The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-11-07

r I+it " E1EE X III " ~ &A4<N 49, ~ t-1<[
ing necessary powers To the Board OF
ArbjfraIion. the Bill for the abolition Of
the state Contract printing system, the
I'm nroviffngs for fbe employment of cfti-
GEMS N mimic works. the General Fac
torv Act slpp1emeat. the bill requiring
tbe comnosition Of the State laws by
nnion men the hill regulating the hours
of lahor If street car employees, the Sta
tionary Engineers bin, the State Eight
uo,,r bi,l the legal holiday observance
hin. the Direct Legislation resolution
ana the ser,;-monthly payment Of wages
h;]l The latter bill, although passed,
was 50 mutilated when It reached the
rsovarnor that it could not be approved
and the Republican Senate Investigating
Gommittee REFUSED to probe The mat
tar and find out the guilty authors of the
ro,,tilations 70 add to the infamy the
Ranort Of the state Board OF Arbitration
NOS Sr4PpRESSED by Senator Voorhees,
bacause If .truthfully and fearlessly ex-
aosad tho wronss afthe wage workers.
Thsra 81 M nrecedent for this arbitrary
aet n tbe history of the United States.
The Renl1blican Legislature Of 1896
ebawed tba same Indifference and oppo-
sif;on 10 laiborss claims as it's predeces-
sor
Amongst The labor bills SLAUGHTER
mn wara4
san,h,, p;,, ia for the licensing of
anginears. sanate pin aso. providing that
II, stona ,,sad ~ n,,hlic works must be
drassad and carved n New Jersey-a bill
for 4ba bonesit If home labor. Assembly
p;,, ses rag,,,at;ne the navment of wages
n sine os plumbers and the SUPERVISION
q .,,mh;nr ana tho Rasolut3an favoring
tba endorsement of the Monroe Doctrine
IL ina controversy between Great Britain
ana tbs I7n3ted states oyer the yenezue-
Ian dtsn,,te The most Infamous act of
The session was however. the emascula-
lion Of the Assembly semi-monthlv pay
rnent of wage bin. Pa bill which. If
enacted into law would have ! relieved
thousands Of poor workers from the rob
berry Of fhe store order system. This la
bor hill nassed the Assembly in very mod
ifed form. but was accepted on the prin-
cfple that half a loaf is better than no
bread. After being held in the Senate
Committee on Labor and Industries for
nearly three weeks it was taken UP on
second reading, and, although declared
constitutional by the Acknowledgement. it
was further amended to DEATH by a
motion of Senator Voorhees,, all the Re-
publican Senators, including Stokes, of
Cumberland, and excepting Williams, of
Passaic. supporting the amendment. Thus
did the Republican legislators show their
friendship of the glassworkers, miners,
briekmakers I'M others who for years
have prayed for weekly or selmi-monthly
payment of wages.
In 1897 the record of the Republican
Legislature did not improve. The follow
ing bills in the interest of labor were
Enthusiastically Bill 292, making ten
hours a legal workday for journeymen
bakers; Senate Bill 81, making eight
hours a legal days work on all public
works; Senate ia, for the licensing of
engineers; Assembly Bill 245, the stone
dressing bill Assembly Bill PSI, the
standard rate of wages bill, and Senate
Bill 100, amending and making effective
semi-monthly payment of wages bill,
which had been emasculated at the pre-
vious session of the Legislature. All
these bills were slaughtered with glee
and without a pang Of renaorse by rep
re~sentatives styling themselves Republic
Several efforts to repeal labor laws
We're only defeated through the watchful-
ness and opposition of organized labor.
The best that can be said for the Re
publican Legislature OF 1898 is that it
was not al Improvement or its predeces-
sor and that it might have been worse.
1t smiled very kindly upon the Interests
which are hostile to labor. Fhe labor
bills it failed TO kill Acting Governor
Voorhees, killed for it,
payment q wages Senate biH,al2' street