The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-07-24
how TO BUY SUPPLIES.
An Important Opinion Upon
the Question Of Making
City Contracts.
sneeia, to the JERSEY city Neus.

NEWARK, July "a, 1S95.-The Health
Committee of the Board of Education
last week received the following highly
important opinion of City Counsel Riker
in regard to coal and other contracts.
1t was laid over for future consideration.
In answer to your questions respecting
the powers of your committee In the
matter of coal contracts, I respectfully
submit
First the clause in your coal contracts,
which reads as follows:-"The price of
said coal, delivered and stored away, to
be the price fixed bye the New Jersey
Coal Exchange Units regular monthly Cir
cular for the month in which said coal
may be delivered. with all additional
charge of seventy-iye cents per ton for
carriage and storage in the bins" is. in
my Judgment, Illegal.
The contract in the form presented to
me provides in effect chat the price to be
paid for coal by the Board of Education
of the City of Newark shall be determin-
ed not by the parties to the contract or
by the contract itself, but by an outside
arbiter, which arbiter is the New Jersey
Coal Exchange.
The New Jersey Coal Exchange, as I
QliQSIo dlld IL q SASNtN
the purpose of regulating the price of one
of the necessities of life, and the reguia-
ton is presumptively made in the inter-
ests of the Exchange. For the city to Sc
lect this body to fix the price to be paid
by the city is, in my Judgment, without
any authority in law.
WHEN ADVERTISEMENTS NOT RE-
QUIRED.
o11a41 T 1xn1xr, - ~ ~ n g
tablished either by law or by your rules,
which nike it necessary to advertise for
bids before giving out contracts for an
amount less than $780," nor is there any
requirement that you should at one time
advertise for all the Goa needed by the
Board during the year. These matters.
discretion of those entrusted with the
supply of the coal for your Board.
Third-.'Contracts for the sale of goods.
ware and merchandise for he price of
$50 or upward are by law of our State
void, unless a note or memorandum of
such contract be made in writing and
signed by the party to De charged there
by or by his agent thereunto lawfully
authorized, or unless the buyer shall ac-
cept part of the goods SO sold, and ac-
tually receive the same. or unless the
buyer shall give something in earnest to
bind the bargain or pay some part OF the
purchase money"
Independent of this statute, however,
1 should not regard it as a full perfor-
nance of public duty to enter into con-
tracts which were not evidenced by
some memorandum in writing, and the
best memorandum is. of course. a writ
ten contract.
Fourth-Chapter 1S1 of the laws of 1894,
which governs the method of securing
bids for supplies for any department of
the government. either by the boards
themselves or by the committees. pro-
vides that said boards or committees
shall give public notice at the time such
bids or proposals are advertised. of time
and place when such bids shall be re-
said board or governing body or commit
tee. being in session. shall thereupon
Immediately proceed to unseal the same
and publicly announce the contents IN
the presence of the parties bidding or
choose to be then and there present, and
also make proper record of the prices
and terms upon the minutes of the body;
no bids shall be received previous to
the hour designated in the public notice
and none shall be received thereafter.
The same act provides further, That
any failure to comply with the provisions
Of this act shall be deemed a misde-
meanor: for the first offense any person
Of this act shall be subject to a fine of
$3.50; for any repetition of the offense
the person convicted shall be subject to
a fine of not less than $3.50 and not more
ty Jail not less than three months and
not more h one year, or both fine and
Imprisonment within the limits afore-
said. at the discretion Of the courts n, r a.,
cases where bids are asked for, and deal
ers are thus brought into competition,
but does not require that bids should be
solicited except when heretofore re-