Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-02-27
NEWARK NEWS AS
SERVANT OF THE
PUBLIC SERVICE
Commissioner GilIen Charges
That ii Is Controlled by
Big Corporation.

Commissioners Charles r. Gilien. at
the meeting of the Board of Works
yesterday afternoon. declared his be-
lief that the interests that control the
Newark Evening News are closely
identified with the interests that con-
troll the Public Service Corporation.
The statement was made by the Of
fetal during an attack on the News
for recent personal allegations against
Commissioner Gillen. Mr.. Gillen is
head of the department of the Board
of Works that has charge of the
cleaning of the city streets. 1t was
declared by the News that Mr.. Gil
len showed neglect in handling the
street cleaning situation after the re-
cent storm.
During his attack on the News yes
terday Mr.. Gillen intimated that the
News attitude toward him on the
street cleaning situation was the re-
suit of his reply several weeks ago to
the News, when he denounced the
owners for cowardice in connection
with allegations rejecting on the
Board of Works action on the pave
ment of Broad street with wood
block.
Mr.. Gilien asserted that the News
had repeatedly used dishonorable
methods to attack him because he
opposed the Public Service Corpora
ton during the recent conference on
the trolley terminal and rerouting
franchise.
rs there a connecting link between
the Public Service Corporation and
the News?" asked the commissioner.
is the News controlled by the Pub
lie Service Corporation? If it is, the
people ought to know it. 1t can't
print the news in an unbiased man
ner If it is controlled by the corpora
ton
The commissioner declared the
News misrepresented recent street
conditions by organizing a "slush
brigade" composed of a ''slush pho
tographer," "slush reporter" and
another member of the staff.
This slush trio set out looking for
the worst, places they could find" the
commissioner said.
when they saw a lot of slush and
snow, whether in the middle of the
block or where, they posed woman
in it and then photographed her.
Then the slush reporter wrote
about it and the News published the
pictures on the front page. 1t was
obvious that the entire effort was in
tended to give wrong impression"
Mr.. Gillen made these statements
while extending congratulations to
the heads and members of the street
department for their efficient work
in cleaning the streets after the snow.
The commissioner declared that he
had been a target for the News for
long while. He said he began to
wonder why it was. He looked over
the files, he said, and found that the
News had been "hammering him
since he began to fight the Public
Service in its franchise grab. 1t was
these facts, he said, which led him
to believe that there was some un-
derstanding between the News and
the corporation.
Mr. Gillen declared that the News
had often suppressed actual news or
conferences when the result was un-
favorable to the Public Servoce Cor
poration. He cited several instances
when he said this was true. The
speaker also declared he had fought
the Public Service for the people and
on every occasion the News dishon-
estly attacked him because of 1t.