New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-05-06
THE LICENSE BUREAU.

The transfer of the authority for granting
licenses for theaters, hackmen, junkshop-
ers, and various other pursuits, from the Com
mon Council to the Metropolitan Police Com
missioners, gives special interest at this time to
a subject which is at all times intimately COP
nected with the pockets of our tax-paying citi-
zens. The License Bureau paid last year into
the City treasury the sum of S72,G63 80 Among
the items which went to make up this amount
were 1926 public carts, at II each; 1000
wagons of vendors of fish and fruit,
at s. each; 903 express wagons, at s.
each 725 hackney coaches, licensed to solicit
custom upon the public streets, at s. each; $50
special or stable coaches, not required to be
numbered, Mt IS each 545 junk-carts and
boats, at 80 each 29l stages, at $50 each
720 dealers in second hand goods, at S25 each !;
1Oi emgIant boarding houses, at 80 each 90
intelligence Offices at $25 EACH 90 pawn offices,
at $50 each and $50 railroad cars, at $50 each.
What the revenue should have been from
these sources is quite another matter. There
is a discrepancy on the item of railroad ears,
which will I've found worth looking into. The
statute chapter relating to the licensing of city
cars provides that every two-horse car run
twenty -ffth-st shall pay into the City treas
ury $50 each annually for a license, the one
horse cars paying but S2j. Now, there are
upon the several City railroads 776
railroad cars, while, as stated above,
licenses are taken out for but $780, The
Second-ave. line runs 80 cars, the Third-ave.
$50, the Fourtl-ave. 50, the Sixth-ave. so, the
Seyenth-ave SO, the Eighth-ave. so, the Ninth
ave. %, the Hudson River 10, the Belt Road
100, the Bleecker-st. and Fulton Ferry 80, the
Forty-second and Grand-sts A, the East Broad
way and Battery A. and the COurtlandt and
Grand-st Ferries Is. The Sixth a.d Eighth
ave. lines license all of their cars, the Ninth
ave. licenses 20 of its %, and the Belt Road
licenses 80 of its 100 cars. The 71G cars in the
City should pay into the Treasury S3sS00;
they actually have paid $4,000, leaving
deficit of S20,S00 in this one item. The
ground of defense held by a part of the
delinquent companies is that their charters
had been obtained previous to the passage of
the act imposing the license-fee, and that
therefore they are exempt from its require
ments. The act is, however, positive that
leach and every passenger railroad car run
" ming in the City of NewYork q. shall
"pay," etc. But if these were valid reasons
why the license fee should not be paid, why
should the Belt Road pay fee for 80 of its
cars and decline TO do so for the remaining 20?
The amount due from the railroads does not
stop at the original licenSe-fec. Section ) OF
the act above quoted provides that for every
car run without the proper license, the proprle-
tors thereof shall be subject to n fine of 800,
to be collected by the Corporation Attorney
and paid into the city treasury. In accord
anoe with this distinct provision, Capt. Bracket
Of the Metropolitan Police last year made no
less than 1886 complaints against the several
whose unlicensed cars were running.
Had the $50 penalty been enforced by the
legal and judicial authorities in each of
these cases, there would have been paid
into the treasury the comfortable sum OF
3 AL 800 from this source alone. On the con-
irary, the daily reports OF violators OF the law
were quietly filed away, and not one dollar of
he fines was collected while of all the hack
men, Junk dealers, artdriyers, &c, against
whom complaints were entered by Capt, BrSck-