The Jersey City news., 1905-10-31

Soust! boaEu, Jersey lily WIFI uilhtWIul-
ly eyadc the payment of county and State
school tax, form of reputation which
involves the city's honor.
'The assessment os S250.00 on the
street property of the Jersey City, Ho-
boken apd Paterson Street Railway and
of S292,000 on the real estate of that
company, total Of only $542, 900. is less
than % per cent. of the true value.
This corporation which is one of the COM
stituent companies of the Public Ser
vice Corporation, has over nineteen miles
of track in Jersey City and its plant
could not be reproduced for $4,000, 1000.
''The assessment of ST66, 900 on the
street property, and of $41S, S,469 on the
real estate, total of 81, ,1S4 ,480, is not
20 per cent. of the true value of the
Hudson County Gas Company, another
/ constituent company Of the Public Ser
Twice Corporation. There are about 100
miles of streets in JerseysCity and near
paraE hernaha requisite for gas distribu-
tion. The gas plant, including iss ius
rA@nse tanks, grounds and buildings.
could net be reproduced for $7,000,000,
! nd. according to some estimates, not for
$40. 100000.
The plant of the Standard Oil Com
pany and the Eagle Refining Company
at Cayen Point is valued at $1,000, 600
by the Rockefellers, who own it, yet
the Pagan assessors Ihave assessed the
property, real and personal. at only
$500, 1000, which is less than 80 1-3 per
cent. of its true value.
The assessment, real and personal, ON
Armour & Co., the Beef Trust, is only
SIS. 500, and its true value is admittedly
conservative at $15o,oO0 1t is assessed
at Tess than SO 1,3 per cent. The inn
mense stock carried bys this concern,
apart from its real estate.5is more than
double in value the amounttof the Fagan
assessment.
ITO show the falsity of the cry of
Mayor Pagan and Mr.. Record in their
campaign speeches. that the corporations
are paying our taxes and that the tax
burdens of individual citizens have been
lessened, shall cause to be made public
in the press of this city tomorrow a liss
of property owners in comparatively
small district of Jersey City, the yalua-
tions of whose property have been jack
ed up almost 81, ,o0o, 600 by the Eagan
administration.
sThese expenses have been enormous
and are constantly increasing. 1t has
been the most extravagant as well as
the most unbusinesslike administration
Jersey City has ever known.
Under the Pagan administration the
credit of Jersey City has steadily fallen
until to-day our bonds bring the lowest
prices of any municipal bonds in Hudson
County.
1t is known to all that the Fagan ad-
mipistraton was unable to sell the ST.,
$4,000 water bonds and did not dare
offer them for sale. Investors in muni-
c;pal securities had lost confidence in the
soundness Of Jersey City's fnanciering
under the existing regime. Comptroller
Hough publicly announced that in order
to create confidence sufficient to dispose
Of other bonds, a short time ago, the ad-
minjstration had to give assurance to
flt. investors that the water bond issue
sezld not be placed upon the market for
sene time to come This was 4 humilia-
! tien nev-r before imposed upon solvent
/ city in >,ew Jersey.
Hoe the 1886, 600 new water works
are to be purchased by bond issue,
under the wildcat system of finance
whita has prevailed for four years in the
! City Hall, is moro than person Of
| practical business sense can conjecture
IsAs tie present tame. Even Mr. Record
/ admitted the outlook was hopeless when
he and Mayor Pagan endeavored to foist
! upcE Jersey Cty the notorious Duff
/ Water BoEd Bill, which would have
| placed sc ?alate blanket mortgage upon
/ the water plant and left it liable to be
seized and wrenched from Jersey City.
| Jersey City owes Coy. Stokes debt
of gratitude for vetoing the bill. He
saved the city from the plight Of Off
cially acknowledging to the world that
its bonds. which. prior to the Eagan adj
| ministration. had always been in demand
at high prices, could not now be sold
without being sweetened in manner
that would leave Jersey City helpless in
file grasp of monopoly This will ap-
pear all the more evident when it is kept
IL mind that the water syndicate was