The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-03-06
WANSER'S WORK.
One Year of the Mayors
Record Summed Up
For Public In
formation.
EXPENSES REDUCED
ABUSES lREMEDIED
Jobbery Through Evasion
of the Contract Law and
on Plea of Extra
Work"
Needless Delay in the Pay
ment of City Laborers to
Fatten Diseounters
of Warrants.
PR0SPEGIS OF THE FUTURE.
With City Boards in Sympathy
With Reform, Much Benefit
May Be Done the City.

Mayor Wanser's friends have prepared
the following statement OF his career as
Mayor in answer to The ISLANDERS of the
Davis gang
ssWhen Mayor Wanser entered Office
on May 1, 1892, he found himself as one
among many. All of our I'M
portant municipal boards, VIII one
least a majority of his political opponents.
Pledged as he was to do all in his power to
reform the local government, he made
study of the charter and existing laws to
ascertain his powers and limita-
tions, and he Immediately put into
use every restraint at his command
and used the laws in the inter-
est ot reform. As the laws in many in
stances were passed to create the abuses,
the Mayor is iseutitled to much credit In
finding and putting into effect other laws
TO curb those passed more in the IN
tarest of individuals than of the
city, Nearly every contest made
by the Mayor has resulted in the
presentation to the present Legislature of
a law to prevent him from continuing In
his present pclicy-a fact which shows
the effective result Of the Mayors stand.
Ten months have now passed since
his inception into office, and a
Of our city NAV prove interesting aud
will at least afford chance to judge of
the wisdom of the people in ielecting him
to that Office. During the year preceding
his election, the majority of the people
became aware.of the fact that abuses had
crept into the administration of munich
nal affairs py certain of the boards.
STREET AND WATER BOARD.
ssThe Board of Street aud Water Com-
missioners as now constructed, is the
most powerful aud independent of all our
municipal Boards. by virtue of the act of
1891, creating il; and is hampered to a
very slight extent by either the Board of
Finance or the Mayor. This body was
the first to claim the attention of Mayor
Wanser.
ION May II, 1892, in a communication
to the Board, he made objection to the
employment of seven men who were
known as employees in the Lamp Depart
on the ground that work they
were supposed to be doing should
under the terms of q lightning contract
made short time before, for street light
ing, be done by the companies holding
said contract with the city. A small be-
ginning was then made, but when 1t Is
remembered that the cost OF this unneces-
sary labor during a year would amount
to S4.644. a sum sufficient to pay the inter
est upon almost 100000 of the city debt,
at the current rate for the same period, 1t
merits attention,
REPAIRS TO PAVED STREETS.
EVERY year after July l. one-half of
the moneys received from liquor licenses
is set aside with the consent of the
Mayor, for fund known as the
'Repairs to paved streets account
The condition of this fund was the next
matter that claimed the Mayors atten-
,tiou, An examination of the records in
%l,o MY nff1 fHa
fact that. with the amount left on hand
on July 1, 1891. and the receipts from that
date to May /, 1892 the fund amounted
to the sum Of $l31,81856, and
that on the latter date. only
$27998 remained unexpended of that
whole amount. In addition to this, 1t
was learned, that warrants aggregating
the sum of SAT, ,25S. Is had been drawn and
were lodged liz the Comptroller office for
payment, but could not then be delivered
till the Mayor had consented to the legal
division of the license money after it was
paid into the Treasury in July follow
ing. This showed that the Street
aud Water Board had in reality expended
s179, "A between July l, 1891, and May
j, 1862 out of this account. In COM
1nunication to that body the Mayor
called attention to this state
of affairs and demanded that all street
repairs be discontinued until matters
were Strengthened out The
Mayor was later informed that
additional claims amounting to at least
SIS. 900 were awaiting the action of the
board and would be paid out by the same
accent when the money. was available.
He has since refused to sanction
the transfer of the half of the license
money to that account; first, because of
the over expenditure above referred to;
second, because lite Of the work
was done by the contractor, and third, be
cause the work by DAY labor was not being
done by laborers properly employed; and
because the fall election would make
political pressure on the Board in adding
unnecessary men to the force repay
ing streets and further; the pre-
sent spring and early summer would
present an opportunity of making neces-
Sary and valuable improvements
While a sum would aggregate from
what will be left of the years receiprs
and what will be received from the
license.money collected after july, 1893,
sufficiently large to make fine showing
OH LIe streets il the work is iatellige ntly
done.
COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
"The appointmenG of employees by
committee of individual members OF the
board, or by political bosses not
connected with the city's board,
was the next matter which formed sub
i-ct of communication to them by the
Mayor In it he objected to that system
bf emplovments as illegal and as being a
neans g much extrayagant expenditure
IL the city's moneys. This stand was taken
t..&<