The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-12-29

now remains Tor Congress 10 give IL lie ana
being.
The Necessity OF Good Local Govcrnment-
Cur Municipal Triumvirste.
Fernando Wood, the Mayor elect, and Judge
Greene C. Bronson. Corporation Counsel, yes
terday took the oath of office, which was adj
ntinistered to them by Mayor Tiemann, in the
City Hall. On Monday next these gentleman
will assume the functions of their respective
Offices the recently elected Common Council
will assemble, and a new order of thugs in our
municipal government will be inaugurated.
Whether the result of the combined labors of
the several departments will develope a better
or wore state Of affairs, is a question which
can only be solved by the experience of the
coming year.
The taxes of this city for the present. year
amount to between tie and eleven millions.
thirty years ago the expenses Of the whole
federal government did not amount to much
more. In wealth, commerce. and all the ele-
gancies and redncments Of life, New York, With
its population of nearly million, has no
equal upon this continent 1t has grown to be
great empire, and its government mighty
machine, demanding wise heads, firm hearts,
and mature judgments to direct it. All these
qualifications We have in the three leading exc
cutive otficers-Messrs. Wood, Haws and Bron-
son, the Mayor, Comptroller and Corporation
Council; but it remains for the Legislature to
clothe these men with such authority US may
enable them efficiently to perform their duties
Under the present charter this able trinmvirate
is comparatively powerless, and the city gov
eminent is left at tho mercy Of an ignorant and
degraded Common Council, composed of indi-
viduals of the worst class, many Of whom are
known to be expert in dipping into the treasury,
and nearly all of whom are influenced by the
basest motives.
In view of the important rank which this
great metropolis has acquired in the republic
its vast commercial interests, its growing popu-
lation. and the influence it exercises upon the
whole Union, it behooves the Legislature, as
one ofits first acts, to amend the city charter
so as to place complete executive power in the
hands of the Mayor, the Comptroller AMI the
Counsel of the Corporation.
positions for the coming year NC have men OF
mark in the community, with rcpntations and
positions to sustain. The eyes of the whole
public will be upon them, and they will be
held responsible for the administration Of their
respective departments. In the members Of
the Common Council, on the contrary, we have
a set of men whom no one kaows, who have no
~ b. o,;0 Nd
are not deferred by fear of public Reproduction,
or anything else, from using their power most
unscrupulously for their own exclusive benefit
and, moreover, who have not the capacity, even
if they possessed the honesty, to exercise the
executive functions entrusted to them.
The powers of such Common Council
should be restricted to its legislative duties
merely; they should be confined to passing or
dinanccs for the government Of the city, and
should not embrace the making Of contracts
nor the confirmation Of officials. These mat
tiers belong properly to the chief executive Of
ficers; and SO long as we have such o munich
pal triumvirate as Wood, Haws and Bronson to
administer the government, clothed with suiii-
cient power and untrammeled by the action
of an inefficient and corrupt local Legislature,
there is very little doubt but that the abuses
which for years have disgraced this city will
be diminished If the incoming Legislature
will only amend the charter in the manner
which the exigencies OF the times demand,
we may expect TO see healthy economical
| local government in this great metropolis at
last We hope, therefore, that upon the as
sembling Of the Legislature at Albany they
will at once give their attention to this impor-
| tant matter.
| The Comptroller has reported considerable
reduction in the estimates Of next years ex-
penditures; but though that fact may seem
somewhat cheering, it is in reality no matter Of
consequence, because a corrupt Common Coun-
Gil can, and certainly will, increase the amount
by q couple Of millions when the levy comes
to be voted on. What is absolutely required
is Independent authority in the hands Of the
chief executive officers TO check corruption
| put stop to jobbing, and compel an honest
disbursement Of the pnblic moneys. Without
that-which only an amended charter can give
us-we may hope for no reform in the munich
pal government
Mr.. BUCHANAN AND TIE HARpER's FERRY Ar
FAIR.-The calm, patriotic and conci liatory APP
peal Of the Presidents Message in connection
with the late Harper's Ferry outrage and the ex-
listing terrible sectional excitement on the sla-
very question, is winning golden opinions from
all sorts Of men. Had Mr. Buchanan been dis
l