New-York tribune., 1871-08-24
THE YOR'S EVASION.

For more than month Mayor Hall has been
making periodical promises to submit de-
tailed statement of the city and county ex-
penditures "in few days" Two or three
dates have been semi-oficially fixed upon for
the publication of the long-deferred reports
We have been assured that they were kept
back only to be made more complete, and the
promise was over and over repeated that they
should be given to the public without mo-
ments unnecessary delay. Yesterday the Com
mon Council was called together to receive
! them, and of what does the promised "publi-
cation" consist Why, the Mayor submits
! copies of the accounts, some i'll print and
others in manuscript, not to the people, but
to the Common Council and the Board Of Super
risors, and requests them to cause these
budgets TO he investigated by committees, and
TO permit any unbiased, unexceptionable and
"unpartisan committee of taxpayers so de-
" string to participate in the examination!
| This is an evasion of his promises, and a
defiance of the public demand. No committee
can possibly satisfy the people that the
finances have been honestly administered
They insist upon seeing for themselves how
much has been spent and who has had the
money. They insist that these accounts shall
be published they do not want them lnves-
" tigatedn by anybody. They do not doubt
that the books will be found to balance, and are
ready to believe that Mr.. Connolly can account
for every dollar that he has received. What
they demand, and what they have n right TO
see, is list of the expenditures i'll de-
tail; and how is that to be obtained
through the Investigations of a committee :
t1n
ferrous proposal to intrust the investigation to
the Common Council and the Supervisors,
with the participation of a committee of tax
payers whom those incouuptible Legislators
may Judge unbiased, uneXceptionable, and
"unpaTtlsan (supposing that after what has
already been Chvulged an unbiased taxpayer
could be found in New-YOIk), because the
people have asked for no committee and no
Investigation they have asked for the ac-
counts, and will not be satisfied until they get
them.
The Mayor says that he has caused the print
ing TO be intennittcd, because it would take
too long The New York Printing Company,
which does the work for the Corporation, s
one of the most extensive concerns in the
United States. 1t has swallowed up several
of our largest and most thoroughly equipped
private printing houses, and is capable of
putting the reports in type as fast as all the
clerks in the Controllers Office can furnish the
copy If there had been any desire to print
these budgets, the New-YOrk Printing Com
pany could have finished the job two weeks
ago The Mayors excuse will deceive nobody,
and people who understand the capacity of a
large printing establishment will laugh at it..
The truth is the Tammany Ring have already
confessed that their ease is desperate, and
nothing can save them except possibly pro-
cIastination. Keep back the truth as long as
possible let us befog the public mind with
explanations and recriminations, and long ir-
relevant messages let MS promise and post
pone, until men grow weary of the subject and
turn to "a new sensation; let MS al any rate
conceal the figures until after the public
meeting of the 4th of September; and perhaps
in the mean time something may turn up.
This seems to be the policy which Mayor Hall
dictates to his confederates, but unless we
have greatly mistaken the temper of the public
il will surely fail.