New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-01-27
TIE PROPOSED CITY CHAHThR'

v charter said 10 have been submitted ny the coin
,nIttee OF Seventy for the consideration OF the bos'
ture As the system here shetched out TOT ,ne so'o
ent OF New-York will probably be advocated with Rre"e
ability and zeal by its proposcrs there
no other than the Importance OF the uestons "
~ issue for ng attention Gifts salient features
The most remarkable Improvement suggested ny 'n''
charter II the Introduction OF the principle OF hnoy
represenation IN tho election OF the Aldermen ii' -
partcuarly necessary in city like New YORK; where "
ordinary elections party 10 greatly predomihao'
over all Others Yet questionable whether
avon with the Introduction OF this Improvement IN tne
made Of eeetons any marked result will be attained IN
raising the aractcr Of the legislative
CITY Governments The Aldermen are to be 20 III
number, and, except I'm times OF great Poi'o"i
excitement, men Of eminence will DO unwilling 10
serve in such body. The nominations, az III the
n,et uil he seized by thrust upon young
or unknown mcn; and In n large city where one hary
knows his neghbors the better class OF citens "no
sbonld and can they choose control the eecnoh' WI"
he ignorant OF the character OF the candidates. anu co
scducny will abstain from voting, or VIII DO po"eiiess
at the polls. Even II few honest and able men are
elected Aldermen, we all know from past experience
that they can do little check corruption IN such
body The history OF the Supervisors shows thls Inc
knaves are always better organized ana giving All 'e'
fine N notifies and schemes public plunderng can
always hoodwink and outwlt the few honest men OH
cially associated with them. Almost every system
legislative body Of the City Government, ana ali
without avail: il hardly that the new system
proposed will effect any materially better results tor the
evils are inherent in such population as lnlapts Ne"
York or any great city. The new proposed system may
he an Improvement and may check some corrupto Du'
can effect little.
One system however remains untricd. excepting I'm
ncrfect tests I'm the past few months and that is 10 vest
little power I'm the legislative department and enlarged
authority the executives and in this respect the pro
posed charter seems TO depart widely from what expert
ence shows the only method adapted to the govern
ment OF large cities The principle OF minority repre-
sentaon Is carried where experience and reason seem
10 show It should never applied into the legislative
branches OF the Government and the Mayor is left as
shorn OF real responsibility the individuals who have
been incorporating for years. under charters winch naVo
permitted all kinds Of robbery The power OF the MayN
IL much amper than under charter except That OF
1870 but responsibility is small that his Increased
power can only be productive OF injury Under this
charter the power OF the executive is parceled out
among a number OF BOards-as 10 some OF these
the Police, Fire, and Health Departments, IL seems
10 be the intention return to the old system or govern
ing New-York from Albany. This has been trled ana
has been pronounced failure. As to jthe other Depart
ments one uniform system Il proposed. Eaeh Depart
ment Is 10 be governed by Board Of vo members one
OF whom IL be appointed by tho Mayor and 10 be re-
movable by him at pleasure the other four are to he APP
pointed by the Aldermen under a system by which a
minority Of onefourth can elect member OF the Board
These four the Mayor only remove for cause while
the Aldermen may remove them at Will The system -
that II probably would be round incapable
OF working but this not the chief objection 20 it. The
main difficulty ID the division, and with the division the
bss ,o6 loss 81 epSer an be-
should appoint ali hIs executive officers, and have
urged Te GO against this that bold bad man like Mayor
Wood could do too much evil bnt let us see what this
government without power somewhere. although some
theorists work their paper constitutions hoping TO
all the advantages OF the proper Of power without
the danger Of Us misappicaton Power must he lodged
some where In every government The secret oI g00d
government is TO have power 20 hand In hand with re-
Let there he an annual election for Mayor cothe him
with all the executive power OF the government, and IL
make the 0fce what should bethe object ambition
OF the best men ia the city make the monument SO
financial sOuudness OF the city depend on him. and there
will be trouble IN persuodug the better class Of citizens
TO turn at elections, they did this Fall IT, then
with full vote and good registry law we cannot elect
honest capable man for Mayor we shall be ready 70
a failure in large cities. But the experiment has
not yet been fairly Ere TaS Difficulty as Sana the
for so many Offices that no one knew for
polls, received his tickets. deposited them and went
away, only knowing that lie had voted with his party
Charter q $50 That ~ radically detective since the
mova But apart from this no charter has ever worked
better. Mayor Hall OF ambition of respecta-
power vested in him by this charter, he appointed
subordinates such men as Tweed ana Connolly; the
of these have come TO light and the respons
Ghty for their aG1s Is properly listed upon Hall
suppose that man of Mayor Halls position elected
this example is sufficient Hall has gained nothing has
lost n o-, no L answer e to er s a TO
pointed and that therefore the system is defective.
Nothing can prevent bad appointment as no law
that punish quickly and certainly, the best poll
those that trace home bad appointments,
There is another remark in connection with this Hall
not elected under this charter bn under the system
NNh eh mn q "A
aud he made his appointments by an arrangement con
nected with the PASSAGE OF the charter and at time
apathy that one cared for the moral character OF his
wSaid ike to follow his s example s O"' O"
Under this charter proposed by the Committee Of Sew
eny, there is almost responsibility at all. The Mayor
and the remaining four divided among As Alder
Tie Boards OF five members are bad enough, but
II in Of miscarriage ia Board, the fault
be traced back TO member or members of it, certainly
all accountability will be lost when the search is carried
back TO the Board Of Forty 1--we that appointed the
smaller Board The Aldermen are to be elected
and each voter is TO have the privilege Of
voting for all nine or giving all nine votes for one
consequence is, that should have all the evils Ur
ing executive duties be voted for Single
executive and the better class or voters would remain
| ton Of the division OF responsibility in the ex-
| eeutive departments Is perhaps a greater one, the
In and through the Boards. Boards them
selves are bad things Jeremy Bentham well said that
thoy are only "scicens ThG prOycrb that in the null
ttide Of coInseors there is safety has been applied
them as meaning that there is safety for the councillors.
IN the desire Of the dominant party In the state divide
the power in the city between the two political parties
The experience with them has been that generally
man upon the Board has done all the real work the
Others have shared the honor or odnm and participated
II would be manfestly better in the Departments Of
Public Works Public Parks. Docks, Finance Police and
Fire 10 have single responsible Commissioners As the
work of the Department Of Public Charities and Coriec
of huyr nm