The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-12-10
Those Martin Act Collections.


The Herald" keeps on talking about
the 5000. 900 Martin Act adjustment col
l~ections, which it insists lave mysterious
1y disappeared. 1t is sad that the Her
aid should thus pursue a will-o'-the-
wisp.
When the Herald" two weeks ago,
City News sent to Comptroller Hough
for the facts. He said the subject was
so complicated tina even he could not
give an exact statement of the results
which would be comprehensive to the
public. This, he thought, could only be
done when the last adjustment was made.
the Commissions operations the city now
held about 5000 parcels of property, for
which 1t was securing deeds. He also
said that every dollar of cash that had
been collected had been applied to the
debt legally corresponding with it. He
gave an example of the process from
MS repoIt q last year, Which we re-
print from the news columns of the
edition of this paper of November Isl
There was collected 1851, 146.6 Oh this
20; 4ol 10 D. vas sss o spent sns for rs expenses and To 70 1 1Sss
to 1871, siss, SsT.R: to 1888, 500. s2s.1s 1889,
SIS, rs. IS; 1896. $50, 327. 20; 1891, $66. SAB. SIS; 1892,
$37, 292. so; 1873 and 1874 and previous years,
So, 124.01.
This process has been repeated from
year to year since there have been any
receipts to apportion. If this looks like
mysterious disappearance, If this is a
statement on Mr.. Hough's part that he
does not know what has become Of the
money, then English and figures are
mere snares. Nevertheless, the Herald"
of Sunday said
Mr.. Hough said, in SO many words.
that he could not tell in what channels
the money had gone after 1t had been
collected.
All that can be said Of this is that
it is a reckless, wanton misrepresenta-
tion, a wilful effort to s-ensationalize, re-
CARELESS of truth or common sense.
Protection and Free Silver. Logical
A couple of days ago we quoted a brief
passage from an interview with Mr..
Michael De Young of the San Francisco
..'Chronicle'' on the subject of free silver.
In it was his truthful and important
assertion
If good sense prevails and the Repub-
leans come out for silver and show that
they are In earnest, no Democratic can
didate could have a show against them,
cally connected.
Democrats and sound economists gener-
ally have often pointed it out. Blu we
have seldom known a Republican to so
c-ourageously admit it.
In truth, protection and free silver are
different exhibitions of one and the same
theory. They both assume that high
prices in stated money units mean gem
eraI prosperity, paying no regard to the
purchasing capacity of the people. In
other words. price is a matter Of numer-
ical relation and not of intrinsic value
with them. The fact that some COM
modify which is now worth a dollar can
be made worth two, seems everything to
them. They never can see that a general
enhancement of price means a decrease
in the value of money in exactly the
same ratio. and the man who owns
the cash, or gets the cash for his labor,
is impoverished to just the decree thai
prices are advanced. High wages are no
advantage when coupled with DEAF
clothes, tinware, crockery, cutlery. glass,
shoes, coal and every other necessity
Yet the admitted aim or result Of pro-
lection and fiat money is the increase
in the price of all these things. the sor
to the workingnan being an alleged in
crease Of wages-and wen that often
fails to come.
ONE Of the New York papers yesterday
LAGLLa--N1 s~<o-1rfouv Mrif4