The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-03-04

The NEW POLICE BuL-A POLITICAL TRICK
We publish in another part of this days paper,
the details Of the bill now before the Assembly
Committee on Cities and Villages, and which
was introduced early in the session, under the
promising title Of "a bill for the better organ
ization of the police of the city of New York;
A more fagitious attempt to perpetuate the
reign of party influences in our corporate
affairs, has never been disguised under the plea
of reformatory legislation. 1t is really too bad,
that after all our efforts to emancipate our
selves from the abuses that rendered our police
department disgrace and bye word amongst
civilized communities, endeavors should still
be made to interrupt the progress Of the imper-
feet reforms which we have had such hard
struggles to obtain, and to drag US back into
the slough Of political corruption. Every one
knows to what shameful uses the power of ap-
pointment formerly vested in the members of
the Board Of Aldermen was perverted. It made
Of this department mere political machine, in
the management Of which the public interests
were entirely lost sight Of and the public funds
diverted to the most unworthy purposes. The
object of the proposed bill is neither more
nor less than to restore to the Al.
dermen the patronage of which they,
were deprived by the system at present in
force. The only difference in it's mode of ope-
ration is, that instead of party influences being
brought to bear in direct manner, they will
be exercised through a circuitous channel. It
is, in short, fimsy compromise between the
open corruption of the old police system and
the affected purism which the necessities Of the
times have imposed upon the new Corporation.
When we took up this bill, we confess that
we expected to find in it some features of i'm
provement that would justify fresh legislation,
after SO brief an experience of the working of
the present system. Instead of that, it seeks to-
emasculate from the latter all that Is really
valuable and useful, without substituting
1or 1t any new principle calculated to carry
out the objects which its title processes One
OF the essential conditions of q properly
regulated police force is, that its direction
and control shall be centralized in az
lew hands as possible. That object has
been attained by divesting the Aldermen of
the power OF appointment, and combining it to
three commissioners Of character and RESPONSE
blhty-the Mayor, Recorder and City Judge
We are in position to Judge of the value of
these reforms from the greater unity and eff
cheney that have been impaired to the system,
and the Improvement visible in the class of per-
sons appointed as officers since these regulations
came into force. twill be sufficient condem-
nation OF the new bill to state that II proposes
to give the appointment of these commissioners
to the Board of Aldermen, in conjunction with
the civic officers above named and the Judges
OF the Superior Court. 1t is not difficult
to foresee what would be the result Of such
an arrangement. The Aldermen would soon
swamp the votes of their colleagues and
carry the election Of their own partizans az
Through them the whole Of
the appointments in the police force would be
rendered as subservient to their interests as
ever they were under the old regime; and il
would not be long before we would be AGAIN
saddled with the same crying abuses that
marked the era of political partizanship in our
police administration.
III there could be any doubt, after what we
nave just stated, that this bill is political
move, it would be removed by the clause which
seeks to effect indirectly what at different times
has been so hardly but Intellectually struggled
for by certain clique-namely, the removal Of :
The present Chief Of Police. BY one of the
clauses 1t is enacted that that functionarv shall
only hold Office until the 10th Of January, 1855