Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1897-01-27
A WEAK ARGUMENT.
a Protest Against County Capital
Removal.

"A Protest Against County Capita
/ Removal.
| From the Mays Landing Rec 1rd Of Jan. 1897
Ed tor of the Record
DEAR SIR:-The proposed relocation
of the County Capital is question tha
should receive the careful consideration
| OF the taxpayers of Atlantic County a.
this time. A bill is being prepared an(
will be introduced during the present ses
sion of the Legislature providing for th'
change, which, if nothing more, will sub
ject the taxpayers to the expense OF 9
special election to vote on the measure
| Viewing the matter from q somewhat
disinterested standpoint it seems unwist
at this time to permit the bill to pass
The proposition to select Pleasantville
has been seized upon by the citizens o
| that enterprising little borough as al
opportunity to boom the town, nothing
more.
The promoters of the scheme have
chosen to assail the Board of Chosen
Freeholders because that representative
body needed warning from the State
Board of Health and a special present
ment of one of our Grand Juries and
Uuitt q ucW Jdli CuIcC yOdIb OClOIc uut
subject was ever considered. The state
ment of monies expended upon the
present building, in betterments, has
been xterously garbled to appear as
maintenance.
A prof 4ct to remove the County Capi-
tai to Atlantic City may perhaps be well
to consider some day, but there is no
need of haste, as the present buildings
will serve for ten years to come. j. l..
Atlantic City, N. j. January %, 1897.
1t seems to us that the writer of the
foregoing article is hard pushed for
argument when he can assign no better
reasons than the ones set forth the prin-
cipal one of which is that it is unwise at
this time, to permit the bill to pass on
account of a special election to deter
mine the matter. This is decidedly rich
in view of the fact that the Board of
Freeholders has expended six thousand
dollars year for the last five years,
and are now planning to expend more
on the old "rattletrap" buildings at
Mays Landing. 1t may also be remark
ed, in passing, that 1.-THE statement of
monies expended upon the present build
ings" has not "been dexterously garb-
led,' as 81. L." alleges, but on the con-
trary is an official statement of the
Clerk of the Board of Freeholders, Mr..
John G. Anderson, made last fall to the
editor of this paper.
81. L." assures us that 'fthe PROPOSE
ton to select Pleasantville has been
seized upon by the citizens" "to boom
the town, nothing more. as if was
crime to urge the advantages of Plea
santville with it's superior railroad con-
nections and its better location.
u. L." seems to ieel it incumbentupon
himself to jump up and defend the Board
OF Freeholders from something that no
one accused them of, and to apologize
for their being forced to act by superior
authority. According to his own state
ment it took them three years to get
move on them, and then only when
kicked into it by the Grand Jury and the
State Board of Health.
What the Press has found fault with
in relation to the Freeholders is simply
this that they have wholly ignored the
wishes of a very large number of repre-
sentative citizens and heavy taxpayers
throughout the County and paid no
attention to their request to expend no
more money upon the old County Build
ings. This request was voiced by resol-
utions from Atlantic City, Linwood,
Pleasantville and Somers' Point, and
back by lengthy petitions signed by
hundreds Of prominent men representing
as Mr.. j. F. Hall stated three fifths of the
taxable property of Atlantic City. 1t is
not what the Board did three years ego,
but what it has neglected to do within
few months, that has caused the Press
and the people to criticise it.
If, as u. L." says, the movement in
favor of Pleasantville is only the labor
of lot of land boomers, why then Plea
santville has got much to be grateful
for, for great majority of the hundreds
who signed the petitions to the Board
OF Freeholders are residents of Atlantic
City, ard other places, and do not own
foot of ground in the Borough. Accord
ing to this it's advantages are SO num-
erous that even disinterested outsiders
do not fail to recognize them.
AS to the present buildings "being
good enough "for ten years to come, tits
enough to say that nearly eight thou
sand dollars is now being expended on
them, that the Sheriff has demanded bet
ter quarters, and that only at the last
term one of the Judges threatened to ad-
journ the Court on account of the un-
suitable condition ofthe room.
The Press, and we firmly believe, a
majority Of the people Of Atlantic Coun-
ty want to stop the waste OF several
thousand dollars a year, and haye new
SUBSTANTIAL modern buildings in a more
convenient locality. They can say
whether they do or do not at an election
for that purpose. The expense will not
be very great and the question can be
definitely settled. Reading between
the lines of u. L's'' communication to
the organ of the Board of Freeholders,
it is easy enough to discover that the
alleged expense of special election is
not the real objection to the cousidera-
ton of the question at issue.
injured In q breakdown.
While attending the funeral of Mrs.
Mile Leeds ON Monday afternnansa a seri-