The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-11-09
Equal Taxation Commission
ers Inspect Jersey
City's Water
Streets.
MAGNITUDE OF RAILROAD PROPERTY
Morgan Street Dock Excites Great
nterest-Incidents of an
Interesting Trip


mission had an object lesson presented to
them on Saturday last which it is safe
to say they VIII not forget in a hurry
Attorney General John p. Stockton, Gen.
Rushing, c. c.. Black, VIM. H. Vreden-
burgh and ex-Sheriff Reynolds, composing
that commission, inspected the shore
front of Hudson county and the magni-
tude of railroad property along that
front from which Jersey City and Hobo
ken reap little or no benefit, completely
surprised those gentlemen. A junketing
trip. as a general thing, results only in
two things: headache and indigestion, but
that taken by the Commissioners ON
Saturday win undoubtedly result in a
distinct benefit to Jersey City and her
~neighbors.
For some time the Commission has sat
in Chancery Chambers listening to the
plea of Jersey City that the great rail-
roads running through the State and hay
ing their terminals in Jersey City did not
bear their full share of taxation, and
that property which was taxed too much
of the money so received went into the
Golfers Of the State and too little into the
city's treasury. As if such a state of
things was not bad enough. the city COM
planned that every year property belong
ing to the railroad was being taken out
of the local ratables and taxed by the
State, and the city had to make up that
deficiency by placing an additional bur-
Den en- local taxpayers.
All these points generally making up the
case of the city We're in a mastery way
presented to the Commission by Mr.. Vim.
u. Edwards. special counsel for the city,
and his array of figures n arguments
drew from the Commission the great COM
pliment that Jersey City had indeed made
out a great case. Up to Saturday the
Commissioners had pored over maps,
delved into intricate problems bristling
with technical terms such as main
STEM" second class property" fran
chiseg." etc., etc. and heard a great deal
Of fuss over assessments, so that it oc-
CURED to the special counsel for the city
that no better way could be devised to
impress on the minds of the Commission
the enormous value of the railroad prop
erty on the water front than TO give them
a peep at it.
Accordingly, Mr.. Edwards enlisted the
aid of the Mayor and Board of Finance.
and these gentlemen warmly supported
the plan, and generously agreed to de-
fray the expense out of their own
pockets lest some Individual should raise
a kick against robbing the city. A tug
was procured. appropriately named the
Trenton, which the Pennsylvania Rail-
road officials ~ceurteously placed at the
c.ty's disposal, and when the Commits
~sioners had finished two hours hard
work on Saturday listening to values of the
oo,o,.a r;ak, 1vor +haxy ura~ urb;rl1al
down to the Adams Express pier where
the Trenton was putting n snorting
eager to get on her way.
The city officials had invited the Com
mission, of course, and the railroad law
yers but other people interested in equal
taxation invited themselves, and the
party was larger than the oliginators in
tended it to be. At the gangway, Engineer
NJ. T.. Gardner, of the Pennsylvania r. r.,
received the party, which comprised At
torney General Stockton, Gen. Rushing,
c. C. Black, w. H. Vredenburgh, ex-Sher-
if Reynolds, of the Commission, Mayor
Wanser, President Henry Brautigam, j..
j.. Detwiller, j. J.. Bailey, Henry KelIers,
of the Board of Finance; James B. Vre.
~denburgh, counsel for the P. R. r.; Fla
vel MCGEE, for the D. L. & w. R. r.;
Geo. DeForrest, for the Central Rail-
road, and James Allen and M. e. Staples,
for the Erie R. r.; W. D. Edwards and
ex-Judge Blair. of Jersey City. Edlow w,
Harrison, who has also played an impor-
tant part in preparing Jersey City's case;
John M. Queen, Tax Commissioners J.
H.. Love and r. Lahey, Corporation At
torney Spencer Weart, John J. Nevin,
Henry Lembeck, Comptroller S. D. Dick
inson, Martin Finck, Joseph a. Dear,
Geo. 7. Bouton, Frank H. Earle, William
Klink, Jarvis N. Atkinson, Simeon H.
Smith n w. T. Broas.
Punctually at one o'clock the big hau-
ser was cast off and the Trenton backed
| out of the dock into the river. 1t was
a glorious day and the party sitting aft
| on the carpeted beck congratulated one
another on the prospects of a delightful
trip.
On the well established rule that "its
i'll talking to a mans wi an empty SIAM
mack" Mr.. Edwards and Mr.. Weart, who
acted as major domo, took the Commits
sioners and the railroad lawyers to lunch,
which was spread in the ten by five
| cabin. Because of the size of thai little
place the party was divided into patches
OF HSe, anu " prevent any III LUCK dTiS-
ing out of the odd number the City Comp
troller thoughtfuIly sat with each sit
ting down"
While the Commissioners were at lunch
the steam tug was making its way. up
the lordly Hudson and those who were
not feasting on the good things in the
cabin Toasted off the scenery of a bewild-
ering collection of dirty swharves, ferry
slips and coal shutes. On went the Tren-
ton forcing her was past s~chooners
laden not with beer but bricks. s~norting
little tugs and numbering canal boats
until the beautiful Palisades came to
view, and then there was a rush to the
port side to see the historic spot under
the Oracle King homestead, and a few
yards south of the Eldorado where Aaron
Burr shot Hamilton, Mr.. Staples and Mr..
Forrest pointed out the spot and the
party could easily see the stone on which
Hamilton sat morta1ly wounded, which
now adorns the crest of the cliff two hun
dred feet above where the duel took place.
When the tug reached the boundary
Inc, between Bergen and Hudson coun-
ties, the Commissioners had finished
their lunch and were escorted to the pep.
per-box pilot house, where Mr.. Edwards
OBLIGATED as cicerone and pointed out thu
I various railroad DropertieS on the H117edr