Gloucester County Democrat., 1907-07-11

charged with that duty.
The Editor of the DEMooRA interviewed
Mr. Cattell on the subject last Monday, and
he says his object is to secure possession of
the water books, privilege he is now de-
MED. He asserts that there is ineqality Of
payments some people are getting more
water than they pay for that all men look
alike to him, and his object is to expose the
wrong now being perpetrated on citizens
through the department..
Granting the truth OF Mr.. Cattell's state
ment, that there are fayorltes, it seems
to us they could be reached without attack
ing the financial interests of the depart
ment, and the city. A simple resolution of
Council would place the books in the hands
of any person or committee Council might
desire, and irregularity, if any exist, could
be officially located and corrected without
injury to the department or disturbance to
the established method of financing it.
The DEMOCRAT is not ready to believe
that our city is honeycomed by corruption
We do not believe that honest men are any
more scarce in Woodbury. than any other
city of like size in the United States. Most
of our city officials are sober, hard working,
self-supporting, debt-paying men. Our sal
aried officials are under the very eyes of all
the people, and we have never heard of one
of them living at rate to indicate wrong
doing.
While towns and cities Of the country,
and especially of New Jersey ARE seeking by
advertisements of their advantages to attract
citizens Of the big cities to themselves,
Woodbury. seems to be doing its best to
drive people away
The stranger who has followed the public
prints Of shs city and Philadelphia for
year would imagine that nearly all Wood
bury officials are grafters, and that there
was very little Of good here
We talk about the need of better school
facilities, and 10 the country is told that
the Board of Education are grafters. Our
water supply is declared to be ''rotten, un-
til an analysis proves it pure.
And right here cannot we learn a lesson {?
When there Is reason to suspect dishonesty,
why not go to the bottom of the trouble,
just as was done with the water. An IN
vestigation can be conducted orderly, and if
grafters are found send them 10 State Pris-
on. Crying graft and making no effort
to punish the offender or offenders is demor-
alyzing to the body polite, because the
kind OF men the city needs in public posi-
tion will not subiect themselves to the an
noyance that seems to be incident to official
station in Woodbury..
For too long The people of Woodbury.
have read the things printed about their
public men, and laughed. The time has
come when they must insist that if there be
"grafters" in public Office they be exposed
and punished; if our city departments are
being perverted to benefit favorites the
heads of those departments should be re-
lieved and punished.
This week Mr.. .Cattell handed us an analy-
sis of the city water made by the State
Board of Health, and vouchsafed the infor-
nation that certain figures meant typhoid
fever.
There seems to be a disposition to con-
demn the water supply in Woodbury., at all
To ascertain the prevalence OF
typhoid fever we called up one of our ply
sioians, who is and for many years has been
a member of the Board of Health He said
there was not case Of typhoid fever in
Woodbury., and there never had been case
that was tracable to Woodbury. water.
Whenever a case existed here, its origin was
unerringly located, and the source was not
in Woodbury. water. Woodbury. has had no
other water supply than that now enjoyed
for more than 20 years, and typhoid germs
have not got into it in the last few years If
they are. there 1t is strange we have had no
typhoid in Woodbury. heretofore, and have
none now.
The object Of these comments is to call
attention of our City Fathers and citizens
generally to the direction our little ship of
State is drifting. 1t requires no superlative
to navigate our little vessel
of local government into seas that are safe
and to harbors that yield the largest reve-
nue. to our patrons, the people but if pres
ent methods continue the time is not dis
tant when our people will regret that heed
was not taken of the direction public busi-
ness is drifting, because the benefit Wood
bury ought to derive from its advantageous
location, its general healthfulness, its good
water, its sewerage, its generous, whole
souled people and its excellent schools will
be diverted from it by thoughtless effort
TO purify its alleged ills by reckless talk
rather than by sober action.
---azp