The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-12-15
WHAT THE State COSTS.
Treasurer Gray's Annual
Report of the Expendi-
lures of the Depart
mentS.
Special to The JERSEY oity Ne,o,.


urer George B. Gray has prepared his an
nual report of the expenditures of the
State. BY this it appears that the dis
bursements for the year ending October
l. 1892. were 81. .69S. 405; in 1891, 81. .8l2 696;
in 1880. $1,639. 142, and in 1889. 81, 44o, ,oO542
Court expenses remain about the same.
They were s154, 249.5 this year; $154. 153 in
1891; $15l, ,501.03 in 1890, and S146,93s in
1889. The increases are due to the in
crease in the number of Vice Chancellors,
and the increase of the salary of the Su-
preme Court Justices.
The rebuilding of the Assembly Cham
ber, although the better part of the work
was done last year. part of IL was paid
for in the accounts OF 1891. The biggest
batch of bills did not come in until the
months of February and March. In 1891
there was expended 1872, ,558, and this year
Sl20,0S6 This was fer the compensation
OF the contractors and builders, for fur
ther down are found items. such as the
furnishing of Assembly Chamber, S16,-
94741; again, alterations and additions to
the State House, S13.S32 spent this year,
and $25, ,956 expended last year. The cleo
trio lighting SO far has cost 81 ,529 35 and
this does not represent the entire cost or
House, the contract price of which was
$22, 900.
BEAUTIFYING THE CAPITOL.
In considering the beautifying of the
State House the fact must not be lost
sight of that during this year aud last
SIS, ,941 IS was spent to furnish the new
Capitol. By that is meant the furniture
for the Supreme Court Clerks Office,
Chancery Office, Secretary of States
office. which are furnished elegantly and
tastefully.
During the past year many notable i'm
provements have been made, such as
placing in of open fireplaces, mantles,
rugs, and covering OF the floor halls This
makes a total of 1896, $40 spent to bring
the State House up to Its present perfeo-
ton. 1t includes the rebuilding of the
Assembly Chamber. and the additions
made to the Executive Chamber and the
Supreme Court room, and for the furni-
ture necessary to make them tenantable.
The Improvements represented by the
large amount of money are, however, of
a permanent character and not altogether
unnecessary for the convenience of the
State officials and the growing needs of
the increasing departments.
RENovATING THE SENATE CHAMBER.
In connection with the State House
there is another statement of expense
which comes under the head OF Estate
Capitol" which is for general miscel-
laneous repairs made outside the State
House contracts. This year they were
much smaller than they have been here
tofore. being only $17 .675. 29. and last year
they were $24, ,920, ,T90. This decrease is
easily accounted for because of the gen.
eral rebuilding in the rear part of the
State House.
At the present time some expenditures
are being made in the Senate Chamber,
which is to be thoroughly ventilated and
heated with steam, and owing to the gen
eral tearing out necessary to putting in
the system of ventilation the chamber
will have to be repa1nted and decorated.
This work is being done under the war;
rant of q resolution passed early last ses-
sion by the Legislature.
The expense for running the State
House for the current year was S57, ,705,
against SAG, ,978 spent in 1891. State House
expenses differ somewhat from State
Capitol expenses. The items include the
payment of telephone, supplies, such as
soap and matches, hardware, ice, and
the the salary of the janitor. janitrix,
carpenters, engineers. laborers, watch
men and messengers. 10 ac-
count for the increase between the ex-
penditure of last year and this would be
to tell long story. The grounds of the
State House have been greatly improved
and beautif1ed and the entire mechanical
force. therefore, has been increased, max
ing the increase in salaries to do the
work entailed by Improvements.
WHAT THE LEGISLATURE COSTS.
The cost of the Legislature of 1892 is
about the same as that of 1891 The cost
for 1892 was SOB, 744; 1891. S103, ,SS3; in
1890, $SS, ,469; and in 1889, SS4, 300. twill
be remembered that the last two sessions
were short and increased expenditures
came from multiplication of the minor
offices. such as clerical help, detectives,
RI N fo
taries and clerks to the committees. The
militia in 1899 cost $99, ,5S4.71. This is
| much less than the two preceding years,
for in 1891 the amount expended was
S124. .41S, and in 1889, s14s.516.
1t will be remembered that when
Ouartermaster General Donnelly took
hold of this he found that there bad been
a practice, for the purpose of keeping the
| militia items down. OF carrying over
from year to year large amounts, such as
transportation and pay for maintenance.
He cleaned up these bills, which swelled
the total for those two years all out of
proportion. Now each years expense is
balanced up and nothing is carried over.
COSTS OF THE STATE PRISON.
The blind and feeble-minded now re-
ceive $50. GA, against $71.87 last year.
The State Prison maintenance costs $685.
O77 This is trifle less than what it WAS
last year. when it took $65, 10, while in
State Prison. The increase of the last
two years over that OF 1890 was due to the
fact of trouble with the contractors and
the smallpox scare, which prevented
work for some time in the institution.
In 1890 the State Prison payroll was
ST. 105: in 1891, $40 Sl4, and in 1892, $50 1927.
The State of New Jersey is good ad-
vertlser. 1t spends much money with the
newspapers, principally in the publication
of the laws. The effect of short sessions
can readily be seen in he advertising ac-
count For 1890 the session was long, 60
ing into nineteen weeks, when 3l1 bills
were passed, and the expense was $780,
084; in 1891 the session was ten weeks
long, and the expense of publishing 2S5
laws was $89, 374.65. but the session of
1892 was shorter still and fewer bills, and
the amount Was $74,5l1.
The printing of public documents COST
$780, against S4S,272 last year. The
new departments have, of course, in
creased the clerical services, and quite
materially so. In 1889, S21, ,531 was sRffi-
cient to pay all the clerical hire of the de-
partments of the State. In 1890 it was
$21. .4S3, then it took a jump to $26, 720 and
last year it was 1908. In this con-
nection it is also interesting to note the
increase in stationery and postage. The
payments in this direction TOUR years ago
were So, 537 1t jumped $4,000 the next
year. In last years report we find this
item cost $12, 74S, and in the present year
it has gone up to $16,364.
The home for disabled soldiers receives
$23, ,755. This is smaller than they re-
ceived for some years. The year 1891 re-