Childs Wins His Fight

New York, 1895

JAMAICA WILL GET $150,000 AND THE NORMAL SCHOOL.

The Senator Held the Winning Cards and Played Them With a Steady Hand — Vacheron Floats Another Job to Bleed the Tax-Payers of Long Island City — Legislative Notes.

(Special Correspondence of the Farmer.)

ALBANY, April 25.

Senator Childs will not resign, and Jamaica will get the $150,000 for her Normal School. Every loyal Long Islander should throw up his hat for the Senator. He has had a great battle and comes out of it covered with glory. Assemblymen Fairbrother and Madden have done good work for the school bill, too, but Vacheron has never been in it. There was a strong probability that Governor Morton would veto the bill, and the relations between the Governor and the Senator became so strained that Mr. Childs threatened to resign his seat the moment the veto was announced. This would have left the Republican majority without the necessary 17 votes to pass bills, and all of the important political bills were still hanging fire. This breach between the Governor and the Senator took precedence over legislation and everybody hurried to the Senator's assistance. Governor McCormick came up from Jamaica and rendered invaluable service in bridging over the chasm. It has all been arranged satisfactorily to the Senator and his constituents. The bill has been withdrawn from before the Governor. A new bill will be passed reappropriating the original $100,000, and $50,000 more will be placed in the budget. The impression has prevailed that it was unnecessary to ask for a larger appropriation than $50,000, there being $100,000 available for the school by a previous appropriation. This would seem so, but it is not a fact. There is an old law which provides that appropriations for schools shall lapse at the expiration of two years, and the Jamaica school appropriation fell within this old law, hence the necessity of reenacting the law of two years ago. The commissioners to build the school have not been negligent. Such a school as that important and populous section of the state needs could not be built for $100,000, and the commissioners did not think that it would be honorable to proceed to build with less than enough money to finish the work.

Assemblyman Vacheron has introduced another bill to bleed the tax-payers of Long Island City for the benefit of some lawyer who is more interested in politics than in jurisprudence. Vacheron has introduced a bill to "Authorize the Long Island City Treasurer to hire attorneys to defend actions against his office." If the bill becomes a law some lawyer-politician of the shyster class will get a good thing. The Corporation Counsel is the proper attorney to defend such suits. He always has defended them, and his compensation is fixed by law at $2,500 a year. Now it 18 proposed to ignore him, while paying him his salary, and let Lucien Knapp hire whoever he pleases to act as attorney. This is pretty tough on the people who pay taxes, — and Knapp is a Reformer, too.

This job is on a par with another projected by Reformer Knapp and fathered by Vacheron. There is a bill in the Assembly, introduced by Vacheron, to give Mr. Knapp $10,000 in addition to the compensation now allowed him. Reform comes high. Republicans of Long Island City say that if these bills become laws there will not be any Republicans in Long Island City at the next election, but Vacheron and Knapp do not worry about that, for they realize that there is no future for them. And honest people will not fail to notice that none of these bills to foster jobbery are sent to Assemblyman Madden, who represents the Long Island City district, and has an excellent reputation here for honesty and straightforwardness. Vacheron gets them all.

Senator Childs has his hands full to defeat Vacheron and Youngs' Commissioner of Jurors bill. Vacheron has sent copies of the bill to all the lawyers in Queens County with a begging request that they send him letters in favor of the bill. Senator Childs only laughs at these tactics, for he has already received letters from nearly all the reputable lawyers denouncing the bill. If Vacheron gets any support for the bill it will be from that worthless class who are a disgrace to the legal fraternity, but stand well at the liquor bar. I think the bill will be killed, but the people should give Mr. Childs all the moral support they can, for Boss Youngs is a skilful lobbyist and Vacheron will stop at nothing.

The following bills passed the Senate:

Senator Childs', authorizing the village of College Point to increase its water supply.

Mr. Winne's, for the adjustment of Union College taxes in Long Island City.

These bills have passed the Assembly:

Senator Childs', to extend the corporate existence of the Glen Cove Mutual Insurance Company.

Mr. Fairbrother's, authorizing Whitestone to borrow money to meet bonds; also authorizing Flushing to borrow money.

Mr. Madden's, increasing the salary of the clerk of the Long Island City Board of Education.

Assemblyman Madden introduced a bill authorizing Long Island City to borrow money for improvements.

The Senate passed Mr. Childs' bill, to provide medical attendance for the poor of Long Island City.

The Assembly passed Mr. Vacheron's bill, amending generally the charter of the village of Hempstead.

The following bills passed the Senate:

Mr. Fairbrother's, relative to bonds of the village of Whitestone.

Mr. Fairbrother's, authorizing Flushing to borrow money.

Senator Childs's, providing for street improvements in Long Island City.

The Governor has signed Senator Childs' bill, amending the highway law, providing for the adoption of the county road system.

The Assembly passed Mr. Madden's bill, increasing the salary of the clerk of the police court of Long Island City.

Mr. Madden introduced a bill providing for improvements in Long Island City.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, April 26, 1895, p. 1.