Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-03-17
P0PULATI ION
is THE BASIS
FOR ASSEMBLY
No One at State House at Tren-
ION Can Explain Perth kmbOy's
Apparent Slight.
THE REPRESENTATION.
Each District Should Contain as
Nearly as Possible One Third
of the. Population.
gnecin1 10 the EEENING NEWS !:

Special 10 the EVENING NEWS:
TRENTON, Mar. l7.-No one at
the state house seems to be able to
explain why Perth Amboy is so un-
fairly treated in the assembly district
bill introduced last Wednesday.
The state constitution makes the
population the basis of appordoning
the members of the assembly among
the counties, and provides besides
that every county shall have at least
one member and the whole number OF
members shall be limited to so.
The bill is particular to state that
all reference to municipalities or their
subdivisions, used with reference to
the assembly districts, shall be taken
( to refer to the boundary lines as they
EXISTED upon the first day of Janu
ary. A. D. 1906" This shows that it
was the intention of the trainers of
1 the bill to have it strictly up 10 date.
| 1t should therefore, of course, be Das-
ed upon the new state census taken
last year. Looked at from any basis
that can be figured out of the new
census Perth Amboy gets hit good
and hard.
Population of Districts.
AS it stands the population of the
first district will be 1868, Perth
Amboy leading off with 25,S95. One
assemblyman will, of course, repre-
sent the whole 45,633. The second
district, New Brunswick, will have
population of %, 1873, or 22,500 less
( than the first, yet it will have the
same representation, and $4,000 per-
sons will have as much influence in
matters of state government as will
the $4,000 in the first district. That
! knocks the principal Of majority rule
into smithereens, for 1t practically
saws one man in New Brunswick is as
good as two men over Perth Amboy
way, when it comes to settling ques-
tions of government. The population
of the third district will be 2S,27O.
Looked at in another way the dis
parity against Perth Amboy is just
as evident. The total population OF
the state, according to the new cen
sus, is 2,144,143. With 60 assem-
blvmen, this gives an average repre-
sentation of one assemblyman to each
35.735 inhabitants. This fact only
needs to be stated to show how mani
testify unfair the division in the dis
I tricting bill is, as far as MiddleseX
county is concerned. Figured out on
this basis the proposition in the bill
for Middlesex county is: One assem-
blyman in New Brunswick will rep
resent but 23,133 persons, or 1862
less than the average rate OF repre-
sentation throughout the state. on
the other hand the bill says to Perth
Amboy: One assemblyman in your
district must represent 1858 per-
sons or Q .S9S more than the average
state rate.
Another Way of Figuring.
There is still another way of show
ing that the state republicans Tor
some reason or other appear to give
Perth Amboy the cold shoulder. The
total population of Middlesex county
is 97.O36, and with three assembly
men each should represent an average
of 32.345 persons. But it is certain
that the drafters of this bill never
considered that fact. Under the pro
visions of the measure, New Bruins
wick gets an assemblyman who will
represent 9,212 persons less than he
should. while the first district Will
have an assemblyman who will be
compelled to represent 13,2SS per-
sons more than he should.
A public hearing will be given on
the measure next Wednesday after
noon at the close of the session of the
assembly. This will be the time for
Perth Amboy TO object to the scurvy
treatment accorded it in the bill. Agi-
tation by the EVENING NEWS and
the presence of Il good delegation at
the hearing may result in getting the
bill amended either in committee OF
when it comes up on second reading.
In districtine Essex county The Dill
turns down Major Lentz and the reg
ular Republican organization ana III
vors the Colby men. This will cause
a hot fight in that county on the plli,
The hearing is expected to be one oil
the warmest of the session.