The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-02-01
Our Municipal Government and Its
Changes-should the Citizens BE Con-
suited Thereons


suited Thereon
At the present time, when the State Legis-
lature is being called upon to remodel the
charter of our city, and when it is probable
that more than one scheme and many sugges-
tions will be offered-and all, their authors
changes-much interest will be found in an
article which appears in other columns Of to-
days issue, in which the complete municipal
history of the city of New York is mar
rated and reviewed, and the origin and
progress Of our chartered rights and privileges
are carefully detailed. 1t will be seen therein
that the battle of our citizens for just and good
local self-government is not now being fought
for the first time. It will be found even that
the first modicum of municipal freedom which
was wrung by the sturdy Dutch founders of
the city from the rulers In their Fatherland,
much to the chagrin of the despotic old
Director General Stuyvesant, was a conquest
as bravely won and as nobly priced as the
famed Magma Charta which the English barons
forced their reluctant sovereign to con-
cede to Thorn on the historic field
of Runnymede. From the days of
the first Dutch grant of very limited
civil rights, in 1862, down to 1870, the munich
pal privileges were enlarged, as it were, bit
by bit each separate fragment being only
gained after persistent wrestling of the citi-
zens with the Dutch and English Governors
of the province and the respective home gov
ernments; but the full reward was finally
obtained at the last named date, when the
various small favors already granted were
enhanced by more valuable franchises, and
the whole were moulded into one COM
pact instrument known as the ''Montgomerie
Charter" which, Chancellor Kent says, is
''entitled to our respect and attachment for
its venerable age and the numerous blessings
and great commercial prosperity which
have accompanied the due exercise of its
powers" That time-honored document forms
the foundation Of our municipal rights and
privileges, and much Of its original form and
spirit remain in force to this day, the same
having been confirmed by the various State
constitutions. AS a whole, it withstood the
shock of the Revolution, which for time
suspended its functions, and, with the excep-
ton of few legislative enactments
authorizing changes made necessary by
the transfer of government, it re-
NAMED intact and In force for just
one hundred years, with the country for the
latter half of that period under republican
government.
Since the commencement of amending the
Montgomerie Charter, in 1929, to the present
time, five important changes have been made
in the municipal regulations of the city
namely, in 1880. lS49, 1868, 1857 and 1870,
with amendments of some moment in 1871 |;
while an attempt TO amend the charter in
very extensive manner, in 1916, failed to
gain the approval Of the city electors. 1t is
interesting to note that tha mode of procedure
adopted in the first instance was the same as
that applied in the revision of our State
Constitution, by conventions fact which
seems to be unknown to some of our
unusually well-informed contemporaries. At a
Convention held In this city in 1929, composed
of delegates elected from the various wards,
in accordance with q resolution of the Common
| Council, was framed the amended charter,
which, having first received the approval of the
electors at an election, was afterwards consti.
tuted Law by the Legislature, in 1880. Then
again, in 1916, the Legislature passed an ACT
authorizing the election of delegates to another
convention, which was empowered either to
frame an entirely new charter or suggest amend
ments, which new charter or amendments
should afterwards be submitted to the people al
an election, and, if adopted, should be then sub
mitted to the Legislature at its next session
for its approval. For reasons which will
be found stated in the article referred to, new
charter was not submitted, but amendments
were suggested, which were voted Upon at the
general State election, but received such slight
attention that only about one-third the voters
of the city on that occasion cast ballots for OF
against the same, and they were rejected.
After this change was made in the manner
of seeking a reform Of the municipal regula-
tons. The amended charter of 1849 was the
result OF an application made to the Legisla.
ture by the Common Council, as will be found
on reference to the proceedings of the latter
of January in that year. The altera
tions then made were of considerable i'm
portance, but related chiefly to the Legislative
power Of the Corporation, its mode of exer
else and the creation of various department
for the better execution of its municipal
powers, the latter of which had formed
leading feature in the rejected charter of tire
years previous. A clause in the act provided
for its being submitted for the approval of tn
city electors, failing to obtain which it shoul
become null and void. The charter of 1855