New-York daily tribune., 1857-04-15
THE BRLoOkLFN FERRIES.
Ut,NNELING or THE EAST RIVER.

waiting the depo-it Of the Telegraph wires Scross h
bed of 'he Atlantic. need not be ucroduous et III,
possibility Of "a 'n6PoahzC railroad from this cSy Il
Brooklyn, or even the more importing structure o. q
bridge upon wires attached to colossal pyramids cd
! either side the water.
But while we are looking for eoBrN a ma,ion. il
the distant future Of some such nssgni6csst paa we
are still far 'cipi0a in nSuis to ~ Obliged
TO iok a the present state Of thing. and prov ide n
| some imperfect degree. with such materiaS We
have. for our present conyesience. Cntil, tsu. wy
| have pathway by bridge or tunnel we shall ks CON-
Ielled 10 deIeud ur0n the accommodates afcSaed By
ferries ard 70 ondeaNor 10 have them 30 reguyred as
| 10 yield the greatest possible use.
EaIiy IN the present session of the Legisii itGe bill
Was nodaced into the Assembly for the silsts ~ OF
the ferries 90 The East River whi-h rtiesres' ~
the Committee on Commerce and Navigation As~.
than fwo moiihs since memorials Or the p ssege N
that or similar aw signed by msny thousau 3 Ut the
citizens Of BrooE,yn, presented aud duly tfefreC
| TO tie samo Conaittee Noremonsrance aga srt the
passage M the law has been presented Yet the Com
mee haze withheld the hi from the Rouse s.dstili
withhold H. For rhat public advau, 4,e they have
done So OF by what Considerations they have been
influenced j. an inc airy We have the risht 10 mskr.
AL the opposition has come from the Union Fcrry
Company; vi they hsye proposed no mo hfcation II
Tire BILL ay substitute tor IT, BY thea acts IN y
have asserted immunity from all restraint by law ~
usge; and If w at they have done s law iu thcnthey
have unrestricted license ~ make what changes they
please and this n what understand they ella n They
have proposed nothing. ardthey will agree to so,hing
think | am stating the issue within the stric s limit
Of yuracy and shall willingly BE- corrected i'll have
in the slightest degree miSstated il.
What argument then have they used which lss had
such potent influence with thsEOmmittee ThV. only
argument openly insisted upon, 80 Tar as am advised.
is that the Directors NJ the Company Of high
respesabity, and Will manage the Ferries rgh. If
they left 10 do il in their way In other words,
the Directors understaNd the wants of the cizer ot
Brooklsn better than those citizens do themselves
better than the Legislature can be made to understand
th,m-and if they can be only allowed to take, or
rather keep the control OF all the Ferries between
Ncw-York. and In manage them without any legal re-
siciion and without any sort of accountability, things
will be mach better done than ii should undertake
TO define rights and duties by Law.
This argument | take il, cannot however have
been the one by which the Committee deter
mined nnsmuch they had no night TO consider il at
all. Ii their business as Members OF the Legis-
.ature 10 make laws, and not by Star Chamber pre-
negative grant dispensaiion from law to any man or
set OF mfn.
This seems to have been the view of the Assembly
itself for not long since res,a uton was unanimously
adopted requiring the Committee to report without
further delay. This resolution has. however, been
unhe ded and instead of an for the neglect to
comply with equsitOn, We have had only upon
question of privilege, some of the members OF the
committee having been moved into yiltuous indigna
tion by some comments IN the newspaper upon the
extraordinary course of the committee. The ofense
seemed to consist in intmaon that the committee,
0r sCms members of II. amogg whom was specified
Mr. Iianiord of Brooklyn, were opposed to the bill.
But without informing the House whether the charge
true MIR Hanord pronounced the writer only
worthy contempt This appears to have equared al
accounts. The in, ASTON OF privilege has merged the
whole subject of the bill, which has thenceortb been
left in oblivion together with the resolution Of the
House and Mr. Iianford now look round him in
the Assembly with the satisfaction of having vndi-
Gated his pjur,d innocence and challenge any MEM
Der of the House to say he has not fully discharged
his duty as q member OF the committee.
There if the Assembly itself shall not otherwise de-
teimnc the subject will have To rest To the end OF this
session; but, perhaps, the constituents OF Mr. aniord
may take the liberty to inquire after his return, what,
after all was the particular reason that the bill wss
not reported. IL matter of public notoriety that the
majority of the Committee were from the interior ot
the State aud that il was LETT 10 the local members,
that is To saw to Sluyter of Ncw-York and Mr. Han
ford of Brooklyn, to decide upon the merits OF the bill.
ard il il undenable that if those two gentlemen had
agreed that the bill ought To have been reported either
in it, original form with notifications, the rest OF
the Con nitt,e would have concuTed. That one Of
the must have objected is therefore equally unde-
niabe-which of them, il is not for me to sete-but
know that the citizens OF Brooklyn VIII be likely to re-
quire from their representative satisfactory evil
dcnce that he was not the person to whom they owe
the defeat of the bill.
occurred to Others. There is nm evident apprehep-
sion in some quarter of impending public indignation.
that perhaps the citizens OF Brooklyn will not submit
tn be handed over TO the Union Ferry Company
to be dealt with that respectable body corporation
shall in its discretion think proper. That they may
on the other hand, claim that the daily convenience
Of the immense population Of Brooklyn, lncluahhg
many thousands Of merchants and mechanics, whose
business les in New-Yoik, and who Gre among tho
most respectable of the businessmen Of that city,
are a. capable of Judging what facilities they
ought TO have the " highly respectable" Di-
reotors Of the Union Ferry Company are to judge
for them.
Whether in view of some such forecaste for what
other shall not presume 10 decide, PROPOSE
tion has been introduced into the Assembly, unasked
by the citizens Of Brooklyn, far ~ know for the
tauneiing n The East Rtrer And, as If to insure dis
patch, this gigantic prGect Is committed TO the two
members Of the Committee Of Commerce and Navi-
CATION who have exhibited such swift haste in the
matter Of the ferries viz, MessrS. Sipyter and Han
tord.
only fnb 10 ne qkaie2 What motives may have
induced the presentation of this PROPOSAL is not for
TO say, would intimate augh dlsrespectiui TO
the Assembly to ts action i'll relation thereto but It
needs little sagacty to oresee that the only practical
result of the proposed measure WILL for long time to
cone be simply it, in cOunteractOn OF the indlg
nan feeling likely TO grow out OF the disposition OF the
Feny bill. 1t may serve to divert pubic attention
solnew bat from the question by what means bill de-
manded by tue whole body Of tue citizens Of Brooklyn
has beeu :uppiesse;, ~ Committee anu NOT suffered 10
get before the Legislature for disscusson II may be
talked about till the urgency Of the Ferry question u
aayed, until the present lease OF the Union Ferry
Company shall have expired But trust the eitzens
of BIooklyn will not allow their just demands W DC
superseded by any such chimtrd,
do not mean by that term to intimate that the
project il impraccabe, but only the present use OF
tLe proposition; | believe, on the contrary that az
zone future time il may be accomplished. Butit ought
not in any view, to interfere with the settlement oi
present practical question To the Use Of the Fe1es
Nor ought we to lose sight Of the issue which -
now made between the Union Ferry Company and the
citizens of BROOKLYN which is whether that Company
hall have the liberty OF managing the Ferries WIN
cut any law to regulate them. II is grayer question:
and one which appeals to the moral sense OF every
man whether legislation can be sthed by the man
| ,C,r mo nj ot set q II