New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-03-13
NEW-JERSEY'S DISGRACE
THE WORST LEGISLATURE ON RECOR Al
AN END.
CAUSES OF ITS uyspEAKABLE CoRRUpTIoEELow
THE SCEFACE-wHERt THE RESPO"i
uIrITY FOR STARTER FLYNN REFS.

|CAuSES OF ITS UXsPEAKABLE CORRUPTION'rbo"
THE srEFAcE-wnERt THE REsPoSl-
pIIITY FOR STARTER FLYNN RES
Trenton, n. j., March 10 lSpecial).-ne air IS
still tainted with legislative corruption althou3n
by the grace Of a benciiccnt Providene the pack
of rascals constituting a majority o the NOV"
jersey LEGISLATURE adjourned withou DAY early
last evening The worst session on rcord, SO lar
"a memory serves, came 20 an end sooner than
had been anticipated, and the fat that some
matters which required legislative consideration
have been postponed for year ~ this actloh
does not qualify the satisfaction %lch greeted the
announcement Of the end. The icbauchcry nad
been steadily increasing, and tore would nave
| been complete carnival Of crne with announcer
| weeks session One merit aloe can De ascrip'h
to the legislators. They passe more DIS III 'hc
last week of tho session thar In all inc rcs' o'
the time. and every ono Of hrsc Is now III .no
hands of the Governor, subcf TO his actioh. TIC
can veto the whole lot if 10 chooses. ana inc
Legislature can do nothing prevent It,
A GOOD deal has been said general way OF the
corruption which has preailcd throughout .he
legislative session, and II pay seem to some mat
il was exaggerated by OF, kind Of prcjudic" or
another The fact is. thu truth has been under
stated. II was backma and robbery from be-
| ginning TO end and towTd tho closT It was NOT
| concealed from tho lest obscrvant ~ WIS
simply question of dolhrs whether bill pnss'd
or not The rottcnncs Of the whoc business
| needed no investigation The stencil would nave
| disristcd the vcrcst political vulturr AIN
il inst hell ." said Il the devils who was ieau
inc the satnrnalia Of legislative crime. Nor is
it worth wli'c making many exceptions lax
inr ont Asscmblymcn Hutchinson and. perhaps
A.. l,ra - fha
NOT hc worth willie discriminating. Even some
Of those who gained n certain reputation Tor OPP
posing measures like thr racctrack bills were
known TO be tainted The racrtrack bills were
indeed. but two Of many corrupt measures
Tbcro wore numerous strikers" which were s"t-
,lcd bv paving bla,kmail and man, corporation
measures which we're passed by equally heavy
payments. -,
Governor Wort, CONES ont Of the session with
more credit .han any other member Of the Demo
cratic marty in the State House lie was open TO
criticism for such actions as the too prompt veto
Of thc racn'rack bills. for some 81 his appoint
mrnts and for his approval OF corporation meas
urcs which should M least. have hc"n s'ann"h
moro carefully he made thousands OF ifch''
however. hv the crrmics he created In Tho per
sors or such men ne Senator /" BIZ" Daily. BOD
Davis Of Hudson and tho rest II the OWL crowd
LIZ his veto Of the Wanscr bill lIr might nav"
done moro 10 stop lcgisla'v" corruption an" OWL
doing lv greater activity In using his influence ~
Governor: but with tir autocraiic m"fhohs OF
Governor Abbott fresh in memory. G'v"rnor
Wcr,s was justified In keeping within his OWN
domain.
TIL. im,nNl,'c Cause Of tlr corruption ~ IN"
Icoi.laturc was the ab,cncn Of men II hi-h per
sonal character end ability. With The exceptions
noted above. -" whole ton" Of the Ass mb'y
was extremely low no; only after n" temptation
came. but notorousy g when the nonln atoms
were made las, fall. The presence Of few Just
men, o. say dozen. who hal the inNu'A''
which comes from charactcr and courage Of
orinion. wcull have stoned half the "vl-lo'nc.
A. it wns Starter" FLYNN In the chair was not
an unropr,Sontatiy" Speaker. lie was better than
some Of the mon on tlr floor most as-urcdy. H.
wa. safer for the state than Harlan or Carroll
or i dozen Others who mrli' he named Towar
the clos, Of the s,.>~ion, Billy Thompson. Duke
of Gloucester" became almost rcpuiahl" by c"r-
tain comparisons. II said Of him that. AZ
least Inc would not sell hi- vot" for money. hav-
M enough and thar he would keep hi promises.
The corruption Of the Legislature Of 1893
and all it, evil deeds were. however. no wors"
than the people Of the state had any right Ia
expect The record is IL their own making. ana
il i. n time for differentiation hy voters rather
than for indienation AGAINST the poor creatures
who sold their souls TO The devil this winter
There has been much said. AMI well said. OF
the iniquitos Of the racctrack Legislation: but II
was not said until after the bills had passed
All Lac. fall and during tho carly part oi thr
session a few newspapers tried u prevent '"'
wrong and asked for help from other repr'E''h-
to,iycs Of pnhlic opinion There was practically
a,t., MI
was no moral agitation When tho htrs" was
stolen there was great 70 do about locking stabl"
doors: but il was too late. Meanwhile. with
laws ON the statute books which gave ample
,.wer Guttcnburg and Gloucester hal hccn rae
inc every day. and poolrooms fourish"d. Camden
Countv where Gloucester il located has been
through such soul-wr"ckinS "Npcrienc" ~ i"'
SON and boosted Of its moral majority
Vet Gloucester was ~ undisfnrb"d rs "l''ch-
burg Thompson and Mclaughlin. the two h"riS
Of tlrso raccconrs,.s. had Mt or" tim" practically
abandoned an attempt 10 lcgalUc III" tracks. ana
.Lc latter openly declared that IN" monopoly II"
possessed by reason Of his polifi'Al pun mao"
him Indifferent 20 legislature. The bllls cam"
from Monmouth County: from man VINO claims
n respectable business connecticut ana VINO o"iohIs
10 "A decent family. and 10 party when - forever
og,inst the Gamblers And in the LEGISLATURE
,ecoraph and railroad interests. represented by
men Of apparent responsibility. hepcd along
the crime IT has been easy to condemn W."
rascally legislators who sold their votes and easier
still 20 drnouncc Che t,uticnburg and Gloucebtcr
fonts who figured prominently. but there wcrc
moro rotucctablc figures behind who could not
claim ionornucc nor lack Of moral training an
excuse for crime.
An examination Of the sources of the corruption
which has made the late Lraislitnrc notorious
will reveal that the moral revolution n"cessary
10 prevent another such session must bc mad"
general, touching some who arc high in society as
we'll as thosc who are low During the last
hours Of the Legislature a number of corporiton
bills were rushed through both houses. Tho mon
who wanted these measures and were Wiling 10
use the corrupt legislators to OBTAIN th"if "i"s
pcucriV U.~ucccu cltIIs \