lakewood, caters to winter vacationists, offering them quiet rather than snow sports. Other major municipalities are Toms River, Point Pleasant, and Brick Township. T h e county has a population of 58,000. It is represented in the legislature by one senator and one assemblyman. Passaic County is the textile center of the state, with mills in Passaic and Paterson. Taken from Bergen and Essex counties in 1837, this county comprises 192 square miles. It boasts of rolling hills, farms, and lakes in its northern section, which caters to summer vacationists. Paterson was founded in 1791 as a manufacturing center by Alexander Hamilton. Major woolen mills, such as Botany and Forstmann, are located in Passaic. The county has a population of

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348,000 and is represented in the legislature by one senator and four assemblymen. Salem County was organized by the Quakers in 1681. This South Jersey county along the lower Delaware River is half agricultural and half industrial. It has a population of 51,000 residing in 343 square miles. The southern terminus of the New Jersey Turnpike is located at Deepwater. Major municipalities are Salem, Penns Grove, and Penns Neck. The county is represented in the legislature by one senator and one assemblyman. Somerset County, a picturesque, rural district in the north-central section of the state, was taken from Middlesex in 1688. A portion of Essex County was annexed in 1741 and an extra piece of Middlesex was added in 1858. Some industry has crept into the northeast section of the county, but residents are proud of their rolling country and fine residential areas in the central and western sections. The county seat is at Somerville. The county has a population of 104,000 in 305 square miles and is represented in the legislature by one senator and one assemblyman. Sussex County is a land of flowing milk, located in the extreme northwest corner of the state. Milk production per cow in Sussex ranks among the highest in the nation and creameries in the county supply New York and Newark with their products. There are more than 80 lakes in the scenic hills of this 526-square mile county, which was taken from Morris in 1753. Two of the state's largest parks, High Point and Stokes, are located in the county, which has a population of 36,000. Its major municipalities are Franklin, Newton, and Sparta. The county is represented in the legislature by one senator and one assemblyman. Union County, its 103 square miles thickly populated, is an industrial center with attractive residential areas for middle-income families. Located just south of Essex, this county has a water frontage on Newark Bay and Arthur Kill, which separates New Jersey from Staten Island, N.Y. Union was taken from Essex in 1857. The county has a population of 414,000 and is represented in the legislature by a senator and four assemblymen. Major municipalities are Elizabeth, Plainfield, Linden, and Union. Warren County, rich in dairy and truck farming, has a 50-mile riverfront on the Delaware, numerous lakes, rolling hills, and long

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stretches of unbroken woodland. One of the most scenic spots in the United States is the Delaware Water Gap, at the northwest corner of the county. Taken from Sussex in 1824, this county covers 362 square miles and has a population of 56,000. Major municipalities are Phillipsburg, Washington, Belvidere, and Hackettstown. The county is represented in the legislature by one senator and one assemblyman.

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The Municipalities A here are 567 municipalities in New Jersey—cities, towns, townships, boroughs, and villages. All are incorporated. Each citizen is, in effect, a stockholder in his municipality. T h e municipality is a creature of the state legislature. State laws prescribe the forms of municipalities and set forth in detail how the forms may be applied. T h e citizens of each municipality may choose a form, change it, revert to the first form, or select even another. A municipality may be divided into two or more municipalities; it may absorb adjacent municipalities; or it may be absorbed by an adjacent municipality. A local government may annex a portion of another; it may also change its name. T h e law describes a municipality this way: " T h e inhabitants of every municipality shall be a body corporate in fact and in law, and by its corporate name it shall have perpetual succession, may sue and be sued, have a common seal, and purchase, acquire, lease, hold, let and convey real and personal property for the use and benefit of the municipality." While that may sound simple, it is difficult for any observer of local government in New Jersey to understand the municipal organizations of the state. Cities, like the counties, are classified. Towns, townships, boroughs, and villages are not. T h e cities are grouped in classes according to population or location. T h e classes are: First Class—must have a population of more than 150,000. There are only two such cities in the state, Newark and Jersey City. Second Class—must have a population of not less than 12,000 and not more than 150,000. These cities are: Bayonne, Bridgeton, Cam297

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den, Clifton, East Orange, Elizabeth, Englewood, Garfield, Gloucester City, Hackensack, Hoboken, Linden, Millville, New Brunswick, Orange, Passaic, Paterson, Perth Amboy, Plainfield, Summit, Trenton, and Union City. Third Class—all cities with less than 12,000 population, except those bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and which are resorts. Fourth Class—all resort cities fronting on the Atlantic Ocean. All municipalities are not governed in the same way. Depending upon the form chosen, the municipalities may be governed by a five-member or a three-member commission; a mayor and council; a council and manager; a committee, whose chairman usually is called mayor; or a board of trustees. The Name's the Same

One of the most remarkable aspects of municipal governments in New Jersey is that dozens of them go about their daily business despite the fact that their names are identical. Another phenomenon is that 238 persons comprise Corbin City in Atlantic County, while 17,500 make up Ridgewood village in Bergen County. There are only three villages in the state, each with a population large enough to qualify for ranking as a second-class city. In addition to Ridgewood, the villages are Ridgefield Park in Bergen County and South Orange in Essex County. While South Orange is a village, Orange and East Orange are cities and West Orange is a town. There is no North Orange. The names can be confusing. For instance, Neptune City in Monmouth County is a borough. Pronunciation can cause a person to be directed to the wrong municipality; for example, Belmar in Monmouth County or Bellmawr in Camden County. Also which Washington or Union is wanted? There are Washington townships in Bergen, Burlington, Gloucester, Mercer, Morris, and Warren counties. And, there is a Washington borough in Warren. There are Union townships in Hunterdon, Ocean and Union counties, Union City in Hudson, and Union Beach in Monmouth. There also is a West New York, N.J., in Hudson, but fortunately no New York, N.J. Here are the other duplicate, or almost similar, names of municipalities in the state:

THE

MUNICIPALITIES

299

Andover borough and Andover township in Warren Berlin borough and Berlin township in Camden Caldwell borough and Caldwell township in Essex Chatham borough and Chatham township in Morris Chester borough and Chester township in Morris Clinton borough and Clinton township in Hunterdon Atlantic township in Monmouth and Atlantic City in Atlantic Boonton town and Boonton township in Morris Bordentown city and Bordentown township in Burlington Buena borough and Buena township in Atlantic Burlington city and Burlington township in Burlington Delaware township in Camden and Delaware township in Hunterdon Dover town in Morris and Dover township in Ocean Audubon and Audubon Park, both boroughs in Camden Edgewater in Bergen and Edgewater Park in Burlington Egg Harbor City and Egg Harbor township in Atlantic Franklin borough in Sussex and Franklin townships in Gloucester, Hunterdon, Somerset, and Warren Gloucester township and Gloucester City in Camden, not Gloucester, County Greenwich township in Cumberland, Gloucester, and Warren Hamilton township in Atlantic and Mercer Hampton borough in Hunterdon and Hampton township in Sussex Harrison town in Hudson and Harrison township in Gloucester Hopewell borough in Mercer and Hopewell township in Cumberland and Mercer Lawrence township in Cumberland and Mercer Lebanon borough and Lebanon township in Hunterdon Madison borough in Morris and Madison township in Middlesex Mansfield township in Burlington and Warren Matawan borough and Matawan township in Monmouth Mendham borough and Mendham township in Morris Millstone borough in Somerset and Millstone township in Monmouth Monroe township in Gloucester and Middlesex Neptune City and Neptune township in Monmouth Ocean township in Monmouth and Ocean and Ocean City in Cape May Passaic city in Passaic and Passaic township in Morris Pemberton borough and Pemberton township in Burlington Princeton borough and Princeton township in Mercer Raritan borough and Raritan town in Somerset and Raritan township in Hunterdon and Monmouth Rockaway borough and Rockaway township in Morris Roselle and Roselle Park, both boroughs in Union

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Saddle River borough, Saddle River township, and Upper Saddle River borough in Bergen Shrewsbury borough and Shrewsbury township in Monmouth Springfield township in Burlington and Union Only a handful of municipalities have tried to end the confusion that arises from like names. Chester borough in Burlington changed its name to Maple Shade in 1945. A year earlier Ho-ho-kus township in Bergen had left that hyphened name to the borough and adopted Mahwah in its place. Lodi borough in Bergen retained its name, but Lodi township became South Hackensack in 1935. New Providence borough in Union changed its name to Berkeley township in 1951, leaving New Providence township alone with that identification. Princeton borough tried to absorb Princeton township, but strong groups of citizens in both municipalities defeated a 1954 referendum. Raritan township in Middlesex County changed its name in 1954 to Edison in honor of Thomas A. Edison, the inventor. Anyone writing a letter to someone living in one of the Washington townships would have to know the name of the nearest post office. Any letter addressed to Washington, N.J., would be delivered to Washington borough in Warren County. All municipalities in the state do not have post offices of their own. So, a letter for someone in Washington township in Burlington County would have to be addressed to Lower Bank, the nearest municipality with a post office. Similarly, letters for persons in Washington township in Gloucester County would have to be addressed to Grenloch; Washington township in Mercer County, to Windsor; Washington township in Morris County, to Long Valley; and Washington township in Warren, to Oxford. Smallest and Oldest The smallest city in the state is Corbin City, with a population of 238. The smallest borough is Island Beach with 13 inhabitants, followed closely by Tavistock in Camden County with 15. The smallest township is Pahaquarry in Warren County, with a population of 67. The smallest town is Belvidere in Warren County, with 2,406. The smallest village is Ridgefield Park with 12,000.

THE MUNICIPALITIES

301

Municipalities claiming to be the oldest in their present forms are Perth Amboy, dating back to 1718 as a city; Woodbridge, to 1669 as a township; Belvidere, to 1845 as a town; Princeton, to 1813 as a borough; and South Orange, to 1869 as a village. Jersey City considered itself a town in 1804, but became a city in 1820. Classification For decades the township had been the rural type of municipality. The borough had been considered an urban type within fairly close boundaries. The town is urban and easily could be a city, but it retains its classification mostly as a matter of tradition. The city normally connotes a bustling metropolis, but the classification has been applied in many instances to small, even rural, communities for political purposes. The villages, as we have seen, are only three in number and were formed in the late nineteenth century when there was great demand for formalizing municipal corporations. Since the end of World War II the growth of townships and boroughs has been almost phenomenal. Major industries, adopting new methods of production and fearful of obliteration in an atombombed city, have carried themselves out of multistoried plants in cities and have spread out in what once was farmland. Residential areas have sprung up around them. Boroughs that once were quiet residential communities have been heavily settled, to the delight of home-building developers. Townships that were old-time main street municipalities, surrounded by acres of open fields, became hosts to all kinds of industrial plants. The increased use of motor vehicles has made suburban living the mode of the day. Where once everyone walked to work, now few do. Municipalities that once were strictly residential, or catered to the nearby farmer, have been called upon to hurry up with services required by new inhabitants—more schools, more sewers, more streets, more water, more utilities, more firemen, more police. Everywhere there is the demand for planning, zoning, and a fresh look at property and personal taxes. Equalization of assessments on property has become a pressing need. Long-time residents of the fast-growing municipalities are annoyed by the quickened pace. The large cities helplessly watched themselves shrink in population. Paterson and Jersey City were two of seven

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major cities in the nation to report a drop in population between 1940 and 1950. The others were Scranton and Reading, Pa.; Fall River and New Bedford, Mass.; and Wilmington, Del. Newark increased its population by only 10,000 in that decade; Camden by 7,000; and Trenton by less than 3,000. Trenton officials considered revival of an old plan to absorb the city's two fast-growing neighbors, Hamilton and Ewing townships. The legislature took cognizance of the rapid changes that came with the industrial speed-up following World War II. It authorized a commission to make a study of the types of municipal government. The commission recommended legislation to ease the machinery by which municipalities could change their kinds of government. In 1950 the legislature approved a series of bills which have become known as the Optional Municipal Charter Laws. The legislation was the most significant in state history since 1911 when the Walsh Act was approved. Commission Type The Walsh Act authorized the commission type of government and most of the state's large municipalities adopted it. T h e commission type of municipal government came in for serious criticism following 1950, but its proponents worked diligently to keep it alive. Each year since 1950 the champions of the commission have had introduced in the legislature new bills intended to streamline the Walsh Act. That act has been so amended over the years that its original is hardly recognizable. Despite the pressure to continue the commission, several cities, notably Newark, have abandoned it since 1950. Newark changed to the mayor-council type in 1953, joining Hoboken and Vineland in the march away from the commission. Some municipalities which abandoned the commission type of government to try another form returned to the commission. Cape May City, which adopted the commission type in 1915, changed to a municipal manager in 1924 and reverted to the commission in 1937. Trenton also approved a commission in 1911, changed to municipal manager in 1935, and went back to the commission in 1939. Jersey City voted in 1951 against giving up the commission for a councilmanic government. There are 59 municipalities, including little

THE MUNICIPALITIES

303

Island Beach and Tavistock, governed by commissions. There are 235 townships in the state, most of them governed by committees of three to five members. Ten municipalities operate under the council-manager type of government. The balance are governed by mayor-council and board of trustees types. Municipal Types Here are brief descriptions of the various types of municipal government: The Commission—Municipalities with less than 10,000 population may have three commissioners and those with populations of more than 10,000 may have five commissioners. The commissioners are elected at large and, after their election, they select one of their number to be mayor. The five commissioners divide among themselves the executive, administrative, judicial, and legislative powers of the government and each is assigned as the head of one of five municipal departments. The departments, as specified in the Walsh Act, are the departments of public affairs, revenue and finance, public safety (fire and police), public works, and parks and public property. In three-member commissions, public affairs and public safety are consolidated, and public works and parks and public property are made into one department. The mayor has no veto power over the actions of the commission as a whole. Three members of a five-member commission and two of a three-member commission constitute a quorum for conducting business. The commissioners usually are elected to four-year terms. They may set their own salaries, provided they do not exceed legislative limits. The legislature must approve salaries in excess of those specified in state law. Council-Mayor—The number of councilmen in this type of government varies from three to nine, depending upon the population. Four weeks after their election, the councilmen choose one of their number as mayor. As in the commission type of government, the mayor has no veto power over the action of the council. Most boroughs have this type of government. A majority of the members of the council constitute a quorum for conducting business. Mayor-Council—This type of government, now in vogue in 10

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municipalities, is better known as the strong council-mayor type. The difference between this type and the council-mayor type is simply that the mayor is elected independently of the council and has executive powers, including the veto over councilmanic actions. Council and Manager—Here the council after it is elected hires a municipal manager, who need not be a resident of the municipality when selected but must become an inhabitant within three months after he takes office. A majority of the council may for cause and after a hearing remove the manager at any time. He must attend all council meetings but has no vote. Most managers are given the authority to appoint or remove all department heads. The manager is the chief executive and administrative head of the municipality and is responsible for drawing up its annual budget. He carries out all other functions that may be assigned to him by the council. The Committee—This type of government is limited to townships. Each township with more than 8,000 population may be divided into wards. Two committeemen may be elected from each ward and one committeeman at large. The latter becomes chairman of the committee and in townships of more than 10,000 population he has the title of mayor. Townships of under 8,000 population usually have a three-member committee. Terms of office are for two or three years. Board of Trustees—This type of government is limited to villages. It consists of five members who serve for three years. The members select one of themselves to be president of the board and he presides at all meetings. Powers All municipalities have the power to assess and tax property. Each has the power to make ordinances, which are the local laws. Proposed ordinances usually are brought before the governing body at one meeting, then publicized, and acted upon at a subsequent meeting. The governing body may hold a public hearing before taking final action on a new ordinance or on the repeal or amendment of an existing one. Municipal governments are under mandate from the legislature to maintain order, prevent vice, quell riots, operate pounds for ani-

T H E MUNICIPALITIES

305

mals, regulate and control the construction of buildings, preserve public health, and provide ordinances deemed necessary for good government and the safety and welfare of its residents. The legislature also permits municipalities to join together for such joint pursuits as fire fighting, water supply, sewer system, police radio service, municipal courts, and public health services. Also permitted are joint agreements on regional high school districts and road construction. A municipality also may set up within its own boundaries special taxing districts. Under such districting, certain sections of the municipality may have such services as their own sewer system, water supply, fire protection, garbage collection, and street lighting. Local authorities may be set up by municipalities to provide incinerator, sewerage, housing, or parking facilities. These authorities have no taxing power, but must maintain themselves on their own revenues. Courts and Police We have seen in the chapter on the judiciary how the Municipal Court operates as part of the general court system of the state. In the 1950's there has been a tendency for small municipalities, particularly those in rural areas, to join together for the support of one court with a judge appointed by the governor and approved by the Senate. All municipalities were authorized by the Home Rule Act of 1917 to establish police departments. Many rural townships, however, depend on the state troopers or appoint one or two residents to act in police matters. The larger municipalities have departments headed by a chief of police. In commission-type municipalities the police and fire departments are divisions of the department of public safety. Some municipalities appoint a police commissioner in addition to a chief of police. In larger cities the head of the department of public safety sometimes delegates administration of the police and fire departments to a deputy commissioner. In municipalities where there are elected or appointed officials in authority over a chief of police, it is difficult to determine who is the top police authority. There has been confusion in one area of law as a result of this situation. A state law gives judicial privilege to the "head" of a municipal police force in the making of state-

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THE NEW JERSEY CITIZEN

ments concerning a criminal activity. Judicial privilege makes such statements libelproof, but the state law does not define whether a police chief, a police commissioner, a deputy city commissioner, or the city commissioner in charge of the department of public safety is the police "head" of a municipality. Municipal police are responsible for patrolling the streets, enforcing traffic regulations, and making criminal investigations and arrests. T h e larger municipalities operate with divisions of detectives, traffic safety, mounted police (in the first-class cities), and other police specialties. Police officers are appointed by the municipality. They have tenure and may not be removed except for cause and after a hearing. Removed police officers may appeal to the state Civil Service Department, if the municipality has adopted the Civil Service Act, and to the courts. Fire Departments Of the more than 500 fire departments in the state about 40 have full-time, paid firemen. All the rest are volunteer companies, but some are classified as partially paid because at least one member of the company receives a fixed salary. T h e equipment of volunteer fire companies is paid for by taxes, but most of the members are required to supply their own uniforms. Firemen's fairs are common throughout the state each summer as fund-raising events. Some fairs, particularly in Monmouth County, are so successful that taxes for fire protection are extremely low. Hospitals, Schools Some of the larger municipalities in the state operate their own hospitals, some of which are general in nature and others limited to communicable diseases or tuberculosis. Municipalities also maintain local boards of assistance to care for the needy. Schools within a municipality generally comprise a school district, which actually is a political subdivision of the state. Some school districts embrace more than one municipality. Some municipalities have more than one school district. Each district is headed by a board of education.

THE

MUNICIPALITIES

307

The board works with the municipal government in determining school taxes and salaries for school teachers. Revenue The municipality, as we have seen, is responsible for collection of real and personal property taxes and employs them to finance its activities. In addition to these taxes, the municipality collects license fees from liquor stores, tavernkeepers, dog owners, building contractors, plumbers, storekeepers, bus companies, taxi services, public utilities, and interest on delinquent taxes. It receives state aid for schools and streets and public assistance for the needy, aged, and disabled. It also receives fines and other costs collected by its Municipal Court or a share of them if the Municipal Court is a joint project involving one or more other municipalities. Retirement Employees of a municipality, whose duties and terms of office are set forth by the governing body, generally share in one of five retirement plans—the Public Employees' Retirement Plan, the Police and Firemen's Retirement System, the Consolidated Police and Firemen's Pension Fund, the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund, and federal social security.

Index Academic Credentials and Teacher Certification, Division of, 142, 145 Actuarial Bureau, 219 Adonis, Joe, 48 Adult and Occupational Health Bureau, 160 Adult Education, Division of, 144 Aeronautics, Bureau of, 124 Agricultural Experiment Station, 114, 118, 150 Agriculture, 109-120 Agriculture, Board of, 117 Agriculture, Department of, 110-120 Air Pollution Commission, 278 Air Safety Commission, 278 Alcoholic Beverage Control, Division of, 183, 196 Ancora State Hospital, 171 Animal Industry, Division of, 117 Annandale Reformatory, 175, 180 Anne, Queen, 18 Annuity and Pension Fund, 149 Arbitration, Board of, 240 Architecture, Bureau of, 209 Assessors, Board of, 201 Assistance, Bureau of, 169 Athletic Commission, 269 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, 266 Automobile Junk Yard Law, 195 Banking, Bureau of, 219 Banking and Insurance Department, 218-220

Banks, kinds of, 219 Barber Examiners, Board of, 165 Beach Erosion Commission, 275 Beauty Culture Control, Board of, 165

Bergen County Sewer Authority, 278 Berkeley, Baron, 17, 18, 119 Beverage Tax Bureau, 210 Bingo, 270 Blake, Maurice A., 114 Blind, Commission for the, 169 Borden town Reformatory, 175, 180 Borough, 301 Boxing, 269 Boyden, Seth, 12 Boys' correctional institutions, 175, 179181

Braddock, Jim, 270 Bridges, Division of, 230, 231 Brucellosis Control, Bureau of, 117 Budget and Accounting, Division of, 208 Business Education, Division of, 143 Canvassers, Boards of, 48, 83, 256 Capone, Al, 91 Carteret, Sir George, 17, 18, 119 Carteret, Philip, 17 Chamber of Commerce, State, 59 Charles II, King, 17 Children's work, 236, 237 Child Treatment Center, Allaire, 173 Child Welfare, Board of, 169 Chronic Illness Control, Division of, 163 Cities, 23-25, 297-301 City government, 297-307 Cigarette Tax Bureau, 210 Civil Defense and Disaster Control, Division of, 162, 165, 187, 253 Civil Rights, Commission on, 142 Civil Service Commission, 249, 251 Civil Service Department, 232, 251

310

INDEX

Clee, Rev. Lester H., 25 Cleveland, Grover, 25 Clinical Pathologists, New Jersey Society of, 166 Clinton Reformatory, 175, 181 Colgate, William, 12, 24 Commerce, Bureau of, 129 Conservation, 121-138 Conservation and Economic Development, Department of, 5, 121-138 Constitution, State, 23, 26, 28-37, 61, 65 Constructive Health, Division of, 160 Control, Board of, 167 Controversies and Disputes, Division of, 143 Cooper, Peter, 12 Corporation T a x Bureau, 210-212 Correctional institutions, 175, 179-182 Counties, 280, 290-296 County courts, 71 County government, 35, 279-296 County Government, 228 Courts, 64-79 structure of, iv Crane, Stephen, 25 Crippled Children, Commission on, 161, 278 Curriculum and Instruction, Division of, 142, 143 Dairy farming, 111 Deaf, education of the, 149 Dedicated funds, 216, 228 Defense, Department of, 251 Delaware River Joint Commission, 262 Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, 262 Delaware River Port Authority, 225, 262 Democratic party, 24, 54, 55, 80-92 Dental Health Bureau, 161 Diagnostic Center, 174 Disability Benefits, Advisory Council on, 246 Disability Insurance Service, 246 Disabled Servicemen's Home, 174 Disabled Soldiers' Home, 174 Discrimination, Commission Against, 142, 143 District Court, County, 73

Domestic Relations Court, 74-76 Driscoll, Alfred E., 30, 47, 229 Driver Improvement Section of Motor Vehicles Division, 191 Du Mont, Allen, 12 Dunlap, William, 25 du Pont, Eleuth^re Irinie, 12 Economic development, 121-138 Edge, Walter E., 229 Edison, Thomas Alva, 11, 25 Education, 10, 19, 139-152 Education, Department of, 142, 209 Education, State Board of, 142 Elections, 33, 84, 93-108 Elections, County Boards of, 49, 83 Electrical Operations Bureau, 231 Emott, James, 18 Employment Security, Division of, 245 Employment Security Council, 246 Engineering and Safety, Bureau of, 235237 Engineering, Research and Soils Bureau, 230 Entomology, Bureau of, 118 Environmental Sanitation, Division of, 161

Examination, Licensing and Registration, Bureau of, 164 Feigenspan, Christian, 12 Finances, 36, 200-215 Financial business tax, 212 Firemen's Association, 211 Firemen's Home, 174, 211 Fish and Game, Division of, 133, 217 Fish and Game Code, 133 Fish and Game Council, 133 Food and Drugs Bureau, 161 Football Shrine, 271 Forestry, Parks and Historic Sites, Bureau of, 124 Forests, State, 125 Freeholders, 18, 73, 228, 279-281, 283 Freeholders, Boards of Chosen, 73, 75, 279 Freneau, Philip, 25 Fruit and Vegetable Service, Bureau of, 114, 117

INDEX Galento, Tony, 270 Gambling, 185-187 Game and fish, 133-135 Garden State Parkway, 222 General Assembly, 51-63, 87 Geography, 3-14 Geology and Topography, Bureau of, 129 Girls' correctional institutions, 175, 182 Glen Gardner Sanatorium, 174, 181 Gloucester County Tunnel Commission, 278 Governor, 34, 38-50 Greystone Park State Hospital, 171 Grants-in-Aid, Bureau of, 163 Hackensack River Sewerage Authority, 278 Hague, Frank, 25, 90, 203 Hall, Frederick W„ 70 Hamilton, Alexander, 22 Handicapped, education for the, 148 Hauptmann, Bruno Richard, 178 Health, Department of, 153-167 Health, Safety, and Physical Education, Division of, 144 Hensler, Joseph, 12 Highfields experimental institution, 182 Highway Authority, 232, 258, 259, 273 Highway Department, 223-232 Highways, 222-232 Historic sites, 128 History, 15-27 Home Rule Act, 305 Housing, Bureau of, 130 Hudson, Henry, 15 Identification, Bureau of, 187 Individual Sewage Disposal System Code, 157 Industry, 7, 233-247 Inheritance tax, 213 Inland Waterways Study Commission, 278 Institutions and Agencies, Department of, 167-182, 209 Insurance, 218, 220 Insurance, Bureau of, 219

311

Insurance and Special Services, Bureau of, 209 Insurance premium tax, 212 Interstate Commission on the Delaware River Basin, 265 Interstate Cooperation, Commission on, 266 Interstate Sanitation Commission, 266 Investment Council, 215, 247 Investments, Division of, 215 Jackson, Andrew, 80 James II, King, 17, 18 Jamesburg State Home for Boys, 175, 181 Johnson, Enoch L. ("Nucky"), 91 Johnstone Research and Training Center, 173 Judges, 64-66, 68-74 Judiciary, 35, 64-79 structure of, iv Juries, 65 Juvenile Court, 74-76 Kidd, Capt. William, 19 Krueger, Gottfried, 12 Labor, 233-247 Labor, Division of, 235-247 Labor and Industry, Department of, 233 Laboratories, Division of, 162 Law and Public Safety, Department of, 183 Law enforcement, 42, 47, 183-199 Law Enforcement Council, 49-277 Lawrence, Capt. James, 26 Law Revision and Bill Drafting, Commission on, 54 Laws, enactment of, 56-60 Leesburg Prison Farm, 175, 180 Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission, 270 Legal system (see Courts) Legislature, 34, 43-44, 51-63 structure of, vi Lenox, Walter Scott, 12, 23 Library, State, 144 Licenses, hunting and fishing, 135-136 Lindbergh, Charles A., 175 Livestock, 110, 112

312 Local Local Local Local

INDEX Government, Division of, 214 Government Board, 147, 214 Health Services, Division of, 163 Property T a x Bureau, 207

Maintenance and Operation, Division of, 230, 231 Maintenance Bureau, 231 Management and Labor Relations, Institute of, 151 Manufacturers Association, New Jersey, 59 Marcy, William L., 80 Markets, Division of, 116 Marlboro State Hospital, 171 Maternal and Child Health Bureau, 161 Mechanical Engineers, Bureau of, 237 Mediation, Board of, 239 Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission, 276 Meyner, Robert B„ 47, 149, 177, 277 Migrant Labor, Bureau of, 238 Migrant Labor Board, 239 Migrant workers, education for, 149 Milk Industry, Office of. 111 Montclair State Teachers' College, 165 Moretti, Willie, 48, 186 Morris Canal and Banking Co., 137 Mosquito Control Commission, 277 Motor Fuels T a x Bureau, 213 Motor Vehicle Liability Security Law, 193 Motor vehicle licenses, 195 Motor vehicle registration, 194 Motor Vehicles, Division of, 183, 190196 Municipal courts, 77 Municipal government, 297-307 Municipal Government, Commission on, 278 Museum, State, 145 Narcotics Control, Commission on, 275 National Football Shrine and Hall of Fame Commission, 271 National Guard, 39, 47, 252 Naval Militia, 38, 47, 253 Navigation, Board of, 49 Navigation, Bureau of, 128

Negroes, 26 Neuropsychiatric Institute, at Skillman, 172 New Lisbon State Colony, 173 New York Foundation, 182 North Jersey District Water Supply Commission, 131, 278 Nurses' Association, New Jersey, 166 Nutrition Program, 161 Optional Municipal Charter Laws, 302 Outdoor Advertising T a x Bureau, 213 Palisades Interstate Park Commission, 265 Parking, 123 Parks, State, 126 Parole Board, 168 Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority, 278 Passaic Valley Water Commission, 278 Penn, William, 18, 19 Pensions, Division of, 216 People, 3-14, 17 Personnel, Bureau of (Health), 164 Personnel, Office of (Highways), 232 Physical education, 144 Planning, Bureau of, 129 Planning and Development, Division of, 122 Planning and Traffic Bureau, 230 Planning, Research, Soils and Tests, Division of, 230 Plant and Equipment Bureau, 231 Plant Industry, Division of, 117 Plant Pathology, Bureau of, 117 Plumbing Code, 157 Political parties, 80-92 Politics, 12, 22, 80-92 Port of New York Authority, 49, 225, 257, 260 Poultry Service, Bureau of, 110, 117 Preventable Diseases, Division of, 164 Primary elections, 104 Princeton University, 165 Prison farms, 175, 179, 180 Prisons, 175-182 Professional Boards, Division of, 198 Property taxes, 205 Public and School Library Services Bureau, 144

INDEX Public Employees Retirement System, 151 Public Health Council, 156, 159 Public Health Engineering Bureau, 162 Public Health Nuisance Code, 158 Public Health Nursing Bureau, 163 Public Health Statistics, Bureau of, 164 Public Roads, Department of, 227 Public Schools, Board of Trustees for the Support of, 256 Public Shooting and Fishing Grounds Fund, 135 Public Utility Commission, 254 Public Utility Tax Bureau, 213 Purchase and Property, Division of, 209 Racing Commission, 207, 267 Raffles, 270 Rahway Prison Farm, 175, 179 Railroad Laws Study Commission, 278 Railroad Tax Bureau, 212 Railroad Tax Law, 202, 203 Real Estate Commission, 219, 274 Real estate tax, 202 Recreation, Bureau of (Conservation), 129 Recreation Commission, State, 278 Regional Planning Commission, New Jersey, 274 Registration, voter, 93, 97 Registry, County Board of, 94, 103 Rehabilitation Commission, 241 Rent Control, Division of, 49, 50 Republican party, 24, 54, 55, 80-92 Retail Food Handling Establishment Code, 157 Retirement System Board, 150 Revolutionary War, 20 Right-of-Way Purchases, Office of, 232 Road Construction Bureau, 231 Road Location and Design Bureau, 231 Roads, Design and Construction, Division of, 230 Roebling, John, 12 Roosevelt, Franklin D., 85 Rutgers, the State University, 30, 142, 150-152, 165 Sanatorium, State, at Glen Gardner, 174

313

Sanitary Code, 156 Sanitation, 161, 266 Savings and Loan Associations, Bureau of, 219 Security-Responsibility Law, 192 Senate, 51-63, 87 Shell Fisheries Council, 132 Shell Fisheries Division, 132 Smoke Control Code, 157 Social Security, 149 Soil Conservation Committee, 129 South Jersey District Water Supply Commission, 131 South Jersey Port Commission, 274 Sportsmen's Clubs, Federation of, 133 State, Department of, 256 State and Federal Aid, Division of, 230, 231 State Capitol Building Commission, 278 State Claims and Workmen's Compensation, Division of, 184 State colonies, 172, 173 State Guard, 252 State homes, correctional, 175 State hospitals, 170-172 State House Commission, 42, 276 State Library, Division of, 144 State Museum, 145 State Police, Division of, 183-190 State Police Retirement and Benevolent Fund, 211 State Prison, Trenton, 175-178 State schools, 172, 173 State training schools, 173 Statistics and Records, Bureau of, 237 Statute Revision, Commission on, 276 Stockton, Frank R., 25 Stuyvesant, Peter, 17 Superior Court, 69-71, 185 Supreme Court, 64-69, 190 Tax Appeals, Division of, 202, 215 Taxation, Division of, 201, 209 Taxes, 37, 200-215 Tax Policy, Commission on State, 139, 148, 201, 206, 275 Teachers, pensions and salaries, 141, 149 Teachers colleges, 141

314

INDEX

Television, educational, 149 Tenement House Supervision, Bureau of, 189 Testing and Materials Bureau, 231 Totowa State Training School, 173 Township, 301 Traffic, 224-226 Traffic and Safety, Coordinating Council on, 278 Traffic Safety Bureau, 183, 196 Transfer Inheritance T a x Bureau, 213 Treasury, Department of the, 201, 207 Trenton State Home for Girls, 175, 182 Trenton State Hospital, 170 Truck farming, 112 Tuberculosis Control, Bureau of, 117 Turnpike, New Jersey, 222 Turnpike Authority, 232, 257, 271 Unemployment compensation, 245 Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Law, 192 Vanderbilt, Arthur T „ 67, 77-79 Verrazano, Giovanni di, 15 Veterans' Council, 136 Veterans' Services, Division of, 137 Veterinary Public Health Bureau, 162 Village, 301 Vineland State School, 172 Vineland State Training School, 173 Vincent Astor Foundation, 182 Vital Statistics, Division of, 164 Vocational Education, Division of, 143

Wages and Hours, Bureau of, 237 Walcott, Joe, 270 Walker, Mickey, 270 Walsh Act, 302 Warne, Thomas, 18 Washington, George, 20 Washington Crossing Bridge Commission, 267 Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, 263 Water Policy and Supply, Division of, 130 Water Policy and Supply Council, 130 Wayne, Gen. Anthony, 11, 21 Weed Control Code, 158 Weights and Measures, Division of, 183, 197 Welfare, Division of, 169 Wharton, Joseph, 131 Whitman, Walt, 12 William III, King, 18 Williams, Ike, 270 Wilson, Woodrow, 25 Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 10 Woman suffrage, 26 Women's Reformatory, 181 Women's work, 236, 237 Woodbine State Colony, 172 Workmen's Compensation, Division of, 184, 243 Zoning, 123