The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1906-01-24
GEORGE |. RECORD
DENOUNCED
William H. Corbin's scath-
ing Attacks on Jersey
City's Corporation Coun-
sci at the Equal Taxation
Hearing
DRAMATIC SCENE
IN THE ASSEMBLY CHAMBER
FILLED WITH STATESMEN AND
ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS
OF EQUAL TAXATION THE 81
LENCE WAS ONLY BROKEN BY
THE SPEAKER.
Special to "The Jersey CITY News.'D


Special to .tThe Jersey City News.'D
TRENTON. Jan. "a, 1906.-If the
late Henry Irving had been asked to APP
pear in one of his Shakespearian roles
before an audience in the House Of AS
sembly, he could not have acted his part
more dramatically and realistically than
Counsellor William H. Corbin of Jersey
City. when he arose in the Assembly
Chamber yesterday afternoon to reply to
the attacks made by Corporation Counsel
George L. Record upon the equal tax
laws drafted by the equal tax commits
sion of 1887, Of which Mr.. Corbin was
chairman. Tears flied his eyes and his
lips squivered as he spoke. but he con-
trolled his feelings sufficiently to scorS
Mr.. Record in unscathing terms.
The judiciary Committee of the House
had granted public hearing upon the
three equal tax bills now pending before
the Legislature and had invited the adj
yocates Of equal taxation to express
their views regarding the merits of those
measures. Corporation Counsel George
l., Record appeared as spokesman for
Mayor Fagan; Joseph A.Dear and John
w. Heck, for the Jersey City Board of
Trade; Harrison Van Dyne and ex-Pros-
eeutor Chandler w. Riker, for the New
ark Board of Trade, and Prosecutor
William H. Speer, of Jersey City. repre-
sented the Hudson County Republican
organization. or the Colonel Dickinson
factor of the party. The railroads were
represented by Prosecutor Frank Lloyd,
of Camden, and Counsellor William Fl.
Corbin. Of Jersey City.
The Assembly Chamber was filed
with representative citizens from all
parts of the State, who listened with re-
spectful attention to everything that was
said by the speakers in advocacy of
equal taxation. Contrary to expecta-
tions, the speakers could not agree upon
any one of the three bills but took turns
in denouncing all of them. For some
reason or other they were denounced' as
being defective and unsatisfactory,
while the Perkins bill, or the administra-
ton measure. which is supposed to EN-
body the views of Governor Stokes @as
attacked upon the ground that it made
no provision for the distribution of tax
money among the municipalities.
For nearly four hours the committee
of equal taxation and then adjourned un-
til 1890 O'clock this morning, when the
battle was continued. Mr. Record was
the first speaker He made an earnest
appeal for the passage of any bill which
would carry with it the fundamental
principle that railroad property should be
taxed wherever found evenly with other
holdings and the revenue turned into the
treasures of the various cities and towns
leyying the tax and not into the State
treasury as is proposed by the Perkins
bill.
This statement of what was demanded
by the equal takers provoked enthusiasts
tic applause. Mr.. Perkins, who presided
as chairman of the committee, was vis-
IDLY agitatea but made no effort to shut
Mr.. Record off or to stop the applause
He tried to make it appear as if the
hearing was given for the purpose of
inviting criticism and he did not seem to
care if it was fired in bunches al his pet
measure or the other equal tax bills.
Mr.. Record claimed that the Perkins
bill was simply idiotic when it proposed
to tax railroad property by the average
rate process He contended that such
property should be taxed wherever found
the same as other property in a taxing
district
Mr.. Record took up the whole subject
of the equalization of taxation and de-
clared that when Governor Stokes stated
in his last annual message that the State
was losing annually SO. .oo0, GOO which the
railroads do not pay for taxes, it was the
duty Of the Legislature to enact some
law. and he emphasized the words "some
law" that would compel the railroads to
pay this s3,0o0,0o0 year. It was now
agreed by everybody, except the rail-
roads, he explained. that the railroads
were not paying their fair share Of taxa
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