Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1914-04-09
FIELDER SCORES
EX-MAYOR CRONIN
Says Former Bayonne Official
Worked to Defeat the Prison
Reform Bills.
TspeciaI to the Evening star.I

TRENTON, April 9.-Governol
Fielder scored former Mayor Mat
thew p. Cronin, of Bayonne, in q
statement yesterday for what he de-
clared to be the latter's efforts to de-
feat the prison bills. The governor
charges Cronin with exertlng his ef-
forts to kill the measure. Inciden-
tally the governor also took slaI
at seven Essex and six Hudson as"
semblymen who voted against the
bills.
Now that the bank tax and the
direct inheritance bills are passed and
all other revenue bills are dead for
the session, the gaps between the
executive and Wittpenn and Essex
County Democracy are reopened.
The bill, House No. 149, passed yes
terday by a bare 81 votes to 22.
The poll was as follows: For-Agnew
Beekman, Branegan, Conrad, Crosby,
Dalrymple, DeYoe, Dobbins. Downs,
FISHER, Fisk, Godfrey. J. J. Griffin,
of Union; Hammond, Holcombe,
Johnson. Hates, Kays. Kirkpatrick,
McDermott. Moore, Mount, Nutting'
Pancoast, Quinn, Randall, Richards,
Scovel, Stevens, Wheatley. Winans-
81. Against-Barbour, Barradale,
Bloom. Brackner, Bredenbek, Byrne,
Carhart, Carroll, Curran, Foley, Can
non, Hughes, Hunter, Long, McCabe,
Mutchler, Peacock. Quigley, Rowe,
Sheppard, Smith, Weart-22.
Governor FieIder's Message.
Governor Fielder's message was as
follows:
'I have been using my best efforts
to put our prison management on
new basis, so that the eonvicts
should not suffer through divided re-
sponsibility in their care, and l was
very nearly baked in the Assembly
by a set of politicians who placed
their determination to maintain one
of their men in political Office above
the consideration of the proper care
of prisoners. o 1T, .o q.
this afternoon, Is the principal blll N
the scheme of prison reform. 1t IS
intended to 'legislate out of oli1ce the
five members of the Board of Prison
inspectors and the supervisor of the
State prison, and provides for a new
board of five members, in which shall
be centralized the control of the
prison
"Another bill legislates out of Of
flee the five members of the Prison
Labor Commission. The ten MEM
bers Of boards whose terms would be
thus ended have agreed upon the fair
ness of the bills, but Joseph Z. NC
Cormack, the supervisor of the
prison, strenuously objects to losing
his job, and he called to his assist
ance ex-Mayor Cronin of Bayonne
in his efforts to kill the bill. They
requested me to leave Mccormack
out of the scheme of legislation, but
| refused to consent to do other than
to Snend the bill so as to allow him
to serve out his term.
"This was not satisfactory and they
wanted a guarantee of his appoint
ment for another term, which / posi-
lively refused to consider, and they
started out to defeat the
bill through the Hudson and Essex
Assemblymen. Six Hudson and seven
Essex Assemblymen voted against the
bill and nine others were obtained
against it.
Sufficient Cause for Removal.
Had the bill not passed, it would
have been killed to satisfy the petty
political desires of a few men to re-
tain a job for one Of them. and who
thought they had sufficient pull with
Assem- blymen susceptible to this kind
of ward politics to accomplish their
ends. The work of Mccormack in
opposition to this bill should be suf-
icient cause for his removal from
office, for no appointee of the Gov
ernor has the slightest right to Inter-
fere with an administration program,
especially by lobbying to save his
own job.
Had the bill been lost, I would
want the State to be able to place the
responsibility where it would belong
for improper prison conditions, for
the continuation of convict labor con-
tracts, and for the defeat of this most
important reform; and l want the
state now to know that the comfort,
proper treatment and scientific man
agement of 1900 prisoners might have
been sacrificed to save one political
Job, solely because a few Bayonne
politicians desired it."