USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of Trenton, New Jersey : the record of its early settlement and corporate progress. > Part 48
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The Prudential began business on the date stated. Its start was modesty itself. Its office was in the basement of a bank building on Newark's main thoroughfare. Newark was then, as now, a great manufacturing centre. It boasted of being at once the Birmingham and the Sheffield of America. It abounded in factories and workshops. The tens of thousands of operatives em- ployed in these places took kindly to the new gospel of self-help. They saw that the weekly-pay- ment system of insurance would abolish what had long been not only a great annoyance, but a bitter humiliation-the passing around of the hat for subscriptions to meet funeral charges every time a death occurred in an improvident wage-earner's family. They saw that the new system would do more-would, at a trifling and easily-borne expense, the small premiums being collected weekly by the company's agents at the homes of the insured, provide something to help the widow, orphans or other bereaved ones to pass through the immediate period of their bereavement without having to suffer distress, want or privation, or be plunged in debt. And there were other consider- ations, such as the feeling of independence, the incentive to thrift and prudence in personal or family expenditures and the like, which combined to make not alone the American wage-working class, but the entire community see in the new system of insurance a heaven-sent ameliorator. One cardinal feature of the plan was payment of claims immediately after death. Another was no falling back on mere quibbles or legal technicalities if claims otherwise were just.
So from the very first the Prudential was a success. It is doubtful, to say the least, if there is in the whole range of business or commercial life in the world's history so great a success as this company has secured, when time of existence, small amount of original capital invested and like things are considered. It has grown with a growth that never ceases to excite wonder.
During the first four years of its existence the Prudential confined its operations to the State of New Jersey. In 1879 it resolved to extend its lines. Complying with the law requiring all such companies to place $100,000 as a guarantee deposit in the hands of the New Jersey State Insurance Department before business could be done in other States, it established agencies in New York and Philadelphia. Before long its representatives were to be found in every important industrial centre in the Middle States. Step by step, it advanced North, East, South and West, until now the missioners of its gospel of self-help are to be found successfully presenting it to the people every- where, from Boston, to Denver, Colorado.
A few facts and figures will throw another light on this truly wonderful business evolution of the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century. In 1875-6 it issued less than 8,000 policies, received $14,494 in premiums, and had in force at the end of 1876 less than half a million of insurance. In 1878 the figures were : Policies issued, 20,064 ; premiums received, $59,817 ; insurance in force, $2,027,SS8. In 1882 these figures were multiplied half a dozen times. When the company attained its tenth year it had 422,671 policies on its books, received about $1,500,000 in premiums, and had over $40,000,000 of insurance in force.
The story of the next ten years is a story of unvarying and ever-increasing success, the result of ceaseless activity, inexhaustible energy, and a system of management and supervision in the Home Office and in the Field that works with the regularity of the clock and is well-nigh perfect: The twenty-second annual statement of the company, issued on January 1st, 1898, showed that there had been written by the Prudential, during 1897, nearly $145,000,000 of new business ; that there were over 2,700,000 policies in force ; that there had been an increase of assets of $4, 442, 741.77, an increase of premium receipts of more than $1,200,000; that over $4,700,000 had been paid out in claims during 1897, and that altogether the company had paid policy-holders during the twenty- two years since the establishment of the company over $31,000,000. It was shown further that the company had investments and resources amounting to nearly $24,000,000, over $23,000,000 of which were represented by cash, bonds and mortgages, real estate and railroad bonds. For every $1,000 of its liability the Prudential has safely invested for the protection of its policy-holders $1,280. The company employs about 9,000 persons, nine-tenths of whom form the Field Staff or Agency force. Three times it has been obliged to remove its "Home Office" in Newark. From
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THE CITY OF TRENTON.
the humble basement birth-place it went, in two years, to quarters four times greater in size. Next, a few years later, it removed to a large, four-story brick building which was described in the local prints of the day as a "palace." To fit this building up cost $20,000. Long before the company's eight years' occupancy of this place was completed, it became so cramped for room that it was obliged to find quarters outside for some of its office staff. In 1892 it took possession of its own massive ten-story Home Office, unquestionably the finest, most commodious and most completely equipped building in New Jersey used solely for business purposes. A model of architectural beauty, its order being Romanesque or round arch, it towers above every building in the Home city, marking the beginning of the new and greater Newark and forming a classic of the builders' art that is an object of never-ending admiration to every one having an eye for the beautiful.
4
THE ORDINARY BRANCH.
When the Prudential became a thoroughly established and universally recognized success, large numbers of people in affluent or comfortable circumstances, when asked by the company's canvassers to become insured with it, expressed willingness and eagerness to do so if the company would only insure them in the Old Line or Ordinary way-premiums payable quarterly, half-yearly or yearly. The matter was taken into consideration by the company and after due deliberation it was decided to establish an Ordinary Branch. A company was accordingly organized within the company, and on January 1st, 1886, it began business. It was not until the management became thoroughly convinced that writing Ordinary Insurance would in no way interfere with or retard the writing of Industrial Insurance-not until it was clearly demonstrated by practical workings that the former would be a help, not a hindrance, to the whole Prudential system-that it was resolved to push the new Branch in the same way and with the same vigor that had been employed in push- ing the Industrial Branch. When the company moved, however, it moved with characteristic energy and scored another signal triumph. The story of triumph is thus summed up in the figures of twelve years' ordinary operations, as follows :
YEAR.
NO. OF POLICIES ISSUED.
TOTAL INCOME.
INSURANCE IN FORCE END OF EACH YEAR.
1886
552
$14,448 33
$585,500
1887
574
33,525 42
945,000
1888
458
43,639 39
1,242,929
1889
1,280
70,072 89
2,328,862
1890
2,484
126,337 71
4,079,156
1891
3,827
200,604 50
6,801,435
1892
4,503
320,774 89
9,531,076
1893
5,280
422,815 44
12,441,733
1894
12,245
622,296 94
20,504,727
1895
23,504
1,031,789 09
34,716,055
1896
17,695
1,398,188 33
41,422,845
1897
29,004
1,903,203 80
59,346,638
During one week of October, 1895-the week of the twentieth anniversary of the birth of the Prudential-$6,870,000 of new Ordinary business was written by the Branch, the entire staff of the company uniting in a special effort in response to a call to mark the anniversary and, at the same time, to honor the man above all others who had guided the company to its matchless success- President John F. Dryden. The Ordinary Branch alone has paid out to policy-holders over $1,450,000. When, ten years ago, it began business it stood thirtieth among the thirty-two com- panies operating Ordinary Insurance only in America. It now stands one of the first ten.
With Ordinary Insurance, as with Industrial, it has always been a cardinal principle of the Prudential to divest its policies of vexatious restrictions and technicalities. No contracts quite so liberal in their terms as those it offers can be obtained elsewhere. It constantly keeps in view its
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THE CITY OF TRENTON.
purpose to make every policy that it issues the least restrictive, the cheapest and the most secure. Every concession to a policy-holder which experience teaches may be safely granted is voluntarily made.
It seems fitting in a New Jersey publication like this that something should be set forth as to what this great New Jersey institution, whose strong, helpful arms embrace the Nation, has done and is doing in the State of its birth for the benefit of that State and its citizens :
1. During the twenty-two completed years of its existence the Prudential has issued 1, 892, 302 policies in New Jersey, covering insurance risks amounting to $230, 858, 951.
2. The Prudential has paid out in claims to New Jersey policy-holders a total of $7,316, 719.
3. The Prudential has paid taxes in New Jersey amounting to $638, 589.
4. The Prudential has investments in New Jersey securities-bonds and mortgages, railroad and municipal bonds and real estate-a total of over $7,000,000.
5. The Prudential is now affording steady, honorable and remunerative employment to an aggregate of about 2,000 persons, nearly two-thirds of whom are Agents, Assistant Superintendents and Superintendents distributed all over New Jersey, the remainder being physicians and Home Office workers.
6. The Prudential has paid out in salaries, commissions and fees to the New Jersey contin- gent of its Home Office and Field Staff over $9,000,000. Add to this the amount of claims to policy-holders and taxes, and it makes a grand total of $16,955,308 paid out by the company into the pockets of the people and the State of New Jersey. Thus, out of the modest little concern, planted obscurely and without the slightest ceremony in Newark twenty-two years ago, has grown the majestic institution whose sheltering arms embrace the United States and whose practical and substantial beneficence to the people and the State of New Jersey may be imagined but cannot be measured by even the splendid and imposing summary exhibit here made of its work and workings in the State of its birth and the headquarters of its colossal operations.
ILLUSTRATED
LEGISLATIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL
SUPPLEMENT
TO THE
HISTORY OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY,
CONTAINING
PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED WITH THE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY; ITS POLITICS, PROFESSIONS AND COMMERCE.
1898.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW JERSEY.
BY HARRY A. DONNELLY.
INCE the signing of the Declaration of Independence one hundred and twenty-two sessions of the Legislature have been held in New Jersey, and before that time ses- sions had been held regularly for more than a hundred years. The first legislative body was convened December 14th, 1667, at Shrewsbury, under an agreement entered into the same year with Governor Nicholls, who acted under the Duke of York. The representatives consisted of a half dozen men chosen by ballot cast by the people of the towns of Shrewsbury, Middletown and Portland Poynt. The body was not known as a Legislature, but as a General Assembly, and its jurisdiction was limited. In June of the next year another meeting was held by the same body, and in May a Legislature claiming jurisdiction over the entire colony was convened in Elizabeth- town. In October, 1668, the people of Middletown held a public meeting and protested as to the manner in which two of the Deputies, or Legislaturemen, had been chosen. This led to a special session, which marked the first actual and valid legislation in the State. It was at that session that the first partisan battle within legislative halls was fought in New Jersey.
The session held in May, 1668, lasted but four days, and the same number of laws were passed. The first enactment provided for loyalty to the British government ; the second made it imperative for all men to carry arms and plenty of ammunition ; the third related to crimes, and imposed penalties of death, confinement in stocks and the branding of foreheads and hands for offences many of which are now regarded little more serious than misdemeanors ; the third was a law making the first Tuesday in January of each year the opening day of the Legislature, and a fine of forty shillings was the penalty lawmakers who remained away were to pay. In this statute the first law relating to marriage was incorporated, and corporal punishment was made the penalty for habitual drunkenness when the unlucky tippler was without means to pay a fine. The final act of the first Legislature of 1668 withheld the death penalty from persons charged with crimes unless two or more witnesses testified that the defendant was guilty. Year after year the lawmakers met, wrangling over land rights and fighting political battles as fiercely as any have been fought in modern times.
In the meanwhile yearnings for liberty grew into demands by the people that the yoke of English oppression should be cast off. In 1771, when Governor Franklin called the Legislature's attention to the fact that England asked for money to pay the expenses of her troops in the New Jersey Barracks, the Legislature refused to pass such a law, and the discussion was not ended until the next year, when the troops were withdrawn. This marked the beginning of the end of British oppression, which, after a few years of hard struggling, New Jersey, in common with other States, determined should be continued no longer.
August 27th, 1776, the first Assembly under the State Constitution was held in Princeton, and its first act was the proclamation that New Jersey no longer was a colony, but an independent government. This Legislature re-elected William Livingston, a Federalist, as Governor of the State ; John Stephens as Vice President of the Council, and John Hart as Speaker of the Assembly.
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LEGISLATIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT.
During the progress of the war with England the attention of the legislators was directed prin- cipally to the operations of New Jersey troops ; but, notwithstanding the uncertainty and turmoil, many sound laws governing the civic affairs of the State and of its towns were placed on the statute-books.
In July, 1776, the State Constitution was adopted. The second meeting of the Legislature under the new Constitution was held November 13th, 1776, in Burlington, and it remained in session until December 2d. Then disaster seemed to be at hand. The British had forced Wash- ington and his forces to retreat, and what would happen next no one knew. It was no longer feasible to convene the Legislature at a stated point, and the next sessions, which quickly followed each other, were held in Trenton, Haddonfield, Burlington and Princeton. The lawmakers formed a roving body, not knowing where the next roll-call would be held until a summons was received from the Speaker.
In December, 1787, New Jersey, by a unanimous vote of her lawmakers, ratified the Federal Constitution. There was no organized opposition to it, and since then the State has approved of twelve of its fifteen amendments.
Early in 1783, when peace was declared and the people of New Jersey had celebrated victory with imposing ceremonies in Trenton, the Legislature at once took up the work of recuperation. The trials of war were ended, and during the next few years legislation was directed principally toward aiding residents of the State who had been impoverished by the war to find a way to regain lost fortunes. The efforts of the lawmakers were appreciated by the people. Rapid strides were made, and capable men were chosen as Governors and members of the Legislature.
In 1802 the Legislature failed to elect a Governor, on account of a tie vote, and John Lambert, a Democrat, who was President of the Council, as the Senate was then known, acted as Governor, in pursuance of a provision of the Constitution of 1776, until 1803, when Joseph Bloomfield, also a Democrat, was elected. He served until 1812. In 1829 Garret D. Wall, Democrat, was elected Governor, but he declined to accept the honor, and it went to Peter D. Vroom, also a Democrat.
November 25th, 1790, Trenton, by legislative enactment, was named as the capital of the State, but not until after a sharp conflict, for both New Brunswick and Woodbury wanted the honor. The original State House and grounds cost $20,000, which was five shillings more than the appro- priation. In 1799 the building was remodeled, and two years later $200 was appropriated "for painting the interior and exterior."
The State House, at the opening of the century, was the scene of many disgraceful rows, for it was used not only for legislation, but for social functions. In 1783, during a military ball, a riot happened there, and a few weeks later the building was put in the hands of a custodian, who was instructed to see that it was "not occupied for any other purposes than for the accommodation of the constituted authorities for which it was erected."
In 1806 a bell was hiung in the cupola, and for more than half a century it was rung when the hour for the opening of the sessions of the Legislature arrived. Trenton at that time was little more than a village, and not until 1813 were pavements laid even in front of the State House. The rotunda, which yet remains, was built in 1848, and in 1871 a large part of the building which a few years later was destroyed by fire was built. The present structure was completed in 1889.
As late as 1845 the manner of legislation had changed but little since the first session was held. When sessions were held at night wax candles furnished the light, and there were no officials in the House except a couple of clerks, a Sergeant-at-Arms and one page. The last two also attended to the wants of the Senators, swept the floors and carried the key to the front door. The Sergeant-at- Arms received for his labor $2 a day and the candle-ends. It was a time-honored rule of the Assembly that no candle should be twice lit, and even if they had burned but a minute the ends became the property of the Sergeant-at-Arms. The pay of the page was 75 cents a day.
The Constitutional Convention of 1844 brought about a great change in the manner of conduct- ing the business of the Legislature. There are but three survivors of that convention, Dr. Robert Laird, of Manasquan, Monmouth county, who was a delegate; William Paterson, of Middlesex county, the Secretary, and Captain John B. Faussett, of Trenton, the convention's solitary page.
August 13th, 1844, the people, by a vote of 20,276 to 3,526, ratified the work of the conven- tion, and under the new Constitution the State has thrived. It provided for the election of the Governor by the people and relieved him from the duties of Chancellor ; the Court of Errors and
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LEGISLATIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT.
Appeals was created ; the power of nominating judges and other officials was conferred on the Gov- ernor, and the other provisions were so intelligently formulated that New Jersey's Constitution is now looked upon as the best organic law in all the States of the Union. Each of its divisions or articles was subjected to severe criticism before it was incorporated, and the men who did the work were the best who could be selected for it. The delegates were equally divided as to politics, and during the deliberations no arguments on political lines arose.
In 1873 a Constitutional Commission was appointed by the Governor, and the amendments it drafted were partially ratified by the people September 17th, 1875. The amendments to the Con- stitution submitted by the Commission appointed in 1894, were voted on at a special election September 28th, 1897. The amendment prohibiting gambling was adopted by a vote of 70,443 to 69,642 ; the second amendment, preventing the Governor from making ad interim appointments, received 73,722 votes, and there were 66,296 votes against it ; the amendment giving women the right to vote for school officers was defeated by a vote of 65,021 to 75,170. October 26th, 1897, Governor Griggs proclaimed the two amendments a part of the Constitution, and immediately afterward the courts were appealed to in an effort to establish that the counting of the ballots had been illegal and that the law enabling the election was unconstitutional.
Since the adoption of the constitutional amendments of 1844, the Republicans, when Stratton, a Whig, and Acting-Governor Voorhees are included, have been represented by six Governors, the others being Newell, Olden, Ward and Griggs. There have in that time been eleven Democratic Governors, and three of them, Haines, Parker and Abbett, served two terms. The other Democrats were Fort, Price, Randolph, Bedle, Mcclellan, Ludlow, Green and Werts. The line of Democratic Governors was unbroken from 1869 to 1896. John W. Griggs, of Paterson, who resigned the gov- ernorship to become Attorney-General of the United States in January, 1898, received in 1895 a majority of 26,900, the largest ever received by a candidate for Governor in New Jersey.
In the last quarter of a century the Democrats have had a majority in the Senate but six years, but they have controlled the House of Assembly eleven years. During the same time the Repub- licans have controlled both branches of the Legislature during thirteen sessions. Their largest majority on joint ballot was in 1897, when there were but three Democratic Senators and four Democratic Assemblymen.
The first Governor elected under the Constitution of 1844 was Charles C. Stratton, of Cumber- land county. The people had never before voted for Governors, and the campaign was long, hard- fought and exciting. Stratton was a Whig. His Democratic opponent was John R. Thomson, of Mercer, who afterwards represented the State in the United States Senate. Thomson really was the father of the new Constitution. Years before its adoption he advocated it and through his efforts the Constitutional Convention finally was decided upon. He was brilliant and popular, but too closely identified with the railroad monopoly to get the votes of a majority of the people. Commodore Stockton was his brother-in-law. Throughout the campaign the two were pointed to by their oppo- nents as champions of railroads, against which at that time there was a strong feeling. The total vote of the State that year was little more than 75,000.
The Legislature in 1846, without argument, decided to send troops into Mexico to help the Federal Government in its fight with that country. Volunteers were called for and more responded than the occasion demanded. Many of the troops sent from New Jersey had but a short time before returned from the Indian war in Florida. They had hardly pitched their tents in Camp George Washington, in Trenton, before preparations for a journey to the Mexican border were begun. The Legislature, during the progress of the war, was liberal with the State's money and her soldiers were cared for probably better than those of any other State.
In 1848, for the first time in the history of the State, a bill passed by the Legislature was vetoed. Governor Haines was in office then, and if legislation did not suit him he was not backward in let- ting the lawmakers know about it. The first bill against which he rebelled was a supplement to the act concerning distresses. He pronounced its provisions contrary to the requirements of the Constitution, and the Legislature concurred in his opinion. The bill was vetoed February 29th, 1848. Two days later the Governor vetoed a second bill, but the Legislature overruled him and the bill became a law. It provided for the township of Frelinghuysen, in Warren county, and was a party measure, conceived for making political capital, as many other bills have and will be con- ceived, passed and possibly vetoed.
2
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LEGISLATIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT.
The Legislature of 1854 had many important questions to consider and many laws were enacted that year. It was a great session for the lobby, for the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company wanted an extension of its charter until 1888, and received what it asked. The law providing for the holding of teachers' institutes and the presentation of a dictionary to every school in the State were among the other enactments. The work of the Legislature of 1854 had much to do with the advancement made by the State on educational lines a few years later.
In 1860, when Charles Smith Olden was elected Governor, the total vote in the State was less than 122,000. The lawmakers that year were confronted with the Civil War problem, but they found time to enact many good laws. One of the first reports received by the Legislature showed that New Jersey contained but eighteen slaves. Thirty years before the number was nearly 2,500, and in 1810 it was 10, 851. Even eighteen slaves were too many for a majority of the lawmakers, and warm debates followed the reading of the report.
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