The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-11-09
NO JURY COMMISSION
Republicans of Essex Will
Oppose the Scheme
Tooth and Nail.
THEIR NEW SHERIFF SILENT
They Have Too Much to Gain by
Controlling the Selection
of Jurors.
THEIR NEW SHERIFF SILENT
Special 10 the ysrsep oitu Ns,ss.

NEWARK, Nov. 8, 1Ss6.-Those Republi-
cans of Hudson County who fondly i'm
agine that they can secure the passage of
a bill providing for jury commission
will find little comfort in Essex County.
Unless they can devise some means for
getting around the clause of the Con-
stitution which declares that the Legisla-
ture shall pass no special law regulating
the internal affairs of towns and counties,
any such law which they may seek to OBJ
tain must apply to this county as well as
Hudson, and in order to pass such a law
it would be necessary to have the cooper
alton of Essex.
Not only will fthey fail to secure that
cooperation, but they will encounter Es-
sex's active opposition. 1t does not take
much conversation upon the subject with
the leaders in this county to discover this.
There are many reasons why the Repub
licans of Essex do not want a jury COM
mission, all potent and urgent from the
Republican standpoint of public morality.
One of the principal ones is politics. OF
what great benefit the Sheriff's office is
to the Republican party of Essex anyone
who knows anything about politics In the
city of Newark is well aware. The Essex
leaders Will not listen to proposition
which takes out of the hands of Repub-
lican the power 10 draw grand and petty
jurors.
The good Republicans of Hudson who
desire the passage of the jury commits
sion bill have had few skirmishers out
her casting out ''feelers,' and the chilly
frost which they have encountered has
completely blasted those tender tendrils
of hint which were thrown out There
was no mincing matters by the great and
good Republicans They did not beat
around the bush or make any attempt to
conceal the meaning of their words They
said as plainly and emphatically as the
English language with some of its later
embellishments would permit that they
would give no countenance to any scheme
to take the selection of the petty and
grand jnries out of the hands of Mr..
Doremus, their new Sheriff Mr.. Doremus
himself is exceedingly reticent upon the
subject. When I saw him this morning
on the subject he said that he had moth
ing TO say upon the subject until he was
sworn into office. which will take place
/ tomorrow, and on Wednesday he viii take
T1ssEssfod OF me Office But If I am
eo-ae ~ NC SOtucf6Q as nave peFn TO-
day" he added laughingly, with men
who wants 10 go on the petit jury. I'm
going to get help of some kind in selecting
juries,'
Some of Mr.. Doremus' friends were not
as reticent as he was. and declared that
the new Sheriff of Essex did not want
a jury commission and would use his
influence against it. 1t was also said that
Elisha Gaddis, one of the powers in the
Republican party of Essex and personal
representative of General SewelI in the
county, also opposed the project Mr.
Gadcis is strong man in the lobby at
Trenton and when he himself, together
with the powerful resources which he can
command, are arrayed against any meas
ure before the Legislature its final pas
sage is little short of a miracle If as
is said, Mr. Gaddis approves the pro-
ject of a jury commission to the extent
OF going to Trenton to expose it, it is
safe to say that any Hudson Republican
who is building hopes at the passage OF
such measure is going to be most
grievously disappointed.
The general opinion is however that
when the Republicans of Hudson become
acquainted with the feeling in Essex and
see the hopelessness of their idea, they
viii abandon the scheme and the Legis-
iature will see no jury commission bill