The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-01-09
Municipal ReEorm-A Scheme OF Government
That VIII Work Well.

Municipal Reform-A Scheme or Government
That VIII Work Well.
We see that the principle of responsible
government in our municipal affairs is fast &C
curing advocates amongst our city contempt
raries The party cooking and tinkering which
were to have provided remedies for the abuses
ofthe existing system having failed, it is now
conceded that some other plan must be resorted
| to. To persevere in course which must
eventuate in bankruptcy and disgrace is
prospect too humiliating even for some of the
black republicans 1t is only those who live out
of The laxness and corruption of the present sys-
tenn that venture openly to uphold it. If party
organizations can only be brought to repudiate
it, there is hope that the reforms which we
have so repeatedly urged will be adopted by the
general sense of the community.
We have always contended that the only
true model for our municipal administration is
that of the national government. There we
find the representative principle carried out in
its highest perfection; for, with all the
abuses incident to it, there is no other
system which can be said to give so
much satisfaction to those who live under it,
1t is this form of government which prevails in
all the great European cities; for whatever
changes have been effected from time to time in
the imperial systems, the municipalities have al
ways chung with attachment to their charters,
convinced that in them they had not only a
guarantee for good government, but bulwark
against the encroachments of despotism. Under
these they have thriven and grown into powerful
bodies enjoying the largest amount of protec-
ton for the smallest relative amount of taxation,
and welding all the political influence to which
such an aggregation of wealth and intelligence is
entitled Contrast their position with that of the
citizen of New York at the present day. Taxed
| enormously, we cannot boast of the ordinary
protection for life and property which is possessed
by the inhabitants of the remotest rural districts of
Great Britain or the Continent. Our streets are
as insecure as the Calabrian highways and our
revenues are expended more profigately than
those Of any Italian or German despot. We
| have all the abuses and vices Of delegated
| authority, under the worst monarchical systems,
without the unity and force which constitute
their strength. Our municipal departments
! being Independent of all central control, and
| under the sway of the lowest and most corrupt
class of politicians, it is evident that there can
never be either harmony Of action or proper
sense of responsibility in the general working of
| the system. Each official thinks and acts for
himself; and the result is that we are at once the
worst governed and the most heavily taxed
community in the world.
The only remedy for this state of things is the
Capitalization of authority to as great an extent
as is consistent with representative institutions
We would give to the Boards of Aldermen and
Common Councilmen, relatively speaking, all the
powers and attributes which belong to the ma
tional Senate and the House of Representatives.
In the Mayor we would centre the responsibility
of all corporate appointments from the heads of
| departments down to the lowest employee, sub
ject of course to the ratification of the Board Of
! Aldermen. We see no reason why the
powers which the nation thinks fit to
vest in the President should be relatively less
| ample or more liable to abuse in the hands of a
mayor. Elected, as the latter is, by the general
suffrages of the citizens and accountable to them
for the conscientious fulilment of his duties, he
would stand in the same position as the national
executive with this difierence-that he would be
less pressed by party obligations. Experience of
the working of this plan would, we believe, show
| that political influences would have far less to
do with the choice of the Mayor than is the case
of the election of any other functionary, State Or
| federal. This fact once established, we have in
! it the basis of sound and efficient municipal
| system.
But there are other requirements called for to
impart to it the safeguards with which it is de-
srable TO invest it. 1t is not sufficient to have
responsible officers without removing from
| them all the temptations to corruption.
| AS long as there is chance of peculation
| escaping detection SO long must we ex-
| pect them to be liable to such influences.
In order to guard against them eHectually, we
would pay to all our corporate employees salaries
proportional to their responsibilities, and abolish
| the fee system altogether. Thus we would regu-
| late the salaries on q proper and economical
basis, and take away all the patronage of the
offices. The Corporation Counsel would, we
think, be well paid by salary of $4,000 year,
instead of the present enormous income, which
insures neither talent nor efficiency. The Sheriff
should also be paid by salary, instead Of fees,
$4,000 being as much as the incumbent of the
Office should receive. The County Clerk, whose
place is now worth fortune in one term of
the Office should have $4,000 or $4,000 per
| year, and no fees. On these three Offices
alone in patronage, fees and perquisites, the an
nual saving to the city would probably not be
less than 100000. If this principle were car
ried through, all the subordinate details of our
city administration, and the responsibility of all
appointments cast on the Mayor, we will answer
for it that the present burden of taxation would
be reduced by at least one-third. But it is less
for the purpose of efiecting reductions than to