The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-09-23

A Word 60 Property Owners I'm New
York-Are the Public Works to BE
Stoppcds
The city government is in danger of coming
to halt for the want of funds with which to
carry on the business of the departments.
There is no money in the treasury and no
means of raising any while the Injunction
granted by Judge Barnard continues in force.
The Department of Docks is in immediate
want Of half a million, and no answer is made
to its requisition upon the Comptroller for that
amount. The Department of Parks requires
nearly the same sum for deficit and labor,
which is not forthcoming, although no money
has been received by the Commissioners from
the Comptroller since August /, and the works
on the parks and boulevards would have been
stopped two days ago but for the
action of Commissioner Sweeny in rails
ing on his own responsibility over one hum
dred thousand dollars to pay the laborers.
The schools require money for the payment of
teachers salaries and other current expenses.
The Health Department may at any moment
want large sums to fight against the cholera,
and, as it is, needs funds for its immediate use.
In short, all the public departments must have
money to keep them in working order or must
discontinue their operations and bring the
administration of our municipal affairs to
standstill. 1t is useless at this time
to argue who has had the greatest
share in bringing the city into this deplorable
condition. The shameless prodigality and
corruption Of our old city government lie at
the foundation of the evil. The free admission
of old claims by the present government, which
ought to have been sharply criticised and
resisted in the Comptroller's department., as
well as by all public officers who were called
upon to sign warrants for their payment, helped
to bring the crisis upon us. The action
Of the political agitators aud plotters, who,
under the specious pretence of reform, are
doing their best to throw the city into anar-
chy and confusion by stopping the supplies, :"
is browning the evil. But the evident duty Of
all good citizens now is to find way out of
the difficulty, 80 as to save the public credit,
and to ward off the terrible blow threatening
to fall upon the owners of real estate and all
others who are interested in the welfare of the
city of New York.
The Department of Docks is now engaged
upon most important work at the Battery and
elsewhere-work which can only be stopped
at heavy loss to the city. Its labors do not
Immediately show and are not before the eyes
of the great mass of the people; but they are
laying the foundation of future commercial
greatness which will extend its benefits
to every class of citizens. Are its
hands to be tied, and all its enterprise and
closed, our Health Board to be crippled, other
departments to be paralyzed, and, above all,
Is our magnificent system of improvements, Of
parks and boulevards and avenues, to be aban-
doned? These are the questions that present
themselves to our people, and they must be an
swered promptly and decisively. Individual
efforts to breast the storm are utterly INSULT
cient. The block must be removed from the
wheels of the government or the machine can
not much longer 60 on running. This is pre-
cisely the consummation the political plotters
desire; but are the people of New York pre-
pared to make the sacrifice demanded of them
for the sake of all the political parties or fac
lions that ever had existencep
We ask our property owners to recall for a
moment the work that the Central Park
Department has done in the past year and is
new doing for the identifying and enrichment
of the city. 1t is little more than year since
the present Board organized their great plan of
operations. Their first act was to make bureaus
in their department for the more eff
cient working of the whole, and In
so doing they retained all the useful
employees of the old Central Park Commission.
Last year they put the city squares aud
places in splendid order, commencing with the
City Hall Park, the Battery, Bowling Green,
Washington Park, the Canal street triangle
and other places; and this year they
made Madison Park, the Reservoir Park,
Tompkins and Stuyvesant squares what
they now are. They have pushed on
the Central Park work with extraordinary
vigor, as the belvedere, the observatory and
museum buildings, the sheepcote, stables,
conservatory, terrace, and the widcned and
well paved drives and walks on the eastern
and Fifth avenue sides will show. Man
haitian square is being graded, to
the great Improvement of adjacent
property, with view to the speedy
construction of the Museums of Art and Natu-
raj History authorized by the last Legislature.
On the boulevards the progress of the year
is wonderful. About two-thirds of the
five miles from the circle Of Fifty ninth
street to 119lh street has been opened to
the public during the administration of
the present Board. Another section will
be opened to Manhattan street this
fall unless the work should be stopped for
want of funds. The Sixth avenue, one hund-
red and fifty feet in width, has been completed
from the Park to the Harlem River,