History of Morris County, New Jersey, Part 93

Author: Halsey, Edmund Drake, 1840-1896; Aikman, Robert; Axtell, Samuel Beach, 1809-1891; Brewster, James F; Green, R. S. (Rufus Smith), 1848-1925; Howell, Monroe; Kanouse, John L; Megie, Burtis C; Neighbour, James H; Stoddard, E. W. (Elijah Woodward), 1820-1913
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell & co.
Number of Pages: 540

USA > New Jersey > Morris County > History of Morris County, New Jersey > Part 93

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From 1849 to 1856, a period of six years, the yearly average of current expenses of the county was $18,247; from 1869 to 1876, a similar period, the yearly average of current expenses was $81,919, showing an increase of $63,672, equal to an increase of 349 per cent. in twenty years.

From 1849 to 1856, a period of six years, the average yearly taxation for county purposes was $16,500; from 1869 to 1876, a similar period, the average was $75,000, showing an increase in such taxation equal to 354 per cent. in twenty years. Some may think that such large increase in the latter period was owing to the payment of the county war bonds, but not a dollar of the large taxes above stated as raised for county purposes went to pay the war bonds, The tax necessary to pay the county war debt as especially provided by law was raised in ad- dition to that for county purposes. The war debt is paid, but yet our tax bills show an increasing county tax.

An addition of $15,000 to that tax was made in the year 1876; this was necessary to pay an indebtedness of that amount, the result of excessive expenditures in pre- vious years. In 1850 the population of the county was 30,158; in 1875 it was 49,019, showing an increase of 18,861 in twenty-five years; a gain of 63 per cent. From these data it appears that from 1850 to 1876 the increase of population in the county has been 63 per cent .; the increase of pauperism has been in twenty years 110 per cent .; the increase of the cost of crime and litigation to the county, 149 per cent .; the average · increase of current expenses has been 349 per cent .; the average increase of taxation for county purposes alone has been 354 per cent .; the average increase of cost for bridges in twenty years was 800 per cent. From 1849 to 1856, a period of six years, there was paid for bridges and freeholders' services in attending to bridges, $20,853, making a yearly average of $3,475; from 1869 to 1876, six years, the corresponding payment was $188,315, making a yearly average of $31,386, and showing an average increase of $27,911, equal to over 800 per cent. increase in twenty years. The records show that (in one year) from 1865 to 1867 the cost of bridges and freeholders' services suddenly increased nearly four times in amount, and that from 1866 to 1876, a period of nine years, the yearly average cost for bridges and free- holders' services has been $29,775. During several years many of the smaller bridges have been constructed of stone and in a permanent manner, and some of the larger of iron, so that the number of bridges in the county re- quiring attention and repairs must be largely diminished, and labor and materials have gone down in price; and therefore there is reason to believe that, if our freehold- ers would exercise a wise economy, this item of county expenditures could be reduced at least one-half in amount.

The increased items of expenditure connected with the courts are as follows: In 1867 the pay of jurymen was increased from one to two dollars per day. Prior to 1850 the pay of constables attending court was 75 cents per day; in 1850 it was raised to one dollar per day; in 1869 to two dollars, and mileage five cents per mile. Since 1871 the sheriff has been allowed three dollars per day for attending court; prior to that, nothing. In 1871 an act was passed authorizing the employment of a stenog- rapher for the supreme and circuit courts, and the court of oyer and terminer, at a price not to exceed ten dollars per day; the full price thus allowed by law has always been paid. In 1873 the per diem of common pleas judges was raised from three to five dollars, and the per diem of the crier from two to three dollars: The cost to the county per day for running all the courts, with the attendance of a full panel of jurymen, and ten consta- bles, as now allowed by law, is $157, and is made up as follows:

1 supreme court judge, $5 - $5

3 judges of common pleas, $5 each

Crier 3

Sheriff 3

Stenographer 10

48 jurymen, $2 each 96

10 constables, $2 each, and mileage estimated 25

$157

The cost of holding court of common pleas and orphans" court, without a jury and held by common pleas judges only, is $15 per day; the cost of running the court of quarter sessions in trying criminal cases, and using a part of the jurymen while in attendance on the circuit court, is nothing additional to the county; nor is there any ad- ditional cost to the county in running the court of com- mon pleas, trying appeals by jury while jurymen are in attendance at the circuit court or court of oyer and ter- miner. The cost of running the court for the trial of appeals without a jury, held by common pleas judges only, and attended by one constable, is $17 per day. By reference to the tabular statements herewith presented it will appear that from 1866 to 1872, a period of five years- (and after the pay of jurymen had been raised from one to two dollars per day), the average yearly cost of crime and litigation was $10,710; and from 1871 to 1876, a pe- riod of four years, the average cost was $10,464, being $246 less than the average of the five preceding years, although in 1873 the per diem of the common pleas judges had been raised from $3 to $5 and increased pay was also allowed to constables. The cost for jurors from 1866 to 1872, five years, averages $4,534; and from 1871 to 1876, four years, it averaged $4,299, showing a de- crease in the average of $255, notwithstanding in the latter period there was a large increase of business. So also the average cost for constables in attending court from 1871 to 1876 is less than the average in the five years preceding, and although in three of the five preced- ing years the pay of constables was less than half of what it was from 1871 to 1876. The increased amount of bus- iness before the courts within the last four years would have increased the court expenses had it not been for the fact that, when it could be advantageously done, different branches of the courts were kept running simultaneously, thus economizing time and the use of jurymen, and as a consequence saving largely in cost to the county. So long as there is occasion to administer and enforce law there will be necessity for courts, and the length of time that they must necessarily be kept open will depend up- on the amount and nature of the business before them, and the readiness of those engaged in transacting it.

Pauperism, including the maintenance of the pauper and indigent insane at the asylum, constitutes, next to

391

COUNTY FINANCES.

bridges, the largest item of county expenditure. The county poor-house was established in 1838; attached to it is a farm of about 240 acres, a considerable portion of which is in an improved state of cultivation. From 1838 to 1850 an average of 185 persons yearly as inmates re- ceived support, and to an average of 38 yearly of persons out of the house relief was given; and for the support and relief thus given in that period of twelve years the average annual outlay in cash was $4,463. The products of the farm during the same time averaged at their esti- mated value $2, 192 yearly, all of which went to the sup- port of the institution and its inmates. From 1850 to 1858 the products of the farm averaged $3,915 annually; since that we find the amount of the estimated value of the farm products reported for only two years-1870 at $4,945, and 1871 at $6,107. From 1861 to 1868 the aver- age yearly expenditure of cash for the support of the poor, in addition to the farm products, was $6,673; and from 1868 to 1876 the average cash expenditure was $8,739, showing an increase of nearly one hundred per cent. since 1850; and so far as we have been able to as- certain there has not been a corresponding increase in the number of inmates at the house, and for years past the rule has been to grant no relief out of the house, ex- cept in extreme cases, where the physical condition pre- vented removal.

From 1861 to 1868 the average annual cost to our county for the support of indigent and pauper luna- tics at the asylum was $2,765; and from 1868 to 1876 it was $4,945, showing an increase of 78 per cent. From the opening of the Trenton asylum in 1848 to 1863 the charge per week for such lunatics was $2; from 1863 to 1866 it was $2.35; from 1866 to 1869 it was $3, and since that it has been $3.50 per week. For eight years next prior to 1876 the county paid to the asylum for the support of pauper and indigent lunatics $3.50 per week, the State also paying, in addition, $1 per week; the county being subject to additional charges for clothing, making the direct cost to the county about $4 per week, and the cost to the county and State together fully $5 per week. Considering the appropriations made from time to time to the support of the asylum, and the amount paid for salaries of officials, this cost per week is probably under rather than over estimated. Many years ago, but since the opening of the Trenton asylum, our county sent some pauper lunatics to the asylum at Brattleboro, Vt., and some private patients also from this county were sent there, because they could be properly cared for at $1.25 per week. These are facts presented in the practical lessons of experience, facts which the people cannot afford to ignore if they would intelligently seek to know the causes of the greatly increased public ex- penditure.

There are other items beside those already mentioned which aggregate from twelve to twenty thousand dollars annually. The principal one is interest and discounts paid for loans, which from 1870 to the present time amount to $39,670, making an annual average of $6,611 for six years past. Of this sum from $1,200 to $2,400 annually has been for discounts for temporary loans. For a number of years the excessive expenses of the county have exhausted the tax within a few months after it has been paid in, and as a consequence the county commences a new year often with a deficiency or a float- ing debt, or with a very small balance, which has neces- sitated borrowing largely to meet current expenses and in anticipation of next year's tax. The larger part of this item of interest is for the interest on what is called the surplus revenue and which amounts to over four thousand dollars annually. In 1836 Congress passed an act distributing a surplus of funds in the national treasury

among the several States. New Jersey received $764,- 670, and distributed it to be held in trust by the several counties; Morris county received about $80,000. Of this the county used $14,000 to buy a farm and build a county poor-house; the balance was loaned to individ- uals on bond and mortgage, and the interest was an- nually distributed to the townships, and at first was used to pay ordinary expenses. After a few years it was voted generally to the use of the schools, and finally, by law, has been made an annual appropriation to the support of schools. The county, having used the whole of this fund, has been liable for the interest, and thereby this has be- come an additional item and of large amount in our county tax.

Under the head of work-house and court-house we find an aggregate of expenses which for seven years past has averaged $3,803. This includes cleaning and re- pairs, charges for water, gas, fuel, medicines and medical attendance for prisoners, and a part of the pay of the keeper of the prison, but does not include any charge for the board of prisoners. Considerable work has been done about the court-house and grounds within two years past, and, as everything seems to be in good con- dition so far as regards the grounds and buildings, it does seem that if a wise economy should be used this part of the annual expenditure could be reduced nearly or quite $3,000. In 1852 the sheriff was allowed $75, and in 1855 $100, for fuel and light for the court-house; now the county pays for gas alone over $160 per year, and in ad- dition pays for the fuel used in and about the court-house and sheriff's apartments. Formerly the clerk and surro- gate furnished their own fuel and light; now the county pays from $50 to $60 annually for gas for these two of- fices, and also pays for the fuel.

There is another item in the list of expenses which recently has appeared in larger proportion, and that is printing. By an act passed in 1865 the boards of chosen freeholders were required to publish a copy of the county collector's account with the items in detail. The propriety of that requirement will hardly be questioned, as un- doubtedly it is proper and necessary that the people who pay taxes should know how their money is expended. The cost to the county in 1874 for printing was $1, 124.45, which amount included the printing of the collector's quarterly reports and all blanks required by the clerk's and surrogate's offices, as well as the advertising of bridges. The printing of the last quarterly report of the county receipts and disbursements, which was done in five papers (three in Morristown, one at Dover, and one at Boonton) cost $54 for each, or $270 for all. The rate at which this work appears have been charged is the same as fixed in an act passed in 1876 providing for the pub- lication of laws in newspapers, 60 cents per hundred words, under which such publication costs the State over $68,000. At that rate the publication of these quarterly reports of the county collector alone will cost the county from $700 to $1,000 per year, subject to vary in amount with the length of such report. In 1864 publishing the laws cost only about $4 per newspaper column, but the printing of the last quarterly report, which occupied less than four columns as it appeared in the newspaper, and for which $54 was paid to each paper, cost about $14 per column. In 1864 labor and material were at extremely high prices; now there is a great reduction, and the pur- chasing power of a dollar has fully doubled.

Another matter deserving of notice is the prison and work-house. In 1866, 1867 and 1869 the county paid 30 cents per day for boarding prisoners; since that the price has been 35 cents. The work-house was estab- lished twenty-five years ago, and certain rules and regu-

392

HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.

lations for its government were adopted by the board of freeholders. Its history shows that only for a brief pe- riod from the commencement were these rules enforced. Their non-observance seems to have been less a tax upon the time and attention of the keeper, and hence, by the suffrance of the board of freeholders, these rules and reg- ulations fell into disuse. About two years ago the board of freeholders abolished work and discharged the keep- er; since that but little work save the breaking of a few stones has been done. As a consequence, there being no work, the prisoners, averaging generally from twelve to twenty-five and sometimes more, have been allowed to congregate in the common hall, and in idleness to amuse themselves almost as they saw fit. As might have been expected, the result has been that the work-house has become a school of vice, tending not to reform but to confirin criminals. The keeper had been paid $600 a year for attending to the duties of his office, and one of those duties was to keep the prison record. For about four years that record had not been written up. The board of freeholders appoint a committee on court- house and work-house, whose special duty it is to look after the condition of the court-house and prison. For several years past it appears it has been the practice to allow that committee $240 per year for their services, and sometimes a little extra. Yet such to-day is the condition of our county work-house-a place of idleness and a school of vice, instead of a prison where a proper reformatory influence is exerted over the inmates. It is but just to the sheriff and present keeper to say that the want of employment for the prisoners is no fault of theirs. The condition of the court-house and grounds and the prison, as regards cleanliness, is far better than it has been for years, and the cleaning and paint- ing have been mostly done by the labor of the prisoners. From June Ist 1874 to January Ist 1875 (seven months) 226 commitments were made for drunk- enness, vagrancy, and disorderly conduct, and that the aggregate of days of confinement of those thus com- mitted was 1,499, which at 35 cents per day amounts to $524.65, which is equal within a fraction to $75 per month; and it appears that 210 of these 226 commit- ments were made by magistrates in Morristown alone. Moreover the record shows that the same names appear frequently among the commitments, and some repeatedly in the same year, and for a similar offense, drunkenness or disorderly conduct. This class of offenders seem to regard the prison as a pleasant place for them, a place of refuge from the overpowering influence of their bad habits, an asylum, where in idleness they can be safe and enabled to recruit their wasted strength, being bounti- fully fed upon a plain but wholesome and substantial diet at the public expense; and when the short term of their confinement is ended they go forth to enter upon another debauch. This is the way in which the present management of our prison and work-house is operating to encourage vagrancy and drunkeness at the public ex- pence. Vagrancy is incipient criminality, and therefore it is fair to infer that the present method of conducting our prisons, without employment for the prisoners, has been the means of adding hundreds of dollars to our county expense, and in connection with the increased price allowed for board of prisoners has caused an addi- tion to our county tax of from $600 to $1,000 per year.

The foregoing facts and statements, carefully collected and compiled from the county records, are presented to the people as proper subjects for study and reflection. They show in a condensed form why the people have been so heavily taxed, and for what purposes their money has been expended. Let it not escape attention that in the six years next preceding 1876 the county paid for the

support of pauperism, including indigent and pauper lun- atics, $83,586.19; for crime and litigation $65,812.63; for bridges and freeholders' services in attending to bridges, $118,316; for interest on permanent and tempo- rary loans as hereinbefore explained, $39,944.26; and for miscellaneous items $113,859.17; making a total in six years of $491.518.25, nearly half a million dollars. In the same time the people were taxed $450,000 for such purposes, and yet owing to the excessive expendi- tures in the same period a debt of over $40,000 was in- curred. Of this sum about $15,000 was a floating debt, and the balance a permanent debt to the surplus revenue fund. This great increase in expenses is not confined to any one particular part, but extends to every department of the county administration, and appears to enter in a greater or less degree into almost every item of expendi- ture.

The following statement by Judge Kanouse exhibits some of the chief items of county expenses from 1876 to 1880, inclusive:

From May 10th 1881 to November 15th 1881 ..

From November 10th 1880 to May 10th 1881-6 months ..

From May 11th 1880 to November 10th 1880-6 months.

From November 14th 1879 to May 11th 1880-6 months.

From May 14th 1879 to November 14th 1879-6 months ...

From November 13th 1878 to May 14th 1879-6 months ...

From May 8th 1878 to November 13th 1878-6 months, 5 days ...

From 28th of November 1877 to May 8th 1878-5 months, 10 days.

From June 4th 1877 to November 28th 1877-5 months, 24 days ...

From the 10th of November 1875 to the 4th of June 1877-1 year, 6 months. 24 days ..

number of prisoners and the amount paid for their board for stated periods in six years past :

70,000

69,883 52

70,000

75,000

90,000

Amount Tax for County Purposea.

Bridges.

12,393 79 2,020 98 12,942 26 2,790 00 1,795 41

13,832 09 2,205 80 9,096 41 2,884 92 2,527 12

9,986 44 3,413 78 9,558 29 2,573 24 2,066 90

2,009 15 9,453 77 1,656 00 3,161 17

16,882 23 2,752 93 7 508 96 1,310 00 4,241 09

Freeholders' Ser- vices.

Court Expensea.

Pay of Common Pleas Judges.

Court-House and Jail.

7,906 13

7,800 00

7,600 00 8,300 00

9,300 00

Poor - House Ex- penses in Cash.

7,400 17 5,221 07

9,496 09 5,588 64

4,807 26

Interest and Dis- counts.

Nov. 15

3,254 70

1.442 86 3,097 50 3,635 54

508 55 4,707 30 3,325 33

5,407 45 3,488 23

4,135 73

Value of the Pro- duce of the Poor- House Farm.

Average Number

113

160 173

171

of Paupers at the Poor-House.

to the 10th of May 1881, when the price was reduced to thirty cents. The following statement shows the average

1881 .. ..

1880 ...

1879.

1878 ... 1877 .. . .

1876 .. .

Total!

$21,638 80

2,009 40

1,140 60

2,191 00

1,184 40

1,913 10

1,925 85

2,781 45

2,812 40

$4,435 30

Amt. Paid| Average No. of

10,686 83 8,597 10 1,122 92 3,331 60

6,511 70

Support of Indi- gent and Pauper Lunatics.

6,668 24 3,879 56

838 01

688 55 1,840 25

Boarding Prison- ers.

for Board.

Prisoners.

Number Deaths at the Poor- House.

Number of Births at the Poor- House.

00 0

The above statement clearly shows that within the past six years the prison has been overcrowded. Many of the prisoners were "tramps." There are other itema beside the 35 cents per day for meals that add to the cost of keeping the prisoners. The record of 1876 shows for tobacco $107.40, tea $61.24, shoes $82.50, clothing $151.68, medi- cines, etc., making a total of court-house and jail expenses of $4.241; the cost per week for each prisoner being fully $3.50 that year.

A mere glance at the average number of prisoners as

Printing.

1,245 30

4.558 20

1816

Thirty-five cents per day was allowed to the sheriff for the board of prisoners from the 10th of November 1875

& 2,987 42

10,190 28

393

REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS-THE PROPRIETORS' TITLE.

presented in the foregoing statement will not give a cor- rect idea of the whole number of commitments to the prison during a year. We are unable to find a clear statement for each year of such commitments, either in a carefully kept prison record or otherwise. But we do find in the minutes of the board of freeholders a specific statement for the year from May Ist 1874 to May Ist 1875, giving the whole number of commitments for that year as 507; males 480, females '27; 391 for drunkenness, 35 for larceny, 56 for assaults and 25 for other offenses. In that year it will be seen the amount paid for boarding prisoners was $1,687.20, about one-third of what it was annually for three years prior to November 1878, and about one-half of what it was for three years prior to November 1881. This furnishes a criterion for deter- mining at least the approximate numbers of commit- ments each year during the past six years. The number thus indicated seems almost incredible, yet the figures lead irresistibly to the conclusion, large as it may appear. A large majority of the commitments were for short terms, and were of the vagrant class. The only remedy provided by the laws of the State for vagrancy is the county jail or work-house, and yet, strange as it may seem, the remedy appears to increase and aggravate the evil. To many the reason is obvious. The management of the prison for seven years past appears to have been such as to render it a favorite place of resort for the tramp-a " hotel," so to speak, " where, at the public ex- pense, he is housed, lodged and fed and in many cases clothed in comfort superior to the family of the honest laborer, and allowed to spend his time in idleness and vicious association, which is his chief delight." By this state of affairs the ends of justice are defeated and the law. rendered powerless in effecting its object. Such are some of the results of experience in this county as pre- sented in the history of its financial affairs, which it would be well for the people to seriously consider. In the opinion of many an effectual remedy may be found in the enforcement of hard work and solitary confine- ment. Experience in the State of Connecticut proves this. The control and management of the prison by law is vested in the board of freeholders. The present in- dications are that in view of the circumstances a system of labor and solitary confinement will be adopted and carried into effect.

Early in the year 1881 a movement was made with a view to better the moral condition of the inmates of the county poor-house, and more especially to provide for the better care and training of the children committed to that institution, it being evident to those who had looked into the matter that the depraving influences sur- rounding the children there are calculated to train them to be panpers and criminals. The public are indebted to the Rev. John P. Appleton, of the Protestant Episco- pal church at Boonton, for his disinterested and energetic efforts in this behalf. In furtherance of this object at a public meeting called at Morristown, and which was ad- dressed by Rev. H. C. Potter, D. D., of New York, a society was organized called "The Charities Aid Association," of which A. B. Hull was chosen president and Rev. J. P. Appleton secretary, and other officers were appointed. This meeting was attended by a number of prominent gentlemen and quite a large number of intelligent and influential ladies from different sections of the county, all manifesting a deep interest in the object.

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