The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1905-01-30
This Legislature Shows No
More Haste in Getting
to Work Than Others
MORRIS CANAL ABANDONMENT
Bill in a New Form Soon to be
Presented. Equal Tax Re-
port Tomorrow.
Especial to srhs Jersey city News.'D

TRENTON, Jan 30, 19O5.-The pres
ent Legislature shows no more sign Of
hurrying its work than did that of many
years in the past. The last three weeks
have been devoted almost entirely to the
organization, the inaugural of the new
Governor and the election of United
States Senator There remains to be
elected a State treasurer. a State Comp
troller and State director of railroads.
These viii be elected on Tuesday, and
Frank o. Briggs, J. Willard Morgan and
Charles Bradley of Newark, have al
ready been selected by the caucus of
the Republican majority to succeed them
selves in those offices. With all these
OUT Of the way, it IS the intention Of the
leaders to have the Legislature buckle
down to hard work, dispose of the more
important measures expected to be sub
mitted to the lawmakers after full con-
sideration, and bring the session to
close in time TO make it one of the short
est on record. What is considered an in
dication of this is found in the fact that
the number of bills introduced in these
first three weeks is much smaller than
that of any session those now active in
matters legislative can remember.
When the Senate adjourned last Wed
nesday for the week there had been in
troduced in that body just thirty bills.
II is expected that some Of the conit-
tees viii report some of the measures
now in their keeping Monday night and
the real work Of passing laws viii begin
then.
AS has been stated the report of the
Equal Taxation Commission is expected
to. be presented to the Legislature on
Tuesday. 1t is also expected that it will
quickly be followed by a bill q bills pro-
viding for the enactment into laws of
the commissions recommendations.
Moreover, the biDis prepared by George
T.. Record, the Corporation Counsel of
Jersey City. which viii embrace The
views Of Mayor Pagan and the citizens
Of that municipality upon the subject
are expected to follow the report closely,
and then the equal taxation fight will be
on in earnest
Another measure of the utmost inn
portance to the people of Essex and the
northern part of the State which is ex-
pected to make its appearance at any
time is the bill for the abandonment of
the Morris Canal The Essex men in the
Legislature are said to feel that they are
pledged to secure the Abandonment Of
the canal, which, in tlieir county, is moth
ing more or less than noisome. disease
breeding ditch. When the special session
Of the last Legislature was called by
Governor Murphy they made strong eff
forts to have the matter considered then,
but in the caucus they We're strenuously
opposed by the South Jersey men.
The people Of that section of the State
know nothing Of the conditions which
surround the canal. and its abandonment
means nothing TO them. Besides, the po-
liticaI leaders look upon .the subject as
being loaded with possibilities of trouble
for their party. So when the suggestion
was made in the caucus that it be dis
posed Of before the special session adj
journed, The South Jerseymen sat down
on the propositionsso hard that the mat.
Ter went over to this session.
The preliminary abandonment bill, the
ore which provides for advertising the
ahanlsonment measure itself, may make
its appearance during next week The
bill which the Morris Canal Commission
submitted with its report Of last winter
4 Is understood. is not to be taken up
bat an e.t:rely new measure prepared
Il was considered in many quarters
rightly or wrongly, that the commission
bin Esas aitagethsds TOO favorable to til,
I.ciIjga Valley Railroad Company, I'll,
IessesS Of The canal
Already citizens are beginning to pro
test thronsl. the newspapers against ans
measars ehich will divert public prop
ert1 to private use. as It is claimed thu
Lehigh Valley seeks to do. There seem,
70 be settled opinion tha it will be Al
exceedingly difficult task to prepare !
bill which will prove satisfactory 10 ths
H&sp:ness Il ths psspsF gaal d huipaa eftort