The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-02-02
IMPORTANT TAX BILL.
If II Becomes a Law, Jer-
sey City's Rate Will BE
Reduced One Half.
COM MIFTEES BEHIND IN THEIR WORK
An Advocate Of Biennial Session
Expatiates on His Favorite
Theme.
COM MITTEES BEHIND IN THEIR WORK
special to The Jersey Clty Nelos.

Qu j. QGSQdy WAS OuO WAitbt oh~A Al ~
nection with a set of resolutions recently
adopted by the Senate, threatens to pre-
cipitate ons of the fercest struggles OF
the session. The bill was introduced by
Mr.. DAILY Of Middlesex. and provides that
the rates for telephones In { he cities OF
Patterson, Hoboken. Camdeo, Trenton,
Elizabeth, Bayonne, Ortnge. New Bruins
wick and Passaic shall be So per month.
last week by Mr.. Cornish. and call upon
the telephone companies to furnish IN
formation concerning rates aud cos t or
services, upon which the Committee GU
Corporations proposes to base u bill for
the regulation of tolls aud charges.
This action upon the part OF both
branches OF the Legislature is a direct
and u~neouivocal declaration of wal upo
the telephone companies. Neither OF
them is a strike which d little judicious
argument could kill in committee. Both
mean business. Senator Cornish's wealth
and character place him above all sus-
picioE, and Assemblyman DAILY declares
that his bill was introduced to be passed,
and it will be if he can bring 1t about.
Thele is a feeling among d large num-
Der of members ofsboth Chambers, espec-
tally among those who use the 'Dhone-
and almost everyone in active business
does-that the present tolls charged by
GIG COu1QdukCo L AdlS0Ay Ia CASS6o ~ q
fair profit upon the capital invested.
The madner in which many Senatoss and
Assemblymen have expressed their
| opinion upon the necessity Of some action
being taken in the matter, seems to
| presage the passage OF one of the bills.
ma AN EXCELLEET MEASURE,
| Mr.. Holmes introduced u bill on Mon
| day night which will have many hard
| trials before 1t reaches a place in the
| statute boo and 1t will require a most
| vigorous constitution to withstand the
| harq blows 1t will receive before iE leaves
the Judiciary Committee, not to mention
the assaults which will be made upon 1t
when 1t geus before the House, if il evsr
| does. It, nevertheless, is one
of the best measures for Jer-
sey City now before the Legislature
| aud one which the Board of Trade could
turn It's attention to with profit. The
bill is House No. 143. and provides that
! all real estate acquired hereafter by any
| railroad company in any city in the State
manner and at the same rate as the
property of individuals. and that the
taxes thus assessed shall be collected by
the City Collector and paid into the City
Treasury for the use OF the city in which
the property is located. \
..That is one OF the best bills yet intro
| duced," said q well known citizen of Jer-
| sey City, who was mere Yesterday, "and
| one which deeply interests every property
| owner in Jersey City. The only fault
| have to find with 1t is that it does not go
| far enough. 1t should make not only the
| property to be acquired hereafter SUBJECT
to local rates OF taxation, but should ex-
tend its provisions TO that already ac-
quired.
Under the present law the rOadbed,
| depots ana terminal facilities are ex-
empt from all taxation. Other property
I pays one-half Of one per cent. on the val
uation of the State Board of Assessors,
into the City Treasury aud the amount
thus paid is distributed TO the cities in
| which the property SO assessed is located.
1.-The whole amount paid into the State
In a year does not exceed $3.50 600.
or this amount, Jersey City receives only
a trifle to what it should on the 500. 000.-
600 or more property which the railroads
| own within the city limits. Why, if the
| railroads were axe as other property
owners are. the tax rate of Jersey CITY
would be reduced more than ~one-nalf."
THREE JIMs ON DECK.
notwithstanding The solemn declara-
lion of a warm friend of the "Three
| jinls'' that the repeater of the bill,
which was passed last year to raise
the salaries of the Assessment Commits
sioners, had not been introduced YET, the
| bill Is in and has been in for u week or
more. Mr.. Kelly is the member who in
| troduced the measure, and the Commit
| tee on Revision of Laws is now wrestling
| with 1t. This Is the bill,
it will be remebered which
repeats the act of last year, which took
| from the Street and Water Board the
| the power to appoint Commissioners and
| gave it to the Mayor. The true object Of
| the bill was to raise the salaries OF the
| Commissioners from $500 per annum to
| $1,000, and resulted in the appointment of
a Republican Board by Mayor Wanser.
Judge james N. Davis. who was enc of
| the Commissioners ousted by the bill, Is
a daily attendant upon the House, and is
doing all in his power to bring the bill
| before the Assembly.
The present Legislature Is one of the
| slowest which has convened at Trenton
| in some time. Four weeks have gone by,
and that number of flaws has not been
enacted. The trouble appears to be with
tine committees, which must consider all
| bills before they can be laid before the
| House. Every session, Speaker Flynn is
Obliged to entreat the committees to get
to work and do something.
He tells them that they are blocking
| legislation, and that nothing can be done
| Until they meet and make more reports.
\ The committee certainly cannot COM
| plain OF a lack of work for, however dire
| lect the members are in other respects,
I they have been most Industrious, in III
| Producing bills. One hundred aud sixty
measures nave thus far been introduced
| and 1t Is safe to say that not a sixth Of
than has been reported4
Over ia the Senate matters are just as
bad. Seventy-six bills have been intro
| duced, and only a few have been acted
upon.
A BIENNIALIST LIFTS HIS LEAD.
This state OF affairs has revived the
old biennial sessions movement, and
there are some of those cranks, as the
modern statesmen call them, preparing
a bill providing for sessions of che Legis-
| lature every TWO years instead of one.
One of the these gentlemen said yester-
| day:-'There is no earthly reason why the
| Legislature should meet every year, and
| its absence from Trenton every other
year would be a great saving to the State
financially, Ii nothing else was accom-
| pIished. That eau be seen at glance
| when you recall the fact that the door
| keepers aud pages of the House will alone
| cost the State this year $21.8 800. When
you add to that sum the salaries OF the
officers OF both Houses and the attaches
OF the Senate, the sum will be twice as
large.
.sThe manner in which both Houses
come down here for a day or two each
week, hold sessions which last only for
much beyond introducing bills, plainly
them to meet at all. Then, again, look
at the bills which they introduce.
With the exception of a few
which are needed in, some particular
localities, they are mainly for the benefit
IF the f~utrodu and most of tba athers