The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-03-24
Mr.. BENNY ANGRY.
He Charges Bad Faith Over an
Electric Pole Bill-Porter's
Abjeet Apology.
Especial to ..The Jersey city News."l

Especial to ."The Jersey City News."]
TRENTON, March "a, 1S9S.-At the
| opening of the session of the House yes
terday afternoon Mr.. Benny moved that
the vote by which bill No. 178, the meas
ure to allow the electric light company
b erect poles in streets to which the
Supreme Court has decided they had no
| right. which passed yesterday, should be
reconsidered. The Speaker asked for the
record on the bill and it was found that
it had gone to the Senate. The Speaker
| suggested that the proper motion was
that the Senate be requested to return it
to the House for further consideration
and Mr.. Benny acted upon the suggestion.
This motion began Mr.. Benny, sis
/ made necessary by a breach of faith.
Soon after announced yesterday that |
had changed my vote for the purpose of
moving to reconsider, / could not go out
of this Assembly Chamber without being
tackled by some one. who asked me not
to make the motion. Why, they even
went so far as to get a Senator to come
| and
Al this point Mr.. Gledhill interrupted
Mr.. Benny with a point of order to the
effect that the latter was, making serious
charges ard should be more explicit. and
that he was not speaking to the motion.
The Speaker ruled the point well taken
and said that the speaker should eonine
himself to the question why the resolu-
ton to recaM the bill from the city should
pass.
Exactly, this is why the resolution
should pass continued Mr.. Benny, .and
since the gentleman wants me to be ex-
plicit I will. John E. Macarthur, once a
member of this House. brought Senator
Daily over to me and asked me not to
move to reconsider yesterday afternoon.
~promising me that If would refrain they
would let The measure lie in the House
until today. l kept my promise and they
broke theirs. I therefore ask the mem
bers of the House in all fairness to stand
by me. 1t is only fair that the members
should stand by me in this controversy.
The bin is in the Senate through some
means beyond my comprehension
Mr.. Gledhill said that in all fairness to
the Senate the gentleman should incor-'
porate in his resolution the reasons why
he asked for the recall.
Il am perfectly willing to do that said
Mr.. Benny.
Nj. Giedhiil put a stop to further argu-
ment with a motion to lay Mr.. Benny's
resolution on the table and it was car
ried by a vote of % to 49,
Later Mr.. Benny moved that the vote
whereby the bill was passed be recon.
sidered. In supporting the motion he
bitterly attacked the lobbyists, who. he
said. have overrun the chamber. button
holing members in an attempt to prevent
reconsideration. The lobbyists and the
electric light companies were the only
ones demanding the bill. Every munich
pality was opposed to the outrageous
steal. Mr.. Benny predicted that the pas
sage of the bill would wreck the Re
publican party, as the coal combine had
killed the Democratic party. Messrs.
Porter. Schmidt and Rau also favored the
motion. which. after considerable Skin
mishing, was adopted, 81 to %. The mo-
ton to recall the bill from the Senate was
not taken up.
Mr.. Porter did a humiliating crawfish
act yesterday afternoon and most alb
jectly apologized to Mr.. Allen for his
reflections Upon that gentleman during
the debate Tuesday on the Essex mans
bill which allows industrial insurance
coAiiPdAlcS to-Pay ~ ~
in which they are located instead of to
the State.
Mr.. Porter moved to reconsider the vote
by which the bill passed and place it back
upon second reading in order to amend it.
During the debate on this bin yester-
day." Mr.. Porter said, II made some re
marks about the gentleman from Hud-
son which have been misconstrued. !
wish to recall those remark in the same
public manner in which they were made.
They were uttered in the heat of argu-
ment and would not have been made had
/ reflected calmly upon them. ] wish to
Isay, however, that the imputation and
construction placed upon them by the
newspapers were unwarranted and I'M
called for.
What Mr.. Porter said was: 1.-THE gentle
man from Hudson has been looking for in
telligence. but it was not to the records
that he looked. 1t was perhaps very much
more substantial intelligence than he
would get from figures and books
This. taken together with the manner
in which it was utterd by Mr.. Porter,
naturally led to the impression that he
intended to bring serious charges against
i the Hudson man.
Mr.. Allen met Mr.. Porter more than
half way and said have heard that
/ certain things that I said on the. debate
| of this bill yesterday could be construed
as rejecting upon the i~ntroducer- / wish
a good reason why every Essex member
could support the bill. The remarks
1 which he had made were against the bill
| and not against the gentleman from
1 Essex. The motion to reconsider was
carried and the bill was