Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-02-02
CITY PROTECTED
BY WATER GRANT,
SAYS W|TTPENN
Shows Where Municipality Has
Everything to Gain, Moth
ing to Lose.
COMPETITION IS NOW
OUT OF THE QUESTION
Permission Given So as to Pre-
vent Further Litigation
With Bay0nne.
Especial to the Newark start

- ~ NHC w. eN&hJ
JERSEY CITY, Feb. 2.-Mayor H.
Otto Wittpenn today gave out a state
ment and answer to what he terms
false statements made in certain news
papers concerning the permit granted
by Jersey City to the New York and
New Jersey Water Company and the
city of Bayonnea The statement in
full follows:
During the past weel. I have been
confined to the house by illness and
was W for q time of the false
statements that were being made In
certain newspapers concerning the per-
init granted by Jersey City to the New
York and New Jersey Water Company
and the city of Bayonne. all owning a
right of way over about 600 square feet
of city property, located at the ends
of three streets, west of h Morris
canal, foi he purpose of finishing their
second pipe line to Bayonne.
L desire at the outset to make it
very clear that / urged the consum-
matio of this agreement n assume
full responsibility therefor. 1 will not
permit my integrity to be questioned,
nor will / so far forget my duty to
my friends and colleagues in office as
to allow them to rest under false n
unjust suspicion.
Conferences Were Not Secret.
THE matter, however. Of first i'm
portance is not what inspired these
attacks, but whether the city's inter-
ests have been properly safeguarded.
1t is charged that h agreement was
reached in secret sessions. The fact
is that all of the many conferences
held were attended by the clerk OF the
Board of Street m Water Commits
s~ioners, and by all of the members Of
that board, ave ne, who had full
knowledge of the times Of the meet
ings and whose clear duty 1t was to
attend with his colleagues. The city
law department, represented by Messrs.
Dixon and Murphy; Chief Engineer
yanKeuren and Superintendent OF
Water j. w. Griffin also participated
in all of these conferences with tho
mayor and with the Street and Water
Board.
THE meetings were open to m one
who desired to attend. I o pleasure
in inviting the representatives Of our
local press, who reported the progress
of the negotiations In he newspapers
at the time. In this matter I have
simply followed my well-known policy
of conducting city business in public.
Jersey City's Action Legal.
Another criticism has been that
Jersey City abandoned one Of the OBJ
jects sought in the, litigation between
the water company and the city, name
ly, to secure a forfeiture OF the water
contract now existing between Bayonne
and the water company, which has
about fifteen years to run. I wish
most emphatically to repudiate the
suggestion that such was the object Of
any suit. Jersey City's litigation was
not founded upon illegal OF immoral
purposes. l consider 1t as bad to steal
for Jersey City as to steal from 1t.
The purpose of our suits was to
prevent the water company from en-
iering Jersey City with Its water
pipes in order to secure and serve
water customers who properly belonged
80 Jersey City, and also to prevent
the transportation of water out of the
State. Both of these objects have
been attained through this litigation,
successfully carried on by the city and
by the State, and as a result there 10
now not the remotest possibility Of the
water company becoming a competitor
of Jersey City in supplying water to
all such customers as this city may
wish to secure and Is able to supply.
IF Bayonne and Jersey City today
were free to contract We could not