COXIEST FOR PAEKWAYS COXTIXUED 199 



City Council was known. The Xewark Xews editorial the 

 day following on "The Inconsistency of the Orange Conn- 

 ciF' said: 'Tt is difficult to understand, on any ground of 

 public spirit or public policy, the refusal of the Orange 

 City Council to assent to the transfer of Central and Park 

 avenues to the care and control of the Park Commission/^ 

 and, after answering at length the claims of the Street 

 Committee, added: ^Tt would be easy to show the clumsy 

 inconsistency of the report and resolutions. It (the Street 

 Committee) proclaims that it knows no good reason why 

 those avenues should continue to be special wards of the 

 county, and just below expresses its satisfaction with their 

 maintenance at the general county expense bv the free- 

 holders/' 



The Orange Chronicle said that the opposition had been 

 centered on Central avenue, "the latter being a possible 

 plum for a trolley line''; adding, ""Will some one who be- 

 lieves that the council did right please explain? The 

 action was taken without a single word of open debate, 

 and in the face of eloquent and able pleas by prominent 

 citizens. In language, the report of the Street Committee 

 is verbose, ambiguous, and involved in pessimistically im^ 

 pugning the Park Commission." 



The Journal also commented at length upon the coun- 

 cil's action, and said, among other things : "The Common 

 Council has thus placed the city in a false and embarrass- 

 ing position, which would be repudiated by its citizens if 

 they had the opportunity to express themselves on the sub- 

 ject at the polls." 



Counsel J. L. Munn, in a statement July 13, the day 

 after the council's refusal to make the transfer, no doubt 

 struck the kejmote of the whole situation, from his stand- 

 point, in saying, as reported in the Xews: "The root of 

 the matter is that the trolley company desires a franchise 

 on Central avenue, and there are many who favor it. Per- 

 haps, under the circumstances, it would not be best to 

 transfer Central avenue into a boulevard for pleasure ve- 

 hicles or bicycles. But that is simply one phase of the 



