The Portland daily press., 1872-01-02
NEW YORK.
Impeachment of Mayor Hall.
Contest between the New and Old
Boards of Aldermen.
A Writ Of Prohibition in favor of the
Reform Board.
CITY AND VICINITY.

CITY AND VICINITY.
New YORK, Jan. 1.-During the present
month it is expected that vigorous assault will
be made upon the present Erie management.
Gen. Sickles will hold a daily conference with
Attorney General Barlow, with view to per-
fecting arrangements for an attack of the At
lantic and Great Western, and certain English
Erie stockholders upon Fisk, Gould, and assO-
ciates. The war will be carried on both in the
courts and the legislature. The latter will be
exclusively attended to by Gen. Sickles, in Or
der, it is stated that he will be able while ami
hilating Fisk and Gould, to make combinations
for senatorial contest next month Sickles,
in the opinion of many well informed politicians,
will prove formidable opponent of Conkling
IMPEACHMENT OF Mayer HALL.
An extraordinary and hitherto unexampled
scene took place in the City Hall to-day. The
old board of aldermen assembled to wind up
the affairs of the old year, and reorganize for
the new. The newly elected reform board came
together to take possession of the city cham
Der. The old board, which was entitled to
possession until noon, opened its session at 8
O'Clock, and after transacting routine business,
read the report of the special commission to
investigate the city and county accounts. The
report says that the committee of citizens re-
port gross frauds in the city and county affairs,
but do not implicate any one in particular, and
only recommend that copy of the documents
referred to in their report be submitted to the
Mayor The joint committee having an investi-
cation arrived at the conclusion that said report
was justified, did not deem it advisable to report
said fact till it had considered the course of ac
ton to be recommended to the board and COM
mon council, under the startling revelation of
fraud developed. Although ready to cooperate
with the various organizations ostensibly formed
for exposing official corruption, and bringing
the guilty to justice, the committee received no
intimatOn from such organizations that coop
Grafton in the common council was advisable
Although the committee, by their investigation,
with the assistance of citizens referred to. have
caused the whole machinery of fraud in the
city and county governments to be thoroughly
exposed, they are of the opinion that the COM
mon council should further take such action as
the law permits and circumstances require. 1t
should be observed that the council had no legal
means of knowing or. preventing the frauds
shown by the citizens committee, and were
neither directly or indirectly responsible for
them. The power of controlling the depart
ments of the city governments formerly pos
sessed by them.
The council being vested by the present char
ter in the mayor the quarterly reports of war
rants from the Common Council are now fur
nished to the mayor and the council had no
means of knowing how the public money was
expended. The evident intention of the pres
ent charter was to concentrate power in the
mayors bonds and make him specially respon-
sble for an efficient government There re-
mains for the council only the power of i'm
peaching the mayor, which may be done by
vote of two-thirds of all the members elected in
each board. The committee has come to the
conclusion that the facts brought to their
knowledge and stated in the report of the cit
liens committee, demanded that the mayor be
impeached by the Common Council. The mayor
being vested with the supervision of all the de-
partments, receiving periodical statements of
the accounts, and having authority to call for
all the information required, and being respon-
sible for the proper management of the depart
ments, he should be held to answer for the
frauds committed, and the committee recon-
mend that he be impeaehed for malfeasance in
Office and for not properly discharging the du-
ties incumbent on him. In the absence of any
rules by the Common Pleas defining the mode
of impeachment the committee recommend that
a resolution of impeachment be passed and a
counsel designated to prosecute the same in ac-
cordance with rule that may be adopted by
! the Common Pleas.
| The following resolution was then passed by
| the board of aldermen.
| Resolued, That A. Oakley Hall, Mayor of the
| city of New York, having been guilty of mall
| feasance and misfeasance in office, in having
| failed to communicate to the Common Council
| general statement of the finances of the city,
| and in having failed to be vigilant and active
| in causing the ordinances of the city and the
| laws of the State to be executed and enforced,
and in having failed to perform the duties pre-
| scribed for him by the city ordinances and laws
| of the State as required by law, and in having
| failed to properly fulfil and discharge the re-
| sponsiblitv imposed upon him by law for the
good order of and efficient government of the
city, and in having neglected and refused to di-
| rect that proper reports of the operations and
actions of the various departments of the City
Government be made to him, and to require that
| all such information as might have enabled
him properly to discharge the duties of hi,
Office be furnished TO him, as he was authorized
and empowered by law to direct and require
although furnished by the Comptroller, as re-
quired by law, with report once in ninety day
showing the name of every person in who's,
favor an account had been audited, with tn,
decision of the auditor upon the same togethe
with the final action upon the same; and il
having failed to check the reckless extravaganc,
which said reports must have made manifest tt
him, and in having reeklessly and wantonl,
signed warrants upon the public treasury which
under the law, he was bound to investigate
under the provisions of the law conferrin,
upon him the power to require any information
which he might demand, be and is hereby i'm
| peached for malfeaSance and misfeaSance il
office aforesaid.
Charles OConor and John Hardy be and here
by are appointed to prepare the articles of i'm
peachment and prosecute the same before
proper tribunal,
At one minute to u o'clock Alderman Cow
/ an declared the board adjourned SINE die, an
at II o'clock read the call for the re-assemblin
of the Board for the ensuing year.
A loud knocking was then heard at the doc
of the Chamber, and the Sergeant at Arm
opened the door, cautiously. Admittance wa
demanded in commanding tone by Henry
Clinton, lawyer, heading the new Board. Nj
Clinton said he had a writ from Judge Brad
to serve on the old Board ordering them to va
cate the Chambers for the Reform Board
A clamOr at the door caused the members
rush to assist the Sergeant-at-Arms, anon
them Jim Irving, ex-Assemblyman who wa
lately tried in the federal courts on charge {