The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-05-17
A MONSTROSITY.
New Freebooter Law an Out
rage on Decency and
Intelligence.
A GRAB FOB THE sPOIIs
Jersey City May Outnumber the
Representation Of the Rest
Of the County.


By the action of the Legislature in passing
the Hudson and Essex County Freehelders
bill over the Governors veto every member
of the two boards Will go out of office on De-
cember 2, 1894, which is Sunday, unless the
Freehelders do as they now propose doing
contest the conssitutionality Of the partisan
act in the courts. The term Of office of Di-
rector B~ruggemann would by law expire in
the fall of the present year, but the terms of
each Of the Freeho1ders would not expire I'M
til May, 1896, if they were permitted to serve
for the time they were elected.
These Freeholders are:-First district,
Timothy j. Cronin; Second dis
trfct, John A. Halliday; Third district,
Michael Hennessey Fourth district. William
Heller; Fifth district, Frank McNally;
Sixth district, Dennis Gallagher; Seventh
district, William Hanna; Eighth district,
yohu Doscher; Ninth district, William II;
Ellis; Tenth district, Simon Kelly, and
Eleventh district, George Swartz.
With these Freeholders will go out Of
office l48 employees of the county whose
salaries range all the way from $500 to
SIS, 900, which salaries the Republican patriots
and reformers are decidedly anxious to
handle.
OF this Governor Werts said in his veto:-
sSection 8 terminates the term of all Off
GERS holding under appointment of such
boards on Sunday, the second day of Decem-
Der. 1t seems to me that the partisan deter
mination to seize and possess the Offices in
question might possibly be restrained beyond
Sunday, December 2, until Monday. Decem-
Der 3 at one A. NJ. Were a bill sub
Y,irfnd fa <1aA- Evn1t1AIun rlfsnUiAfnn
for a fair and suitable representa-
ton, upon a just and bipartisan basis,
the present officials to be superseded at the
election to be held in November next, as
provided in the pending bill, NC objection
would be made thereto. But the proposed
scheme. partisan, cumbersome and intended
to subvert and defeat the popular viii, has
not a single merit, and is in every aspect
worse than the system it proposes to super
sede.o
F-REEHoLDERS VII CONTEST.
To prevent the present Board Of Free
holders from contesting the act which was
passed yesterday, Senator Voorhees, has in
treduced a bill which abolishes the title Of
"Chesen Freebooter, = and it is believed by
the Republicans that if this bill becomes a
law, it will effectually prevent any contest
on the part Of the incumbents, who were
elected as Chosen Freeholders. The office,
or rather the title OF it, being abolished. the
Freeholders would have no ground to
stand on. If there were no Board Of Chosen
Freeholders, there could be no lawsuit to
fill the Office. This bill is a very clever eff
fort on the part of the Republicans to es-
cape the penalty of having the new Free
holders bill declared unconstitutional.
Notwithstanding the Vaccinations of the
Republicans, they will not be permitted to
take possession of the county without first
proving their right to do so in the courts.
N, .,o lao 1890. I .-.1l .-1l,Il- - Al1%
the Incumbent Board will refuse to surrend-
er the Office and records to their alleged sue
c~essors, who will be elected next November.
Such action would result in forcing these
men to apply for a writ of mandamus or
quo aOGrTanto proceedings. If such legal
action should be taken, the case would re-
main in the courts for at least a year, and
the next Legislature might be prevailed up
on to repeal the act that became a law yes
terday.
JERSEY CITY's REPRESENTATION.
The law under which the next election
will take place provides that in all cities of
the first class Jersey City the Mayor shall
appoint q commission to create wards, n
that Freeholders shall be elected according
to these wards.
The Republican plan is to so gerryman-
der the city that they will receive a Repub-
lican majority in the board. The bill also
provides that cities of the second class
shall elect two Freeholders at large, and all
towns and townships of more than 10000
population shall also have two F~reeholders
elected at large. All townships and incor-
porated towns of less than 10000 population
shall each AVE ono Freebooter, or member,
as it is called In the act.
No one appears to know how this city will
be apportioned, and it is not known yet who
will be appointed on the commission to make
the wards, but the people may rest assured
that the Republicans will succeed in SO ar
ranging them that their party will, if the
act is not declared unconstitutional, handle
all of the county's money next year. This
is a vast sum, S749, 100 being apportioned for
the present year, exclusive of the Boulevard
appropriation. OF this sum more than
$4,000 is paid in salaries each month.
THE NEW REPRESENTATION.
In the new board Hoboken, with q popu-
lation of nearly so, 1000, will only have two
Freeholders. Bayonne, with a population of
only 10000, will nave the same number;
and likewise the Town of Union, population
1000, and West Hobokcn, population 49,
900. Gutenberg, Harrison, Kearny, North
Bergen, Union Township and Weehawken
will have one each. This makes a total Of
fourteen outside of Jersey City. The present
board consists Of eleven members n the
DirectOr-at-J arQe.