The New York herald., 1871-09-12
The City Geveruneat In the Courts
Mayer Halls Answer.

~~OvSee-Sss
Mayer HaiI's Answer.
The affidavit Of Mayor Hall, in reply to the
charges made against him in the complaint in
| the city injunction case, was presented before
Judge Barnard yesterday, and will be gene
rally read with attention and interest 1t will
be found satisfactory document to those who
in truth desire an honest and economical ad-
minstration Of the city government. 1t is not
the province Of good citizen to damage the
citys credit by misrepresentng its financial
condition, by exaggeratiug its amount OF in
debtedness or by melting the belief that its
laws leave 1t helplessly at the mercy OF dis
honest officials; and the people will always be
| glad to find that the indscriminate charges OF
place-hunters and partisan journals against
those in power can be successfully met ana
refuted. Mayor Hall specifically and POSI-
lively denies every allegation that he has been
| In any manner interested in any of the jobs by
which the city has been plundered in
| past years, and he shows that great
msapprehension exists in regard to
the public Indebtedness by reproducing
him by The Comptroller on the 1st Of August
last. While he does not attempt to justify the
expenditures of 1869 and 1870, he recalls the
fact that during the whole Of the former and
throughout the greater part of the latter year
there was really no proper municipal govern
meni, but that the city was ruled by boards
and metropolitan commissions, without any
responsible head; and he asserts that since
the new Board of Apportionment convened
they have steadily pursued system of reduc-
tion in the public expenditures, with the object
of bringing the expenses Of the various de-
partments for the current year within the
limits contemplated by what is called the Two
Per Cent law. Mayor Hall further AYERS that
from the time he exercised the power of APP
pointing tho heads of departments up to the
| present moment no suspicious, unjust or extor-
| tionate claim has been paid from the city
treasury, and no debt has been liquidated
without being first duly vouched for by appro-
pirate departments or ordered by due process
| Of law.
| So far as the Mayor is concerned this is all
satisfactory. His personal character and his
public record are such as to entitle him to
credcnce, and there is nothing to rrant the
suspicion that he has been in loagne with
those who appear to have used their official
positions to enrich themselves at the cost Of
the taxpayers. Under the old muddle, in
which the government was left, by the efforts
of republicans and democrats to obtain
share in the plucking of the municipal goose,
the chief officer of the city was comparatively
powerless to prevent the plunder of the trea-
sury. The new law was designed to put
stop to this deplorable condition Of affairs,
and Mayor Hall was endorsed and chosen by
large majority of citizens of all political
opinions as the proper officer to carry this law
into effect. He is as yet but at the commence
ment of the work, and the assaults now made
upon him, under the clamor for reform, do not
cmanate from on honest desire to benefit the
city. The State Legislature is not body that
las won the confidence of the people, and to
undo the work of last session and send new
crowd of adventurers and corruptionists to
the capital, with the government of New York
as the stake to be gambled for, would be
to provoke a return TO the confusion and
rascality from which we have just been
rescued. No good citz:n would desire to
bring about such q calamity, and the outcry
for repeal Of the charter now being raised
by q certain class of journals is significant Of
the sort Of reform for which they are anxious.
When the law has been properly tried and
when the Mayor, who is now in reality the
head Of the government, has been tried with
it, the people will be in condition to judge
of the efficiency of the one and of the capacity
and faithfulness of the other.
But while the people will be careful not to
lend themselves to the designs of seedy poll
ticians and needy journalists, they will demand
a reckoning with the men by whom they have
been plundered under the former mixed and
irresponsible government. For years the
HERALD has exposed and denounced the in
famous Court House job and other schemes
for the spoliation Of the city, while the political
| organs on both sides have been silenced by
| city patronage or have been engaged in in
| triguing for the continuance Of the municipal
muddle and the reelection of dishonest
officials. We have again and again demanded
concentrated responsibility and real head
for the city government, and 1t is only since
the needed reform has been secured that the
extent of the rascality prevailing under the
old system has become known. The taxpayers,
startled at the revelations find that some men
who have rolled up immense wealth under the
old city government are still at the head of
important departments, and they insist that
these suspicious officials shall stand aside, and
that, if possible, they shall be held to account
ability for their former acts. 1t may be that
the wealth of Messrs Connolly and Tweed has