Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-11-29


is as follows:
Paulsboro first fifty plugs per year -. $18
After that number per year. ........s. Is
Clayton and Glassboro. ......... 25
Westville 20
Swedesboro. 20
Pennsgrove first fifty. .............. 10
After that number Observation-Disclosures. 20
With reference to that which your CORES
pondent calls The Little Joker, Regarding
the clause THAT the said Boro may, under
the provisions Of the statutes in such case
made and provided. have the right to pur-
chase the plant Of she said Company he
says 1T may very safely be said that the
whereabouts Of such statutes, if any exist,
are about as hard to locate as the answer to
Who struck Billy Patterson ~
| To this would say the statute is found
in the General:Acs relating to Borough's
| 1897, and the statute in such case made
and provided" is the special one Hmadr
and provided TO enable the Borough to
buy the water plant with the least possible
trouble, made and provided in April,
| 1906, with the assistance of the learned
legal adviser of the Borough Council in his
capacity as Senator from the county, and
entitled IAN Act amending Supplement
to an Act entitled a General Act relating
to Boroughs, Revision Of 1897, p and will
! be found on page 133 of the pamphlet laws
Of 1906, approved April 6, 1906 If the
eminent Counsel who wrote the contract
had been blessedswith the gift Of prophecy,
he would doubtless have used the words
Statutes made and to be made 2
There is no use of the Mayor and Council
and their counsel protesting ignorance of
the whereabouts of their own child or sing
ing Where is my Boy tonight, or the
other old song mentioned There is the
law, their own statute, page 133, aforesaid,
made and provided for them in the lat
ter days of the Legislature, and it is under
the provisions of the statutes made and
provided" by themselves, tnat all things
must be done; must be done legally. This
ouppooC 10 Wnap youA WiioSl mtduS Ny
''The Little JOKER 1t is on the question
of the validity of the acts done under this
statute that the Supreme Court will decide
next February.
The purchase Of the Water Plant by the
Borough involves something more than the
mere handing oyer the key of the power
house. 1t means the legal deciding and
conYeyancing of. forty y-three thousand dol
lars worth Of real estate and personal prop
erty. The members Of the Water Com
pany, as law-abiding citizens, simply insist
that when their property is taken by the
Borough it shall be done according to the
law, including the Statute made and pro-
yided' last April. As Company and
individuals they are heavy tax payers and
have the right to be assured that the Bor-
ough is not bunooed by unlawful business
proceedings. Your writer also states that
up to the present time the Mayor and
Council have conformed strictly to the let
ter Of the law in the various steps taken
towards the requirement of the Plant. =
1 call attention TO few facts, that to
plain business men seem to be at least of
legal deubtfulness:
l. The Mayor obtained most of the petit
tions to purchase the plant; making a
house to house canvass for the purpose. He
witnessed the signatures and made affidavit
to the same; presented or caused to be pre-
sented the petitions TO Council; presided
over the meetings that passed certain or
dinances to purchase as Mayor, and If con-
sumated would have had to sign an order
on the Borough Treasurer for the money to
pay for the plant All this time he him-
self was ssockholder in the Water Co.
.. No effort was made to obtain from the
Company the cost Of the plant SO that the
citizens could vote intslligently.
8. The price was arbitrarily fixed for
bonding purposes at forty-five thousand
dollars.
4. 1t was known to the Mayor and
Council shat there was q mortgage on the
property Of eighteen thousand dollars
which could not be paid off until 1908.
5. This amount S45, 5,ooo) was adyer
tised for aud ssforty-fve thousand dollar
water bonds TO run thirty years q four and
one-half per cent interest," bid for and the
bidder notified Of the acceptance Of his
offer; this amount being twenty thousand
dollars more than was necessary
These are few samples up % she pres