Plainfield -- James P. Mitchell and Sen. Walter H. Jones R-Bergen, last night disagreed on the value of using as a campaign issue a remark by Richard J. Hughes, Democratic gubernatorial candidate, that the GOP is "Campaigning on the carcass of Eisenhower Republicanism". Mitchell was for using it, Jones against, and Sen. Wayne Dumont Jr. R-Warren did not mention it when the three Republican gubernatorial candidates spoke at staggered intervals before 100 persons at the Park Hotel. The controversial remark was first made Sunday by Hughes at a Westfield Young Democratic Club cocktail party at the Scotch Plains Country Club. It was greeted with a chorus of boos by 500 women in Trenton Monday at a forum of the State Federation of Women's Clubs. Hughes said Monday, "It is the apparent intention of the Republican Party to campaign on the carcass of what they call Eisenhower Republicanism, but the heart stopped beating and the lifeblood congealed after Eisenhower retired. Now he's gone, the Republican Party is not going to be able to sell the tattered remains to the people of the state". Sunday he had added, "We can love Eisenhower the man, even if we considered him a mediocre president but there is nothing left of the Republican Party without his leadership". Mitchell said the statement should become a major issue in the primary and the fall campaign. "How can a man with any degree of common decency charge this"? He asked. The former secretary of labor said he was proud to be an Eisenhower Republican "and proud to have absorbed his philosophy" while working in his adminstration. Mitchell said the closeness of the outcome in last fall's Presidential election did not mean that Eisenhower Republicanism was a dead issue. Regrets attack Jones said he regretted Hughes had made a personal attack on a past president. "He is wrong to inject Eisenhower into this campaign", he said, "because the primary is being waged on state issues and I will not be forced into re-arguing an old national campaign". The audience last night did not respond with either applause or boos to mention of Hughes' remark. Dumont spoke on the merit of having an open primary. He then launched into what the issues should be in the campaign. State aid to schools, the continuance of railroad passenger service, the proper uses of surplus funds of the Port of New York Authority, and making New Jersey attractive to new industry. Decries joblessness Mitchell decried the high rate of unemployment in the state and said the Meyner administration and the Republican-controlled State Senate "Must share the blame for this". Noting that Plainfield last year had lost the Mack Truck Co. plant, he said industry will not come into this state until there is tax reform. "But I am not in favor of a sales or state income tax at this time", Mitchell said. Jones, unhappy that the candidates were limited to eight minutes for a speech and no audience questions, saved his barbs for Mitchell. He said Mitchell is against the centralization of government in Washington but looks to the Kennedy Administration for aid to meet New Jersey school and transportation crises. "He calls for help while saying he is against centralization, but you can't have it both ways", Jones said. The state is now faced with the immediate question of raising new taxes whether on utilities, real estate or motor vehicles, he said, "and I challenge Mitchell to tell the people where he stands on the tax issue". Defends Ike Earlier, Mitchell said in a statement: "I think that all Americans will resent deeply the statements made about President Eisenhower by Richard J. Hughes. His reference to 'discredited carcass' or 'tattered remains' of the president's leadership is an insult to the man who led our forces to victory in the greatest war in all history, to the man who was twice elected overwhelmingly by the American people as president of the United States, and who has been the symbol to the world of the peace-loving intentions of the free nations. "I find it hard to understand how anyone seeking a position in public life could demonstrate such poor judgment and bad taste. "Such a vicious statement can only have its origin in the desire of a new political candidate to try to make his name known by condemning a man of world stature. It can only rebound to Mr. Hughes' discredit". Sees Jones ahead Sen. Charles W. Sandman, R-Cape May, said today Jones will run well ahead of his GOP opponents for the gubernatorial nomination. Sandman, state campaign chairman for Jones, was addressing a meeting in the Military Park Hotel, Newark, of Essex County leaders and campaign managers for Jones. Sandman told the gathering that reports from workers on a local level all over the state indicate that Jones will be chosen the Republican Party's nominee with the largest majority given a candidate in recent years. Sandman said: "The announcement that Sen. Clifford Case Aj, has decided to spend all his available time campaigning for Mr. Mitchell is a dead giveaway. It is a desperate effort to prop up a sagging candidate who has proven he cannot answer any questions about New Jersey's problems. "We have witnessed in this campaign the effort to project Mr. Mitchell as the image of a unity candidate from Washington. That failed. "We are now witnessing an effort to transfer to Mr. Mitchell some of the glow of Sen. Case's candidacy of last year. That, too, will fail". Sandman announced the appointment of Mrs. Harriet Copeland Greenfield of 330 Woodland Ave., Westfield, as state chairman of the Republican Women for Jones Committee. Mrs. Greenfield is president of the Westfield Women's Republican Club and is a Westfield county committeewoman. County Supervisor Weldon R. Sheets, who is a candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, today called for an end to paper ballots in those counties in the state which still use them. The proposal, Sheets said, represents part of his program for election reforms necessary to make democracy in New Jersey more than a "lip service word". Sheets said that his proposed law would offer state financing aid for the purchase of voting machines, enabling counties to repay the loan over a 10-year period without interest or charge. Sheets added that he would ask for exclusive use of voting machines in the state by January, 1964. Although he pointed out that mandatory legislation impinging on home rule is basically distasteful, he added that the vital interest in election results transcended county lines. The candidacy of Mayor James J. Sheeran of West Orange, for the Republican nomination for sheriff of Essex County, was supported today by Edward W. Roos, West Orange public safety commissioner. Sheeran, a lawyer and former FBI man is running against the Republican organization's candidate, Freeholder William MacDonald, for the vacancy left by the resignation of Neil Duffy, now a member of the State Board of Tax Appeals. "My experience as public safety commissioner", Roos said, "has shown me that the office of sheriff is best filled by a man with law enforcement experience, and preferably one who is a lawyer. Jim Sheeran fits that description". Trenton -- William J. Seidel, state fire warden in the Department of Conservation and Economic Development, has retired after 36 years of service. A citation from Conservation Commissioner Salvatore A. Bontempo credits his supervision with a reduction in the number of forest fires in the state. Seidel joined the department in 1925 as a division fire warden after graduation in 1921 from the University of Michigan with a degree in forestry and employment with private lumber companies. In October 1944, he was appointed state warden and chief of the Forest Fire Section. Under his supervision, the state fire-fighting agency developed such techniques as plowing of fire lines and established a fleet of tractor plows and tractor units for fire fighting. He also expanded and modernized the radio system with a central control station. He introduced regular briefing sessions for district fire wardens and first aid training for section wardens. He is credited with setting up an annual co-operative fire prevention program in co-operation with the Red Cross and State Department of Education. Boonton -- Richard J. Hughes made his Morris County debut in his bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination here last night with a pledge "to carry the issues to every corner of the state". He promised nearly 200 Democratic county committee members at the meeting in the Puddingstone Inn: "When I come back here after the November election you'll think, 'You're my man -- you're the kind of governor we're glad we elected'". He said, "We Democrats must resolve our issues on the test of what is right and just, and not what is expedient at the time". Attacks Republicans In his only attack on the Republicans, Hughes said, "The three Republican candidates for governor are tripping over their feet for popular slogans to win the primary. But we'll have a liberal, well planned, forward looking, honest platform. We'll not talk out of one side of our mouth in Morris County and out of the other side in Hudson. "We'll take the truth to the people, and the people will like the truth and elect their candidate and party in November". He said, "You can see signs of the Republicans' feeble attack on the Meyner administration. But I shall campaign on the Meyner record to meet the needs of the years ahead". He urged New Jersey to "become a full partner in the courageous actions of President Kennedy". He called for a greater attraction of industry and a stop to the piracy of industry by Southern states, and a strong fight against discrimination in business and industry. "We must keep the bloodstream of New Jersey clean", the former Superior Court judge said. "To prevent hoodlums from infiltrating the state as they did in the Republican administration in the early 1940s". Calling the Democrats the "party that lives, breathes and thinks for the good of the people", Hughes asked, "a representative Democratic vote in the primary for a springboard toward victory in November". Hughes supported Gov. Meyner's "Green Acres" plan for saving large tracts of open land from the onrush of urban development. He said legislation for a $60 million bond issue to underwrite the program is expected to be introduced Monday. Conservation plan The plan will provide $45 million for purchase of open land by the state. The other $15 million is to be alloted to municipalities on a matching fund basis. Hughes said, "This is not a plan to conquer space -- but to conserve it", pointing out the state population has increased 125,000 each year since 1950. He said "Morris County is rapidly changing and unless steps are taken to preserve the green areas, there will be no land left to preserve". Hughes would not comment on tax reforms or other issues in which the Republican candidates are involved. He said no matter what stand he takes it would be misconstrued that he was sympathetic to one or the other of the Republicans. "After the primary", he promised, "I'll be explicit on where I stand to bring you a strong, dynamic administration. I'm not afraid to tangle with the Republican nominee". Trenton -- Fifteen members of the Republican State Committee who are retiring -- voluntarily -- this year were honored yesterday by their colleagues. The outgoing members, whose four-year terms will expire a week after the April 18 primary election, received carved wooden elephants, complete with ivory tusks, to remember the state committee by. There may be other 1961 state committee retirements come April 18, but they will be leaving by choice of the Republican voters. A special presentation was made to Mrs. Geraldine Thompson of Red Bank, who is stepping down after 35 years on the committee. She also was the original GOP national committeewoman from New Jersey in the early 1920s following adoption of the women's suffrage amendment. She served one four-year term on the national committee.