The Jersey City news., 1906-06-11
Rev. John L. Scudder
Preached Last Night On
the Recent Action of the
Excise Board
MAYOR FAGAN A WONDER
PASTOR OF THE FIRST coNGRE-
GArIoNAL CHURCH SAYS THE
EXECUTIVE rs THE GREATEST
THING THAT EVER HAPPENED

fional Chufch entitled AholneA SeeP
Up" He said in part:-
another conspicuous evidence OF clylc
betterment in Jersey City was given US
during the past week by the elevation OF
the saloon license from $3.50 to $ooo.
This practical move, he said, was de-
eided advance along the line of muni-
cipal progress which Mayor Mark Pagan
has pursued ever since he became the
head of our city government and took the
oath to work for the best interests OF
the people.
"Again he is entitled to the gratitude
and applause of the public, for he has
suddenly sprung upon us which many De-
iieved impossible of realization and had
given up in despair. The people OF this
city have high regard for Mayor Pagan
because he says little and aeeomplishes
much.
ssEyery now and then this modest man
undertakes some stupendous task and
quietly goes to work to fulfil it. he mas
long. keen head and a courageous
heart. All honor, I say, to this fearless
wideawake. incorruptible official, who
has inspired and inaugurated this recent
change. which, although it angers the
liauor traffic will bind the people to his
victorious chariot with chains of admira-
ton and love- 1t is evident that IN all
this good man does, he has taken the
best interests of the people at heart and
is working methodically for the welfare
of Jersey City.
81 call Mark Pagan wonder. he Is
4 delightful mixture of conscience anu
manly independence and he ably repre-
sents the new element in American pom
tics that is everywhere rapidly coming 10
the front. He is certainly a man OF many
surprises. Now we see him throwing
down his guantlet before the entire State
Legislature and proclaiming IN an aston
;sbing letter to the Governor that laws
aona,e;ve 70 public good cannot be pass
cd IN New Jersey because of corporate
greed and political graft. Now he grap-
ples with the railroads and compeis dhese
ranacious monsters to disgorge and pay
their share of the taxes.
.Last week he snapped his fingers IN
tbe face of the liquor traffic-that great
Swaogering Goliath-and if this giant
does not take to his heels in the forth
coming conflict, / believe the Mayor, our
nolitical David, will leave him stretched
unon the ground with hole in his head.
.sNrark Faean is always doing things
which his enemies declare will cause ms
ruin. They demurely remark that ne ls
digging his own grave and committing
nolitical suicide; but I notice that none
of these sombre prophecies have vet been
fulfilled. The grave sare being occupied
very fast by his opponents and tradueers
and each of his political suicides is
promptly followed by a glorious resur-
rection. He is without doubt the liyest
corpse l have ever seen. His frequent
recovery from death and dissolution are
achieving for him>a national reputation.
and I venture the prophecy that ere long
this political dead one' will be the
Governor of New Jersey.
sSOne cause of this mans phenomenal
success is his good judgment and lack
of fanaticism in handling the liquor
problem. The Mayor is a reformer, but
not crank. Like good general, he
proceeds with cautious deliberation. He
never asks too much. His demand that
the license fee by raised to $500 is mod
crate and sensible. In my judgment it
ought to be $1,000 or $1,000, but any
attempt to place it at this figure would
terminate in failure, because the people
are not ready for it. But this recent
move. as far as it goes, is salutary and
feasible. A larger saloon tax will weed
out many low groggeries and force all
who sell liquor to obey the laws for fear
of losing their license. 1t will enable the
people to restrict and control the liquor
traffic.
ssAll good people viii combine and up
hold the Mayor in this forward move
ment, and if the saioon-keepers and their
hackers want to make high license POI
litical issue. let them do It to their ulti-
mate discontinue and dismay. ! notice
whenever they fight in the open they al
ways get whipped.