September 1888: A split Court of Errors and Appeals upheld a statute that gave voters in each county the power to license sellers of liquor for on-premises consumption. The divisive question was whether such power could be delegated to a county, which is not a political subdivision of the state. The majority held, however, that licensure had long been conditioned on application of 12 county freeholders, so there was no reason that power could not be transferred to the voters who elected the freeholders.
100 Years Ago
September 1913: The Legislature had passed a women’s suffrage amendment to the state constitution and had directed it to be published for three months prior to Election Day, when it was on the ballot. But the Senate president, Assembly speaker and secretary of state failed to designate newspapers for publication, and by late August the Woman’s Political Union of New Jersey threatened a lawsuit. The attorney general advised the secretary of state that by then it was impossible to comply with the three-month mandate. Nevertheless, it was decided to begin publication on Sept. 1.
