The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-05-31

L lno Oemt1oA fouR SOO
The Central Park Commissioners win meet
this evening to decide upon the plan for the
Park. Mr.. Olmstesd's design, to which the
first prize was awarded, is, it appears, to be
modified and amended 70 q certain extent. to
suit the views Of the majority of the Commits
sioners From the way the affairs of this Com
mission have been managed from the begin
ming. there is no reason to expect that We will
ever have such park as we require. The ma
jority Of the Commissioners are political par
tizans, and they have been using their powers for
party purposes In point of taste and know
ledge of the work they have undertaken they
| are mere boobies, who know nothing at ell about
laying out park, and they have appointed
man to carry it out who, we are told, is good
farmer but he is no more. He IL not an engi
Deer, nor landscape gardener; he might be
competent to lay out farm of forty acres, but
| it Is evident he is not able to lay out park
His plan Is open to multitude of objections.
Such as it is the design is not original but is
mere miruns gathrrm of other plsns-the princi
pal points in II being taken from the original
one Of Mr.. Viele-aDd put together without
AAoSA t"oeO Va .PAVRtASV' IN VIZ uuos P'oVc,
much of it is impracticable. For example. it is
the opinion Of many competent engineers that
the proposed tunnelling cannot be accomplish
ed, owing to the friable nature Of the rock.
Again, the sunken transverse roads would
be mere canals, filed with water in
rainy weather, and blocked up with snow
in winter. Then the main entrance should
no af tho Of Eiftu.uipth
and Eighth avenue, just where Broadway inter
sects that avenue, and where its effect would be
most imposing, not few hundred yards from the
corner of Fifth avenue, where it is located in
this plan. 1t is proposed to lay the walks for
pedestrians alongside of the principal carriage
drive; whereas they should be far removed
but in sight Of it--in order to insure comfort
placed directly opposite to Seventh and Sixth
avenues and not a little to the right or left of
them, as they are here. Then we have shaded
| promenade of quarter of mile only, where
there should be one the whole, or nearly the
whole length of the park. In the London
parks and in the Bots de Boulogue there are
places specially set apart for horsemen, on soft
ground, suited for that purpose; in the Central
Park, as here designed, there is no provision for
any such thing; horsemen and horsewomen,
carriages and wagons will be all mixed up
| together in the one drive. Another great want
| in the plan the Commissioners have selected Is
that of some place of general assembling, where
every one could unite, people in carriages, on
horseback, and on foot-some point of junction
for all the roads; and this should be at the
rising ground near Manhattanville.
Many other objections might be urged to this
plan, but we suppose 1t would be only expend-
ing 20 many words for nothing if we were to put
them forward; for the whole affair is political
job, and the partisan views of the majority will
most likely be carried out, regardless Of the will
of the people, who are interested in having
good park, and whose money is to pay for it.
II will cost millions of money, and Heaven
knows how many years. to make park Of it at
all under the present regime, and it is pretty
clear that it will never be what is required.
With the exception perhaps of Mr.. Belmont
and Mr.. Dillon none Of the Commissioners know
anything about public parks; and 1t is q Gu.
rious fact that only one of the black republican
majority out of the six is a resident Of this
county. Mr.. Gray resides in Richmond county;
Elliott in New Haven, Connecticut Butter
worth In Westchester county; Strong in West
chester county, and Russell half the year in
Newport, Rhode Island These are the men
who are TO superintend the most important pub
lie work ever undertaken for the benefit of the
citizens of New York. The statements Of one
Of their own body-Mr. Fields-which were
published in the HERALD q few days ago, prove
that partisan motives influence the majority In
selecting the plan which received the first prize
When the non-partisan minority-Messrs Bel.
mont Fields, Hutchins and discovered
that the majority had fixed upon plan in eau
GUS and that q partisan chairman was deter
mined to rule out of order all discussion of its
defects, they naturally considered that the ori.
ginal plan of Mr.. Vielc was withdrawn from
the sham competition, knowing that II was re-
solved to make the first prize q political one,
and presumipg that be would not accept the
second, and therefore they did not vote for 1t.
In their future action, the removal Of viele
and the appointment of Olmstead as "archi-
tectin-chief," the majority had II all their own
way, as Mr. Fields shows, by meeting at an hour
when they knew that those opposed to them
could not be present; but who nevertheless
took the first opportunity to record their votes
against the partisan action of the black repub-
lican majority. The facts speak for themselves.
The whole business is a corrupt political job
another fine specimen Of Albany legislation for
the government Of New York.
LEGISLATIVE SPECTIAToRs-The recent in.