The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-10-05

| 10 lnlS ItSpuDilctlu oSHdtS Nho -
With these exemptions and with this
tax limitation you would pay as you qua m
NJ Need S ohm BAY SD phe Yoa cond pay It OF
all your property, while the railroad
companies were exempted on millions OF
ways. and personal property Of every
description. Now, what Is the dimerence
between equal taxation and what they
you lose by the action of this Republi-
can Senate of 1884, but they say Dem
| ocratic House also passed that law.
the Republican Senate would have
a bill with these limitations or nothing,
and | believe they were leagued win
! the corporations Of the State for the
purpose of destroying legislation on the
subject, and / said You would better
take. what you can. get, for even this
an individual State tax; and then appear
hereafter to public sentiment until the
corporations stand for the la% ohly m
| fore the Democratic House had acquiesc-
| ed, committee composed of two Demo-
Gratis and one Republican, the latter
county presented report to the House
| of Assembly protesting against the ac-
report of this committee the Democratic
| House passed a resolution protesting
against the action of the Senate limit
| ing this tax and protesting against any
| pals of equal taxation.
But then the question arose as to
as amended by the Republican Senate,
or submit to the people a direct State
| tax. and the, bill was finally accepted,
but only under protest, believing that
| the great municipalities of this State
| had a right to ask for equal taxation.
and that, although the State might have
of this State. you and I and every other
man who owns a dollars worth of prop
erty, should bear our share of the bur-
dens of taxation only in the same pro-
portion as corporate property.
| Now let us see what is the difference
between biz. as originally passed by
! passed by the Republican Senate and
concurred in by the Democratic House
tate of RAILROADS and canals as assessed
in Jersey City is $S1 Al, ,07792. That's
real estate. The amount paying tax
of one-half of.one per cent to the State,
is only $21, ,4S3 1922, or a difference Of ex-
emption for railroad property, between
far as municipal tax is concerned, is
SO. .0l5. 25.l0 only on real estate, that is,
not on personal property at all; not on
dreds of thousands of dollars of per-
sonal property that is stored here day
after day and week after week. but over
City alone that does not pay a dollar
of municipal tax, by reason of the action
of the Republican Senate. The railroad
and canal companies of New Jersey in
1885 We're assessed on the valuation of
$21, ,390, ,7T5.
Nov, how much of that personal
tied with as against the rest of the State
is the vexed question. Railroad com
panies claim that we are only entitled to
2oo s COO 6iiaa miies Of rail in the whole state
and in Jersey City there is an aggregate
of $1,000 miles of rail Jersey City is en-
bears to 100000.
"Then there is the rule insisted upon
by municipalities that as the real estate
sey City amounts to $31,446,e0 600, and the
total of such real estate amounts to
S11S,O5SO0 the proportion that those Two
other But I am going to state to you
tonight the difference both ways. The
loss. fellow citizens to the people OF thaS d
limitation put into the act of 1884 by
the Republican Senate. taking the tax
rate at what it was in lSs4 tSSs4e Ssal 1 wohlq
is the additional tax you would nave re-
eeived under one rule, fellow CITIZENS.
these limitations and exemptions of the
Republican Senate. .
.'Now apply the other rule and It
amounts to 1868, ,563 loss to the people of
this city. Let me ask you if you had
that additional income today would It
not lower the tax rate in this city? "a
W.
! assert tonight without fear of contra,
diction that the Republican Senate would
never have passed that law and given
der it today, a relief, small as it is, that
in five years has amounted to over one
million of dollars to the people OF TINS
which, if it had not come, bankruptcy
would have stared the people in the
face, because of the enormous interest
We were compelled to pay on n the e. % debts
that had been saddled upon the city by
corrupt and iniquitous commissions,
which was destroying the value l OF a,a our
raising the rents and injuring the ten.
antry thereby. And without that act OF
1884 and the relief it. brought: the af c5fs
over one per cent a full absolute and
irretrievable Bankruptcy. And today;
sow citizens M over # half fhara on meaG annuaag eaah
would be given to this city by the. cor
porations. repeat the Republican
pie Of the State the act of 1884 except at
the end of the bayonet. They knew
they did not dare go into the next cam
Ire. They dared not meet this issue,
first promulgated in my inaugural ad-
dress, and afterwards acted upon py
They were forced to do something, and
they gave a measure of partial relief.
Not because they wanted to, but because
they were driven to it.
.tTHEY SAY THAT THE GENTLE
MAN WHO WAS PRESIDENT OF THE
SENATE AT THAT TIME (MR.
GRIGGS) PUT THIS LAW IN THIS
SHAPE, AND HE SHOULD HAVE THE
CREDIT OF IT. FELLOW CITIZENS,
HE SHOULD HAVE THE CREDIT OF
F5MASCULATING THE LAW PASSED
by THE DEMOCRATIC HOUSE; HE
SHOULD HAVE THE CREDIT OF
ROBBING THE PEOPLE OF THIS
CITY OF OVER HALF A MILLION OF
TAXES EVERY YEAR. LET HIM
TAKE THE BENEFIT OF THAT AND
SEE HOW MUCH GOOD IT WILL DO
HIM.
"And I am willing to leave it to the
people of this State, not only to the
people of this county but to the people
Of this whole grand State, because this
question Of equal taxation reaches out
it's arms in beneficence from one end of
the State to the other and while it is
true that this city may receive the great
est benefit, it is because we are grid
ironed with railroads. Not only that,
but these same railroads are taking from
us year after year property which, in
the hands of individuals, would yield a
tax and thus decrease the tax rate.