New-York daily tribune., 1857-04-24

ard inst ~ had lesi authority TO obtain u, means
to pay Mr.. LOsrt,cr.
Mr. IOwbsr thea applied u the Conmos Cocncil,
ard restaahoo pAS~ed in-trsotins thu Cosnse to
the Corporation 10 apply ~ the Leg !snre for IN act
authorizing tic hey9 Aldermen and Conmca,sy to
borrow the sum OF fSt 00H to pay for the land IN
question aod A IL supposed to ered mark 4 there
on. The Legislature adjourned ~hhost pas9ns u
act. Meantme the counsel o. Mr. Lovoer presen.s ~ :.
TO the Controller what he atrd 20 be decd OF ts;
land apmoved BY the Counsel of the Corporsasn'
which the Controller declined 10 accept.
Within a few days Mr.. Iowber h@ cominencea
legal proceedings the object OF Which Pfoossr ~,
compel the Controller to receive tho decd ana pr o'
the land the sum Of 1896 900. subject to back tsie'
asse.smenk. DC. -. .L...
Il, the rreoedinc part OF ths conmunicahon that por
tion Of the charter alone is alluded 70 d.h,,
power of the Controller in regard 70 mourning oeo''
ga;nt The Corporation when legal mean, are pre-
Tiou.y provided for dcharging those liabilities. by
referring to the 18th sec. OF The Chaner OF lo3o
,l he eep that the Common Council tself prohibited
from inouring liabilities unless there exists, at the
time legal provisions fOt dscharging those liabilities.
That section declsres az follows, viz
To- Cofnacn h,n,sI on tSe eqsat Of .hs
except anticipation OF tho Of the yes- Which .dh
loan shall be made unless authorized BY specI. Of
Without special not Of the Legislature authorizing
a loan or a tax, the Common Council and the Finance
Department do not possess the legal power OF proour
ing single dollar TO meet the demands OF Mr. Lowber
II has been suggeted that although the Common
Council is prohibited from borrowing the credit Of
the Corporation, unless authorized by special act Of
the Legislature yet that it may incur debts. II the
clear and explicit language of the Charters Of 1880 and
1912 before referred to- leaves any chance for doubt
that the author Of these Charters intended to prevent
the Common Council and the Finance Department
from creating debts without having previous provision
for her payment these doubts must be removed by
reference to the history OF those acs and the evils
~hich they were intended TO remedy.
At the time Of the adoption of the Charter Of 1880
Stephen Allen representative OF this city IN the
State Senate in his report TO that body he gave sum
may OF the provisions of the Charter and pointed
out the evils which these provisions intended to
remedy. Appended to this communication is
tract from Mr. Aliens report, marked A, Legislative
Dec. 3g2, OF 1880, vol. 4.
In the extract referred to, after aludng to Section
~ a. new provision and one intended TO prevent the
lavish and unnecessary expenditure Of the peoples 2
money he SAYS: "In 1925 the Corporation in
"debied for loans their bonds, Sll2 900; while in
1898 they had increased this debt to $3i3, 1900;
making an increase Of burden upon the city in three
years, by taxes and debt, of 1881 800"
Again Mr.. Allen says after declaring that no rcgu
lar appropriation is made for any object OF e1-
penditure whatever, particularly for the large
amounts disbursed in celebrations, parsdes and re-
freshmens, any inquiry entered into whether the
funds in existence in any way available for if
the money is wanted the bond Of the corporation will
always bring it, the whole real estate of the is
bound for the payment Of the debt An elucdaton of
this fact has been given in the comparison made by the
Committee Of the debt by bond between 1925 and
1873 The Committee have reason to believe, how
ever if the bill under consideration should pass into
law that check te7H BE- gireR 10 h.s cryng er $50
much and justly complained of by the people OF
New-York By the provision directing that appropria-
Ons shall be made for every object of expenditure,
together with the prohibition in the 18th section for
bidding the borrowing Of any money without the con-
sent OF the Legislature except in anticipation OF the
A. C. FLAGG. COotroI.r.