The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-07-06
SCHOOL CENSUS MYTHS
Some First District In
vestigations That Show
Fraud.
FAMILIES THAT DON'T EXIST.
The Bearing Of the Frauds on the
School Fund---The Law Ex-
planned.

School Principal Kelly called at THE
JERSEY CITY NEWS yesterday to say that
even if there are frauds in the Jersey City
school census-as there are-the rest OF
the State can have no special interest in
it, and the howls of the Newark press are
entirely without reason to justify them.
''The amount of money to be raised
each year for the State School Fund.-
said MIR. Kelly, ''is ascertained by multi
plying the number of school children in
the State, as shown by the census of the
several counties, by five. Then the tax is
levied ON the counties according to their
wealth and paid into the State Treasury.
When it is all in hand ten per cent. is
deducted as reserve and the balance of
ninety per cent. is repaid to the counties on
the basis of wealth. So that they get
back the exact proportion OF the ninety
per cent. which they contributed to the
whole fund. The ten per cent. reserve is
paid to the poorer counties. II a county is
rich in babies and poor in dollars, it re-
ceives a contribution from the reserve.
No county in the State has any right to
any part of it. The State Board of Educa-
tion sends it where, in its own judgment,
it will do most good"
THE FRAUD EFFECTS LOCAL.
It is easy to see that the frands which
THE JERSEY CITY NEWS is busy uncover
ing may have forced the State authority
to raise more money than should be
raised by making false basis of calcula-
tion, but it cannot work any injustice, as
the Newark authorities seem to think. in
the redistribution of the funds. And the
fraud is merely one by the enumerators
upon the taxpayers of this county.
The lists of names of children who are
within the school ages are got by the
or a fOrS at the QYnpnSn nf the .IQTSpU
City Board of Education. Singularly
enough, copies of the list are not kept at
the Boards office; but the original sheets
are placed as soon as they are compiled in
the hands OF County Superintendent
George c. Houghton. Mr.. Houghton is
within reach for the last three or four
days.
FRAUDS IN MANY DISTRICTS.
A corps of efficient reporters of THE
JERSEY CITY NEWS, who have fortified
themselves with hundreds of names are,
however. making Investigations in all of
the, districts, and have already struck
some startling facts. In countless places
in all the districts they discover that there
are no families of the names entered on the
lists as having big families, and scarcely
a record has been investigated which does
not show more children than the family
actually own. One of the enumerators
has erected by his Imagination whole
line of tenement houses on vacant
waste, and peopled them with hundreds
of children.
Space will not permit the presentation
of all the details that have been already
collected. A few instances taken at ran
dom from the reporters notes of can
vases in the First district must suffice
for today.
These are some from the First district
The name and address and figures in the
third column showing the number of
children the census taker gives them are
from the census reports. In the last
column are shown the results of the re-
porter's Investigations. Where figures are
given they represent the actual number
of children in the family as compared
with the number the census gives it,