Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-10-28
warm SESSION
WHEN RAMSAY
DEFENDS STAND
Committee and Administrator
to See JenkinSon at Newark
Tomorrow Morning

en- as fuel ADMINISTRATOR ana Win
| powers invested in him by the national
/ fuel administration and not subject to
municipal action, Fuel Administrator
! Oliver w. Ramsay poured hot shot
| into a special meeting of the Board of
| Aldermen and merchants at City Hail
Saturday night. The meeting had been
called to question the administrator as
to his reason for closing stores here
four nights a week at 6 o'clock and as
| to his authority for so doing.
| But the administrators hot shot was
| net .he only warmth to the meeting.
There were spirited attacks on him
! and his order by merchants and others
and before the meeting closed II was
i decided by the city fathers to investi-
| gate the matter as committee OF the
whole.
This morning, City Attorney Leo
Z Goldberger got in touch with Richard
c. JenlSinson, state fuel administrator
| to make an appointment with him to
meet the aldermanic committee, the
mayor, the chief of police and the city
attorney. The appointment could not
| be made Sr today, but the local men
| will meet with Mr.. Jenkinson tomor-
row morning at 10 O'Clock at his OF
| fees in Newark.
The state fuel administrator had
| stipulated he desired that Mr.. Ramsay
be present at the meeting with the
committee and local authorities and
| word to that effect was transmitted to
, the local administrator this morning.
County Fuel Administrator Ram
say did not answer the question put
to him by the aldermen and mer-
chants, ''Why has Perth Amboy not
received her allotment of SO, 1000 tons
of coal thus making 1t unnecessary for
the merchants of this city to close
their stores at 6 o'clock four nights
a week. {,
He said they had no right to ques-
tion his authority to close the stores at
6 o'clock and that he could assure
them that the stores would be closed
at that hour until further notice. He
| left before the mee'--l~ was half over.
The aldermen pr a resolution.
introduced by Alderman Anderson and
seconded by Alderman Clark author
izing the committee of the whole to
thoroughly investigate this matter. 1t
is expected that they will call an
other public meeting next week at
which they will tell of the interview
with the state fuel administrator.
I The special meeting of the Board of
Aldermen Saturday night was called
to order by Alderman at Large Grouse
who stated that he had been asked to
call this meeting by g. number OF
merchants of the city to protest
against the closing of stores in Perth
Amboy when stores in neighboring
towns did not close until 9 o'clock at
night and that great deal of trade
was so.ng from this city to other
towns and cities and that unless some
thing was done number of local
merchants would be forced out of
business.
Administrator Ramsay began his
talk by attacking Harry Medinets for
letter which the latter sent to him
faaIx4t 4xRf
right of the fuel administrator to act
the way he has in closing the local
stores at 6 o'clock. He stated that he
| was the fuel administrator of Middle
sex county and that he was acting un-
der the orders received from his su-
periors and that If any of the local
merchants felt that he was exceeding
his authority that they could go over
his head to his superiors and ask for
his removal. "Who Is this man Medi-
nets. anyway" asked Ramsay and by
what right has he to send such a let
ter to the public press. Is he looking
for some political Office or what is the
matter n
Ramsay's attack on Medinets con-
tinued: The fuel administration has
constantly been bothered by just such
a character of man as this little law
yer, who Is q parasite like a flea
and like flea brush from my shoul-
der as did the other administrators
bothered by such as he.'
The administrator continued to
characterize the lawyer as one who
received retainer from many of the
smaller merchants and then began
attacks on various public matters, re-
gardless of their patriotic standing.
Mr.. Ramsay said that he felt that
he had treated all of the loo / mer-
chants more than fairly in all his
dealings with them and that while he
had not intended to enforce the early
closing plan until this week the rea-
son he started II last week was be-
cause a number of merchants who
knew that he had the right to say
that all stores must not open before
g. o'clock in the morning and must
close at o'clock at night. had waited
on him and asked that this order be
changed so as to make the closing
o'clock and that 1t start last week and
he felt that he had done a great fa-
vor for them.
The fuel administrator stated that
in the city of Trenton the stores open
at 3 o'clock in the morning and close
at o'clock at night. He took excep-
tion to the fact that the press had
criticized him for allowing a bootblack
to remain open when other places had
been closed and tried to explain to
the merchants how the poor bootblack
had come to him and said Mr.. Ram
say II i am not allowed to remain
open in the evening I will not be able
to make both ends meet and of how
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