The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1906-05-14
Campaign Will Begin With
a Dinner Given By Col
onel Kuser to the Legisla-
ture and Others
FIRST GUN FOR DRYDEN
ELECTION OF AssEMBLYMEN By
DISTRICTS WILL MAKE A RAD,
ICAL DIFFERENCE IN THE
FIGHT-MANY CANDIDATES IN
THE FIELD - sgsl,
special to .rhe Jersey city Nsws..1

{ The FIELD zesA>
Especial to .'The Jersey city News.'O
| NEWARK, May IA, 1906.-Colonel
4 A. R. Kuser, son-in-law of Senator Dry
den, will give shad dinner next Satur-
day to the Legislature and number Of
other prominent men. which is generally
regarded as the beginning of the Sena-
tors campaign for reelection. The oc-
casion will be purely social. on the sur
face, but there will be no end of gossip
about politics and a general idea of the
methods to be pursued will be obtained
by the guests. There is no doubt about
the energy with which the campaign for
the Senatorship will be conducted, and it
will undeniably be the principal feature
: of the next election, despite all efforts to
bring other questions forward.
The campaign work would be more en-
ergetic even than it promises to be this
Summer if it could be certainly known
whether Assemblymen are to be elected
by districts or by counties. The Court of
Errors and Appeals will decide the case
some time in August, it is supposed; but
whether it will restore the old district
plan or continue the county scheme of
electing Assemblymen, nobody will GER
tainly know until after the case has been
argued When the judges have heard the
case they are likely to give hint OF
their intention, despite all the secrecy
. hedged around the court
1t makes a tremendous difference to
the Senatorial candidates whether As
semblymen are elected by districts or BY
counties. for in one case the candidate
looking for votes has to go to each dis
triet and get his candidate in training
and see that he is nominated and elected,
while in the other case, the arrangements
, are made through his county organiza-
, tons and the delegates to a county con-
vention must be selected. Under the
county plan, George L. Record would
probably not get any votes from Hudson,
while Senator Dryden might have great
difficulty in getting Essex votes, with
the Colby people against him. With the
:. district system each would have some
support from his own county, while it is
thought Mr. Dryden's supporters would
have a much better chance all through
the State.
n 1t is agreed generally that Mr.. Rec
ord's name as a candidate for Senator
has evolved less approval than was ex-
pected by Mayor Fagan and the men
about him who first presented it, and
there has been q good deal of frost ever
since That it does not suit Essex men
has been very evident, partly because 1T
hurts their local pride to be asked to
support a man from another county and
partly because Mr. Record has never had
the cordial regard which Mayor Pagan
evoked and which gave Mr.. Colby his
nomination for State Senator.
The uneasiness over the Record candi-
dacy last week caused the suggestion to
be made that Chandler w. Riker should
take the field as the Essex candidate
the machine He was turned down. by
Governor Murphy for reappointment as
Prosecutor at the dictation of Major
Lentz. and in the Equal Tax Commission
| made the report which attracted the
! widest attention by reason of its ability
; and completeness. He would be force
full leader and an Essex man would have
a far better chance of carrying the coun-
. ty than Mr.. Record under any circum-
stances.
Meanwhile. Governor Stokes remains
candidate, to all appearances. His
friends say they do not know just what
he will do. but s'siIence gives consent .
Many think that he expects the Dryden
and Colby forces to exhaust each other
in North Jersey and give him his chance
to slip in between them. with a solid
South Jersey support.
The trouble which stares all Republi-
cans in the face IS the liquor question
While all the Essex Assemblymen voted
against the bill which was passed, Sena-
tor Colby supported it. That there viii
be strong effort to elect men pledged
to its repeal is certain. and the present
delegation would probably not give such
q pledge or, at least, not agree to make
t the law less severe. The suggestion that
the bill was put through by the machine
Republicans In order to down" the Col
by men has many believers.