The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-10-22
FOES OF
THE SCHOOLS
Allan Benny Exposes the
Record Of the Repub-
lican Party in
This State.
VOORHEES, VICIOUS SPEECH
Evening Journal Nailed to
the Cross by Facts From
the History Of This
Years Legislature.
SCHOOL BILLS AND THEIR FOES
Rights Of the Teachers and
Republican office Crab
bing--The Veto and
the Morgue.
SCHOOL BILLS AND THEIR FOES
To the Editor of ..rhe Jersey city News:

To the Editor of 1.-THE Jersey City News'':-
sent to the editor of the Evening
Journal a few days ago, letter cor
recting some injurious utterances in one
of his articles. l asked its publication as
a mere matter of fair play. He refused it
space in his paper. just printing para
graph saying ii was very good letter,
but too long for his columns.
1t was not too long. 1t was too true
Perhaps you will lay it before the public,
and thus correct the misunderstandings
which the journal creates-seemingly
with intention and design.
ALLAN BENNY.
Editor sEvening Journal
Your editorial in last nights Journal
on .sThe Teachers Fund is before me.
/ beg to say that the plank in reference
to this fund in the Democratic platform
contains no false statement; it was not
inserted out of 'swanton malciousness,"
nor by a person who is mo friend of the
teachers nor of their fund.-
This plank, as well as the plank relating
to the public schools, was written by me
and urged before the Convention Com
mittee on Platform, without the knowl-
edge or suggestion Of, or consultation
with any other person. These two planks
being so closely related should be treated
as one.
consider myself friend of the teach
ers, the Teachers Retirement Fund"
and the public school system, and I have
an abiding faith that all three will pros
per in the near future as they never have
done before They will prosper
The teachers by having their salaries
Increased to an amount commensurate
with the services they perform, and
through a due appreciation, by an, at
present, unapprecating public, of the
fact that teacher next to the parent,
is the strongest influence for good or evil
In the community, and is something more
than a mere machine at so much per
year.
The Teachers Retirement Fund by
being made a State institution to the ex-
tent that the State shall care for it with
out expense to the fund.
The public school system by being adj.
the foot of the school systems of the
Northern States to it's proper place as
the most thorough and efficient system in
the country and surpassed by none other
on earth, thereby removing the disgrace
which at present attaches to. our State
because of the fact that in the city of
Newark nearly 1000 children between the
ages of five and twelve attend no school,
while in Jersey City there are more chill
dren of school age not attending school
than fail to attend school in the whole
of Germony; other cities in this State
making just about as poor showing.
know that the Republican party is all
wrong on the issues here mentioned.
When the teachers attempted to have
the State Treasurer care for the fund,
that official. on his salary of $4,000 per
year, could not see his way clear to do it;
he must have another clerk a s.. 800 per
year to attend to it. The clerk with the
salary was provided by the Legislature,
but Governor Voorhees, vetoed him. al
though he failed to disapprove a measure
passed at the same session dast winters)
allowing an expenditure Of $4,000 for re-
pairs to the Assembly Chamber, defined
by the Republican Assemblyman who
fathered the bill to mean embarrassing
the ceiling and erecting scaffolding there
for
The city Of Bayonne. desperately
anxious to build school houses for its
children, then running in the streets for
lack Of school room. presented bill TO
the last Legislature, through me, allow
ing it to issue bonds for school purposes.
Il was attacked by your Republican
members mot one Democrat voting
against it) and just squeezed through
with the necessary thirty-one votes in
the Republican House yet that bill tnow
iaw) saved both Jersey city and New
ark from disgrace two months ago per-