The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-04-07
JOURNAL ON H00LlEY.
The Bumptious City Clerk
Scored by the Local
Republican Organ.
Els QUEER SORT OF REFORMS
They Extend Only to Impersonal
Matters.
WILL DEPRIVE PEOPLE.
WILL DEPRIVE PEOPLE
OF Necessary Information for the
Sake Of Saving Money to The
City, But Declines to Pay Into
the Treasury Moneys Earned
by Publicly Paid Clerks--Sham
Excuses.

City Clerk Edward W. Woolley was busy
giving instructions to the registry ard
| election officers in the City Hall this morn
ing when a Journal reporter called to
find out whether he still persists in with
holding from the newspaper readers the
information relative to the formation and
the boundary lines of the new election pre-
cincts. Mr.. Woolley said ne had hot
changed his mind, and he would not have
the boundary lines published The law
does not require him to do so, he said,
and besides that he wanted to save the
city's S money
Tne City Clerk was reminded that Judge
Hudspeth had yesterday charged him with
the boundaries published for the infor-
nation of voters.
That was a very ill-advised charge
for the Judge to make replied Mr. Wo3l-
ley. AT the time he directed these re-
marks against me he evidently did not
know that l had caused posters, with a
full description of the lines, to be posted
up all over the city for the information of
the voters
Mr.. Woolley has been anxious 10 collect
fees for searches, just as his predecessor,
Mr.. Scott and it was suggested that he
might also have been anxious to follow
his worthy predecessors ample in the
matter of publishing the boundary lines
But no. Mr.. Scott's. example was good
enough to follow when it comes to coli
lecting search fees, but publish the bound
ary lines in the newspapers-never.
Why" continued the bumptious new
City Clerk you must remember that nat
every voter is abie to pay two cents for q
newspaper, and i must try to reach those
voters who can't pay two cents as wcll as
. those who can So you see, that was ore
of the reasons for having the description
of the Boundary lines posted up in public
places at the registry places. instead of
having them published in the newspa-
pers.,'
The print on the posters is not large,
and Mr.. Woolley has apparently forgot
ten all about the aged voters, whose
EeclSs are not like swans necks, and
whose vision is not sufficiently strong to
interpret the print on the posters The
ru1nor that Mr.. Woolley would provide
spectacles free of charge for the benefit
of the near-sighted voters who want to
learn what in thunder is printed on those
posters is without foundation. Spectacles
cost too much
The Journal to-day publishes COM
plete list of the boundary lines in an
ther column, thus doing its duty to the
people, as it always does, and repairing
the damage done the cause through the
folly of self-elected leaders,
Tho ,1au (,itxr Clarlr ;c. 61lof5 r.n.+1, foo,,
Stunning desire to save the city money.
1t was this desire, he says, which
prompted him not to advertise the
boundary lines in the newspapers Yes
terday when the City Clerk was asked
whether he would be willing to go without
the $500 extra appropriation which the
Board of Aldermen grants him at election
times for little extra work, Mr. Woolley
wasn't quite sure about what he would
DO. Anyhow, Mr.. Woolley did not say
outright 81 will positively refuse to ac-
cept any extra appropriation. / am in
for the cutting down of expenses includ-
ing those of the City Clerk"
journal, reporter asked Mr.. Wooliey
today whether his desire to save money
to the city would lead him to tarn the
fees he gets for searches into the city
treasury instead of into his own pocket.
''You might as well ask me to turn :ay
salary into the city treasury, was A1r.
Woolley's first reply
.'Oh, no; we are referring now only to
the 50 search fees which you receive daily.
Couldn't you contribute your mite toward
turning the search fees into the City
Treasurer's Officer
Il don't know whether the City Treas
urer would receive such money" said Mr..
Woollev. He wouldn't know what ac-
count to put it in. There is no law eov-
er.ng such case
The reporter asked Mr.. Woolley to show
him the law under which he receives So
for searches and compels a clerk VINO is
paid by the city to do the searching for
his private benefit A hunt among the
legal archives followed this question. The
City Clerk turned to the laws Of 1891,
which governed searches bnt this law
made it Incumbent upon the City Comp
troller to make the searches. The law
was repealed in 1894, and in the same year !
another bill was passed, which related to
searches, but this new law did not af-
feet Jersey City. The law Of 1891, giving 4
'
the Comptroller the power to make
searches, was never carried out in this |
city. Mr.. Woolley said, because the Comp
troller of Jersey City does not have the
data and record from which TO make
searches. The City Clerk has always
made searches. Mr.. Woolley could not
show any law which authorized him 10
appropriate to himself IS for a search
made IN reality BY subordinate, who is
employed BY the city. Mr.. Woolley
summed up his defense thus:
In having these searches made / am
simply following he precedent established
ny the late City Clerk Scott, who has
had searches made for the past twenty
years Nr. Scott used to charge $3.50
and 8 for q search Nut tIsea 81 as thes
regular ~ Clerk Jaxyin Vfanssr doeS