E 241 .T7 N5 Copy 1 MESSAGE RELATIVE TO A " Washington's Crossing Commission " SUBMITTED BY THE GOVERNOR TO THE LEGISLATURE FEBRUARY 7th, 1910 TRENTON, N. J. MacCrellish & QuiCLEY, State Pbikters. 1910 la-3o:L;L^^ MESSAGE RELATIVE TO A « 99 " Washington's Crossing Commission SUBMITTED BY THE GOVERNOR TO THE LEGISLATURE FEBRUARY 7th, 1910 TRENTON. N. J. MacCrelush & QuiGLEY, State Printers. 1910 0' Of D. -i Trenton, N. J., February 7th, 1910. To the Legislature: At a very large and enthusiastic meeting held at Taylor Opera House, in the City of Trenton, on the twelfth day of October last, a series of resolutions were passed, requesting the Governor to name a Commission of citizens from the State to consider the feasibility of establishing either a park or some monument to properly commemorate the point on the Delaware River above Trenton known as Washington's Crossing. Following these resolutions came much individual approval from citizens in all parts of the State. Acting upon these requests, I named thirty-nine gentlemen to take the matter intO' consideration and further the patriotic project if, in their judgment, it could be carried to success. The persons named were : Honorable Frank O. Briggs, Trenton. Honorable Ira W. Wood, Trenton. Honorable Joseph S. Frelinghuysen, Raritan. Honorable John D. Prince, Ringwood. Honorable William M. Lanning, Trenton. General Wilbur F. Sadler, Trenton. Prof. Henry D. Thompson, Princeton. Mr. Moses Taylor Pyne, Princeton. Colonel William Libbey, Princeton. Mr. Bayard Stockton, Princeton. Plonorable G. D. W. Vroom, Trenton. Prof. W. H. S. Demarest, New Brunswick. Honorable Bennett VanSyckel, Trenton. Rt. Rev. James A. McFaul, Trenton. Rev. Henry Collin Minton, Trenton. Rev. J. Morgan Read, Pennington. Rev. Holmes F. Gravatt, Camden. Mr. Henry W. Green, Trenton. Honorable Charles J. Fisk, Plainfield. (3) Honorable Edward S. Atwater, Elizabeth. Mr. William Pennington, Newark. Mr. George R. Howe, Newark. Mr. Wallace M. Scudder, Newark. Mr. James Kerney, Trenton. Mr. Matt C. Ely, Hoboken. Mr. Joseph A. Dear, Jersey City. Mr. James F. Connolly, Newark. Mr. Francis B. Lee, Trenton. Mr. Andrew W. Bray, Newark. Mr. William L. Doyle, Trenton. Mr. John J. Hickey, Bayonne. Mr. John Cuthbridge Gillespie, Moorestown. Mr. Harry G. Stoddard, Trenton. Rev. Louis Shreve Osborne, Newark. Mr. James C. Tattersall, Trenton. Honorable Alfred Elmer Mills, Morristown. Hon. John J. Matthews, High Bridge. Mr. James H. VanCleef, New Brunswick. Honorable Frank S. Katzenbach, Jr., Trenton. On the ninth day of November they met in the Executive Reception Room at the Capitol, and organized by the selection of the Honorable Frank O. Briggs as chairman, Honorable Charles J. Fisk as vice-chainnan, Colonel William Libbey as secretary', and Mr. William L. Doyle as treasurer; subsequently an executive committee was named. Meetings have been held, and the Commission now feel that some plan of the kind contem- plated is practical. At the last meeting of the Commission, a request was made of the Governor that he ask the Legislature to give the move- ment official standing. This suggestion meets with my approval, and I recommend that a joint resolution be passed, authorizing the appointment of a "Washington's Crossing Commiission," that they may take up the matter with the Federal Congress, with the authority of the State as the basis of their action. When the joint resolution shall be adopted, the same gentlemen can be appointed under it as a State Commission and prosecute their public-spirited work with greater assurance of success. Much, of course, of the work will be done by private subscription and effort, but this should not militate in any way against the State recognition and support which such a patriotic purpose so eminently deserves. Respectfully submitted, JOHN FRANKLIN FORT, Governor. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 011 800 189 8