The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-01-30
This paper Is Democratic IN principles
and Is Independent in its vielos ON all
local questions.
Two Infamous Bills at Trenton.

Two Infamous Bills at Trenton.
It is evident that somebody is or
ganizing a systematic raid upon the
pockets of Jersey City's people. Two
bills have been introduced-we are
ashamed to say, by Hudson County
Democrats - which can only be
s~tigfhatized as infamous. They mean
plain wholesale robbery, and it is
urgent that the citizens get up and
crush not only them but also any
man who dares to advocate them.
First of these bills is that taken
down to Trenton by Mr.. Eddie
Dugan of the Board Of Streets and
Water, and introduced by Con-
tractor and Assemblyman Henry
BByrIiss. This bill is designed
to enable the Board to award
the pavement of Grove street
and any other street--to a patent paw
ing block concern in which it is plain
somebody high in power has an in
terest. Pertinacious efforts have been
made to pour the city's money into
the Golfers of this company. THE
JERSEY CITY NEWS, voicing the
wishes of the citizens and backed by
their approval, defeated the effort
some months ago. 1t will do so again
this time, or il the steal is to be ac-
complished it will be done in the full
plain light of day, and everyone who
is concerned in the transaction will be
pilloried before the public.
But the second bill is even more in
famous than this. This is simply one
particular private steal. The second
bill contemplates a general opening
of the city treasury to all the
sharks and bloodsuckers that beset
our municipality. 1t is one which
will arouse the public to the highe st
pitch of excitement, and if any effort
is made to press it we prophesy some
one viii get hurt at an early day.
Even during the worst days of the
corrupt Bill Kern Big -Four regime the
City had one protection. A Board Of
Finance in which Augustus A. Hard
enbergh, Joseph Warren, Emil DATE
Thomas ID. Jordan and John
Edelstein were the members would
never be a party to jobbery or
dishonesty, and the public relied i'm
plicitly en- their watchful care.
Again, under our New Charter, the
Board of Finance has proven itself
the barrier between the people and
the raiders, and so long as its concur
renee in resolutions voting away the
public money is requisite, no very seri-
Gus thieving can be contaminated.
But now Mr.. Assemblyman and ex-
Freeholder Boyle steps up with a bill
to deprive the Board Of Finance of
that function. In other words, if
his bill should become law, it
would be possible for--say the
Board Of Streets and Water
to award any Grove street patent
paving job, or any other job to any
body and at any price it saw fit, and
there would be no power anywhere to
stop it.
Do the citizens want such a bill? 1t
seems to us the duty Of Mayor Cleve-
land, Corporation Counsel Edwards,
the members of the Board of Finance,
and indeed of all good citizens to take
formal action to render the further
progress of this measure impossible.
1t is fair to say that Mr.. Byrnes and
Mr. Boyle disclaim responsibility for
these bills. They introduced them by
request, they say, and Mr.. Byrnes
said he did not know what his bill
meant
Now they both know all about the
measures. The plea Of ignorance wiz
no longer stand Let us see If they
will let the bills drop with q dull thud.
Let US see il they will take sven the