The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-01-09
LEGISLATURE ALL READY
New Jersey Law Makers
Will Begin Their Work
Tomorrow.
ALL CLEAR FOR KEAN'S ELECTION
Not Much viii Be Accom-
plished Until the Senator
ship is Disposed Of.
-special 10 .sThe Jersey city News"

TRENTON, N. j., Dec. 9, 1S9S.-The
Legislature, which will be organized in
this city tomorrow, will have a Re
publican majority on Joint ballot of u,
just the same as last years Legislature
The Senate will contain ID Republicans
and Z Democrats, ana the House 81 Re-
| publicans and % Democrats. Senator
| Reed, of Somerset County, will be elected
President of the Senate, and Acting Gov
ernor watkins, of Gloucester County, will
again be chosen Speaker. Augustus S.
Barber, Jr., of Gloucester County, has
been selected for Secretary of the Senate,
to succeed George A. Frey, of Camden,
who served last year, n hi has been
displaced because Republican leaders
! came to the conclusion that a oue-year
| term was all that he deserved. Mr.. Barber
is an old attache of the Senate, having
served in that body In one capacity OF
another, on and off, for more than a
quarter of a century. de is now Secre-
tary of the Republican State Committee,
and is also Collector for Gloucester
County.
The Senatorial aucus has chosen J.
Frank Lindsey, a newspaper editor, OF
Morris County, for Assistant Secretary of
the Senate. He takes the place of another
editor, Joseph C. Kingdom, of Burlington
County, who served two years, and has
not been given the customary three yea
term. His rejection was, no doubt, due TO
the fact tina his county is now repres-
ented by a Democratic Senator, while
Mr.. Lindsey owes his appointment to
the influence of Senator Pitney.
The House officers will be almost the
same as those of last year. h only
changes will be in the Journal Clerk,
First Assistant Engrossing Clerk and
some of the doorkeepers.
Senator johnson, of Bergen County, will
be the Republican leader in the Senate,
and Mr.. Mckee, of Passaic County, will
fill a similar position in the House. The
minority leaders will be Senator Martin,
of Sussex County, and Assemblyman
Murphy, of Hudson.
Wit the exception of Senator Stokes, all
Of the able men of the Legislature are
lawyers. On the Republican side they are
Senator Johnson, of Bergen; PItney,
Cross and Reed, and on the Democratic
side, Messrs. McDermott, Martin and Van
CIeef. In the House the Republican law
yers are Speaker Watkins. Mr.. Jones, OF
Essex; Messrs. Bell and Wakelee. OF Ber-
gen; Mr.. Wood, of Mercer, and Messrs.
Mckee and Lewis, of Passaic. With the
exception of Mr.. Blackwell, OF Hunterdon,
all the Democratic lawyers are from Hud-
son. They are Messrs. Albeit, Benny,
Marks, Murphy, Marnell and Walscheid.
The Senate contains II former Assem-
blymen. among them being one ex-Presl-
dent and one ex-Speaker. Senator Stokes
will enter upon a. third term; Senator
Johnson. of Bergen, upon his second, ana
Senator Ketcham, Of Essex. is about 10
close his second term. With the exception
of these. three, all the other Senators are
in their first terms. The father OF the
House. although he is not the Oldest mem
Der in years by any means, is Mr. klng,
of Passaic. who will have served seven
wears altogether when this Legislature
closes. Next to him is Mr.. Carroll, OF
Hudson. who is entering upon his fifth
term. although not consecutive; then
comes Mr.. McMurray, of Camden, for a
fourth term, and Messrs. Watkins and
Martens. each for a third. There are 70
new Assemblymen, 10 of whom are from
Essex county.
The Oldest member of the Legislature
is Senator Stranger of Gloucester county,
who is sixty-three. Nex to him is AS
semblyman White, of Warren county,
who is sixty-two. The youngest Assem-
blyman is Mr.. Woolley, Of Monmouth
county who is only twenty-three. The
youngest Senator is Mr.. Stokes, who IS
thirty-eight, and who has enjoyed that
distinction for six years. Two Senators
are over sixty, Messrs. Stranger and
Kete elm, and altogether there are nine
Senators over fifty. The only n under
forty is Mr.. Stokes. The average age of
the twenty-one Senators is forty-eight.
Eleven Assemblymen are over fifty and
nine under thirty. The youngest are
Messrs. Wakelees Shropshire, Steelman,
Jones, Marks, aWalscheid, Woolley, Poole
and Lewis. The average age OF the sixty
is ~forty-one years.
All the Senators were born in the
United States. Fifteen belong to New
Jersey, three to Pennsylvania, two to
Massachusetts and one to Indiana as
regards their nativity. Two each were
born in Somerset, Mercer. Morris, Atlantic
and Sussex, and one each in Salem, Cape
May. Monmouth. Passaic and Essex. The
Massachusetts men are Messrs. McDer-
mott and Smith; the Pennsylvanians are
Messrs. Stokes, Johnson, of Camden, and
Barber, and the Indianan Mr.. Reed.
There is some speculation as to the
length of the legislative session. The
Republican leaders would like to have it
as short as possible, and SO would low
ernor Voorhees,. Many questions of inn
portance in the way of legislation, how
ever, may arise, and 1t is hard telling
how long it may take to solve them.
Cheap gas, a reduction in the legal rate
of interest, Passaic River pollution, anti
trust measures, partisan matters and
other things may keep the legislators
engaged longer than the wisdom Of Re-
seauently the session may be of the aver
age length of II or IL weeks. And, be-
sides, Allan l.. McDermott has not come