The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-06-27
The Street and Water Board
Explains the Commit
tee Appointments.
NEEDS OF THE SERVICE.
The IrratiOnality of Mayor Wan
ser's Position Clearly De.
m0nStrated.
GREENVILLE STATION HOUSE.

deals with the point raised by Mayor
Wanser, that employees of the Board not
appointed by rssol ution are not eligible
for payment. The reply is in the form Of
a report fr ON the Committee Of the
Whole. Here it isl
Your Committee of the Whole, to
whom on June 81 lnst.twas referred doc
ument signed bv Peter f. Wanser,
Mayor, and purporting to be veto of a
certain payroll amounting to 5000 for Ia
borers in public parks in the mouth of
May, 1892, respectf ully report as fol-
lows:--
report with statement that perusal Of
the submitted document evidences the
fact that in common with other m matters
of like emanation this had been publish he'd
in q local newspaper before being su bmit-
ted to this Board. The absence, however,
of the usual headline special Corre-
spondence of the EUenilg Journal"
would seem to warrant the conclusion
that they have been obtained surrept1ti-
ously. Anysother conclusion would be
unfair to His Honor the Mayor.
EXPLANATION IGNORED.
The document at present in question is
certpinly most remarkable one. 1t deals
with the old issue of the committee ap-
pointments, and Notwithstanding the fact
that this Board has already officially and
fairly stated its reasons for such action,
the document before US ignores that fact
utterly and endeavors to create the i'm
preston that the entire responsibility for
| the non-payment OF the laborer devolves
on US.
2In the communication from His Honor
he says:-"I insist that no Board has the
iprhk To faLr hn n tha
right to criticize new employe as to his
qualifications and as TO whether the city
needs his services. II can prevent it no
man shall be put to work in secret and
then shove O resolution on me calling for
| a warrant paying him. If am right, the
Mayor and the public can act at the time
of primary employment"
Law in the abstract is but a reflection
of the wants Of q community, and Is
| placed upon the statute BOOKS because
| the necessities of that community re-
quire IL.
a. COMMON SENSE -- ~
In our limited connection with public
affairs we have found it not only imprac-
| ticable to make all appointments by reso-
| luton, but that the adoption of such a
course would result in serious loss to the
city. The Mayor cites the fact that our
committee appointments exceed in number
those appointed by resolution. That is
so because the demands OF the service re-
quires 1t. 1t is reasonable to expect that
the laboregs on streets, the pipe layers
and pipe repaSers, etcS, shonld, when TAX
en- in the aggregate, exceed In number
such chartered officers and clerks as are
required In the executive branches OF the
city service under our control. A fair
and Just man will concsde this. We can
not tell with a reasonable degree OF GER
| tainty, nor can we even approximate how
much water pipe the Board of Finance will
allow US to purchase annually or what
breaks are liable to occur in the mains.
| The amount of pipe allowed is laid, the
repairs are made when needed and the
employees who have been thus engaged
are then discharged, to be re-appoinLed by
committee in such NUMBERS and for such
time as the exigencies OF the service may
require, Were they appointed by resolu-
ton they would nave 60 be paid, work or
play.
This same rule applies in like degree to
street laborers.
PRIVATE BUSINESS METHODS.
True. we could on the battledore an d
shuttlecocS principle, rotate weekly with
but which is the more business-like
| method Does private firm or corpora
| tion require that all the members of that
| firm shall be present to acquiese or that a
! meeting of the officers or corporation
shall be held before necessary appoint
eral empioyments only, but In cases
where specialists are desired, when breaks
occur In the mains under water and the
services of a diver are necessary, shall the
committee wait until a resolution making
the necessary appointment can be passed
at O regular or special meeting, or
shall they allow our citizens to suffer a
water famine? Which would be the
more business like method of procedure?
Would not a pon-immediate action be
Grim inal? The foregoing is but one case
amo ng those which occur con
stantly. They may be called isolated
and may be met with a statement
that committee action in such cases
would be condoned and that a subsequent
ratification by the Board would meet
with executive acquiescence, but these
facts must also be considered, that the
law permits of no conformation and that
resolution cannot be retroactive.
AMPLE PRECEDENT.
That this was the opinion of previous
executives Is borne out by the fact that
appointments made In like manner 10
ours and for like purposes. received the
subsequent official sanction OF such bus
mess men as Charles II. O'Neill and
Charles Siedler; of such lawyers as Gill
| bert Collins and Henry Iraphayan.
Can any one question their hon
esty, their ability, their integrity? !?
Is it not reasonable to expect
that With such past history In MUNICIPAL
affairs we would be at least comba,ive
when on these grounds we are charged
with criminality9 Is It not also reason
able to suppose that the desire OF
''ME and the public" TO act pri-
marily is because OF some ulier-
| ior motive. suggested by the Thought
that our appointees are Democrats? We
again reiterate the fact that we believe
our course has Deen and is the right one,
Notwithstanding the decisions cited by
| His Honor, and this belief has been fur
thur strengthened by concurrence
therein of legal opinion. II we are proven
wrong we Will heartily submit, and in
| order that our position in the matter may
| be legally defined and that the iunc cent
cause of dispute may cease to suffer we
| would recommend that test suit be i'm
| mediately instituted.
VERY FEW APPOINTMENTS.
In the dissertation of His Honor we
| fiud that reflection is cast upon our en-
] tire force OF regular employees.
We would answer briefly by stating
that the present Board has made very
| few appointments In the class
| of understood permaneuts. We found
| them in the employ Of the city
| and but continued their several engane e.
nenis. but we have no hesitation in say
ing that the personnel of the several de-