New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-03-25

n. Eren;re Post, under tho title Of 10 choice
If alternatives" states some very good reasons
xby The appointment of the Commissioner OF the
Central Park ,hculd be confded TO the Governor Of
the State rather than TO the Mayor Of the CIg
But the best reason for the preference remains 70
be stated which is that the former is John A. King
and the latter il Fernando Wood-the one an hon.
cot man devoted to the welfare Of his native city
and the honor of the State, tho other scamp who,
without either private or public reputation, seeks
10 sustain himself BY the most shameless abuse Of
bis public patronage. tmay Be very well 10 carry
cut theory when facts and circumstances will JUS
tfy its application. If the Presidential vote of
last Autumn had borne into the ofice of Mayor .
man decently ct for the station, the power Of ap-
pointing local officers would have been given 10 him
BY general consent; but in the very face Of eur ex-
perience, TO give this power to . minority Mayor,
who succeeded in defeating the popular viii only BY
reason Of the multiplicity Of candidates opposed to
him. would be both stupid and criminal. We Are
not left merely to conjecture from the character Of
Wood what would be bis policy and his appoint
ments in case the Legislature were 90 foolish Is to
give him the power. He il and has been with bic
confederate Taylor, the Street Commissioner,
Commissioner of tho Central Park, BY virtue Of an
ordinance Of the Common Council, passed last July
BY the joint action Of the Democrats and Know
Nothines in each Board. This ordinance was adopted
simply as temporary measure prior to the action Of
the Legislature this Winter, and for the object Of
making surveys of the Land and inviting plans for
the Park which might be useful to the permanent
Commissioners, whom the Legislature should au-
thorize to be appointed. To defray the expenses
of this simple work. the ordinance appropriated the
rents which might be derived from leasing the
buildings within the Park during the present year,
which could not exceed Eve thousand dollars.
Immediately after the ordinance was passed, it was
discovered that this appropriation was Illegal the
act of 1874 having devoted to tho Commissioner
of the Sinking Fund the rents Of all public lands.
Wood and Taylor, ss Commissioners of the Park,
were thereby Left without dollar to defray any
expenses whatever and they were prohibited, un-
der their oath of Office, from mourning any expense,
because, by tho Goth section Of the Amended Char
ter of 1s49, it is specially provided that "no ex
"pense shall be incurred by any of the Depart
" mepts OF officers of the Corporation, whether the
"defect of expenditures shall have been ordered
sby the Common Council or not unless
ian appropriation shall have been previously
"made concerning such expense" This prohbi.
ton is so plain that no one can fail to understand
it. Did Wood obey it He desired to be ncmi.
mated for Governor and failing in that, to be re-
nominated for Mayor, and finding that patronage
was necessary to secure the object of bis ambition,
be determined to xssp it in defiance of the Charter
and of his oath of office. Men were appointed to
fill imaginary offices at an expense of sirty thousand
dollars a year, 90 that on the LIST Of January last
bills were presented against the city for salaries
alone for the last elk months amounting to the sum
of 500, sec AZ. The items were as follows: