Why Not?

New York, 1895

The Observer, without giving any reason, predicts that the tax arrears commission named by the Supervisors will not be acceptable to the Legislature. There is no room for dissent. On the principle of Home Rule the naming of the commission belongs to the board of Supervisors. It is immaterial whether the board name the commission before the bill becomes a law or after. There has been a change of but one name, John E. Van Nostrand of Newtown taking the place of William A. Jones of Jamaica. No one found any fault with Colonel Jones except Boss Youngs and Assemblyman Vacheron. Newtown has four times as much interest in the bill as any other town, and for that reason it was eminently proper that the town should be represented in the commission, and a man better qualified for the work than the one chosen could not be found. Jamaica has really no interest in the bill, for this is the one town that has a surplus to its credit on the arrears books in the treasurer's office. We have the most perfectly described property and the best assessment roll in the county, and although it has cost $20,000 the town has saved three times the amount.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, March 8, 1895, p. 4.