The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1906-02-07
One Advocate ofths Measure
Whom His Conference Re-
pudiated R ised the Com
mittee's Ire By Saying
the Bills Defeat Was
Ilanned
COUNSELLOR PITNEY'S PLEA
PASSAGE OF THE BILL, HE De
CLAREs, WILL CoNsIGN THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY TO oBLIv-
ION IN THIS STATE.
special to .srhe Jersey city News, .

Special to s'The Jersey city Nsws.'o
! TRENTON. Feb. q. 1906. There
came near being scrap in the Assembly
Chamber yesterday afternoon at the con-
clusion Of the hearing given by the Mu-
nicipal Corporation Committee on the
Miller local option bill. When Chairman
Scovel announced that the committee
had heard all that it cared to hear and
would grant no further hearings, but con-
slider the matter in private, one excited
advocate of local option heatedly deciar-
ed that the committee intended to bury
the measure and it would never make a
report to the House.
This remark rejecting upon the COM
mittee's integrity. aroused Chairman
Scoyers iranand he promptly denied the
allegation.
HAS not this committee treated you
fairly and squarely" he asked. Have
we not granted you everything you ask
ed for? What right have You to assume
that this committee does not intend to re
port this bill?'
Because know it, excitedly answer
ed the local option man. Your actions
show it; the press has intiinated it and
your refusal to render decision now
shows that we will never hear any report
from your committee"
Chairman Sooyel could scarcely control
himself. He felt like leaping over the
desk at which he was seated and making
the local option advocate retract and
apologize or suffer the consequences. He
was held back by his colleagues, who
urged him to pay no heed to the remarks
| saying that they were hastily spoken and
not meant as reflection upon the COM
mittee.
The local option advocates swalmed
/ toward the centre Of the floor and grasp
| ing the committees traducer by the arms
| and neck forced him into the corridor
| against his violent protests. They would
not allow him to return to the Assembly
| Chamber while the committee remained
in session. ALI efforts to procure the
| mans name or where he came from fail
| ed, as the local option advocates repudi-
] ated him and declared that he was en-
/ gagged to make such abad break" for
/ the purpose of injuring their cause. They
denied all knowledge Of the man.
When quiet was restored, President
| Mash, of the Anti-Saloon League, and
other local option advocates, apoiogized
| to the committee for the mans remarks
j and stated that they had the utmost con
/ fidence that the committee would treat
the local option question with fairness
and consideration. They also thanked
the committee for having granted q pub
lie hearing where they were able to pub
! licly express their views on the question
from the opponents of the measure.
/ The bad break was the subject Of gos-
sip at the State House last night and the
] consensus of opinion was that local op-
/ tion had sustained more severe blow by
the Incorporate remarks than if all the
! brewers and liquor men in the State had
4 opposed the measure.
/ Counsellor John 0. III. Pitney, of New
ark, son Of Vice Chancellor Pitney, was
/ the principal speaker in opposition to the
| bill at yesterdays hearing. He reiterated
/ that ii the bill was passed 1t would bring
the saloon back into politics, condition
| against which the best men OF the State
had fought for years If this came about
/ it would cause defeat for the Republican
1 party and Its candidates. He declared
/ that if the liquor question had been the
ISSUE last November It would have been
| almost impossible to get Republican cam
/ didates in Essex or Hudson counties to
/ advocate local option because defeat
would have stared them in the face. If
the Miller bill became law, he declared,
| it would force all men connected with
/ the liquor business to become politicians
and make political club OF every saloon.
He characterized the bill as class legisla-
tion and appealed to the committee to
avert the threatened danger to the Re
/ publican party.
the Miller bill would take the saloons
into pc 'ities. He declared there was moth
ing deeper in politics today than the sa-.
loon and the members of the Legislature.
were afraid of them
4 This brought an indignant protest from
Assemblyman Wright, one of the COM.
9 mittee: He said he was not afraid Of
the saloon element, but Mr. Nash ouieted
him BY saying that he was. talking gen
enrally, not particularly.
Rev.J. Ward Gamble used the argu-
ment that the liquor traffic was not a
legitimate business like grocery or a
butcher business. He admitted that a
man could not be virtuous by law but
law was not for the purpose Of making
man yirtuous, but for the protection OF
the lives and property Of thas citiznnS