The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-06-13
The Mayors Nlessasc-A Good Exhibif oil
Our Municipal Affairs.

space this morning to the message, WIN TUE
ACCOMMODATING documents, of Mayor Hall to
the Common Council on our municipal affairs.
This message is very interesting and very
! satisfactory one. whether considered as an
| official description of our great metropolis and
| al, its vast concerns, or as a defence OF lis
| present administration or as report OF what
has been done, what is doing and what the
powers that be" propose to do toward the
great object of making this city of ours the
most beautiful, the most attractive and the
most desirable city to live In, as well as the
most prosperous of all the great cities on the
face of the globe. We have never had before,
from any Mayor or any administration, an ex-
hibit of our municipal condition and local
affairs, present and prospective, so full com
plete and comprehensive as this, and never
such clear, minute and encouraging presen-
tation as Mayor Hall here submits Of the city's
resources and capabilities, compared with the
expenditures required to meet the splendid
improvements under way and projected.
The difficulties Of a local administration
satisfactory 10 all classes concerned, consider
ing the peculiar geographical situation of this
city, are forcibly suggested by the Mayor
With less than million Of inhabitants on the
island, its active business operations repre-
sent rearly twice this population. The
island is long and narrow, and lacks circum-
ference of immediate rural suburbs. The
suburbs are really tributary cities, divided
| from New York by wide rivers. Nearly sixty
per cent Of the daily business inhabitants of
| New York own or rent their residences In the
| adjoining country, and while their wives and
| children are practically under the government
| of other cities and counties, and even States,
| the business interests and security of person
| and property of the family men are practically
under the government Of New York city, and
they are more impressed to blame where they
have no domestic interest" Thus, with all
the advantages Of New York for the develop
ment of commerce and wealth, it has its
social Inconvenience, which show ''how diff
cult it is to frame, and how vexatious it is for
rulers to try and develop perfect or univer-
sally acceptable municipal government
The island. in short, Is not equal to the
demands Of its increasing population. With
line, or several lines of rapid communication
from the Battery to the upper end and beyond
the upper end Of the island we may expand
the city indefinitely in that direction, and thus
arrest that general drain from Its wealth and
its resources to Connecticut, to Long Island
and to New Jersey, which, since our late civil
war. ''has increased, Is increasing, and ought
10 be diminished" The proposed viaduct
railway, when completed, will diminish these
drainages upon our population to q consider
able extent and we believe, too that with
another through railway line or two of the
same description we may within ten years add
a million or more to the population Of the city,
with proportionate tightening Of the average
burden of taxation to the city taxpayer. We
touch upon this subject here because we have
here the remedy to very great extent for the
difficulties now encountered In the best efforts
to give us satisfactory city government, and
because this viaduct railway system may here
be properly mentioned as one Of the relieving
measures for the city adapted by its present
administration.
The Mayors defence Of our new city govern
nent from The charges Of despotism. jobbery
and corruption, is brave and manly defence
He satisfies us with facts and figures that this
new, compact and responsible municipal sys-
tenn Is great Improvement upon the old sys-
TEN of irresponsible boards and commissions.
and tax levies manipulated by the country
lobby jobbers and land sharks Of the Albany
Legislature. We know now where to tx the
responsibility, and the Mayors facts and sta
tistics are conclusive in favor of our new sys-
TEN. The city credit rests upon a solid foun-
dalton; the increase 10 the bill of taxes $23,-
$50, 2lO 10 for 1870, is light. considering the
great city improvements made and in pro-
gress; the Sinking Fund is adapted to pay off
the city deb: as ii natures, and our city bonds
are everywhere at a premium. And why not,
when our whole city debt, less Sis, 2l5, 600 in
the Sinking Fund, is only S3i, 1876, 900? What
is this but bagatcle upon valuation OF per-
sonal and real estate upon the island Of a
thousand millions, and with city property esti-
mated by the Mayor at $267, O00 900 in value?
The Mayor expresses the belief that ''the
great body Of the people is willing to incur
much larger debt in order to improve the
water 'front.' repave streets, finish boulevards,
supply defects in sewage and drainage, and
by widening, cutting and extending streets to
adapt our thoroughfares to the future demands
Of the great American metropolis. He is
right in this belief. We are just beginning to
comprehend the real wants Of the city. II
has grown up so far too much by chance and
too little without system Our water fronts
are a disgrace to the city and in many
respects are public nuisanccs. General
McCellans proposed improvements will not
only redeem the city In this respect, but will
pay five times over all the costs within q
generation or so from their completion, in the