New-York tribune., 1871-09-13
THE dCCO.UPLICES,

Mayor Halls answer to the complaint OF
Mr. Foley il substantially this: 81 have dOno
"nothing that | was not authorized to do by
al the Lrgisaturc." We aro borne along so
rapidly on the rushing tide of present events
that we find lttlo opportunity to look behind
us. But the suggestion of the Mayor is a good
one The oucrop of many dark, thick VEN
of vilany must be sought for Mt Albany.
Whoever studies the statute book VIII hot
labor in van though his task be no lght
one Our last two Legislatures were Demo
cratic; and the Legislature of 1871, though
very closely divided politically, WAS as obcdl-
cnt to Mr.. Tweed as was ever the Roman
Senate to any degenerate successor or Au-
gustus. Every Democrat in the Senate, every
Democrat in the Assembly, was chained 10
the car of Tammany. The great measures OF
the Scssioil-thc Two Per Cent bill, the bill
to destroy utterly the Election law, the Con-
solidatcd Debt bill, the bill to amend the
Chartcr.-rcccivcd tlc vote OF every Democrat
and Of no Rcpubican, save the infamous
Winans. Even before the Legislature ad-
iourncd, public opinion had been so reused
that no corrupt Republican burst face it. No
gentleman from st. Lawrence, or Madison, or
Broomc-none of the perhaps fve-and-twenty
Republicans whose palms ichcd for Mr..
Twccds mcncy-durSt give MIR. Tweed slp-
port. 1t is to these times and to this LcGisa-
tnrc that Mr. Hall invites our attention.
The promise set forth in the Two Per Cent
bill was that the expenditures of the City and
County Governments. the COuntys share OF
the State tax, and the interest on the City
and County debt, taken together, should not
exceed two per cent of the assessed valuation
of the City. The language of this law, as 1t
now stands Oh the statute book, is AZ follows:
"And liabilities shall be incurred for any purpose {"
either of sad yca,s which shall with tho State tax for
such year. and principal and interest OF the City and
County debts pay able in such year, make Tho aggregate
the expenses OF the City and County Governments TO-
gcher for each Of said years amount TO NOR" than TWO
per cent upon the valuation aforesaid with the addition
hcrcnbcforo providcdGe the oXccss OF the quota OF
the state tax for NewYok County i'll 1871 or 1872 over
the quota OF 1s7C')
Certain amendments were made to this bill
on the eve of its passage. The Democratic
majority in the Assembly refused to permit
these amendments to be read, refused to allow
one word of discussion, and, in violation of the
oath which they took at the opening of the
session, passed an important law, of the most
important provisions of which they themselves
party were utterly ignorant. One of the amend
mcnts enacted under this gag law reads as
follows:
"sECTIoS 10. Nothing in this act contained shall impair
in any manner the provisions contained In the
acts entitled respectively AN Act to ConsOldat" the
De of the City of NewYork, passed April g. 1871, and
An Act to Consolidate the Debt OF the County OF New
York passed April 6, 1871"
The above provision was designed and has
been interpreted, to nullify completely the
provso first quoted. The Consolidated Debt
laws authorize the substitution of bonds run
ming from 90 to so years, at the option OF the
Controller, for erery purpose for which bonds
had been prorided in other lars. Not only
this, but all the so-called Temporary debt"
falling due in 1871 may be prorided for BY the
issue of Consolidated stock. AS regards the
Revenue bonds, the Controller has already
signifcd his intention to fund portion of
them under this law. In his Report dated
August I, 1871, he says:
Tbe Revenue bonds are PAYABLE aforesaid from the
taxes of the year 1S7l and in anticipation OF their pay
ment excepting $6,32OO0 (specia), which are to be
deemed from proceeds Of the Cons dacd Debt LOan
1s provided by chapter S22 laws OF 1871"
The distinction between Especial" aud other
Revenue bonds which tho Controller here
makes, under pressure of public opinion, is
purely arbitrary. In his Report of May he
made no such distinction. Then all the Reve-
nue. bonds were payable from taxation Never
thclcss, the Board of Appropriation have set
aside nothing for the payment of Revenue
bonds. Finally, the Consolidated Debt law
which the Controller cites says plainly that
"Cny bonds or stocks of said city falling due
ain the year 1871" may be met by the issue
of the Consolidated stock This is the only
provision of the law which can possibly apply
to the "spccial' Revenue bonds set off by the
Controller, and it applies to one Revenue bond
as much as to another; i'll word, to every
sort of Revenue bond.
Mayor Hall himself would appear not to
have given the Consolidated Debt laws the
attention which he might have been expected
as LAWYER and member of the Ring, to be-
stow on them that is, if we rightly compre-
hend the meaning of the following sentence,
| extracted from his answer to Mr.. FOlcy's COM
plant:
"And this defendant, further answering, AYERS that
whereas III the instance OF the legislation or lS many
classes and numbers OF bonds are authorized to be Is
sued IT would be manifestly preiuical to the financial
interests OF the city pac all the bonds on the market
at once. although the necessity for the expenditure Of
the proceeds 81 the bonds the objects for which they
authorized was at one and the same time
aud defendant AYERS, information obtained from the
Finance Department. and on his belief, That immed
ately after the adjournment OF the Legislature 1t be-
came necessary to provide for Immediate expenses
| under the objects specifically set forth In the COM
plant at folios C6 and 0-that Is to say Tor aque
| duct alterations city park improvements, docks
| fire telegraph. assessment, aud street improve
ment funds, and Boulevard improvements and that as
the Controller found could put the consolidated bond
debt entirety upon the market before issuing