The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-08-07
This paper as democratic In principles
and Is Independent in its pteaUS on all
local questions.
Fire ont the Ring.


During the past twenty years Jersey City has
raised by taxes, assessments and the sale of
bonds more than $40,O 600, 900, yet it has practi-
cally nothing to show for the money. A couple
of school buildings and a few miles Of streets
that are not worth S5,000,0 600 are the sum total.
There are in round numbers fifty miles of paved
streets, twenty one schools, a water works, six
teen fire companies and a miserable City Hall.
Nearly all of these they had twenty years ago.
The money extracted from the taxpayers would
have been sufficient under good municipal gov
eminent to have had fine streets and handsome
public buildings. These are not there and there
seems but little prospect of getting them unless
there should be a revolution -Nelo York World.
The World is right. There is no
chance Of changing things except by
revolution-a political revolution.
And unless all signs fail that revolu-
ton is very near at-hand. Itsvery
first act should be to throw Orestes
Cleveland and his gang out of the
City Hall. If they have not the grace
to resign they should be put out by
the courts.
Jersey City will be spoken of slight
ingly by her neighbors just as long as
this gang continues to rob and give
the people nothing in return.
Some days ago The World made a
comparison of the expenditures of
Jersey City and Newark. Newark's
tax rate this year is 1882. This city's
will be nearly 8, with alarge deficiency
in the actual running expenses. For
every item that is in the nature of
public improvement Newark spends
thousands of dollars more than this
city. For every item in the cost of
government Jersey City spends thous-
ands of dollars more than Newark. In
plain English Jersey City collects
hundreds of thousands more than
Newark every year, spends it all
in paying the heelers of the
gang large salaries for manipulating
election returns, and has nothing left
to improve the city. Newark collects
much less, runs her government eco
nomically and with comparative hon
esty, and spends her income for the
improvement of the city.
Jersey City needs the surgeons
knife. The cancer is becoming deep
rooted. Before long the life blood
will have been sucked away and there
will be nothing left but bankruptcy.
Shall the Newspapers Be Muzzled ?
The attempt of Elbridge 7. Gerry
and other New York cranks to muzzle
the newspapers has met with even
mor signal discredit than the most
sanguine publishers could have ex-
pected. The horrible, blood-curdling
incidents of the Kemmler execution
would today be q secret locked in the
bosoms of the few who were present,
if the press of the country had not, in
the performance of its public duty
and in the assertion of its constitu-
tional rights, set the statute at de-
fiance and laid before the people the
awful facts in the case.
A~ssuredly no man possessing ordin-
airy IN M will today persist
in the contention that executions
should be shrouded in secrecy any
than other public functions.
The condemned are entitled on the
one hand to protection against care
lessness and cruelty-against vivisec-
tional experiment like this electric
abomination-while on the other
hand the people are entitled to know
not only the fact that the law is car
ried out, but also that it is carried out
with decency and regularity, and
without unnecessary cruelty. In the
present case, in particular, the people
are entitled to decide whether the
slectric experiment shall ever be re-
peated, and to this end they should