The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-01-24
become the shehield of America Cloud


His 1aast was Our Municipality" and
| this is what he had to say of it,
l ana deeply sensible of the honor you
to s the toast. aour m SsS Ciy II The time spha has
gone by when 1t was with apologies we
spoke Of Jersey City. AS its Executive /
| forded this opportunity to speak of lis
| progress, its improvements and the possi-
bilites the future has in store for it,, Its
condition at the present time must be of
material interest to all its citizens. and
particularly to its Board of Trade. 1t is
| ecutiye. Owing to the operation CT the
| charter of 1889 1t was not until the month
| OF April. 1884. lacking but a few days of
two years after my entrance into office.
| that l was able TO obtain Boards of my
own selection. I will not attempt L, re-
count in any way the difficulties, daily
met with during that period. and which
many of you will recall except to say that
| outstanding obligations in the shape Of
unpaid bills and overdrawn appropriat tions
TO The extent of several hundred thousand
dollars. relics of former administrations.
of fawf WHAT ReeR WAS ons ones dus TS
| financial condition of our city must be a
source of eongratulation: our bonds are
not only highly rated but in demand
! whenever Offered upon the market We
| have made 1t matter of deep study with
by which its total debt. or at least its
annual interest burden. might be decreased
but without success. as such result was
possible in the one case only by loss of
credit and honor in the. financial world
and in the other by an increased debt at
lower rate of interest without any ac-
charge. At the present time our financial
condition is as follows. December l. 1884,
Liabilities excepting water ac- =, ~
Resources iexcepting water ac-
count s...... -. --..,.. 9,67l 4l9 20
-. aot4 - e. soe 4 40 70
This is greatly in excess of what our
actual net debt is. for the reason that We
are only credited with city property to
the value Of (sl 42s,5Ool one milli9n four our
hundred dollars. valuation of some ten
or fifteen years ago, which is in reality
at the lowest estimate upWards rNnt OF c4na1 Iw9
value. In 1898 the tax rate was reduced
from s2S.4O per thousand to $3.50, re-
and without any extensive increase of as
sessments in that year. This is best
shown by the statement of the fact that IN
the year 1928 the total assessment for
real and personal property was (SS5 VlS, s9o)
eighty-fve million eighteen thousand flve
hundred and ninety-five dollars. while IN
the year 1884. when the reduction was
made. it was (sS5. .114.77O) eighty-five million
one hundred and fourteen thousand seven
hundred and seventy osa collars hui VIII at,Iv n1g
of the annual tax levies from 1872 to the
year 1856 will show that the cost of
creased only about ($f60.00O) one hundred
and sixty thousand dollars in four years;
the appropriations amounting to one million
two hundred thousand eight hundred and
forty-six dollars and e'ghty-one cents In
the year 1872 as against one million three
hundred and sixty thousand ninety-tWo
dollars and saventy-one cents for
the year 1885, During the, same period
the amount annually raised in the tax
increased from four hundred and eighty
seven thousand eight hundred and sixty
eight dollars and sixty cents IN the year
1902 to a total of one million one hundred g si
and five thousand one hundred and fifty
one dollars and forty-e'ght cents Tor tne
year 1866: total increase OF some SIX SIX
current year it has been found necessary
to raise an amount by taxation Tor SINK
ing fund and interest pnrpeses POS 9e va ain9as
against less that 80 per cent OF the levy Of Of
the year 1884, OF course you VIII
appreciate that this is due to the fact
that bonded obligations are now. becom-
ing payable that were incurred many
years before the life. of the present adj
with me in the statement-and make
it with the knowledge that It can be
easily verified-that the actual annual Ial
very much less than those of any city
of equal size and Importance in the
country. amounting in their total to less
annually raised by taxation.
Our sinking funds are no longer
present pre- SCI tim time. outside Of water account
81 500, 204 o. and in water sinking funds
$255, ,042. .6S.
corporations, have been created-not for
the purpose of earning money for pri-
vate gain-but for expending it for the
ernment is to be found in the results
apparent from such expenditure and in
the generality of the good accomplished.
The good or maladministration of our
public affairs must be weighed in that
scale. You will gather from what have
already stated that we have been almost
appropriating the public funds. The ac-
counting which we make you of our
expenditures is the best proof of the
honesty and care exercised by the ad-
'il-l'l5tT OUR STREETS AND SEWERS.
The memory of the oldest inhabitant
provement as that which has marked
the history of our city, especially during
the past year. You are all more or less
familiar with the enormous amount of
work that has been done, of all that is
now well under way such as the Mercer
eontinuation Of Thirteenth nth street, to to- ace ace
comphsh which your President rendered
US. great help. the MONTGOMERY street
Garfield % s avenue improvements wan sW better aaq
known as the South East Driveway, and
the many others too numerous to men
tion Since May, 1892, eighteen CS) miles
of streets have been paved, twelve Q2)
miles of sewers have been constructed.
of which during the last year the strcsts
paved viii equal almost seven miles,
and the sewers constructed have added
to our sewerage system about six and
one-half miles. surely enough evidence to
half prove our case. And feel that il
is my duty TO congratulate our people
upon the public spirit demonstrated by
them by the manner in which they have
sustained their officials by the multitude
of petitions presented demanding these
improvements at their own expense, az
the legislation that made it possible. |
While our streets may not be as clean |
as they could be made, we claim for them |
in this respect an excellence never before |
attained. We have awarded contracts |
for this work for the current year on |
duce much better results The INSULT |
cheney Of the annual appropriation for |
this work accounts in a great measure |
for the not wholly satisfactory results
Better lighted streets will bring abou;
better. cleaned ones by making it pos
ing the night. We have arranged to /
substitute the more modern electric light |
almost entirely throughout the city for |
the gas light hitherto furnished. Con-
tracts have been awarded for the light |
ing and furnishing of at least 700 arc |
price seo Of slooso 90 Pc psr lght per year. $40
These prices are SO low in comparison |
with those paid by neighboring cities |
that the result is more gratifying than /
ordinarily and has more than repaid us
for the great labor performed in the prep
the successful solicitation Of the compe-
tition that produced 1t. ! am sure that |
our police and fire departments are a |