The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-10-03
Five IN TEE FIELD.
All the Richmonds That
Want to Be Governor of
New Jersey.
BALLOT LAW OBSTACLES.
Even the Prohibs Find 1t Hard to
Get Signatures Enough to Se-
cure Official Tickets.

Special to the jersey ctv Neus.
TRENTON, Oct. 8, 1S92.-It is mol gener-
ally known, nevertheless it is a fact, that
there are five candidates for Governor in
the field this year. This is one stronger
than New Jersey has ever before had the
privilege of having. These candidates are
George L. Werts, Democratic nominees;
John Kean, Jr.. Republican nominee
Thomas j. Kennedy. Prohibitionist; Ben
Jamin W. Bird. Peoples party. and
George B. keim, Socialistic LABOR party.
The indications are at this time that only
election, because the Werts ballot law
makes certain demands upon the smaller
parties placing candidates in the field
which few of them are Ia a position to full
fill. Even the ProhibitiouisJ party find
themselves in an awkward position be-
cause of that part of the law which re-
quires 5 per cent. of the total vote for a
larty desiring to have an official ballot.
PETITION DIFFICULTIES.
When they cease to have that, they ara
forced to secure a petition containing one
iPNA SGhGGnl VI II lOGd1 FOl0, WHICH
means 2.196 signatures. II is doubtful
whether the Peoples party or the Social
lsllc Labor party can secure that quota,
because they are new in politics aud of
uncertain strength. The ProhiDitionists
have not failed to put a ticket in the field
slnces 1883. when Solomon Parsons was
the candidate for Governor. This is the
first Gubernatorial election that occurs
since the passage of the Werts ballot re-
form law, and as a result, the Prohibition
lists tud that they are practically shu
out as a regular party. They are forced
this year TO obtain the one per centum of
tile vote cast last year for members of the
Assembly throughout the State. They
did not have the necessary five per cent.
which the law requ res so that they nave
to obtain their official ballots by petition.
Their strength last year was about 10, 900.
This, of course, was TOO small. They are
now obliged TO secure 2. 1856 signatures,
and the Executive Committee is at WORK
upon it.
PROHIBITION STRENGTH.
They Will iiave candidates for Congress
in all the eight districts, and III two of
them thew are entitled to the ballot, be-
csu e OF their strength. but IN the other
six they will have to make petition, which
petition will have to contain 200 James
They will have county tickets in every
county. and candidates in all of the sixbv
Assembly districts. Nine counties and
seventeen Assembly districts are e~utitled
to the official ballots. In the others they
will have to secure 200 names to their Pc
I1tions. This is rather Il disturbing phase
of the new ballot law for the Prohibition
lists, and they intend to make it one of
their issues. They have already made a
plank in their platform declaring against
it. and they Tried hard to have tHat part
of the Werts law declared ~unconstitu-
tional by the famous suit of Ransom YER
GnS RiaPk ThA SnnPNn,a lDtIpt daasdaA
against them with tue exception OF JUS
tice Depue. who flied a dissenting
opinion.
The Prohibitionists are hopeful this
year of polling the largest vote that they
ever polled in New ] rsey. Their reason
for thinking this way is that maay indie
pendent Democrats will vote with them
because of the County Excise Commission
law, by watch the Democrats created Ex-
tise Commissions in strongly Prohioi-
ton centres. Thew lave a good strong
State Committee who are good workers,
AMI they have placed in nomination
Thomas j. Kennedy. a we'll known Hud-
son county lawyer, ana formerly a Re
publican. In days gone by he was a mem
Der of the HUDSON County Republican
Committee, but owing TO the saloons
great influence In Jersey City and vicin-
ity he took sides with the Prohibitionists.
aud has been working with them since
1884.
THE PEOPLES PARTY
The Peoples party has one virtue, and
that is that there are very few politicians
in it. This was shown by, the clumsy
manner in which they conducted their
convention. aud the awkward way they
tried to secure official ballots. The State
Committee of the Peoples party during
the past filed with the Secretary of State
a petition for ballots, which petition, how
ever, contained only u few names and not
the 1896 that the law requires. They
seem to have been verv much in the
dark and relied upon the Secretary of
State for inf rmatiou how to proceed. 1t
is doubtful whether they can obtain the
requisite uumber of signers, as there were
only tw~enty-eigbt delegates in their Sta e
Convention. Their candidate for Gov
ernor is Benjamin w. Bird OF Hunterdou
county, y strong Farmers Alliance man.
THE SoCIALIsTIC LABOR MOVEMENT.
The Socialistic Labor party have prac-
tically abandoned the idea of securing
official ballots by petition, because they
are not sufficiently organized to make an
attempt to secure the necessary sigma
lures. Their candidate for Governor is
George B. Keim, a cousin of ex-Sherif
George De B.. Keim. who was formerly
Sheriff of Philadelphia. Mr.. Keim is
well known in Philadelphia Trade Union
circles, where he was for many years a
members of the House Painters Trade
Union. He claims that his party is not
made up of red-haired Socialists and
Anarchists, hut of conservatives, who be-
lieve that political abuses can be relneJied
at the balloF box. He has a pleasant
home, an interesting family, and lives
comfortably, surrounded by an elegant
library and works of art.