The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-05-23

"osiinB !" any longer
The Proposed Sale Of the Pablo Property.
The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund have
taken into consideration the proposition OF
Comptroller Connolly to sell at public auction
the markets, piers, wharves and slips, and all
the unproductive real estate belonging to the
city, and to apply the proceeds towards the
payment Of the public debt At meeting
held on Tuesday last they referred the whole
subject to Q committee of their body, with in
struchOns to report on Tuesday next. They
also adopted . series Of resolutions requesting
the Comptroller to report at that time the
amount Of rent for piers, wharves and slips
due to the Corporation, and withheld by the
lessees on the ground that the city has failed to
put the property in proper repair, in con-
| formity with the clause in the Brennan leases
directing that officer to appoint three compe-
tent persons to report forthwith upon the con-
dition of the piers, wharves and slips, and the
| amount which will be required to put them
in thorough repair, and inviting meeting OF
I citizens interested in the question, to be held
ut the hall of the Chamber Of Commerce at an
early day, to consider the question Of their
| sale.
| AS these are matters of much moment to
our commercial men and taxpayers, it is to be
| hoped that the invitation of the Commissioners
of the Sinking Fund will meet with an effective
response. 1t has been charged upon the bust
| ness and responsible portion of the community
that, while they deplore the corruption of the
| city government and the heavy taxation it
causes, they neglect the power that they pos
| sess to protect themselves and secure reform
!, by combination against the corruptionists.
They have now an opportunity to accomplish
some good. The Comptroller points out to
| them the fact that the markets are of no profit
| to the city treasury and of no benefit to the
people that. on the contrary, the political
leeches fastened upon them more than absorb
all the rents they bring in, and that they are
grossly neglected and disgrace to the city.
He shows them that q large amount of real
estate belonging to the city is leased out to the
associates Of the Corporation rings at mere
nominal rents which, if sold, would yield
enough to pay q considerable portion Of the
public debt and save the taxpayers six per
IL.
piers, wharves and slips are in an unsafe and
ruinous condition; that they are on expense 10
the city and at the same time injurious to the
commerce of the port. He has already sold a
portion Of the city real estate Tor some eight
hundred thousand dollars, the leases OF waich
were mainly in the hands of the hangers-on OF
the old Street Commissioners Department, sad
from which the city was deriving merely
nominal income. i.g
There may be considerations against selling
the piers, wharves and slips; but there can be
no question that If retained IN the hands Of the
city they should be properly repaired and
leased at rents sufficient TO prevent them from
being any burden TO the taxpayers. Hitherto
they have been as much q source Of bargain
aud corruption as any other portion of the
city property. There are sOms who believe
that if sold in their present condition they
would not realize their real value. and that
che purchasers. instead of putting them in re-
pair, would patch them up just sufficiently to
enable them to land goods upon them and
make all the money they could out Of the
wharfage. II must be remembered that dock
much wharfage a. one that costs one hundred
thousand dollars provided it can accommodate
an equal number of vessels On this consid-
Grafton many are inclined to believe that If the
city should repair the public piers and
wharves and dispose of the leases honestly,
without fraud and collision, with fairly
remunsrative rate of wharfage authorized
~ r eli
amount Of rent not only sufficient to meet the
interest on the present outlay and the cost
Of future repairs, but to lay by q
small amount to form sinking fund
for the eventual payment Of the debt
Of two or three million dollars which must
be incurred to put them in proper condition.
1t is argued, further, that the river fronts must
largely increase in value with the growth of
the commerce of the city, and that it would be
difficult for the most sanguine calculator to
overestimate the sum they will eventually be
worth. On the other hand, the advocates of
the sale contend that under private competi-
ton the docks and wharves are more likely to
be pat in a condition to meet the necessities
Of commerce; that they can never be made
remunerative in the hands Of the city, and that
the commerce of the port will always find
sufficient protection in the authority over the
rates of wharfage, &C.. vested in the State
l. ,gislature.
so far as the markets and the unproductive
real estate Of the city are concerned, there
| appears to be a general acquiescence in the
Comptroller's proposition for their sale. The
markets are disgrace to the city, and they
always have been and probably always will be
the prey OF the Corporation vultures. Let us
get rid Of them altogether, and let private
competition give us sufficient and handsome
markets. The taxpayers have been victimixed
enough in order to support the corruptions Of