Evening journal., 1901-03-05
NEWSPAPER OPINION
nsophlstrYIl

From the Morning News.
Senator Abbott, OF Sussex county, like
Artemas Wards kangaroo. is 'amoosin."
He revealed his characteristic in that re-
spect last Friday. when the bill to prac
ticaly give a syndicate a tract of state
land on the ocean front was under discus
sion
The bill provides that two hundred
acres shall be sold to a certain number OF
men at the price of one dollar an acre.
The land is worth more than that, and
already a popular subscription has been
made in which the state is offered seven
thousand dollars or more for building lots
at the rate Of one dollar a lot. The bill
provides that the land shall be sold at one
dollar an acre. But that is not all. Sen
ator Maull, on Friday last, offered to pay
one thousand dollars down for the land
that the syndicate wants to buy for two
hundred dollars-an offer that showed at
once the character OF the grab that is pre-
meditated. But Senator Abbott, without
any respect for senatorial courtesy, set
about TO question the genuineness Of Sen
ator Maull's offer, although the latter is
fully prepared TO pay what he offers, with
the view OF netting the state eight hun
dred dollars more than the state would
get under the BILL
Senator Abbott is evidently a man who
believes that n good sentence is worth
working, and during the course OF the de-
bate in which he questioned the honesty
Of a fellow member he worked off the fol-
lowing exclamatiOns in turn: 1T is not
argument-it is pure sophistry," 1T is not
argument-it is pure sophistry," "That is
not argument-that is sophistry," THAT
statement OF his is only sophistrg-it is
not argument" and 1T is a mere matter
OF sOphistry." The outsider may thus
take It that Senator Abbott's argument
was no argument. and he certainly has a
poor conception OF what real argument is.
Senator Abbott wants the state TO sell a
bit Of land for two hundred dollars and
declines to admit the businesslike char
acter OF Senator Maul's offer-to pay the
state one thousand dollars for the same
bit Of land. Il is apparent, therefore. thai
the nending hill is one that should bl
killed forthwith when the Senate takes Il
up for consideration tomorrow.
III the state is to sell its land Il shOul,
make the best possible bargain. Senato
Maull has offered a certified check 70
one thousand dollars, another man ha
offered two thousand, and the subscriber
10 a local newspaper project offer tn
< state an aggregate sum Of about seve
y thousand dollars for lots at one dOlla
each. Neither Senator Abbott nor an
. other senator can dispute the fact that tn
bill now pending is simply n scheme {
legalze a grab. If the state is TO sell IL
J. land Il should receive the highest possibl
q price for il. One thousand dollars is bet
n ter than two hundred, two thousand do
= lars are better than one thousand dollar
and seven thousand dollars are even bel
, ter. Yet Senator Abbott exclaims thi
7 Senator Maulrs offer is 'sophisiry." an
-e that the Senate cannot take the word ,
r Senator Maull.
ir The proposition 10 sell the State Ian
Ia FOR one-hfth OF the amount offered !
n Senator Maull is certainly not a businel
: proposition. and the Senate ought to X
the bill without any hesitation. There
ie however. another point that the Sena
is should bear in mind. The grab bin w,
le introduced in the Senate. The measu
30 is clearly a revenue bill, aud as such
a should have originated in the House. b
= IL was sprung in the Senate instead. Al
i9 plan that is intended to bring reven,
OF into the State treasury is a revenue bi