The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-01-30
Tue Audit and App0rtiOnment Bnl-Wm
the Governor Sign Me

Tho Audit and Apportionmene Bnl-wm
the Governor Sign hs
It Is said to be very questionable whether
the bill passed last week by the State Legisla-
ture, creating Board of Audit and Apportion-
ment for the city and county of New York,
Hoffman objects on principle to the creation
of Board of Apportionment and Audit pos
sessing the power to pay away the public
money and to regulate the expenditures Of
the city departments from which the execu-
tive and legislative branches of the city gov
ernment-officers elected by the people-are
altogether excluded. When the measure was
before the Assembly we urged the propriety
of making the President of the Board of Alder
men-a stanch republican and genuine re-
former-a member of the new temporary
Board of Audit and Apportionment, and the
House inserted John Cochrane's name
in the bill. The Senate thought proper
to strike it out, leaving the Board
to be composed of the Comptroller, the Presi-
dent of the Department of Public Parks and
the President of the Department of Public
Works. This appeared to be peculiarly unfor-
tunate, insomuch as it left upon Board Of
Apportionment, composed of three members,
two Commissioners of the Department Of
Parks (Messrs. Stebbins and Green), and
while the fairness and integrity of both these
gentlemen are unquestioned, it seemed objec-
tionable that a single department of the city
hou do tina
influence in such Board. No reason was
given for excluding from the bill the name
of the President of the Board Of Aldermen,
but rumor attributed it to a concession
to the anti-Fenton members of the SEN
ate-a poor plea for botching and
defacing legislation in reform Legislature.
The Governor is, however, urged to sign
the bill on the plea that an emergency exists
which it is necessary to meet at once, and
that as the measure is only temporary one
the principle he is understood to insist upon
can for the moment be set aside. 1t Is true
that many contractors and employees of the
city and county are still without the money
that has been due to them for many months;
but will they be paid when the signature OF
Governor Hoffman has been affixed to the bill
and it has become law? 1t is stated that
some four million dollars have already been
advanced to the Comptroller to pay off such
claims as he desired to settle, aud that the
amount he asked for in the bill granting him
extraordinary powers was mainly to repay
these loans to the banks and trust companies
from which he had received them. If this
statement be correct it could not have
been the intention of the Comptroller to
pay many other of the city creditors,
and he may yet refuse to do so.
The bill as eventually passed by both
houses of the State Legislature requires the
concurrence of all the three members of the
Board of Audit before single claim can be
paid, and thus enables q single member to
obstruct all action-a curious way to meet
pressing emergency. 1t would at least have
been far more satisfactory if the Comptroller
had submitted to the Legislature plain state
ment of the city finances before demanding
any legislation on the subject. At present
the usual annual statement is wanting, and
the Legislature and the people are without
anv light as to our exact financial condition.
Whether the bill receives the sanction of the
Governor or is returned with his veto, the peo-
pie would like to know exactly how much
money has been loaned to the Comptroller by
banks and trust companies, and how much is
owing to employees, laborers and contractors
who have honestly performed their obligations
to the city.
THE EPIDEMIC OF MURDER AND SUIoIDE.--
The public has been shocked of late with al
most daily occurrences in different parts of the