The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-08-11
SPECIAL LAWS,
Arguments for and Against
the Pending Constitu-
tiona1 Charges.
CITIES WRECKED BY
PRIVATE SCHEMES.
On the Other Hand, Progress Has
Been Hampered by Conflict
ing Interests.
THE ISSUE IN A NUTSHELL.

proposition to amend the State Constitu-
tion is apt to draw warm discussion. in
which the points for and against it will
be presented in bold relief before it
reaches vote of the people at the special
election ordered for September 80. The
question, put in its simplest form is,
shall the old system of governing the
cities, the towns and the counties of the
State by special legislation be restored?
or shall the embargo which the constitu-
tion puts upon such legislation be allowed
to stand?n
The management of the internal affairs
of these political divisions in the State by
the enactment of special laws is forbid
den, ana the passage of general laws is
directed by the constitution in its present
shape. The proposition upon which the
Legislatures of last winter and of the
winter before have directed that the sense
of the people be taken, is to wipe out the
clause imposing the restrictions To vote
"aye" is to vote for special legislation; to
vote "nay' is to vote for general laws.
There is the issue In nut shell; but in
reaching a conclusion upon it those who
have not given special attention to the
judicial and political history of the State
need information as to the circumstances
that prompted the constitutional re-
straints upon legislation on the one hand
and the embarrassnents that prompt the
agitation for their removal on the other.
The clause which it Is now sought to
| wipe out was not part of the original
constitution adopted by the popular con-
| yention of 1874; but it is one of a series of
amendments INCORPORATED into it on the
| suggestion of ConstitutionalC Commission
| that revised the original instrument at
the request of the Legislature in 1873
lad fh<aa nit,t, f,f
| this commission and the other story OF
| the circumstances attending the accept
| ance of these amendments are not unin-
| teresting; and during the progress of the
| pending agitation, both may be told in
! these columns While the narration of
| the details would materially assist the
| judgment of the voter, IL is not necessary
| Tor general understanding of the ques-
\ tion, to go into it.
SPECIMENS OF SPECIAL LAWS
| But an explanation of the difference
| between the Two forms of legislation may
| be instructive and helpful to the uniniti-
ated
| John Jones has q suit over dog with
| his neighbor, Peter Smith. Before the
close of the litigation Mr.. Smith comes to
| Trenton and asks the Legislature to pass
| bill declaring that, whatever the issue
OF the lawsuit, the dog shall be his.
! That's forbidden special act managing
the affairs of individuals.
| The Jersey Central Railroad Company
hears that the Pennsylvania Railroad
| Company contemplates the construction
| OF a parallel line to the Long Branch sea
| coast. such a competition would result
| in cheap fares and much public benefit,
| but the Jersey Central wants to make
money at the cost of those who are forced
| to patronize it. and it goes to the Legis-
lature with an act forbidding the Penn
| sylvania to build the competing line.
/ a GnaRiQl nrt
| the affairs of corporations
| A syndicate of public Schemers see
| demand in a city for the construction of a
| public drive. They conclude that they
| can fill their pockets by having the work
| put into their hands. And they rush to
| the Legislature with bill directing, in
| structing and empowering them, and
| them only, to map out the needed thor
| oughfare and prepare it for public use.
| That's forbidden special act regulating
| the internal affairs of cities.
| More than this, absurd as they seem on
| their face. these three supposiJious acts
| are fair experiences of the legislation of
| the period that antedated the acceptance
| Of the prohibitory amendments by the
| people in 1875. Every year the State
! printer turned out great volumes, con
! tanning oftentimes several thousand
pages, reporting just such enactments as
| the results of the sessions legislation. A
| fellow never knew when he was safe.
| The Legislature, misled by a scheming
| enemy or corrupted by him. was as like
| as not to assist in robbing him over night,
| ii ne had anything TO be robbed OF.
| Every Assemblyman and every Senator
| had personal interest in some such
| scheme of legislation, and enough of
them would frequently agree to vote for
| each others bills to put them all through,
| in spite of protest and in spite of justice
| But even more than the individual, the
public communities suffered from the
| consequences of this kind of lawmaking.
| Gangs of public plunderers fastened
| themselves upon every city and county IN
| the State They laid out public schemes
| of alleged Improvement, and then had
| themselves legiSlated into the control and
| management Of them. They grew rich
| and the cities went bankrupt. The de-
| fault of Elizabeth and Railway was di-
| rectly traceable to this source, and it
must be remembered by the taxpayers of
| Jersey City that q plundering ring of
| Republican jobbers once actually stole
| her whole local government from her
/ Democratic people through the agency of
| one of these special laws.
] THEORY OF GENERAL LAWS.
! The railroads, always shrewd guides in
| the conduct of business, were the first to
see the evils of of the prevailing condi-
ton of things. They had been made
| victims of the rapacity of legislators aud
| of the greed ofstrikers year in anu year
/ out, and the general railroad law, passed
| at their instance, was the forerunner OF
| the constitutional direction that all laws
| should, as far as practicable, be general.
I 1t was seen that what was good for one
man must be necessarily good for every
| other man. The dispute between Mr.
| Jones and Mr.. Smith instead of being
specially legislated for. might rather be
| settled in u general rule of equity. If
such general rule were established, not
| only could Mr.. Smiths and Mr.. Jones's
| dog dispute be adjusted under it, but
| every other similarly situated dog could
| be awarded to any other citizen in the
| State under it. What is fair in one case
must be fair in all other like cases. So it
| directed that instead of settling the par
| ticuar row between Smith ond Jones,
| the Legislature should pass a general act
| for the adjustment of all such controver
| sizes.
| So in relation to railroads; instead of
busying itself with the adjustment of the
relation one particular railroad held
| with another particular railroad, it was
| deemed wise to establish general rule
under which such controversies would
| adjust themselves.
And when it came to cities, it was not
difficult to see that instead of directing
that Oak street. Newark. should be