NEW JERSEY. 



tion of October, 1885, but that instrument was 

 not yet ratified, having failed to receive the 

 assent of the colonial Legislature. The Aus- 

 tralians expected the French Government to 

 refrain from shipping convicts or recidivists to 

 New Caledonia after the New Hebrides ques- 

 tion was settled. In December, however, the 

 announcement received at Melbourne that 800 

 more had embarked created fresh excitement, 

 and the Victoria Government requested the 

 Imperial Government to represent to the 

 French Cabinet the deep feeling prevailing in 

 the colony on the subject. 



NEW JERSEY. State Government The follow- 

 ing were the State officers during the year: 

 Governor, Robert S. Green, Democrat; Sec- 

 retary of State and Insurance Commissioner, 

 Henry 0. Kelsey ; Treasurer, John J. Toffey ; 

 Comptroller, Edward L. Anderson; Attorney- 

 General, John P. Stockton ; Superintendent of 

 Public' Instruction, Edwin O. Chapman; Chief- 

 Justice of the Supreme Court, Mercer Beasley ; 

 Associate Justices, Manning M. Knapp, Ed- 

 ward W. Scudder, Bennet Van Syckel, David 

 A. Depue, Alfred Reed, Jonathan Dixoii, Joel 

 Parker (died in December), and "William J. 

 Magie; Chancellor, Theodore Runyon. 



Legislative Session. The Legislature, which 

 met on January 11, was engaged for nearly 

 two months in a bitter contest over the choice 

 of a successor to United States Senator William 

 J. Sewall. The elections of the autumn preced- 

 ing had resulted in the return of 12 Republi- 

 cans and 9 Democrats to the Senate, and 26 

 Republicans, 31 Democrats, and 2 Labor rep- 

 resentatives to the Assembly, witli one assem- 

 bly district declared a tie. There was also a 

 contest over the seat held by one of the Demo- 

 cratic assemblymen. Neither party was, there- 

 fore, sure of a majority on a joint ballot. Diffi- 

 culties began when the Democrats of the As- 

 sembly entered a caucus to select candidates 

 for Speaker and other Assembly officers. The 

 proceedings of the majority of this caucus were 

 so hostile to the ambition of some of the mem- 

 bers from the country districts, that three of 

 them Messrs. Baird, Wolverton, and Arn- 

 wine withdrew, and refused to join in any 

 further action with their fellow-Democrats. 

 Baird persisted in this coarse throughout the 

 contest. The caucus, which was held in the 

 Assembly chamber on the morning of the llth, 

 continued after the withdrawal of these mem- 

 bers, and was not finished when the time for 

 formal organization arrived. At that hour the 

 Republican minority demanded entrance to the 

 chamber, and, on being refused, forced the 

 doors. The caucus, however, would not ad- 

 journ, but retired after the police had been 

 called in to eject them. Securing the two La- 

 bor men and the three disaffected Democrats 

 (which gave them 31 votes and a majority of 

 the Assembly) the Republicans then held a 

 meeting at which it was agreed to support 

 Baird, one of the three Democrats, for Speak- 

 er, and a ticket for the minor officers was com- 



pleted. This being done, the Democratic cau- 

 cus was again invaded, and the coalition pro- 

 ceeded, amid great confusion and uproar, to 

 organize and elect Baird as Speaker of the As- 

 sembly. A contest for possession of the chair 

 then ensued between Baird and the chairman 

 of the Democratic caucus, in which nearly all 

 the Assembly joined. Baird finally succeeded 

 in gaining the seat, when a motion to adjourn 

 was made and carried. On the following day 

 the election of Baird was conceded, and other 

 Assembly officers were chosen ; but the turbu- 

 lent scenes of the former session were repeated 

 when the question of deciding the rights of 

 claimants in the two contested election cases 

 was reached. In one of these cases, Turley, 

 a Democrat, held a certificate to the seat; in 

 the other a tie had been declared by Chief- 

 Justice Beasley, before whom a recount had 

 been made. A motion to admit Turley to his 

 seat prevailed, but a similar motion to seat 

 Walter, the Democratic claimant in the other 

 case, was not successful. It then was voted 

 to refer the evidence in both cases to the com- 

 mittee on elections when appointed, thus leav- 

 ing Turley in possession of his seat until ousted 

 by a vote of the Assembly. The committee 

 on elections, as constituted by Speaker Baird, 

 contained a majority of Republicans. On Jan- 

 uary 19 they reported a tie in the Walter-Jones 

 case, recommending a new election, while the 

 Democratic minority declared Walter entitled 

 to the seat. The Assembly adopted the minor- 

 ity report by a vote of 30 to 29, Speaker Baird 

 and the two Labor men voting with the Re- 

 publicans, and the other two seceding Demo- 

 crats joining their own party. The Democrats 

 now had 31 members in the Assembly, a clear 

 majority without the aid of Baird or the Labor 

 men. But they continued to investigate these 

 election cases till February 17, when, upon re- 

 port of special committees, the rights of Turley 

 and Walter were confirmed. 



Meanwhile, on January 25, a Democratic 

 caucus of 36 members nominated Ex-Gov. Leon 

 Abbett for Senator. But Abbett was unable to 

 control the entire strength of his party, and in 

 a so-called joint convention held the next day, 

 at which 8 Senators and 31 Assemblymen were 

 present, he received only 38 votes, 3 less than 

 a majority of the Legislature and 2 less than the 

 total Democratic vote, exclusive of Baird. Con- 

 ventions similar to this one were held each day 

 by the Democrats till February 15; but they 

 were all irregular for the reason that a major- 

 ity of the Legislature was never present, and 

 the Senate had not voted to enter a joint con- 

 vention. In fact, the Senate postponed its 

 organization from day to day till February 1, 

 when officers were chosen, and refused to bal- 

 lot upon the senatorship at all till February 15. 

 On the 14th, a Republican caucus renominated 

 Senator Sewall, but he, too, was unable to com- 

 mand the united support of his party. When, 

 therefore, after separate balloting on the 15th, 

 a joint convention was held on the 16th, it was 



