Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-01-04
THE COUNTY pRosEcUToRsHIP.

Judging from what can be learned Of the pc
,,,,ons said to have been circulated in New
RrunsNick opposing the reappointment OF
Iasanb z Stricken as prosecutor of the county,
the only charge that can be brought him
,s n~olitics. It seems that those circulating the
petition argue that the county prosecutorship
il the biggest plum" IN the county and there
FOR II should be handed out by the county or
ganization-
The exact working of the petition Is not
known to us, but IL this is the trend Oh the
argument, reading between the lines 1t would
mean that the county organization wants the
county prosecutorship to play politics with; that
with Mr.. Stricken az prosecutor they have been
unable 10 manipulate the affairs that come I'M
der the Jurisdiction Of the prosecutor and there
fore they want Mr.. Stricken out and a man put
IN his place whom they can handle and who can
be depended upon to play the game as the party
machine would have 1t played.
II there are any Offices in the gift Of the gov
<rnor that ought to be kept free Of politics they
are the judges and the county prosecutors. 1t
has been one of the prides of New Jersey that
the judiciary Of this state is kept entirely free
of politics; that is one of the advantages of
uaNAnk OLA1N1 RRO'N
instead of having them elective. Governor Ed
wards doubtless realizes this and no matter
what else he may allow politics to influence
him in, we do not believe that he would permit
such consideration to enter into his appoint
ment Of judges and prosecutors.
OF course, it is to be expected that a man of
the governors own party will be chosen for
these places, but being assured that the man
named is of the same party as the adminlstra-
tion, political consideration ends.
When the Middlesex county Democratic or
ganization, therefore. begins to inject politics,
as the game is commonly known, into the ap-
pointment of a prosecutor 1t is inviting trouble
and the petition that it is credited with circulat-
ing will act as a boomerang.
AS far as being a Democrat is concerned, Mr..
Stricken has always been known as a regular
Democrat. He was at one time chairman OF
lie Democratic COMMITTEES. He was an ardent
Edwards man at the time Edwards was run
ming for governor and has stood behind the
rovernor all through his administration.
But Il 1t is . crime against the party to re-
fuse to use the Office of prosecutor for partisan
purposes then perhaps Mr.. Stricken is guilty.
No one can acuse him of using his power and
UQuGul d9 ~ S
.erests. This, it seems, is the reason the or
sanitation is against his reappointment. AT the
same time. it is exactly the reason why a great
many people who are interested only in good
government, favor his reappointment.
Mr.. Stricken has a good record as prosecutor.
He may not have done all that some think he
should have done, but he certainly has shown
q great deal Of aggressiveness and independence
in handling his dinhcult job. Some mysterious
criminal cases have been cleared up under his
administration and persons who have served on
the grand juries during his prosecutorship all
agree that he has shown a great deal of ability
and has been absolutely fair in his handling of
the cases.
While there may be some lawyers in the
county who would make az good a prosecutor
a. Mr.. Stricken. there ought to be some other
reason than the fact that the prosecutor has not
allowed his ONCE to be used for political pur-
poses for refusing him a reappointment.
The EVENING NEWS does not care to enter
into any party quarrels or take the side of one
faction as against another. But the EVENING
NEWS u interested In seeing a clean county
administration and. above all, in seeing that the
ONCE Of prosecutor is not used to advance party
ends. Furthermore, faithful service is entitled
to It's reward.