The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-02-21
ASSISTANT PROSECUTORS BILL
Debate, Before Hts Pas
sage, in the House.

saScs HI the house..
Special to the Jersey CITY Ncirs.
TRENTON, Feb. 81, 1s94,-The flow of gas
in the House yesterday afternoon was only
temporarily checked by the disposal OF
Mr.. CAROLS bill regulating the price OF that
commodity.
No sooner had the Speaker announced the
vote ON Mr.. CAROLS bill than Clerk Potts
turned on the flow again by announcing
that Mr.. Ginder's bill abolishing the Office of
assistant prosecutors in second class counties
was on third reading and final passage. Mr..
Ginder. who introduced the bill for the sole
purpose of putting out OF office Holt Apgar,
the able Assistant Prosecutor of Mercer. ex-
planned the bill in a most lucid and salts
factory manner to the Republicans at least.
He said it was a good Republican
cratic office-holders, and Mr.. Dew
snap of Bergen, the baby of the House,
made his maiden speech, and a good sensible
one it was, too. He said that he wanted the
majority to understand that he was WIN
| them in all measures of reform which We're
for the best interests of the State, whether
they were partisan OF not. But he did not
| think that the people sent them to Trenton
to put out ofice-holders. He was sure that
an assistant prosecutor was needed IN
Passaic county. and he showed how the bust
| ness of the criminal courts OF his county was
getting far behind because they had only
one prosecutor.
Mi. Lewis said that he perceived Mr.. Dew
snap was a young man open to convictlep
| and he wanted to show him that the bill was
a vicious one and ought to be repealed. he
declared that the sum paid to the assistant
of Passaic was a burden upon the people.
| Although there was a great deal OF work to
be done in the county, the Prosecutor went
about doing as he pleased while the Assist
ants nose was kept to the grindstone.
There is not a prosecutor in the State
who gives his whole time to the work he IS
paid to do for the salary he receives, SAID
Mr.. Cross of Union. The ex-Judge came
very neal getting excited as he strove to
show wha an Ubiquitous law it was which
provided for assistant prosecutors.
Mr.. Beekman asked Mr.. Lewis II in the
County of Passaic, where there were more
criminals to the square inch than III any
| other county in the State, there was not
work enough for two prosecutors.
Mr.. Lewis admitted that he thought there
was.
Mr.. Beeknan then went on with one OF his
characteristic speeches, in which he spoke a
| rood deal. but said very little, and wound up
by remarking that, if there was work enough
for two prosecutors IN PaSSa1c, they must
need ffty-two in Hudson.
The floor was again obtained by Mr.. Lewis,
| who argued that the law sought to be re-
| pealed was a vicious one, because it took
work away from a man without taking with
it the pay.
When he had taken his seat, MIR. Kelly,
| from Hudson, the lone champion of equal
taxation, jumped to his feet. He was over
| come by his wrathful emotions, and he could
| hardly speak when the Speaker recognized
| him. He stood by his desk, glazing at Mr..
| Beeknan in a manner which, if looks could
kill, would have produced a first-class
funeral i'll Perth Amboy before the week
| was out.
II would consider myself recreant to the
trust reposed in me by my constituents, he
finally began, '.if | permitted such a calum-
| NOUS statement as that made by the gentle
man from Middlesex to go unchallenged. l
want to say that there is less crime in Hud-
son than in any other county OF its size IN
| the State"
AS Hudson is the largest county in the
| State, a loud laugh greeted this remark,
while Mr.. Kelly went on to say that he
made that statement without fear Of contra
diction.
when you touch a man on the tender
| spot he Jumps" began Mr.. Beekman as he
arose to reply to Mr.. Kelly. He then said
was on account of its close proximity to New
York, which kept constantly sending its
| criminals over the river to Jersey City and
| Hoboken. The natural born citizens Of Hud-
| son County were honest to a man; past his
| tory had proven that. Then Mr.. Beekman
turned to Mr.. Lewis and declared that the
only reason he wanted to have the bill
passed was in order that he might put out
two democrats and put in two republicans in
his county.
This brought Indignation McEwan to his
feet, and he started in to upbraid Beekman
for ~impugning such base motives. He wished
the gentleman from Middlesex to understand
that the Republicans were under oath just
as well as the Democrats, land we have just
as much regard for that OATH he went on.
"Mr. Speaker, l for ONE"
"The gentleman is out of ORDER CURLY
said the Speaker, and the world will never
know what Mr.. McEwan is for one.
81 am always suspicious of the witness
who is continually reminding you he is
under OATH" remarked Mr.. Beekman, as
Herbert Potts began to call the roll on final
passage. The bill went through by a vote
of 37-14.
H ~ ~ xYrNr7rY1 II A " Era-