The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-12-31

busters; for imperative reasons OF internal as
well as external policy demand the extension of
our influence southwark.
The Mckinney Interests Again on the Stir
The Project OF Removing the City Hall
Up Town.
The partizans of the project for the
removal of the City Hall to Madison square
port for it. They are hawking about petit
ton for signature, to which some few persons
have been induced to append their names.
There are, of course, some to whom it is mat
ter of no consequence whether the city offices
are up town or down town. There are others to
whom park or a square is as much an object of
Indifference as was the primrose to Peter Bell.
These persons have no permanent interest in
the welfare and prosperity of the city, and they
are ready to sign this or any other petition that
may be presented to them, just for the fun of
the thing.
To the great body of our citizens, however,
the continued and persistent agitation of this
scheme is a matter of some Importance. 1t
shows that the interests that originally started
it are determined to strain every effort to &C
complish their ends; and judging from the sue
cess thus far of the influences that have been
brought to bear on the sale of the Park, we
must not count too confidently on our
means of defeating them Any scheme not
positively prohibited by statute can be
carried through our city Boards by the weight
Of personal influence Snd money; and if it were
seriously proposed to transport the City Hall to
Morrsania or to Spuyten Devil, we believe that
by proper engineering it could be effected. Pre-
posterous, therefore, as is the idea of removing
this building to Madison square, we are
compelled to treat it with the same gravity as
if its promoters were persons of unquestiona-
BILE honesty and public spirit.
II seems waste of time to repeat the objec
lions that we have so repeatedly offered to this
scheme. The idea Of mountaineering the pre-
sent generation in order to provide facilities for
posterity, is in the first place. so extravagantly
disinterested that il is difficult to sympathze
with it. In an age so practical and closely cal
culating as ours it is drawing somewhat largely
on our patriotism to require of us to provide for
Of century. In spite of all the nonsense
talked on the subject, that interval must elapse
before Madison square can become the central
point of the active business portion of the city.
1t il evident therefore. that this scheme of re.
moving the City Hall to that site can only be
the offspring of the cupidity Of up town specu-
lators
~ 1T Ill
to some point in that neighborhood to be desi
rable, why should the square itself be sacrificed
to such purpose? The same objections which
hold good to the erection Of fresh buildings on
the Park apply with equal force to that noble
area. These squares are as necessary to the con-
venience and ornamentation of our city as are
any of the public buildings with which they are
proposed to be encountered. As great arteries
Of ventilation, they are, in fact, infinitely more
important, and those who advocate their surren-
der are committing a much greater sin against
pos,erity than the Withholding facilities that
will only be required quarter of century
hence, and that can at any time be easily pur-
chased. These squares once destroyed can
never be replaced; and II would be Vandalism
without precedent in the history Of great cities
thus unnecessarily to sacrifice spots which
have been consecrated TO such healthful and
necessary progress. Such efforts are the
more outrageous when we know that sites
equally advantageous are TO he purchased tor
less than one quarter the value OF these parks.
whilst the clearance OF the former from their
present occupants would he great additional
benefit to the community
Instead of proceeding in so suicidal a course
that which should he done by the Corporation Is
10 purchase up the ground occupied by the Five
Points and to locate there all the public build
ings that could be brought within a common
centre. In the area included between Centre
street and the Bowery and between Bayard
and Chatham streets. accommodation could
easily be found not only for the City
Hall and Post Office. but for all the
courts, city, State and federal. The con-
centration of all these buildings would be an
immense public benefit; and p regards conve-
niencc Of site, We know no position that can
compare with it. There is this additional ad-
vantage in its selection-that IL could be pur-
chased for acomparatively small sum- less by at
least two-thirds than that Of the value OF the
Park or Madison square.
II these suggestions were carried out, and
the Park cleared Of every building that now
stands upon II, future generations would indeed
have reason TO thank us for the foresight with
which VIC bad cared for their comfort. Those
who, under the hollow pretence Of anxiety for
the public good, arc seeking to promote their
own selfish purposes by raising the value OF real
estate in particular localities, will not of course
relish our views. They are the only ones how
ever, which are consistent with the present and
prospective interests Of the community, at least
as far as we can Judge from the experience of
other cities.
KANaAs--C AnINEr LErTLRs-ACTING COVER