CITY SCRIP TO PASS MILLION THIS WEEK
Tax Payments Redeem $610,000; County's $481, 000 Cut to $170,000

Camden city scrip issued since April 1, will reach more than $1,000,000 worth when the city meets its end-of-the-month payroll with a new issue of $220,000 this week for 1500 employees.

 County scrip since the first of April totals $481,000, according to County Treasurer J. Wesley Sell. Of that total, $311,000 has been re deemed. A new $25,000 county issue of scrip will be circulated this week in meeting the county payroll for 300 employees.

Of the city scrip, $610,000 already has been redeemed as taxes, according to records of City Comptroller Sidney P. McCord.

 City and county officials said they did not know how much longer they will be issuing scrip or when they would be in a position to announce a definite redemption date.

 The officials pointed out that through the issuance of scrip they have been able to meet current obligations and have averted payless paydays for city and county employees.

In addition to operating expenses, the city has to meet a total of $2,415,000 in bonds and interest due between July 1 and the end of the year. McCord said efforts are being made to have bondholders agree to refund these bonds to mature In later years, so that, along with scrip, the city will be able to conserve as much cash as possible. Cash conservation has been difficult, McCord said, because tax collections have been far below those in previous years.

 Asked whether the issuance of scrip will enable the city to conserve enough cash to meet the obligations, McCord said he did not know.

County bonds maturing this year total $330,000, but these are to be refunded for later maturity under a resolution adopted by the board of freeholders June 15 which also authorized the refunding of $2,352;000 worth of bonds maturing next year. Sell said the county will not default on any of its obligations,

 City Commissioner Harold W. Bennett, director of revenue and finance, said the end of June city payroll of $220,000 will be entirely in scrip, as wall the $48,000 mid-June payroll. It will be the last pay for city teachers until their return from vacation in September.

Bennett pointed out that one of the reasons scrip had to be resorted to was because the city could not borrow the money it needed to pay salaries and operate in anticipation of tax collections. The scrip, he said, conserves what cash the city receives to, meet debt items. Neither he nor McCord said he was free to reveal the amount of cash the City has on hand, nor the amount the city has received since April in proportion to scrip.

 McCord said he will not know until the end of the year what affect the issuance of scrip will have on the city's financial situation.

 "We won't know until we balance out books at, the close of the year," he said. "I do know that one of the advantages of scrip is that less of it has been issued than the city would have borrowed cash in the market, and so the city saves at least in interest charges.

 "Other than to keep the city going, I don't know what financial advantage scrip is to Camden, except perhaps for a saving in interest on loans we could not make. All I know is that scrip has enabled us to meet our payrolls; we don't have to borrow in the market, and we are conserving cash to meet our bonds, interest and other obligations when they come due. Cash receipts, how ever, are slow because of the slump in tax payments.

 "The only way I see for the city to be in a better financial position is for it to receive more of the taxes due it for this and previous years. Non-payment of taxes, with delinquencies enormous during the last few years, has been one of the main reasons the city had to go on scrip. Little money was coming in and we couldn't· borrow it as in former years. So the city had to issue the scrip, a promise to pay with interest. Otherwise it would have been unable to pay its employees and it would have had to default on bonds and interest. Scrip, therefore, has kept the city going and it has been able to meet all its bills as they fall due."   

Commissioner Bennett said prompter payment of taxes has been encouraged through the issuance of scrip. Taxpayers receiving it have redeemed it as taxes. In other cases, where they have cash, they have bought the scrip from others and used it to meet their debts to the city. Thus, he said the scrip has been kept in circulation and readily exchanged.

"Merchants of the city are to be commended for their co-operation," Bennett said. "They have received scrip since April for purchases made at their stores. In turn, they have met their taxes with the scrip offered by customers, many of whom have been doing their buying exclusively in Camden since circulation of scrip, thereby stimulating business here.

"In addition, various concerns and individuals have been buying up the city scrip for investment, saving it for redemption at a later date to profit by the interest it carries.

"Through scrip, city employees have been saved from going without food, clothing and other necessities. We have averted payless paydays, and we are better off than other cities, whose plight is much worse than that of Camden."

Camden Courier-Post - June 29, 1933

8 IN CAMDEN PASS STATE BAR TESTS
14 Others From South Jersey Given Right to Practice Law

Nine Camden law students and 14 others from South Jersey cities passed the April state bar examinations and may practice as attorneys in New Jersey.

That was announced at Trenton yesterday by Rue Brearley, secretary of the State Bar Examiners. Brearley stated that in the entire state, 206 students passed the tests. The counselor-at-law results were not announced.

Those in Camden were:

Howard G. Kulp, Jr., studying at the law offices of Carr and Carroll.

Norman Heine, law office .of his brother, Aaron Heine.

Louis L. Goldman, firm of Orlando and Kisselman.

Franklin. L. Deibert, offices of his brother, Edward R. Deibert.

Joseph Lipkin, offices of Judge Frank F. Neutze.

Stanley L. Bennett, law offices of his brother, City Commissioner Harold W. Bennett.

John F. Ruck, law offices of Walter S. Keown.

James D. Stockwell, law firm of Bleakly, Stockwell and Burling, of which his father, Henry F. Stockwell, is a member.

Bartholomew A. Sheehan, law offices of Walter S. Keown.

Camden Courier-Post  - June 29, 1933

Sunday Beer Here Is Up to Reesman As Four Rulers Split
Commissioner Says, However, He Awaits Public Sentiment
MOORE SIGNS ACT, NEW FEES FIXED
Stewart and Bennett Against, Hanna and Rhone For

 With four members of the city commission deadlocked on the is sue, Commissioner Clay W. Reesman last night appeared to hold in his hands the final decision as to whether Sunday beer sales will be permitted in Camden.

This was revealed when he announced that his deciding vote on the issue would ·be guided by a "sounding of public sentiment."

On April 26 Mayor Roy R. Stewart and Commissioner Harold W. Bennett declared they would vote against any resolution permitting Sunday sales, while Commissioners Frank B. Hanna and Dr. David S. Rhone declared they would favor such a resolution. Reesman asserted at that time that “it would be foolish for him to comment until the measure before the legislature becomes a law."

Measure Now Law

The state measure, which permits Sunday beer sales upon resolution of municipal bodies, became law yesterday when Governor A. Harry Moore signed it. The bill, primarily, extends the state temporary beer act until August 31.

When asked last night how he stood on the Sunday beer sale question in Camden, Reesman said:

"I can't state any opinion at this time, for I really have none. I want to sound public sentiment first. What ever the people want, that is the way I‘ll be guided," He added that he would be unable to say how much time would be required for him to arrive at an opinion. 

As soon as the city commission learned that the governor had approved the measure yesterday, it met in special session and adopted a resolution calling for an additional fee from Camden beer retailers for the extended period of two months.

At the same time. the Beverage Tax Division of the State Tax Department announced that all retailers of beer and wines must make tax payments by July 7 on all purchases  and sales of beer by them between April 7 and July 1.

Tax Experts Coming

To assist retailers in determining their tax liability representatives of the Beverage Tax Division will sit far one week, from July 1 to July 7, in seven South Jersey towns, as follows: Camden, Room 212, court house annex; Burlington, city hall; Bridgeton, court house, July 1 and 3 only; Atlantic City, Room 729, Guaranty Trust building; Gloucester City, clerk's office, city hall; Cape May Court House, court house, July 6 and 7 only; Salem, city hall, July 5 only;

Retailers who have purchased beverages from any source outside New Jersey will be subject to a tax of three cents a gallon if the tax has not already been paid by the manufacturer or distributor.

Mayor Stewart, in expressing his opinion on Sunday beer sales, declared it would have a bad effect on the community and its people, and that employees of restaurants and inns were entitled to a day of rest as other workers.

Commissioner Bennett declared sale of the beverage would not help observance of the Sabbath. Commissioners Hanna and Rhone took the view that Congress had legislated 3.2 percent beer as non-intoxicating, and that it was therefore as equally non-intoxicating on Sunday as any other day, and that its sale would make little difference.

New Fees Cited

The Beverage Tax Division also pointed, out yesterday that the extension beverage act require manufacturers to pay an additional license fee of $400, and distributors an additional fee of $100 if their licenses are to be automatically extended. Security for the extended term must also be furnished and acceptable to the State Tax Commissioner.

Licenses for the extended period will be issued in South Jersey at the offices of Deputy Beverage Commissioners Frank B. Middleton, Jr., in Camden, at 130 North Broadway, and Frederick Stahle, 4105 Sunset Avenue, Atlantic City. 

Various South Jersey communities, following the lead of Camden, are expected to announce new additional fees far municipal licenses before a week has passed.

The city resolution provides that the additional fee must be paid to Frank S. Albright, city clerk, before tomorrow night, and that all the beer regulations adopted, by the city April 6 remain in “full force and effect."

Under the measure, according to Albright, distributors in the city that do not pay a state beer license must also pay an additional $50 fee.

Retail beer servers began paying their new fees shortly after the city commission passed the resolution.

In approving' the state measure, Governor Moore said:

"I am constrained to sign this temporary act, which expires .at midnight, August 31, because without it there would be no effective regulation whatsoever covering the manufacture and sale of beer. 

"Then too, each municipality must determine for itself by, resolution of its governing body whether the sale of beer shall be permittel1 after 1 p. m. an Sunday. Without such action, it cannot be legally sold."

The governor signed the measure at 12:30 p.m.

Before Moore reached his decision to approve the bill, it had been a question for several days whether he would veto it because it contained, no provision for a referendum on Sunday sales, as proposed by the Democratic legislators in Trenton.

Camden Courier-Post  - June 30, 1933

City Won't Rule on Sunday Beer Sales Unless People Demand
REESMAN TO DECIDE IF COMMISSIONERS OFFER RESOLUTION
Beverage Dispensers Will Discuss Question at Next Meeting
19 LICENSES ISSUED

 "The Camden City Commission will take no action on the Sunday beer sale question unless the people express a strong desire for Sunday beer."

This is the declaration made yesterday by Mayor Roy R. Stewart.

And not only are members of the city commission divided on the Sunday beer issue but saloonkeepers are themselves.

Fred J. Stuebing [owner of the Stag Cafe- PMC], president of the Camden County Beverage Dispensers' Association, revealed that some members of the association are against Sunday sales and some are in favor of it.

"We have not gone on record for or against Sunday sales." Stuebing said. “Some of our members are against it. The question will be brought up at our own meeting a week from today.

Wants His Day Off

"Personally, I would not want to keep my place open on Sunday afternoons. I want a day off after working all week. I might open up for a while Sunday evenings, though, if it were permitted."

In the event of a resolution being introduced in the city commission to permit Sunday sales after 1 p.m., the final decision would rest in the hands of Commissioner Clay W. Reesman since he has refused to commit himself on the issue, while Mayor Stewart and Commissioner Harold W. Bennett have announced against it, and Commissioners Frank B. Hanna and Dr. David S. Rhone have pronounced themselves in favor of it.

"I don't think there is any insistent demand for Sunday beer," said the mayor. "If there is, I haven't heard about it.

"Furthermore, I see no real reason for Sunday beer. In the so-called good old days before prohibition, saloons were closed on Sundays. Why should they be opened now?

"And as I said in a statement some time ago, the men and women employed in the retail beer business deserve a day off a week for recreation and worship just as any other workers .

"The City Commission will take no action unless the people express a strong desire for Sunday beer."

Owners Interviewed

There was a rumor in circulation yesterday that quite a number of Camden saloonkeepers had been "interviewed" by certain politicians on the Sunday sale situation.

"You don't want to sell beer on Sunday, do you?" is the question that is said to have been put to them. And it was put in such a way that a negative answer was expected, the rumor has it.

This report apparently is borne out by the attitude of Mayor Stewart. The mayor's statement came as a surprise particularly in view of the fact that Camden saloonkeepers recently contributed to a fund for the purpose of having the ban on bars removed and also to bring about Sunday sales.

Camden saloon and restaurant keepers have been complaining because the roadhouses in the suburban districts were permitted to sell beer on Sunday and that they also were allowed to remain open later that the closing time specified for similar places operated in the city limits.

These same Camden saloonkeepers also have complained about the political clubs within the city being permitted to remain open after the regular closing hours and also that they have been allowed to remain open on Sundays.

New Licenses Granted

Meanwhile, City Clerk Frank S. Albright yesterday announced approval of 19 new applications for retail beer licenses, bringing the total in the city to 239. Three new wholesale licenses also were sanctioned.

Following are the retail permits:

John Pennington, 818 Broadway; Salvatore Spitalore, 201 Royden Street; Samuel Friedenberg, 575 Van Hook Street; Fred Steubing, 318 Market Street; Frank Markiewicz, 673 Ferry Avenue; Matthew Orland, 3, 5, 7 and 9 Ferry Walk; Anthony Laskowski, 1200 Everett Street; Albert Ross, 1425 Mt. Ephraim Avenue; Samuel Hurwitz, 703 Chestnut Street; Clito Viviano, 522-524 Walnut Street; Harry Adams, 406 North Seventh Street; Daniel Cirucci, 305 Benson Street; Charles A. Bieri, 318 Kaighn Avenue; Max Kleinfeld, 101 Chestnut Street; John MacDougall, 839 Market Street; Alexander Wrightson, Southwest corner Ninth and Chestnut Streets; David Plasky, 2362 Broadway; Luigi Corda, 702 South Second Street, and Irving Cartin, 201 Mechanic Street.

Wholesalers: Camden County Beer Distributors, 1203 Chestnut Street; William Grams, 2101 Federal Street, and Justin Peterson, 511 Chelton Avenue.

CITY WILL CANCEL TAX PENALTIES IF PAID UP BY DEC. 1 Rulers Adopt Resolution Not to Charge Interest Prior to 1933
HUGE SUM EXPECTED

Property owners in Camden city will not have to pay interest or any penalty on delinquent taxes and other municipal levies if they meet them before next December 1.

That assurance was given in a resolution adopted yesterday afternoon by the city commission in special meeting.

The waiver of interest and other charges applies only to levies delinquent prior to this year, according to Commissioner Harold W. Bennett, sponsor of the resolution.

Bennett said the delinquencies of the years prior to 1933 total more than $4,000,000, on none of which the city will make extra charges if the bills are met before December 1.

Bennett explained that through the measure, the city is taking advantage of a recent act of the state legislature permitting municipalities to waive interest and penalties in the case of delinquencies. The state act was passed early in the year. Bennett explained that the city did not take earlier action because it was necessary to study the situation in detail to determine whether it would be advisable.

"The city commission has concluded that by waiving the interest and penalties on delinquent taxes and other municipal levies that every property owner will be given an equal opportunity to meet his overdue obligations to the city," Bennett said.

Asked if the city commission considered the new arrangement unfair to property owners who have been meeting delinquent taxes and paying the interest and penalties, Bennett said he and his colleagues did not, because the state act had not been passed last year.

"It the state legislature had pass ed the act last year, we would have adopted our measure then," Bennett said. "We seek to be fair to all concerned, and we feel that we have. The fairness of the new arrangement, we feel, overlaps anything that would seem unfair, but which in fact is not."

SUNDAY BEER PLEAS FACES TEST TODAY
Commissioners Deny Knowing Which Will Sponsor Ordinance

The Camden City Commission may consider a Sunday beer sale ordinance today.  

That was admitted last night by several members of the commission, although all claimed they had no idea who would advance the ordinance.

A conference of the commission is scheduled for noon, prior to today's regular meeting at 2:30 PM. It is believed that if an ordinance is to come up it will first be considered in caucus.

Request for Sunday beer was made in a resolution adopted unanimously by the Camden County Division of the New Jersey Licensed Beverage Association.

Proprietors of more than 60 of the city's leading establishments voted in favor of Sunday beer at the time the resolution was adopted, a week ago.

Copies of the resolution were sent to each member of the city commission. They pointed out that "several communities bordering Camden permit the sale of beer in Sundays."

Commissioners Frank B. Hanna and Dr. David S. Rhone are known to favor Sunday beer sales. Mayor Roy R. Stewart and Harold W. Bennett, director of finance, have expressed disapproval of it. Commissioner Clay W. Reesman has been straddling the issue. 

Camden Courier-Post * November 7, 1934

Camden Courier-Post - August 29, 1935

Camden Courier-Post - August 29, 1935

.... continued...

.... continued...

Albert S. Woodruff - Elizabeth C. Verga - Emma Hyland - Harry L. Maloney - Hotel Walt Whitman
Firmin Michel - Carl Kisselman - Mitchell H. Cohen - Edward V. Martino - John J. Crean 
Clay W. Reesman - William D. Sayrs - Pauline Caperoon - Abe Fuhrman - Harold W. Bennett 
Mary Kobus - George E. Brunner - Frank J. Hartmann Jr. - Frank T. Lloyd - Frederick von Nieda

THE EDITOR'S MAIL BAG

Praises Bennett and Wiggins

To the Editor:

Sir:- It is certainly gratifying to note the appointment of Dr. U. S. Wiggins on the advisory committee recently authorized by our city commissioners. Commissioner Bennett exemplified fair play in the naming of the doctor, in not forgetting the colored citizens of our town. He also showed good judgment as Dr. Wiggins is splendidly qualified to cope with problems that will confront the new committee.

The selection of a man of this type will, (or at least should) meet the approval of all of Camden's colored citizens. Dr. Wiggins by hard work has steadily forged to the front since coming North from the State of Georgia. Feeling qualified, he placed himself before the electorate of our city as an aspirant for the high office of city commissioner during the last campaign, withdrawing for reasons which he clearly stated by way of the press, radio and platform. It seems to me that he is logically the man of our racial group to have been named on this new committee.

Let us encourage Dr. Wiggins in every way possible as he functions, and not raise the familiar old cry that "somebody born in Camden should have been given the honor." Honor comes after hard work!

And so as one citizen of Camden I congratulate Commissioner Bennett for not forgetting the colored people and a host of women join with me in congratulations for Dr. Wiggins and in wishing him success.

MRS. WILDA ROBINSON TOWNSEND,
309 Washington Street
Camden, N. J..