The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-02-08
Vets. IN BATTLE ARRAY
Grand Old Fight Before a
House Committee Over
Kearny Home
Methods.
CHARGES OF POLITICS, BANDED
Death of Leroy. B. Hurd Brings
Tears to the Voices of Com
rades Who Want a Change.
CHARGES OF POLITICS, BANDED
Especial to 1.-THE Jersey city News."l

Especial to 1.-THE Jersey City News."1
TRENTON, Feb. s. 1SSS.-The Committee
on Militia of the House gave a hearing
yesterday afternoon on House bill No. Ii,
which provides for the appointment of
the managers of the Kearny Home for
Old Soldiers, and the veterans went for
each other over the bill with the same
vim with which they charged Lookout
Mountain and stormed the defences of
Vicksburg.
General John Ramsey of Jersey City led
the charge. Il lave heard that it has
been stated over in Essex he began.
that I would be a candidate for the
position of manager of the Home in case
this bill passed. l want to say right here
that under no circumstance would I ac-
cept the position. The board of the
| Home is the only board in the State
which is not appointed by the Governor
and responsible to him. The members of
the board are appointed practically for
life. What we want in that board is men
with human hearts in their bodies, we
want men OF human nesn and blood, not
humps OF ice. Not men who will turn an
old man out in the. street to die ike any
dog. as the board did"
Leroy E. Hurd, a veteran, he continued,
Glll10 ~ l10llLOll i OSNCId Oh yCclo q -
advocacy of a measure relative to the
House and he alleged that he was dis
missed from the Home for doing so. The
Grand Army El1campment asked for
Hurd's reinstatement but the board re-
fused to grant the request. General
Ramsey dwelt at length on Hurd's death
ami declared that the managers were 10
blame therefor.
Past Commander Crane, of Newark,
said in reply TO Genral Ramsey.-"I
want to say that / fought in the war
NTH Eon,aJ oD,c " o1d 7 fhnlIuht he
was a pretty good sort of a man. But
General Ramsay when you stood up on
this floor and sail things you cannot
prove"
Hurd, the speaker said, was dismissed
from the Home for reasons for which
any man in that room would kick a man
out of his township. He was a BIAS
phemer of the worst type. He was a
scoffer at religion and had no respect
for women in n form SIX DAYS OUT
of seven he was under the influence of
| liquor. In speaking of the managers Mr..
| Crane said:-"I>o these gentlemen here
| tonight presume to say that SUCH men as
: Marcus L. Ward. General onneii Gen
/ Fleming would stultify themselves by
~condoning the act of a subordinate? Ii
the bill passes you haul the Home into
The hearing was resume at the close
of the evening session and was as lively
as before. Colonel Mullikin, of Newark,
said he wanted to point out who asked
for the passage of the bill. According to
the United States census there were 22,00O
honorably discharged soldiers and sailors
in New Jersey, less than one third of
whom belonged to the G.. A. r. The
demand for the bill came from less than
one-third. of those who We're entitled to
admission to the Home His post, com
posed of 800 members, opposed the
measure to a man. When the trsolu-
ton advocating the passage OF the bill
was 1yassed at the annual encampment
! at Atlantic City, his post did not oppose
it because it tn ought that the Legislature
could not int rfere with the wise and
judi cious mana cement Of the Home. He
denied that tt e opposition of his post
was due to tn Q fact that a member of
the post was IAN employee of he present
ad.misSfation
Comrade Ed4 in B. Smith, a blind vet
Gran of Lincoln Post of Newark, was the
next speaker. He said that the New
this country. The bill establishing it
! was most caref lilly drawn by Marcus L.
| Ward, a true fr lend of the soldiers. The
| chief concern OF. those who established
this Home was to so fix its management
that it should NJ Ut fall into the hands of
politicians or bee ONE a partisan machine;
| He spoke of Lertey G. Hufd, who dropped
dead after being dismissed from the
Home, and said that Hurd was. a victim
of morphine, and would have died just the
| same if he had been an inmate of the
Home. He favor ed requiring the veteran
to give to the Home a part of his pen-
sion.
Mr.. Crane said that wherever it was
found that an INN ate of the Home had a
family which needtsd his pension money he
was allowed to kee p it all.
DIR. Alexander Ls long of Post No.. 4 of
the passage 0 the bill ia behalf Of his
to investigate, he fo und the charges made
against the ms lnage1 nent OF the Home I'M
founded. sor ae Of these gentlemen who
with having hi sarts which would drive the
thermometer telow zero if they came in
contact with / t., had provided a place for
! Hurd where he could lave been taken
/ care of. The S peaker also appealed to the
committee to keep politics out of the
Home.
Joseph Bray of Post No. II. Orange,
composed of 1876 men, said that his post
u-nanimouslys TENT him down to Trenton to
That the b i'll was the wish of the
Grand Army OF the Republic, Comrade
Stephen Lon 2. of Post No. II, president
of the Assoc dation of Prisoners of War.
emphatically deried. The bill was wanted
only by Hue tson county and only a very
small minor ity of the veterans of the
State. For thirty-two years the Soldiers
Home has b cen kept out of politics and if
this bill is passe he thought it would
ruin the Sc ldieris' Home. It was an at
tempt on t he pa rt of a few to pass the
bill for pur poses which have not appeared
on the sur face and it's passage would be
detrimental | to the Grand Army of the
John ]. Kent, sof Wilkes Post, Trenton.
said that his post passed a strong reso-
luton enc sorsing the present management
bill.
w. S. { cannon, of Newark, a one-armed
veteran. begged the committee not to in
ject poll tics into the Home by passing
the bill under c onsideration.
The di scussion was closed by Frank O..
Cole of Jersey City. He s'jollied" the
Inesnbe, Is of the committee by saying that
whatev er their action might be the
patient manner in which they had heard
the dis nussion wpu1d endear them to the
heart DC every veteran in the State. He
|<said q represented the Commander Of
the . apartment and what he said was
the v dice Of the Grand Army OF New
jersey The Home, he said. had not been
invest tgated in thirty-tWo years. OF