The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-04-21

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lection.
THE END OF GOVERNMENT BY THE
PEOPLE" IN NEW YORK.
FToTt the ~ Y. Times.
It will take the respectable members of this
community some little time to realize how
completely the legislation of the last few
days at Albany has deprived them of every
vestige of the rights of freemen. "We have
our votes at least, say the simple souls who
have not fathomed the mystery of the iniqui-
ties Of the ring. But of what use are votes
when there is q new Election law, Just
signed, expressly framed to make repeating
easy, and place fraudulent counting beyond
the possibility of outside interference--when
there is a Registry law which abolishes
the interval between the closing of the
books of registration and the opening of
the election, and which, by allowing any man
TO swear in his vote, although not regis
tered, removes the last slender barrier we
possessed against wholesale frauds? Yet
even with this firm basis of power, the ring
are not content. 1t was barely possible that
even popular election, so regulated, might
be a little capricious. Even Democratic pri-
maries have their periods of insubordination,
and so the process of popular disfranchise-
ment has been carried further. Any officials
whose permanence is of the slightest conse-
pointed, not elected. First, there is the
Controller of ''slippery" reputation and
vellous power of cooking the records of
stupendous swindles; the new charter
of April last did not seek to deprive the
people of their share in his appointment.
The amendments which have just passed
the Legislature make him q nominee of
the Mayor. Then the Corporation Counsel, of
whom the original charter said:--''He shall
be elected at a general election, and hold his
Office for four years, has now been made
directly dependent on the Ring, to whom his
services in Broadway widening and other jobs
have proved so valuable. The nominating
power of the Mayor is also increased by the
enlargement of the Fire Department and of
the Department of Public Charities, by the
withdrawal from the people of the power of
electing trustees of the public schools, and by
the transfer to him of the appointment Of
school inspectors.
Any officials who still, nominally, derive
their authority from the people are to be
made mere recording agents of the acts of
the four men who have been constituted
absolutely our masters But, preparatory to
this regime being put in force, provision is
made for continuing the present Board of
Aldermen long enough to render them per-
fectly at home in their new position of ''dum-
mics, for which, il must be confessed, they
are admirably adapted. The charter Of last
year promised MS an election for Aldermen
'in the year 1871 - the charter as
amended confirms the present incum-
bents in Office till ''the first Monday
in January which will be in the
year 1878, leaving the next ''popular" choice
to be made at the State election of 1872, and
giving the Mayor the power of filling any
vacancies that may occur in the interval.
AS is now pretty well known, "the Mayor,
Controller, Commissioner of Public Works,
and the President of the Department of
Public Parks, have received absolute power
ito make and agree upon the estimates of
the various sums of money which in their
discretion shall be required to meet our
municipal expenditure" The Board Of Su-
peryisors have simply to accept the amount
which the ring Ohgsrohs agree upon, and
cause 1t to be raised and collected accord
iRgly.
Not content with this very sweeping pre-
rogative, however, the Imperial quartette re-
appear with the addition to their number of
the Tax Commissioner and the Corporation
| counsel, under the title of f'the Board of
/ Street Opening and improvements" These
! are to replace the existing Board of Street
! Opening, and are endowed with prerogatives
/ which are simply monstrous. With that
| part of the city lying south of Fifty-ninth
street this board is authorized and EN-.
/ powered" TO do simply what they please, OF
as the amended charter euphemistically puts
/ il, ''to alter the plan of New York
City, whenever they may deem it for the
! public interest so to do" They can close
streets and avenues when and where they
''may deem it expedient SO to do" aud they
may open, widen or straighten them
entirely at their own discretiOn-f need be,
for their own purposes, and as a certain re,
suit, in utter contempt of the rights of pro.
perty- holders, and with thorough disregard
of the claims of taxpayers. The charter
amendments, while they mainly provide fol
the picking up OF fortunes on Broadway by the
members of the ring, do not neglect the
Bowery pennies, which, according to the
WOfld, were seized with equal readiness by
Tweeds receptive trunk. Instead of com