The Jersey City news., 1899-12-11

These annual disbursements and appro-
priations we present are increasing raster
! than the necessities of the puplic require.
In the management Of county affalrs iafge
numbers of employees are unnecessarily III
gagged and kept employed, suppiles dle
| furnished at extravagant prices and when
not needed. Attention to business pflh-
ciples would certainly lead to the feQuc-s
tion of the force of the employees ana 70 a
large saving of the public money. me
appropria tions are increased yearly, ana
the number of keepers, attendants, en-
ployes and the pay rolls or the dlneItle
institutions likewise annually increased.
In some of the county institutions the
number of inmates has been decIeaS- NJ.
and yet the number OF employees nae 0eeli
largely increasing. The cost Of man
tanning the inmates in some instances ~
the county institutions is not much more
than the cost of maintaining the Keepers
in attendance themselves Goods are or
dered for these institutions by requlsillon,
at high prices, where. If these goouS Were
the receipt Of bids BY other. persons than
favored contractors there certainly Would
be a large saving to the taxpayers IN
dictments are presented herewltn n IN no,in- re-
ty government, and also abuses exlstlng
in the City of Hoboken, where the evl-
denee presented warranted same. 4,,a+
The opinion of this Grand Jury IS tnat
the government of large county, sucn
as the County of Hudson, by the pressht
system is cumbersome ana lncongruoafs' .oaf
er abuses. If the appropriations anu
expenditures are to pc constantly II
creased, Iegalized confiscation VIII soon soon -
in sight, and under the present system o.
transacting the countyS business pdlh-
ruptcy is ahead unless things are chahged
AS an Illustration of the foregoing anu
as an Instance Of the way appropriations
are exceeded or evaded, even where under
the circumstances excess cannot @ pe
charged as a crime, attention may pe
called to some of the nnanclai Hlsthous VI
the county management
The appropriations for the fiscal seal year
1S9S-1S99 contained an item OF $S9, lu0 Ior
salaries of officers and employees OF tne
Board of Freeholders. In the appropria-
fion for the year 1S96-1S97, the approprla-
tion for this item was $4,000 no system
of bookkeeping is followed Dy tns o4Si1 3s,at
of Chosen Freeholders, although tnat
Board has sufficient clerical force Tne
County Collector is the only county ofiicer
who can tell, by any books kept, Wnar Is
the condition of the county hnances- Inc
Board spends annually appropriations az
gregating nine hundred thousand dolIars,
and with all receipts makes and orders
payments exceeding two million dollars,
yet it keeps no books so that It IS 1mpossi-
BILE to thoroughly or quickly determine
how the different funds and accounts
stand and what system is followed in the
incurring of debts, nor can it be properly
determined what claims exist against the
county. AS a consequence extravaganza
and excesses ensue, and each board leaves
a legacy of Indebtedness TO its successor
Each succeeding Board cannot Legally
pay such debts where the appropriations
of the Board mourning the same nave
been exhausted, and the several creditors
are driven to the courts in suit for their
claims By this method large sums OF
money are yearly drawn from the coun-
ty These claims have been usually in
Cured in excess of appropriations, and
they are collected through the courts
Only in this way can the Board OF Free
holders legally pay such debts. The spec
tacle is daily presented of the county OF
Hudson as a defendant in its own courts
These payments. under judgment, are are
passed in 1897 pam. Laws, 1887, p. l2S)
That statute is as follows
An Act concerning the payments of
judgments against any county.
Be it enacted by the Senate and Gem
That it shall be lawful for any
county in this State by its board OF
chosen freeholders from time to time,
to borrow money for use of said coun-
tv in such sums as may be necessary
to pay any Judgment heretofore or
hereafter recovered against sucn coun-
ty, either by temporary loans or py
the issue of bonds to run not exceed
ing five years, and to issue proper evil
dences of Indebtedness or bonds there
for, to be signed by the director OF
such board and county collector, un-
der the seal of the county, attested by
the clerk of said board. And the said
evidence of Indebtedness and the said
bonds shall be in such form and may
be either registered or coupon BONDS,
or both, as said board may determine;
such Indebtedness and bonds to bear
interest at not exceeding five per
centum per annum, payable as said
board may direct; said bonds may be
sold at public or private sale but for
not less than par and accrued inter-
est.
2. The Board of Chosen Freeholders
Of such counties shall each year place
in the tax levy of said county sum
ipiQ m ma interest
certificates or bonds, ana Shall also
place in the tax levy sum sufilclent
to pay the principal Of any of said
bonds or certificates falling due in any
year, and the moneys so ordered TO be
levied and provided shall be levied and
raised in the same manner as other
county taxes are levied and raised.
g. This act shall take effect imme7
Passed March 81. 1897
There has been issued over s120,0Oo Of
bonds under this act. There is no ques-
tion but what If the Board of Chosen
Freeholders continue to issue bonds un-
der this act a large amount Will be is
sued. All of these bonds are for debts
expenditure of different years, not of the
present Board, for these judgments are
not upon obligations incurred in the pres
ent fscal year. Inc % ssatuee heds au'origeS ~ rsy
judgments recovered, and therefore judg-
ments are recovered, and therefore bonds
are issued. Inc sum, ~ pSiu, II WOuiu
appear is In excess of the limit OF ex-
penditures of former boards, and main
~ incurred in connection with the year
1S97-1S9S 1t will be very apparent that
the beneficial operation of the laws of
this State which limit the incurring OF
.obligations or expenditures to the amount
of the respective annual appropriations
has thus been entirely removed, by this
method of issuing. bonds under this act
This act causes a loss of the benefit from
the law restraining the Board of Free
holders from exceeding appropriations
The quicker this law is repealed the bet
| ter 1t will be for the taxpayers of this
| county No reasonable excuse can be
| given why the affairs of this county can
| not be so managed as that the Board of
| Freeholders shall live within its appro-
| priation. By proper business methods
and reasonable economy and honest adj
| minstration the county expenses can all
| be met and the appropriations can be
| greatly reduced.
The attention of this Grand Jury was
| called by the court to alleged irregulari-
| ties in the spring election at Hoboken.
The evidence obtainable, however. in that
| connection did not warrant indictment
| Concerning the alleged changing of an
| election certificate whereby the name of
/ one of the candidates for Mayor was
| changed upon the certificate, the fact, as
| admitted by the candidate alleged to have
| been injured, are that no crime was COM
| mitted and the change was made with a
| view to having the clerk carry out the
| provisions of the election law. Concern
| ing the charges of Illegal registration an
| investigation by the Prosecutor Of the