The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-05-19
Very Lively Opposition De-
veloped at a Board of
Trade Meeting.
MIR. CARSCALLEN IN THE LEAD
Some Voices in Approval-Appeal
to Law Threatened-Gas.

- SisiAShS AhCOlAhB ahh GON0A"A oSA~~~
men, who were members of the Board,
were present
The first subject taken up was "Should
the City Hall be built on the site now
chosen or such site sold and another pur-
chaseds" Mr.. Detwiller was one of
the first to speak on the question.
He said he was sorry that the
Board of Trade and the citizens had
waited to such late day before con-
demning the act of the City Hall Com
missioners, but it was not too late yet.
The question to be determined was
whether the city would not save money
by countermanding what had been done
and selecting a new site. The site Sc
lected by the Commissioners was, In Mr..
Detwiller's opinion. a bad one. The
ground was marshy and the
location was not central. He
thought the hall should be built on high
ground and in more central portion of
the city, and he thought it possible that
the city could sell the site and select
more suitable one and not spend any
more money.
Mr. CARsCALLEN's POSITION.
Mr.. Carscallen said the spirit of the
meeting was not to criticise any of the
Boards of Commissioners. Il am simply
here to deal with the acts Of these gentle
men because / am interested" said he.
"They are our agents, made so under
the law. We furnish them with
fore. it is perfectly proper for us to assem-
BILE and say whether we approve or not SO
far as they have proceeded with their
work.
"The City Hall Board has been in exist
ence a long time. 1t has had a clerk and
we paid everything in our taxes. If these
men are our agents acting for us 1t is
right and proper, aud shows public spirit
that if we see anything wrong we take
them to task for 1t. Standing on these
premises personally have never approved
of the site selected by these gentlemen
for City Hall, and have not YET found
a taxpayer stand up as an advocate for
building City Hall in that place, but on
the contrary all have condemned the To-
cation, and think for good and sufficient
reasons. In the first place the location
is obsure. Then the ground is meadow
land and am informed that an old creek
formerly had its bed there and stagnant
water Is there all the year. The sewage
is constant menace to health. If there
were no other spot in the city and
we had to build city hall
IL might answer; but there are plenty of
eligible sites. ! haven't any property l
want to be improved and have no place
to recommend. but will say in general
terms that there is an abundance of sites.
A site could be had at the corner OF
Washington and Grand streets for less
than the city has agreed to pay for mud.
A BITTER ONSLAUGHT.
ut is time we should act in the matter.
This city has been cursed with multitu-
dinous forms of government, and the
Mayor was made Indirectly responsible
for the acts of those he appointed. But
the Mayor thought that some of these
men he had appointed to office were not to
be trusted with the building of City
Hall, and another Board was created
whose duties begin with and end with the
building of the City Hall. These gentle
men have salary and have been sitting
idly by and drawing it. They have al
ready paid $4,000 in salaries. and No.
2 Truck property and some property
in the hill belonging to the city when
sold to pay the salaries of these Commits
sioners. Isn't 1t time we call halt?
believe the time is now. We should
object to any further outlay of
money and in order to bring the
matter intellectually before the meeting I
offer the following resolution:-That the
President of the Board OF Trade be
aut horized to employ fitting counsel to go
before the courts of the State to give us.
as taxpayers and citizens, an opportunity
to show cause why this outlay should not
lie stopped, as 1t is not possible to build
been made"
L. L. Lynch, of the Fourth district, said
that nine out OF ten of the taxpayers in
his section We're oppased to the site Sc
lected.
VOICES IN APPROVAL.
MR. Breaks approved of the present site
and said any effort made to change it
would plunge Jersey City further in
debt.
Mr.. Ceary thought the site was not
such bad one. He thought that III the
city bought the remainder of the block
mp TO Grove street it would be as fine a
site as could be had in the city.
Mr.. Carscallen did not want his resolu-
tiou sidetracked, as he called it, and the
resolution was re-read for the benefit of
DIR. Quimby, who had just ar
rTed Tbs resolution nf of u%os soms sn9ases
and was surprised that some action con-
demnlng the Commissioners had not
been taken before. He Thought the CITY
Hall job would be worse than the Post
Office job.
Mr.. Goff. a young business man. thought
the site most desirable one.
Mr.. Bank said that the necessity for
driving piles was enough to convince him
that the site was bad one, and Mr.. Goff
replied that in Boston all Of the buildings
were piled.
THIS SETTLES IT.
President Dear, finally, with Mr.. Cars
callen's sanction, made the resolution
read "that the President Of the Board be
instructed to procure fitting counsel to
ask the courts for an injunction, on the
ground that the Commissioners cannot
build a City Hall within the appropria-
tion. The resolution was adopted.
THE GAS JOB.
The next question discussed was.
"Should legal proceedings be taken to
set aside the recent f1ve-year contract
made by the city authorities with the
United Gas Improvement Company"
Mr.. Carscallen said he did not know
that the contract was bad one. but he
said it looked so. He believed that the
gas company had scented some pew
process by which gas could be made
cheaper. and they intended TO make all
they could by fastening five year con-
tract or the city, and he moved that the
President of the Association be instructed
to procure counsel to question the validity
of the contract. The motion was carried.
President Dear said he would call
special meeting of the Board of Trade
and ask for their authority to spend
money in engaging counsel. Mr.. Cars
calIen said in case Mr.. Dear was not sue
cessful ne could call on those present, and
the meeting adjourned.
S
The Tax Appeal Board.
The Board of Tax Appeals met yester-
day at four O'Clock for the purpose of
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