New-York tribune., 1871-01-19

MR. eTWEEDS Bill.
For period whereof the memory of this gen
Grafton finds no limit, the Annual Tax-Levy of
our City has been submitted (as by law required
To the Legislature for scrutiny, revision, and ap
proval; and 10 tax could be collected until
such approval had been duly recorded. Mr..
Tweed now proposes that, instead of this, Mr..
A Oakley Hall as Mayor, Mr.. Richard b. Con-
molly as Controller, Mr.. Peter b. Sweeny IA
President of the Central Park Commissioners,
and himself as autOcrat of the Department of
Public Works, and their successors in office
shall levy, assess, and collect such sums as
they may from time to time think proper.
In other days. under other auspices, we should
have regarded this as a most atrocious prOpO-
sition Our City's annual expenditures far
exceed those of the Federal Government
under John Quincy Adams forty-fve years
ago, and are more than twenty times greater
than they were when it was first deemed es-
sential that the Legislature should supervise
and limit them. There is no reason for then
subiecting our Tax-Levy to extra-Municipal
scrutiny that is not forty times as good
reason to-day.
And vet we make no opposition to Mr..
L
gard its passage with apathy if not cOmpla-
cency, for reasons very different from those
likely to be urged by its champions.
The revision of the Tax-Levy at Albany has
! degenerated into n cOrrupting, revolving farce.
It's approval by wholesale is simply question
! of How much7 If the bill as cOncOcted by
our masters of the Tammany Ring is not pal
| pably outrageous they run it through both
/ Houses at a moderate cost if its swindles are
| enormous and barefaced, they have to "come
down abundantly; but they never fail. And
! they are accustomed to smuggle into the Tax
! Levy alterations of our fundamental laws
| which ought not to pass, and which could not
| be passed, unless at great expense, if they
had to be considered and enacted indie
/ pendently Thus the Legislatures scrutiny
and enactment of the Tax-Levy, instead
! of protecting us against robbery, is rem
| dered the instrument and the facility of
new wrongs and abuses; while, since legislators
Of character, like Judge Miller OF Seneca, vote
! for any Levy that may be presented, on the
| plea that its authors are the honOred and
trusted functiOnaries of our City, whose dccis-
| ion in the premises should be final, the LegiS-
| lative scrutiny becomes mischevOus mock
cry. 1t rarely OF never secures any reform or
retrenchment: it simply enables the jobbers in
either Houseto sweat the Ring for few scores
of thousands, which they in turn steal from our
taxpayers, whose burdens are thus often in
creased, never lessened, by sending the Tax
Levy to Albany for revision.
Besides, we hate shams and like open deal
ing. Messrs. Tweed, Sweeny, Connolly and
Oakley Hail. are now the rulers of our City.
| Il
afford to pay them S1,O0O0OO per annum each
if they would accept that sum in full and
faithfully labor to protect us from other rob-
bers. AS things are, they hold primaries and
elect delegates, who go through the farce of
nominating candidates, when every one knows
that they are simply registering the edcts of
Tweed, Sweeny g. Co. The puppets move ex-
actly as the wires are pulled; but then they
expect pay for it, and that costs fearfuly
Give them by law all the power that they
WELD in fact, and the four magnates would
make all the money they want, yet save our
taxpayers Five Millions per annum that they
now pay for the services of their tools
Tweed's Tax-Levy bill sweeps away some
drapery, enabling them to rule more directly,
therefore less expensvely, than at present.
But the section which limits taxation in our
City to two per cent. on the assessed value of
property is juggle unworthy of such meas
ure or its usually bold, frank author 1t is
not worth rush as a barrier against confis-
cation, because it may easily be evaded either
by enhancing valuations or augmenting debt.
We hope it may be retained merely as a tide
mark-a confession that there is q point
beyond which forbearance ceases to be a
virtue yet we should have thought better of
the bill and its author had no such provision
disfgured the otherwise consistent audacity of
the measure.
If Mr. Tweed is willing to throw q bone to
our tax payers 1--WE will not presume to ask for
meat), he would both deserve and win their
gratitude by providing, 1. That the principle of
Minority (or Completely Representation be in
corporated into our Municipal system, so that
the Republicans could elect one-third of the
Board of Aldermen by nominating only
five candidates and giving them three
votes each; g. That no new official post
be created and no salary increased by
less vote than that of three-fourths OF
that Board; and 8. That the Controller
shall annually, one month before the election
for Cba,.ov . oo,., t,rint one tbOusaul cODlcS