The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-04-08

THE CoRoNERS' BILL.

Editor Of TIE Sunday Morning NetCS'-"e'
the undersigned, Coroners ofHudson County, re-
quest the privilege of making a statement
through the columns of your paper concerning
Senate Bill No.. 81, relative to Coroners, in rerer-
ence to which several misstatements have APP
peared in the Evening Journal. and also in other
papers, which miscellaneous are likely to give
the people an erroneous impression of the bill.
In the Joas7toi of February 5 it is referred to as
s.the bill to allow Coroners to act without the
consent OF the County Physician" and then the
journal saws of il, presumably because OF a sup
position that It would so allow Coroners, etc.i
that cit is a bad bill, y whereas the bill does not
allow Coroners to do anything without the con-
sent of the County Physician which they are not
now allowed by law to do without his consent.
In the Journal of February. 10 is reported an
interview with our County Collector, wherein ne
is represented to have said about this bill, ut is
a bill which all good citizens should oppose. II
practically restores to Coroners their old-tine
power to hold inquests on ne ooay 81 every PEE a
circumstances give them a shadow OF a rignl 70
nut their hands up to their elbows in the county
treasury where's IN point at OF dact LINE tle a Ilii ti nos
power to hold inquests, y but gives them NO power
Whatever as to holding inquests under any cir
cumstances. So that our County Collector OPP
pose this bill because (mark the because, pleaSe),
Of something altogether imaginary, and &c VIII be
shown later on that all alleged oDJectionspieness
Ill LDlS CitSl CAl9to 0AAI !" 49, 1880 - -
sons who are either prejudiced or misinformed.
His assertion as to our greedy desire to put our
hands so deep into the pubic treasury peing
based upon his entirely erroneous assumption
that the bill Is to increase our powers as 10 mold
ing inuuests as aforesaid, it Is submitted TO he
reader that the irnputation 50 cast upon as by
him. while not at all damaging TO us, is as dis
creditable to him as it is untrue, tncharitabie and
upnanly. But the pretentious solicitude of some
people for the public treasury (when they them
selves are not the beneficiaries OF its depletio NJ is
amusing. We ask, What right has this man or
set of men to accuse us of a ravenors appetite or
sordid greed to (upon any shadow OF a right
hurry our hands in the county treasury? Are we
not as good as he's We say we are. We are as
independent of any emoluments of or from our
offices as he is of those from his. He may have
held public Office so long as to imagine that
others are not as much entitled to hold office or
to the perquisites of office as he.
We ask for nothing to which we are not in all
justice deserving, and yet this man has the pre-
Sumption to brand us as ravenous wolves seeking
to deyour the county finances, and that on a
pure presumption of fact which does not exist.
He devours more of the public moneys thar We
a-year clerk as he has feeding at the public crib,
together with an increase of salary for himself,
when his predecessor in Office got along without
either as well as he in the performance OF their
duties. In the same column 1t was stated that
prosecutor Winfield is opposed to the bill on
general principles Git would be just as material
to say he is in like manner opposed 10 paying
for his champagne suppers), but mainly because
Coroners' inquests are almost worthless in the
administration of Justice, and nothing is done by
Coroners which conld not be better done by the
Police Justices
In the first place we deny that the Police Jus.
tices would or could discharge the duties of a
Coroner better than we can and do.
But outside of that, the Office of Police Justice
does not exist throughout the State, and even if
it did,, that official has no jurisdiction in the
premises. And the Prosecutor is reminded that
q Coroner is a constitutional officer and his Office
cannot. be abolished without amending the con-
stitution. And in this connection it is remarked
that if the constitution is to be amended, it better
be amended so as to allow some legislation to give
our Prosecutor a salary instead of paying him
about $4,000 per year in fees.
But the Prosecutor says, that "Coroners' in
quests are almost worthless. Well, suppose
they are; what has that to do with this bill?
This bill don't increase the Coroners' power to
hold tlquests. But when the Prosecutor said
that .'Coroners' inquests are practically worth
less, y he may have meant that they are so when
not supplemented with q prosecution Of the ac-
cused by the Prosecutor, as, for instance, in the
recent railroad accident, of the general collision
and smash up on the Pennsylvania Railroad, just
across the Hackensack, because of somebody's
care l~essness, for which we have not heard of
any prosecution. But possibly the Grand Jury
Il may be further mentioned, in this connec-
ton. that il the Coroners were not supplanted
by other county officials, the railroads would be
held to a stricter accountability for their man
slaughters than now, the effect of which would
be to decrease railroad accidents. The Coroners
would not, however, SO far as we can say, pack d
III dD lliC StdtitC "a any SOtAlAtJ "
censure any particular railroad; but would leave
that entirely to the jury to say.
And is it not strange that the County Physician,
who seems to be in accord with the Prosecutor in
opposing this bill, should order SO many of these
worthless inquests mot, however, in cases of death
by railroad accident)? The same article says fur
ther:-saThe main provision is that in all cases of
sudden or suspicious death the County Physician
shall be given six hours notice by the Coroners,
and if he does not within that time attend to the
the cases, the Coroners may go ahead and hold
inr,1actc IF IL bpeoOips a law fhhfaa ic NOTHING Tn
prevent the Coroners from doing about as they
pleasea-whereas this bills becoming q law not
only will not permit CoroneIs to do as they please,
but in reality it lessons their powers as to the
very thing mentioned, for this bill extends the
time of the County Physician to act in the prem
ises from sic hours, as now provided by law, to
tqyelue hours. So that, as to what the Journal
calls the main provision OF the bill, it is really, as
regarded from the Journals own standpoint, q
reform and not q pernicious measure. The Jotq.
nal then continues thu5:-
ssTo show the pernicious effects (which would re-
suit from the passage of this bill, it is only neces
sary to state that there were over fourteen hun.
dred sudden deaths in the county last year, and
about half as many deaths from accidents OF
various kinds. Placing the number upon which
the Coroners undoubtedly hold inquests at 1000
and their fees in each case at the very moderate
sum OF $50, it would have added $4,000 to the
| county taxes. Such an increase would probably
drive this city into bankruptcy.
Which is all pure nonsense, because, as already
shown, the bill can have no such effects, since /
not only does not increase the number of in
| quests, but, in fact, il it would have any effect a
all as to the same, it would be to decrease them, 81
| far as the desires of the Coroners go, by adding
| six hours to the time within which they can dc
nothing, and by that time increasing the oppor
tunities of the County Physician to prevent in
What rot, then, to say that this bill will ena oil
the Coroneis to hold more inquests. And We
such are the arguments ~ made by the oppo
| nents of this bill against it.
Then we find In the Journal paper of Februar,
rs the following bosh from Chief Murphy
"Do you remember the. old time squabbles be
tween Coroners here before we had a Count,
| Physician? Well, if this new law empowering
Coroners to act on the failure of the Count
Physician to act within six hours after death
| passes, we shall have the same old scenes re
enacted The Chief then goes ON to pictur
those disgraceful scenes.
Apart from the nonsense of calling this bill
law before it passes, the reader Is referred :
| what precedes for O refutation of the prophesy o
| the Chief, and 1t is suggested to the Chief, him
only prevent him from so foolishly misrepresent
ing us, but that q little reading also of Section
| of the act of March 3, 1880, relative to morgue
and morgue keepers, would show him the exist
ence of a law which he and his interiors almos
constantly violate, as to their duty toward
said that this bill would make us more autocrati,
than the Gar; that it would put $100,000 pc
year into our pockets, and then asks what will tn
people receive in return for this vast expenditure
which the passage of this bill would involve"
And then to top off the absirdity Of the argu
| ment given in opposition to this bill, comes alonI
in the Jossf3lul Of March 18, 1880, an open lette
from Assistant Prosecutor Noonan Cwho pray
every night and morning for the County Treas
nry) to Assemblynlan Feeney, in which TIL
former. while he confesses that he had neve
read the bill, proceeds to assail it with bombas
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