By David Dayton McKean
Almost all of these ward leaders, educated in Jersey City
politics under such distinguished instruction, have some sort
of business which yields them an income in addition to their
public salaries. Ertle, for example, has been an automobile
salesman, singularly successful. `Nothing at all,' as Mayor
Hague testified in the C.I.O. case, restricts a Jersey City
political leader `from going into private business'; and indeed,
as the testimony brought out, when a leader does engage
in business he gets official co-operation. William V.
O'Driscoll, for instance, owned the Hudson Builders Material
Company and the Thomas Henry Company, to which during
some labor trouble the police provided `almost continuous
protection,' in contrast to what the Mayor testified to be
their usual practice. The costs of keeping their political
fences in order are not met out of their salaries; William F.
Sullivan, for instance, has a ball on every Saint Patrick's
night; Coppinger and Scatuorchio (`Mike Scat') have annual
excursions on the Hudson River; and others have yearly
dinners. One of these affairs will bring in from five to ten
thousands of dollars, and the purchase of tickets is virtually
mandatory upon all jobholders, whether they attend the
functions or not.
It is noticeable that these politicians shift back and forth
from city to county jobs, and occasionally one is given a
state position, prosecutor, jury commissioner, judge, or
whatever is conveniently available. Inquiry among them
reveals that no particular system of promotion or tenure is
followed; a considerable element of chance determines
whether a man may be available when one opening or another appears. The one principle that is followed consisently is that any leader of any important group of voters –
ward, nationality, religious, or whatever – is entitled if he
wants one to a public job commensurate with the voting
strength of his followers. Thus the ward leaders in Jersey
City and the leaders of other municipalities in the county,
such as Bayonne or Weehawken, are awarded the best
positions - sheriff, freeholder, city commissioner, etc. Although
salary is the primary consideration in determining the relative
desirability of jobs, other elements, such as prestige and
the amount of actual work expected of the incumbent, also
enter into consideration.
Irish names clearly predominate among the leaders, although
in 1930 only 60,532 of Hudson County's 690,730
people were either born in Ireland or born in the United
States of Irish-born parents. It is obvious that the Irish,
who now constitute about ten to fifteen per cent of the population,
depending upon the number of third- and fourth-generation Irish, are overrepresented in the political leadership;
the reason may lie in part in Mayor Hague's preference
for Irish politicians and in part in their inborn political ability. The Italians are represented by Scatuorchio, the garbage
contractor, who is regarded generally as the Italian leader in Hudson County; but the 112,000 Italians
might well feel that they were entitled to more than one seat in the inner
circle. But 81,000 Germans, however, have no representation
there; nor have 62,000 Poles, 25,000 Russians, or 12,000
Czechs. These groups must be content with lesser favors and
no real authority.
This Web version, edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
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