, 1879-04-04
TWO CITIES IN DISTRESS.
Financial Troubles Of Elizabeth and Jstssy
City, n. y. .

Aahontial IE0nbtok or Elizabeth and jersey
City, n. y. ~.
4Seo 1urk Tribune, Aruf I. -
The City Of Eltzabotl. N. j., will lcfnutt to-
day OH slG8,l00. payable at Tho Farmers Loan
d Trust C7'npany In this city. This Is the
an1otlnt slated by Comptroller Lc1gctt ycstcr-
day. though rumor nrl unnuthcnttc report Ind
p'nccd IL much higher. or this, S123 900 Is iu-
tcrcst on bonds. mud s2l,0 Is due for tho IT,
defnptloH OK maturing honds. No 1uoncY has
been deposfsed with the Trust COMPANY to
meet these obligations, and tho CITY Treasury IL
empty. Interest will fnl, duo on tho first day
Of each month to cnnlc, and thcrn are no indea~
tiona that any provision will be mude for tie
payment. The city ts bankrupt.
Inquiries were made yesterday Of loading
officials nnl merchants Of Elizabeth ns to tho
causes Of their financial condition AMI Of tho
course likely TO be adopted tn order To extrtcate,
themselves. AL were agreed rs 10 the di.l[cuI-
tscs OF tho situation.
The story Of tllc cfty's troubles may be briefly
told. Under tho provisions os tlo charter, tho
cost OF oponlng streets, grading, sewerlng, paY-
Ing, etc, Inns been assessed upon tho abutttnE
property In proportion to tho lineal feet Of
frontaEc. Early In tho history Of tho city an
appcnl was made to The courts, md ibis method
OK assessment was sustained; hence no doubt Of
Its legality Was entertained. In the days Of Wild
speculation md Inflated values, the owt,crs II
suburban gu property were nnxlous to Increase
lots; md tic Council wos readily Induced 10
extend streets In oil directions wten rcqucstcu
tQ do 40 by tllo landowners, who contcndctl that
1ho expense would ultimately fail upon them.
tllc country, IND provision was n.adc for popu-
M latiol Of I5o.o90 In city which INV has only
-'opu. lllc expenses of these improvements
'ss,, wsfe met net, W sl1ygars 'mnrovcment bonds,
otl.cr bontla. The inercasc Of population did
not Keep nace with theimprovcmcnta nnd when
fhe financial strngeHcy calnu tic propcrtv de-
prceatcd. m ;llu owners OF tho property nssesseel:
courts, An.l II wns decided tut tho provision OF
the charter under which tho assessments had
been Elado was unconstitutional, and ttat tho
cnat OF improvements could bu nssesscd On
rived from them.
The benefit conferred on tho outlying corn
hc!us anu a1tnto.patchcs, by modern paye-
ments hnu welt,'a.ii sewers, was not yery au-
Improvement bonds wns thrown u,>on the ctty
ut large. wh!c!, bcfore llau Eenpl Al debt OF lit.
tic t'orc tham 100000. II wos mentioned as n
special hardship TINT the Improved proncrtY OF
TIC city, which must Gcar the larger pa.t Ut tho
ctS ta1atlon. ta been built up hefnro tue char
ter had been pronounced Unconstitutional md
tie owners had paid oil thu cost Of tlu did i'm
p1GrSSsts Mv 1.t 4 ~, use nSr pay tgr ty new ov
the tribune reporter eosiycrscd were d!.pDsal
which rests Oh the city upon thu decision Ut
ttc Court; but they were compelled to admit
TINT the raso woulf avo been llttlc hotter il tho
decision Rati been otherwise, ds the prupcrty
originally asscssed could not haro satisfied lie
cIty's claim uga!nst It. 1t would simply hayo
have been ltst!tened Only little. '-
Elizabeth" said Controller Lcggctt ycstcr-
daY, "has atways paid Its l,onds a,1 interest np
TO tic lst Day Of Mareh a'd tic ambition ad
ntias q. q ef otst s't19s III U.s. 70 Pug 81 9blt
consequence OF tho settlng aside by the courts
ot nil orr assessments fnr improvements, thur
Ail our asscts sAsn fccn taken from us. The !.
tnu ~Sfg " ntt ttasa T. s goi ,a, VIII se expce
botl PRINCIPAL AMI interest. Wu ralso no
question 1ieru Of the legality Of these
bonds, We, admit that they uro
the present holers, a'1 that they arc entitled
70 It.. On the utltcr !insitf, wn nlint our utter
inability to pay either principal or tntareat for
ti1e present. TINT - owing to TIC greater part OF
ut large, togclhcr. with Tho great dcnrcsson Ia
real ostnte AMI the stnnll i1lcu,nos from, rents,
Take an Illustration: know Ut Il house which
eost thy owncr $4,000. IIu put mortgage on
mortgage, s!E3o; .taxes, sl;s: water TAX, SIS;
Insurance, $l1; n1rl he runtca tho tsul,se ior
saD. Ie must E!ge the llousu np. The mort
II. hEttnr
ontlrv debt of lin civ IA nhnut X sSH tfr, ~
Which S4.1uUl0 Is h bouicli dshE AMI AZ
1UO,{E0 in iuattur anht. iva cntIc,vnrn,l
to ret a bill ti,rougi, tho Lerislatnrn ~
,,tacc Us In II Imsition To make soma
arrangement With our creditors: but Il met with
Urrut oun0sitiou ulyu wos withdrawn, 71'cn..
furu we have no noYcr IL ulaku Il cotnpr,r,,isc.
naycrs ID tint Inn MnlhuIIicrs ,rti1 ,1itm.t"iv
Re cutI,urIlei Il, mcrt them nnrt wnv In Il rr,ius.
linn n, tIn nInuunt nf i'm bt,Il mi in thn rn1n
Of interest. Ills nro,,crty Securing t,,a tlsbt hns
,jcurcclate,j, t!uy say ft,jty uneGalf: ,he .,rht
mist In t}}tuintslIei If, an,nr sni, nrnnortfnu
A. II stunds. thev c,,gniu, in ,csrnir tl,nt inv
ruunttt INV Il. y @'"' '"oS
II VIVA mi known fiat INV snl,s ,r,,ns. lin
cty hnd bcnm ttircntrnej mr. rrrc SiEa'v ~ h.,
1m,,,. n WA I'm C,m"rni nni,inn 'h;,t ~ ~.
,rrtnrs wm,J wni. ,,n,it H., stt,,n,ia, ',, H.,
f,,ltv 1nrsi, and ,1n I ,oS, ,..'a,o'L. S"uu -
ran;,e,n"", .., ~ .',m, '4'oi,n ' 'e''
0's .."s". .o.H. wv ',"''s'
AN kMEEs TAkASt1f IN 5kNaEf clrf
it waA reported Ia Jersey City several days
ago tllut lu Treasurer would be u,lal,lu to mrut
tho Interest obligations which would fai duo IT,
!lay. AZ its AiccttnY lust weak the l}oar4i ut
Finance and Taxation rasspd resolution In
the Treasurer to uay, In utlyance, nj!
interest tllAt wauIti 10 duo April /. Tbv tala-
II.