Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-10-22

n million dollars in taxes and kill
ing the attempt to give the Morris
canal right of way to private monop-
olies would make the administra-
ton of any city feel boastful, blu.
Mayor Haussling has benefited the
taxpayer in many other ways, ac-
cording to the chapter on Let the
Facts Speak, in the Haussling histo-
ry just issued by the Democratic cam
paign committee. In fact, the may
or's six years in office is replete with
beneficial acts, the campaign COM
mittee points out.
In the face of the facts few men
seeking public Office would be ar
modest as Mr.. Haussling upon the
stump, his friends say. He avoids
r%eiteration Of his worthy deeds. They
say simply because he believes that
in performing his duties he is doine
no more than the people expect him
to do.
Aside from the collection of the
million dollars from the Prudential
Insurance Company through success
full litigation carried on by City
Counsel James r. Nugent, and the
collection of a just n equitable
tax from banks and other large cor
porations and his saving of the canal,
the campaign document reads, the
mayor stamped out fraud in faulty
weights and measures; abolish1ng
! secret sessions; placed merit above
| politics in the filing of municipal
jobs; establishing a building code
protecting life and limb; insisted on
competitive bidding; saved the city
thousands of dollars in insurance:
made municipal home rule a vital
issue and proved his love for pride
In the city of Newark.
The book recalls how the city's
chief executive aroused the commu-
nifty to the danger confronting 1t
when in his annual message he
called attention to a bill before the
Legislature providing for the aban-
Comment of the Morris canal to a pri-
vate corporation for a t~ransporta-
ton enterprise in which the city
would have no say. AS a result
amendments were insisted upon and
accepted by the committee in charge
which, If the canal bill would have
been adopted, would have permitted
the city to purchase the right of
way not only within its own terri
tory, but for a considerable distance
beyond.
OF interest is the reference to the
establishment of the department of
weights and measures by the mayor
When Mr.. Haussling took office, it is
pointed out, the bureau was nothing
more than a joke. He realized that
if II tvo g hrnttolat- ,,1 - 1tota -
efficiency this department would
help every family, and with the CO.
operation of the Comon Council, this
was achieved. The last bill passed
by the Legislature creating a State
departments of weights and measures
was the outcome of Mayor Hauss-
ling's efforts here. The Stevens Civic
Research Commission, in furthering
many worthy objects, has been given
much valuable aid by this depart
ment, and its system had been
copied by many municipalities
throughout the country.
Abolished Spells System.
Under the mayors guidance, il is
commended, the spoils system. which
obtained in appointments to public
Oi'iC pSlOiG Tie Dt11OCTdIlC dQlll1lS-
t~ration, was abolished and the State
civil service law adopted so thai now
appointments are made on the merit
system. The mayor wiped out the
practise of evading the law by pur-
chasing supplies or doing work to the
value of $500 without open bidding.
The most important departments now
buy under the competitive system, in
surfing a big saving to the municipal
ity. When he assumed Office he found
that under his Republican predecessor
many of the administrative bodies
transacted public business without the
public's knowledge, and one of his
first acts was to throw the light of
day on all public acts until star
chamber" proceedings have become
unknown.
Substitution of the smaller for the
larger Board of Education is shown to
have been an act of wisdom, it is
claimed, for since the appointive
board took office great work has been
done. A total of SO, 73s, 700 expended
for the purchase of sites for schools,
new buildings and recreation grounds
without a word of criticism shows hat
Mayor Haussling took no unfair ad-
vantage of the power of appointing
school commissioners. In the old
days, the sessions of the board were
the frequent source of scandal, and
administrative acts were viewed with
suspicion.
The organization Of a school archi-
tectural and construction department
developed the new Manual Training
and Commercial High School and
East Side High School, types Of
buildings hat attract recognition
from school authorities everywhere.
The schools no longer offer ~ironclad
courses based on the conception of
the average pupils needs, because
the present board aims to give every
child the kind of education that may
prove useful.
An leffect of the new building code
is the reduction of the fire loss last
year of 1892, 124.60 over 1910. The in
surance fund commission, established
by the mayor, retains for the city
the premiums hat would go to prI-
vate companies, and, although in ex-
istence but a few years, it has added
50 per cent. to the original capital
sum-, 800, 900. 1t is found increasing
ly useful in municipal financing, and
may be expected before long to pro-
vide a capital fund whereby all the
temporary momentary needs of the
citv NAV he nroVided at a ga wing of