The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1902-10-29
|DEGNAN' 5
GAG LAW
Republican Tax Com
| missioner Attempted
/ to Suppress an OFF,
cIal Opinion from
Il
Record.
CHARITY MISSION TAXED
Fagan's Corporation Goun-
sci Wants a Test Case
to Explain the Law
for Him.
NO TAX RATE FIXED
Republicans Are Afraid to
Name a Figure Till
After the Eleo-
ton.
NO TAX RATE FIXED

The Board of Tax Commissioners held
one of its periodical public meetings
on the uiet yesterday afternoon, with
President Robert ]. Hoos in the chair.
Thomas j Degnan, who plays first fiddle
in the board, made the motions and
James G. Lindsay, second fiddle, second
ed them.
Reporters were not invited to attend
for the reason that the Republicans in
the Board don't like to give the news
paper reading public a chance to know
exactly what they are doing. The scribes
found out, however, that a meeting had
taken place and that an important opin-
ion had been submitted by Corporation
Counsel George L. Record, informing the
Commissioners that they could not ex-
empt the Newman Industrial Home Mis-
sion from taxation.
Degnan, one Of Mayor Fagan's chief
advisers, and the Pooh-Bah of the Board,
got an idea in his head that it would be
mighty bad for his adopted party at this
stage of the campaign to let the public
know that the assessment on the institu-
tion's realty would have to stand, so he
decided to install himself as official censor
of the Beard and keep all references of
the opinion and the Boards action in Off
cially refusing to grant the exemption
from getting into print.
The reporters got wind of the fact
that something was doing and one of
their number dropped into the Tax
Board Office.
BUSY FIDDLERS.
The first and second fddlers were deep
" engaged at the time in looking over
the pages of some of their big books
wondering how in the world they could
jack up the assessments in order to catch
up with the arbitrary increase of $3,-
100000 which they slapped on their total
assessments.
When the reporter asked for informa-
tion concerning the opinion, Degnan de-
manded to know who told him such an
opinion was in existence.
OF course the first fiddler didn't find
out and he didn't like it.
Il can't understand he said, 'why
there is so much mystery about thisI
Somebody is trying to make capital out
of it,
1t was suggested that he was the
only one who was surrounding the opin-
ion with so much mystery.
Degnan hesitated for some time about
producing Records communication. He
was finally asked if he would refuse to
make it public. He fiddled around for a
few minutes and then called in Clerk
Connolly, ordering him to let the reporter
have a copy of the opinion and resolu-
tion which accompanied it.
The Clerk found the documents in
strong box in safe, where Degnan had
consigned them.
RECORDS OPINION.
Mr.. Records opinion was as follows
I'm reply to your resolution in relation
to the claim of the Newman Industrial
Home Mission for exemption from taxa
tion, have to say
THAT this is one of a class of claims
for exemption in which il have uniformly
advised the taxation authorities of Jer-
sey City to refuse to allow the exemption
asked for leaving the claimants to estab-
lish their rights by suit at law.
The reason for such course lies in
the fact that it is impossible under our
decisions to tell whether an institution
is charitable one simply by its title.
|ss 1T may be charitable in name. and
asa matter of fact, conducting profit
able business. The necessary facts for
determining the question are not before