USA > New Jersey > Essex County > The first county park system : a complete history of the inception and development of the Essex County parks of New Jersey > Part 7
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and esteem of all the members, and by his death, in Febru- ary, 1896, the Park Board lost one of its most trusted and careful assistants.
In January, 1896, A. L. Cross was chosen as assistant land agent, in place of Mr. Bond. The purchasing agents were not always successful, even in instances where there had been no intimation to the owners that the lands inquired for or under negotiation were for public use. No one outside the board rooms knew of the decision of the commission regarding the East Side Park location, as mentioned, or, as far as I know, at the time negotiations were opened for the land, no one in that part of Newark had any thought or knowledge that the subject was under consideration.
Messrs. Bond and Crane reported that J. M. Lummis was the agent of John O'Brien, who owned the 134 unim- proved lots, and constituting nearly all of the thirteen acres required for the park, bounded by Adams, Walnut, Oliver and Van Buren streets, in eastern Newark. They were authorized to negotiate with Mr. Lummis and to have a careful appraisement made, including their own valuation of the property. Later they advised that $148,000 was the price asked, and reported the appraisement, which they said had been carefully made, at $95,700. The board declined to pay any such price as that asked. After some further nego- tiations the selling price was reduced to $125,000, as "the very lowest price" that would be accepted. At the board meeting of December 31, 1895, a resolution was adopted authorizing condemnation proceedings toward securing the property. Not long afterward I received word at my place of business in New York that Andrew H. Green, whom I had pleasantly known and whose office was convenient to mine, desired to see me. In the interview following Mr. Green informed me that as a lifelong friend he had, as a personal favor to Mr. O'Brien, consented to look after his property interests in Newark ; how both he and Mr. O'Brien. disliked either to stand in the way of such public improve- ments or to go into litigation ; and that he had sent for me because from our past acquaintance he felt that "we could
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amicably settle the question of the purchase of the lots, if any one could settle it."
COMMISSION'S METHODS EXPLAINED.
I explained the methods employed by the commission in arriving at a basis of fair valuation of the property-con- sidered alike fair to Mr. O'Brien and the people of the county who were paying for it, and how we should be glad to reciprocate the spirit of civic improvement that had been so marked a characteristic in his administration of public affairs. I endeavored to make it clear to him that the Park Commission, in its position of trustee of public funds, in placing the limit of the purchase price at the appraised price and what we believed a fair and equitable price, was acting as he had so many times acted in similar positions of trust, when duty and loyalty to the obligation as trustee had been the paramount consideration.
Mr. Green then asked me when condemnation proceed- ings would be begun. I replied that authorization had been made for them to be instituted directly. He then wanted to know if we could not "divide the difference between Mr. O'Brien's last asking price, $125,000, and the appraised valuation as reported of $95,700." He declared that this seemed to him preferable to litigation for both sides, and that he had understood Mr. O'Brien had for some time con- sidered the property worth $150,000.
"Were it a personal transaction or the commissioners were negotiating individually," I replied, "we might very likely get together on the principle of dividing the differ- ence, as you suggest, but in this instance I think the com- missioners are agreed that we should stand on the agreed valuations of our experts, in whom we have the fullest con- fidence. Unless this price is acceptable to you and Mr. O'Brien, we should prefer to have the court proceeding for acquiring the property to go on, rather than increase the limit of price." He said he should like to confer with Mr. O'Brien, and that I would hear from him soon.
The following day Mr. Green called upon me, and wrote
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out the following authorized acceptance, at the valuation the commission was willing to pay for the property :
"NEW YORK, February 7th, 1896. "Mr. Fred'k W. Kelsey, Commissioner.
"Dear Sir-I am authorized by Mr. John O'Brien to sell to your commission all the property belonging to him in blocks Nos. 964, 965, 966, 967 and 968 on the revised map of the O'Brien property (of Ward & Tichenor of September, 1885), situated in the city of Newark, at the price of $95,700, payable on or before the fifteenth day of March, 1896, or sooner if satisfactory examination of title can be made.
"Yours truly, for John O'Brien, "AND. H. GREEN."
At the next meeting of the board, February 10, the pur- chase agreement was formally closed at $95,700, as pro- posed in Mr. Green's letter. From the later experiences of the commission in acquiring park lands by condemnation proceedings there can be little, if any, doubt that this action of Mr. Green's was the means of a direct saving to the tax- payers of Essex County of at least $30,000, to say nothing of the delay that would have resulted in the improvement of the East Side Park through the acquirement of the land by legal process.
A TRUST OBLIGATION.
The question as to the still unsettled general policy of the commission in establishing the park system was yet before us. The subject would be discussed, put over, and come up again whenever definite locations or estimates of cost of proposed park areas were under consideration. A solution seemed no nearer than before. The sectional piecemeal plan was, notwithstanding, gradually taking shape. The landscape architects were, as requested, pre- paring plans and studying boundary lines for different
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QUESTIONS OF POLICY
parks, not for a park system as a whole. There was noth- ing whatever in the way of carrying out the other policy while the different sites were under consideration or being informally acted upon. The situation at this time may be readily understood from the following letter to Commis- sioner Peck of October 2, 1895 :
"Dear Mr. Peck-On my return home last evening I went carefully over the report of the first commission, with the view of ascertaining whether I was not in error in my impression that the present commission was under a trust obligation to carry out substantially the recommendation of that report. Even a casual reading would have made my impression as to such obligation a conviction.
"As the meetings of our first commision were held in executive session, that report and the bill accompanying it were the only direct and official statements to the public of our conclusions and intentions. The confidence of the public in the recommendations made was evidently strengthened by the reiterated statements in the press as to the high character and aims of the commission.
"About 6,000 copies of the report were distributed throughout the county and in the Legislature. From that report, and upon the recommendations and statements there made, the press, Legislature and public approved the report and adopted the charter recommended. Every one of our names was signed to that report (in duplicate), and to the statements of fact and intentions there stated.
"If, under these conditions, a trust obligation does not rest upon the present commission, how could one be cre- ated? If the careful preparation of that report, with our signatures attached, does not clearly specify such conditions, how would it be possible to present a subject that would involve trust obligations ?
"If we were borrowing a large amount of money for our personal account, would not the stipulations and statements accompanying the loan become important factors in the use of the money ? What distinction or difference can be made in this instance, where the interests of 300.000 people are
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FIRST COUNTY PARK SYSTEM
directly affected, after the loan has been made, the confi- dence reposed and powers conferred, based upon these state- ments ?
"Surely there was nothing in the report that indicated there was the remotest thought or intention of adopting a piecemeal, sectional policy. On the contrary, every statement and inference was that a 'system' of parks was to be created; that they were to be laid out on the general plans as outlined in the report, for the good of the whole county, free from local entrammelments.
"If this view be the correct one, it seems to me that it is incumbent upon our board to change its policy, and instruct our architects to at once proceed and lay out a comprehen- sive plan for the county before we decide upon any other large areas, besides the Branch Brook tract, as a starting point already agreed upon.
"You will recollect I suggested to you this plan soon after the organization of the present commission. It has been my conviction from the first that it was the proper way, and, indeed, the only way, that we could make effective progress and lay out a system that would meet the obliga- tions entered into with the public on the acceptance of our statement and charter, or that would avert adverse criticism and keep the work of the commission on broad lines, ac- ceptable to the people of the county and the State.
"I have not more strongly advocated this plan before because I have deferred to the feelings and judgment of the other members of the commission who, I felt, would, sooner or later, from their own convictions, arrive at the same conclusion. Very truly yours,
"FREDERICK W. KELSEY."
The reasons why it seemed desirable to carry out the policy of the first commission, as above indicated, and many others, had been repeatedly stated at the board meetings, where, as I have already mentioned, the discussions, al- though earnest, were always in good nature. Believing that there was a vital principle involved, I also wrote Com-
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missioners Shepard and Murphy on similar lines. In a letter to Mr. Shepard, October 11, 1895, I wrote :
"If the plans outlined by the first commission, and so cordially approved, are to be changed to a piecemeal, sec- tional policy, without regard to where we are coming out in the expenditure of the two and a half millions provided in the charter, should we not so state, openly and publicly, in the beginning ?
"To my mind our duty is clear in the obligation we are under to keep faith with the public in fulfilling the stipu- lations and in making the conditions conform to the state- ments upon which our charter was formed."
In his reply Mr. Shepard submitted an estimate of the probable cost of the park sites then under discussion, amounting to $1,900,000, and stated that he thought the architects should make a connecting plan "with parkways as suggested."
"This meets the obligation we have inherited," he wrote, "and when our plan is settled and we have some developed work to show, we can apply to the people through the Legis- lature for sufficient money to complete the work."
Referring to the estimates and his proposition, I replied :
"If we start on Lake Weequahic I think the least we can safely estimate for getting out of it with anything like ad- missible results would be over rather than under $500,000, and it might largely exceed that sum. Even if a half million were a limit, or if it were more in the center of the county or of the population, the proportion would look to be less formidable, but it is almost on the county line-in reality almost as much for Elizabeth and Union as for Newark and Essex. My feeling is that when that tract is improved for park uses Union County should unite in the undertaking and contribute at least one-third of the expense."
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I again wrote Mr. Shepard on November 22, 1895 :
"Our park enterprise was laid out and the preliminary work carried out on broad lines; successful because sec- tionalism was avoided and the pledge made that the money was to be expended for the benefit of all the county, rather than with special reference to particular localities.
"The majority sentiment at the meeting yesterday focal- ized directly on the negative side of those principles. No matter what arguments or facts favor the successfuloriginal scheme, it must now be superseded by a local policy plan, as distinct in its aims and objects and as much at variance with its former methods and policy as can possibly be.
"Whether the cable tract is or is not taken is not more vital, it seems to me, than this breach of faith with the public-the change of policy with its natural sequence, and the question of one's duty and obligation under such cir- cumstances.
"If the change be made, it will be extremely expensive. It will tend soon or later to disintegrate any com- mission or public body entrusted to carry out a great public improvement, as surely as local and personal jealousies sep- arate individuals and communities. If our enterprise can be anything of a success under such a load it will be a mere matter of good fortune.
"Should not this matter of policy be outlined and agreed upon before we go any further ?"
Again, December 1, I wrote: "If the majority plan is adopted, the trust obligation we are under to the public is ignored and the experience of other local commissioners unheeded. Feeling as I do that nothing that you or I or any individual can do will prevent the final outcome and result of these two fundamental policies, the thought still uppermost in my mind is as to our duty, and the best course under the circumstances."
But further argument was useless. The work of the commission in establishing the lines and acquiring the land
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for the different parks was going on apace. The relative bearings that one park should have to another, or that any of those determined upon should have to the park system as a whole, was lost sight of, or considered as "wholly sec- ondary." Each park was treated as an entity, as though the plan for a unified system had never been under con- sideration. The location for one park as a distinct propo- sition as exemplified in the East Side Park in Newark, had accentuated the pressure brought to bear upon the com- mission to locate others.
The suggestions of the court as to local "representation," and the two new commissioners appointed to carry out that principle, had borne fruit, and, before the close of 1895, the sectional policy for the Essex County parks was well estab- lished and became the controlling principle, as it has, sub- ject to minor modifications, since remained.
CHAPTER VI.
THE FIRST $1,000,000.
WITH the great mass of people, to whom the matter of income vs. expenses is a present and ever-recurring problem, there are, perhaps, few characters in fiction more interest- ing or that have attracted wider attention than Wilkins Micawber. His object lesson in correct finance, showing the happiness that may follow from an income of "twenty pounds a year" and expenses of "nineteen pounds nineteen shillings and sixpence," when compared with the misery resulting from a like income and the expenditure of "twenty pounds one," illustrates in a few words a principle of very general application.
Thus, in the park enterprise, each of the commissioners, favoring the policy of being pecuniarily forehanded in pub- lic matters as in private affairs, was of one mind as to the desirability of providing ample funds before incurring lia- bility for land purchases or other financial obligations.
After the organization of the department was completed and the first requisition for $5,000 on the Board of Free- holders in May, 1895, had been made, the commission then took up the subject of a bond issue for a large amount. This was arranged through a joint meeting with the Finance Committee of the freeholders on June 17. At this conference it was agreed that, as the proceeds of the bonds were under the law to be turned over to the park board, the commission should take the initial and active steps in the negotiations for the bond issue.
TO CONSULT WITH BANKERS.
The meeting was entirely harmonious, and I was ap- pointed a committee, with the counsel, to consult with some
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SUMMER SCENE BY THE LAKE, BRANCH BROOK PARK.
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THE FIRST $1,000,000
of the leading New York bankers having resources for handling such a loan and as to the kind of bond that could to the best advantage be issued. Soon afterward several conferences were held with the United States Mortgage and Trust Company, Kuhn, Loeb & Co., and J. & W. Selig- man. All recommended a "four per cent. gold bond" for as long a time as practicable, and, if maturing at different periods, that the average date of maturity should be not less than thirty years. These recommendations were approved by the commission, and a circular letter was prepared in- viting proposals for the bonds. On June 28, 1895, the New York Bond Buyer announced that it had been "reported June 17 that the Board of Freeholders of Essex County, New Jersey, had decided to issue bonds at not exceeding four per cent. to the amount of $2,500,000;" and that "the Finance Committee, after consultation with the Essex County Park Commission, had decided to issue them in three lots" of four per cent. semi-annual twenty-year gold bonds, two issues of $750,000 each, and one of $1,000,000. The bonded debt of the county was given as "$780,197; as- sessed valuation, $154,071,200; tax rate, 6.22." With the exception of the time stated for maturity of all the bonds, this announcement was substantially in accord with the plan as then agreed upon.
About this time I brought the subject of the proposed bond issue to the attention of J. Pierpont Morgan. He had just returned from Europe. I had known for a number of years, as does every one having business relations with him or his firm, that he was the master spirit, exercising the deciding mind on all important matters there. For this reason we had awaited his return, while conferring with the other bankers mentioned. In calling upon Mr. Morgan, I stated briefly the situation. He replied that he would look into the matter, and that he thought it a favorable time to bring out such a bond issue. He was then accredited with having just closed in London some exceedingly large finan- cial transactions, and spoke of the low rates of interest prevailing both "there and here." A few days later, June
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24,1895, I wrote Mr. Morgan, enclosing "copy of the act authorizing the issue of Essex County Park bonds referred to in our conversation," and adding: "As a committee of the commission to look up this matter, I should be pleased to again confer with you personally, and will try and call on you in the course of a few days."
Soon afterward I again wrote Mr. Morgan, as follows: "In looking into the Essex County (N. J.) Park loan, I believe you will find the bonds now to be issued of the very highest class; indeed the very best. Under the county system of New Jersey there are special safeguards thrown round the county organization which give county measures such as the issue of bonds almost the prestige and resource of a State. This, with the fact that county claims have preference over local and municipal payments on all taxes collected, makes such an issue as the Essex Park bonds doubly sure."
A PRIVATE BOND SALE CRITICIZED.
While the subject of the bond issue was under consider- ation, an incident occurred that settled one point, regarding the method of placing the bonds, most effectually. A transaction in Newark bonds by a committee of the free- holders with one of the local financial institutions had excited much adverse comment. Even the grand jury made a presentment on the subject of the bonds having been disposed of at private sale at a price below the prevailing market.
The amount was not large, but the transaction was held up also by the press as a warning against the further dis- position of any city or county securities in like manner, or in any other way than by competitive bids. As these criti- cisms were aimed directly at the proposed issuance of the park bonds, the commission and Finance Committee of the freeholders were in entire accord in deciding that sealed proposals should be invited for the new bonds, and that
i
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THE FIRST $1,000,000
they should not be otherwise disposed of. It was also deemed advisable in this way to extend the credit for such securities, and the advantages which might accrue to the community should foreign capital be employed in invest- ment in the bonds were considered.
On the afternoon of July 9, 1895, I went over the bond matter quite fully with Mr. Morgan. He said that it was a good bond; that it would sell for a good premium; that he would take the whole two and one-half millions author- ized issue and pay a good price for the bonds; and that he would arrange payment so that the commission could have the money as fast as needed or whenever wanted. I asked him if he thought the bonds with a rate of less than four per cent. "would go." He said: "Yes." "Three and a half per cent .? " I asked. "No," he replied. "Well, then, what rate would you suggest as being safe for insuring a sale of the bonds below four per cent .? " He thought a moment, and remarked: "Some people like the idea of a cent a day on a hundred dollars, or a 3.65 interest rate," and intimated he would take the bonds himself at that rate; also that he thought they could be sold at a small premium. I told him that we should be glad to take up the negotiations with him, but the decision had already been made that the only way the bonds could be sold was by com- petitive bids, under the usual specifications. He replied that he would not go into competition, but would probably pay as good a price for the whole issue as likely to be ob- tained from others. Events soon demonstrated the correct- ness of Mr. Morgan's observation.
Immediately after leaving his office I conferred with Commissioner Peck, who agreed with me that we should favor the change in interest from four per cent. to 3.65 per cent., notwithstanding that reports like those above quoted had gone out to the effect that the park bonds were to be "four per cents," and the form of advertisements and circu- lars inviting proposals at the four per cent. rate were then in proof ready for printing. The same afternoon I wrote Treasurer Murphy and Counsel Munn as follows :
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FIRST COUNTY PARK SYSTEM
"NEW YORK, July 9, 1895.
"My Dear Sir-From the bids on the Brooklyn and Philadelphia bonds, opened yesterday, and from informa- tion received here to-day, Mr. Peck and myself fully agree that the interest on our park bonds should be 3.65 per cent. instead of four per cent.
"We believe that the other members of the board will concur in this view in considering the matter further at the meeting on Thursday.
"While this may delay the printing a day or two, we deem it a matter of considerable importance, and as the addressing of the lists for proposals can be completed in the meantime, it need not necessarily delay the publication but a little to defer the advertisements and sending until after our Thursday's meeting. Very truly yours,
"FRED. W. KELSEY."
"Franklin Murphy, Treasurer."
At the next meeting referred to, the conversation with Mr. Morgan was reported, and a resolution, offered by my- self, that the rate of interest be changed to 3.65 per cent., was adopted. The following printed letter, inviting pro- posals for the bonds, was soon afterward sent to the leading bankers and bond brokerage houses generally :
$2,500,000 ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY, PARK BONDS.
"The Board of Chosen Freeholders of the county of Essex, New Jersey, proposes to issue bonds to the aggregate amount of $2,500,000, pursuant to the provisions of Chap- ter XCI., of the act of 1895, which act has been approved by a vote of the people of said county, for the purpose of establishing a system of parks and parkways for said county.
"These bonds will be dated August 1, 1895, payable as follows: $500,000, August 1, 1915; $500,000, August 1, 1920; $500,000, August 1, 1925 ; $500,000, August 1, 1930; $500,000, August 1, 1935.
"They will be of the denomination of $1,000 each ; will bear interest at three and sixty-five one-hundredths (3.65- 100) per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually ; will be
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THE FIRST $1,000,000
coupon bonds with the option to the holder to have them registered or exchanged for registered bonds; will be exe- cuted by the county officers, and the whole issue duly coun- tersigned, principal and interest payable in gold coin.
"The proceeds will be required for use by the Park Com- mission from time to time during a period of not less than two, nor more than three years. At least $750,000 will be required during the present year.
THE COUNTY'S INDEBTEDNESS.
"The county of Essex has a population of 300,000, and an assessed valuation of $178,165,000. Its present total indebtedness is $766,859, or less than one-half of one per cent. of the assessed valuation.
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