The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-03-01
SINGLE TAKERS
THANK THE NEWS. :"
Greatly Pleased by Sun
days Article on the
Water Question.
THREATENING TO BUY THE PAPER.
How the Followers Of Henry
George Liked Last Sum
DAVIS Issue.

The Single Tax League met in Cooper's
Hall last evening to hear Lawyer Jacob A
Abarbauell, of New York, lecture on
"rhe Inutility of Strikes"
got into the room rather early, and as
soon as announced myself as from THE
JERSEY CITY NEWS / was taken to the
hearts Of the managers. When the lee
ture' was over and some Of the league
members had made some comments, Mr.
Abarbane1 rose and surprised me.
THANKING 1.-THE JERSEY CITY NEWS
"You come from the new paper, THE
JERSEY CITY NEWS" !" said he, sand before
you leave / wish to make motion that
you receive, as the representative of the
proprietors, the thanks of the club for
the very able article upon the water ques-s
tion in the last issue of THE SUNDAY
MORNING News.
'sYou can readily see in what considera-
tion those views are held by labor men by
reading this articlen and he read from a
copy OF Henry Georges paper, the Star-
ddr'd, in which was copied the article re-
ferred to, as follows:
Who Owns the Water?
''Mr. Heppenheimer proposed a reso-
luton, which was adopted by the As
sembly last Monday, asking the opin-
ion of the Attorney General upon the
following questions:
First-whether the State has title as trustee of
the public to the waters not.
Second-Whether the State by virtue of such
trlsteeship has right to control such waters and
appropriate them for the common use of the peo-
Third--w Whether the right of appropriation and
diversion exists as private right and as an ap-
.4ct,o, 40 fhsao tor-btv vSnffll lla coil
Fourth-Whether running water can be the
subject of sale
Fifth-What the rights of the Society for Es-
tabishing Useful Manufactures are.
Sixth--Whether grant of water has been
made by any enactments to the owners of the
Morris Canal
Seventh--Whether grants Of water to private
parties are revocable.
Eighth Whether the act of March as, 1888,
gives the Morris Canal Company the right to sell
Ninth-Whether the waters of this State with
out express authority can be diverted across the
boundary line.
Tenth-Has the Legislature the power to au-
thorize the diversion of waters to other States.
Eleyenth-Can q Legislature divert a subSe-
waters Of this State and does it make any diff
ference whether such waters are navigable or
not.
IF the Attorney General does not
find that the pirates who have invaded
the waters of the State have no more
right to them than the air or the sun
light, it will be only because law and
precedent are sometimes at war with
common sense and Justice
The motion was put and unanimously
carried, and then one of the members said
to me:
'sSir, will you kindly tell the editors of
The JERSEY CRY NEWS of this resolu-
tion?"
Every one present approved of this, and
Mr. Miller said:
"If the paper goes on defending the right
in that way we shall punish you all by
buying it. y
It goes without saying that thanked
the club.
MR.. ABAgBANELL's LECTURE.
The views presented by Mr. Abarbanell
in his lecture were nearly the same as
those upheld by Henry George Strikes
in themselves, he said, are worse than use
less in the present state of the country,
for the advantage is all on the side of cap
ital, and the poorer classes are nowhere in
the struggle. They only tend to injure
the workingman, and there is no chance
that he can win. Mr.. Abarbanen then
swerved from his subject somewhat and
discussed the equality. of land ques-
tion. He ventilated the Henry George
theory on the subject. He cited
as an instance, the large plot of land on
Fifth avenue owned by Robert Bonner,
who allows it to remain idle, while if he
sold it, and used the money in the EN-
ployment of workmen, he would do good
with it, Now it is of no use to any one, but
is an unsightly blot ON the street. In
short, his theory is that if the real estate
of the country was in the control of the
government, the condition of the middle
classes would be improved He then COM
pared the condition of the worllmen in
of his fellow in the employ of private
corporation, and the comparison was all
in favor of the former. He did not reach
the point of how to provide against the
evil.