Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-02-17
Ginger Lacking In Trenton
Proceedings.
The Loan Investigation Makes Matters a
Little Lively-A Day of Hearings-There
Will Not Be Railroad Commission.
Interesting New. Bills.
Especial Correspondence.l

lCpECA8l
Trenton, Feb. 16.-The legislature has
worked with more than ordinary dill
gence this week, but the proceedings
are not of absorbing interest. An ole
habitue of the statehouse, looking about
him Monday night, remarked:
There are lots of people here, and
the galleries are crowded with specta-
tors, but there is something lacking.
There is no ginger in the legislative
work. While probably as many people
tome to look on as ever before, very few
are persons of Importance. Where are
the big men in the councils of the Re-
publican and Democratic parties? Some
years ago the Hobbies would be filled
with them, and the 'confabs' and con-
ferences were so numerous that the
evening session often did not begin till
an hour or longer after the appointed
hour. The reason, of course, was that
important issues of one kind or another
were at stake and that the two parties
were so closely divided as to leave the
result in great doubt. 1t seems to me,
too, that the average of ability ran
higher in those days than it does now
In either senate or assembly. Certainly
we never hear nowadays the bursts of
eloquence, the flashes of wit, which
few years ago enlivened the legislative
debates"
The legislature seems this year to
pursue the even tenor of its way with
little or no excitement The Republic
ans are so strongly intrenched in power
that their legislative policy cannot be
attacked by the Democrats with any
show of success. This discourages the
Democrats from exhibiting any partic-
ular activity except when an occasional
slip on part of the Republicans reveals
an unexpected breach.
The Loan Investigation.
Such an opportunity presented itself
when Chairman Ebie of the loan inves-
tigating committee was reported to the
house the other day for soliciting aid
from certain loan associations to help
defray the expenses of the investiga-
tion. Mr.. Ebie probably had no dishon-
est intention, but his course was highly
reprehensible, of course, and the Demo-
Gratis have since been making hay-oth-
erwise known as political capital-while
the sun shone Mr. Ebie's colleagues
were highly indignant at what occurred,
lest it should involve them in a suspi-
cion of having been parties to the beg
ging circular sent out, and they re-
signed from the committee. Finally Mr.
Ebie himself resigned, and Monday
night the speaker appointed a brand
new committee, consisting of Messrs.
Johnson of Essex, Poole of Morris, Muir
ray of Union and Benny and Bell of
Bergen.
The new committee will doubtless
tackle the subject of the get rich
quick loan associations on new lines.
That there is room for a thorough in
quiry into the methods of these con-
Germs is generally admitted And the
inquiry should not rest with the ma
tional' associations, against which Mr..
Ebie's forces seemed specially directed,
but should extend to the local or old
line associations as we'll Here in Mer-
GER county two of the latter kind, which
appeared to be as sound as the Bank of
England, recently collapsed, robbing
hundreds of depositors of the savings
which for many years they had been
collecting in small installments. A bill
Is pending to place all these institutions
under state supervision, and many IA
vor this plan of protecting the share
holders who are usually people of small
means. without the facilities for care
fully scrutinizing the character of their
investments. There seems no impro-
priety in subjecting loan associations
to the same kind of supervision as saw
ings banks There are 322 loan associa-
tons in New Jersey, and of these s34
are locals" which are managed by the
shareholders nominally, but, as in the
case of the Trenton concerns, really by
a few officials
A Day of Hearings.
There were several public hearings
on pending bills yesterday. One to
which strenuous objections was made
was the measure suggested by the state
board of taxation for the purpose of
preventing exemptions In taxes. Among
the exemptions allowed up to the pres
ent time have been those in favor Of
educational institutions, representa-
tlyes Of various schools appearing to
plead that no academy or college
should be taxed, for the reason that
these institutions are not money max
ing institutions in any case. that their
nranei%als never Gsow wealthy and that