The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1909-03-16
PUBLIC SERVICE PAYS
AN ARMY OF WORKERS

HFYou were to see ten regiments of infantry paradng down Broad Street
tomorrow you would be impressed with the spectacle Whatever emo
lions might be aroused within you, the numerical strength of the march
ing hosts, at least, would fix itself In your mind And, possibly, after the
last file had gone by, you would be moved to remarks "Thats quite an army
II would, In truth, be quite IN army, for the maximum strength of a
regiment is twelve companies of sixty-eght officer, and privats each, and
ten such regiments would muster $500 men
Now, try to place within the ken of your mental vision an army Of $3.50
me- and you will have a vey good idea OF the number of employees on the
Public Service payrons
WORK FOR 5000 MEN.
The actual number of men in the employ of Public Service auduates.
When much construction work Is under way til. number increases; when
such work cannot be carried on, the total grows less, but The averag. number
of permanent employees is approximately, 5000
In round numbers 5000 men earn their living and SUPPORT
their wives and children. or others dependent upon them, by
means OF the employment given and wages paid By PUBLIC
SERVICE. And to meet the payroIs for this army of men the
company must apply from its receipts annually a stupendous
sum amounting to approximately 81, 900, 600. This means a pay
roll of $I34,6I5 a week.
How many manufacturing concerns, or how many industrial plants arr.
thsre In the State whose payrols wen approach these figures And who will
sainsay that an industry which pays 100000 a year to wage earners is a
distinct benefit to the State, its municipalities and Its peoplel What induce
ments would not be offered by cities. boards of trade and commercial bodies
to bring within their territories an industrial concern employing 10 many
hands and paying such large sums of money in wages9 And Public Ser
vice. in a sense, can be justly classed as an industrial concern, for it manu-.
features and distributes electricity and gas and produces transportation, all of
which may be regarded as essential to the public and private welfare.
SUPPORTS POPULATION OF $4,000.
In considering the number of men employed by Public Service think
of the total number of persons who derive their sustenance from tn. Public
Service payrons, III is fair to assume that each man represents, OF an aver.
age, four persons, the working force of Public Service accounts for a
population of $4,000
Brought together, $4,000 persons would make quite a city. 1t would be
a city with a larger population than either of the counties of Cape May, Ocean,
Sussex Or Salem. 1t would mean a population approximatlng that of the
counties of Hunterdon or Gloucester, and numerically would not be far behind
the counties of Somerset or Warren, the figures for comparisons being those
of the 1905 census. BY the same censuso only ten cities in New Jersey show a
population greater than the number of persons which Public Service EN-.
ployes represent
WAGES STIMULATE LOCAL TRADE.
But the great sums paid for wages by Public Service do not 60 into
any community. They are distributed over half the State, and play an
important part In the local trade of every section where Public Service
employees and their families live
PUBLIC SERVICE presents these facts for your considera-
tion. They are Of vital Importance to thousands, yet, In public
discussions of the company's affairs, how often have you heard
them adverted tor