Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-05-11
Commission
Government
In New Jersey
From the New York Sun.

From the New York sun.
1t is really shame the way
schemes of perfection are Jared oui
of shape by the perversity of men
Now here is the new commission gov
ernment of our ne'ghbor Jersey City
which all but brought the millennium
Ginning and shining in its wake
Health. wealth and beauty were 10
bless the happy Heights and the re-
claimed swamp lands adjacent. Jus
tice and good viii were to reign
among the chastened inhabitants. But
now. Well, now it's all off.
Somebody. inspired of Pandora,
made the discovery that Commits
sioner James J. Ferris, who incu-
bated the city's public works, was
holding his office in defiance of law,
because he wilfully and of malice pre-
pense aud aforethought accepted, ex-
ecuted and received pay for sundry
and divers contracts for wicked rail-
road corporations having terminals in
the city. Mr.. Ferris made a gallant
fight to keep his job. but when forced
to choice preferred the contracts.
The law was memorable and he
had to deprive the public of his serv-
| ices-which, by the way were really
valuable-but before departing he
hardly have been outelassed by the
bad old politicians of the bad old
days. He formed an unholy alliance
with Commissioners Frank Hague
and George +. Brensinger for a
parting apportionment of the sweets
of the office.
These three, leaving that eminent
reformer and necrologist, the Honor
able Mark NJ. Pagan, titular mayor,
IL, se-.sfo A
on the chilly and cherries outside
proceeded to invent nine new posi-
tons under the reform city govern
ment, and to refill some dozen al
ready existing, the new indispen-
sables to draw salaries aggregating
not less than $4,000, a year, and the
older places netting at least an equal
amount to their tenants.
Now the things that were said at
and after the meeting at which this
debacle of municipal dreams took
place would have made an. old-style
politician feel quite at home. The
shorter and uglier word was freely
banded with charges of treachery,
trickery, trafficking, treason and
every other offense in the political
calendar. The anguish of Mayor
Pagan was too deep for tears. Said
he: There is more politics today in
the government of Jersey City than
there ever was before, and of a lower
order All the newspapers in the
State agreed with him the next
morning
Now Mr.. Ferris is out of the board,
and there is a good old-t time dead
lock. Messrs. Pagan and Moore. on
the one hand, and Hague and Bren-
singer on the other, sit biting their
fingers at each other and refusing to
carry on the work Of diffusing health
wealth and beauty-even worse, re-
fusing to pass payrolls, thereby
breaking up the idealistic confidence
in the eternal goodness of commits
sion government held by certain
well-salaried city employees.
OF course there is to be an election |
to fill Mr.. Ferriss place, but even in
the preliminaries of this the slime of |
the political serpent is shockingly APP |
parent. 1t appears that eN-Mayor |
Otto Wittpenn, who was recently |
named surveyor of the port of New |
York by President Wilson as a re-
ward for standing out of Governor /
Fielder's path, and who was himself |
for many years the chief antagonist !
of Mayor Pagan, has Joined hands
with George l.. Record, long Mayor
Fagans guide, philosopher and
friend to control the election. If
these two can elect their man they
can sway the city government by
combination with either of the exist
ing factions. incidentally Mr.. Witt
penn hopes to regain the Democratic
leadership in the city, and Mr.. Record
to recover some of his old grip on
municipal affairs.
Meantime, it may be asked, are the |
voters Of Jersey City very happy un-
istrative machine? OH no. they are |
not so very happy but they know a |
whole lot more than they did a year |
ago.