The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-01-30

principal managers of the dominant party in
this State have been engaged in the details of
grand scheme to seize upon the spoils of this un-
fortunate city under the pretence Of reforming
its municipal affairs, which are in very bad
way. Meetings have been held in tavern parlors,
public officers have neglected their duties to
patch up police bills and rig out new charters,
until the whole matter has assumed the shape of
four printed bills, which were discharged last
week in the Assembly, bya member from the
rural districts who, having done his work. retired
into his former obscurity, with a strong proba-
biity of never getting out Of it.
The four bills now before the Assembly have
but one object in view. That object is briefly to
clutch the spoils of the city, to satisfy few
hungry country politicians and thus preserve the
dominant partys organizatiOn-for political
party that has nothing to give or to promise may
as well shut up shop at once. One of the bills is
proposed city charter, which is so crafty
drawn as to deprive the Mayor Of nearly all his
powers, while there is show to give him more.
The bill provides that the Comptroller shall be
elected by the people-that he shall be supreme
all bis bureaus, and otherwise being perfectly
independent of everything and everybody.
There is another bill, providing that all matter
appertaining to the police, the elections, street
cleaning, and the public health, shall be placed
in the hands of three Commissioners, to be ap-
pointed by the Governor of the State; another
gives the care of the Central Park into the hands
of similar commission; fourth disposes of the
new City Hall matter in like manner; so that
| everything is carved up in such manner
that some people who held Office would make
a nice thing of it, one way and another" while
the taxpayers of this city would be bled ia
| mously, Thurlow Weed and company holding the
bowl.
Suppose these bills should be put through the
Legislature under the whip of the majority, what
| will be the condition of this Inflated city? We
| shall have Mayor without executive power;
| Common Council with only the shadow Of legis-
lative power, and the government of the city
will be given over to three or four Boards of
Commissioners, in whose appointments the people
of this city will have no voice, and in whom by
consequence they will have no confidence. The
proposed charter makes a show of giving the
Mayor the appointment of the heads of depart
ments, while the most important departments
those of Finance, the Police, the Streets
and the Elections-are placed far be-
You'd his influence or that of any other citi-
zen, or the citizens generally, who certainly
ought TO have something to say about such mat
teis. There would be, then, the Mayor, with no
power; the Comptroller, irresponsible head of
one department.; the Police Commissioners, also
irresponsible; the Central Park Commissioners,
equally irresponsible; the City Hall Commission
| ers, likewise Independent of every consideration
except the spells, and the Fire Department, also
Irresponsible; so that the city would be ruled by
| twenty or thirty separate heads each altogether
| irresponsible.
The projectors Of these schemes know very
well that such state of things would be ten
| times worse than that We now labor under. Now
we suffer because the charter Of 1853 divided
the responsibility among several departments,
each Independent of the other. The reformers
would have us believe that the errors of this sys-
TEN may be done away with by renewing them
and adding TO their number. 1t needs no argu-
ment to show that the proposed charter, with the
other bills would plunge the city still further
into the slough Of misrule from which we are all
| anxious TO escape.
With regard to the bills accompanying the
charter, we call upon the Legislature to weigh
well their import. We do no not believe that the
people of this city are willing to give up their
constitutional privilege Of electing their rulers
We do not believe the people of this city arc
prepared to suffer the evils of which they now
complain. much less to have them made ten
| times worse by still further compcating the
| theory Of the government. If these bills become
laws we may as well have no charter elections
| no Mayor and no Aldermen The government Of
| the city, in almost all important points, will he
removed to the lobby at Albany, the members o
which lobby will wax fat on our misfortunes
| Fourteen or fifteen millions in year or 30 is
| pretty good slice, and one for which the hungry
country politicians will make desperate charge
We hope that there will be honest men enough 10
the Legislature to defeat them.
| Poor PTERcE's Policy IN CENTRAL AMERICA -
| WHAT NEXT While our democratic stcklers
for the consistency OF poor Pierce, if any, ate
| puzzlipg their brains TO account for his present
active anti fbustering, anti Walker proceedin a