The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-06-02

tricts and creating new Board Of Education;
the bill defining the jurisdiction Of the Court
Of Common Pleas and the Superior Court;
the bill inaugunting the Peoples Water
Transit Company; the bill in relation 10 the
supply Of water 10 the city 10 be acquired in
Putnam county. and . budget Of gridironing
horse rsilroad bills 100 numerous here TO
mention.
All these measures are among the reforms
or changes made in the administration Of our
city Affairs within the last Ave months, and
there are several important generaleAws passed
at the late session which apply 10 this island
as TO all other parts Of the State Among
these are the professional Thieves act"
now in active operation--an act calculated 10
be a terror TO rogues and rufiAns but in the
hands Of ignorant and insolcnt officers calcu-
lated also 10 result in high-handed outnges
upon honest citizens Then there Is the new
Marriage law, an act OF the highest impor-
tance to all parties about 10 assume the silken
bonds Of matrimony. by this act ministers in
the marriage service are authorized 10 admin
lister oaths 10 parties seeking 10 be married.
Upon oath they are TO testify as 10 age, re-
sponsibility, residence and other facts, and. IL
caught fbbing therein, they are liable TO the
penalties Of perjury This delicate matter Of
ago Ito the ladies) involves n question Of
womans rights, more valuable than the ballot
box. But how they are 10 meet il they must
themselves determine. Next, we have a num-
Der Of important acts relating to the law Of
procedure, tax laws and various enactments in
the list of q thousand bills, more or less,
passed at this late long session of reform-new
laws, OF which our citizens, from time TO time
during the Summer or Fall. will be apt to I'm
derstand the bearings
Among these acts is the temperance measure
known as the Ohio bill, which makes the
liquor seller responsible for the conduct OF the
liquor drinker, and Cor the damages which he
may inflict, in q state Of intoxication, upon
the members or the property Of his family or
of other parties. This law, it appears, works
well in the West but, from the converse
tons of various parties interested in the sub
ject here, 'it is Law which cannot be en-
forced in this city short of the burning of gun
powder" The bill, according to our des-
patches, was yesterday signed by the Governor.
So the blow of this Ohio temperance hammer
may fall upon New York at any time. Should
the act be put into operation, even before
the Fourth of July, our citizens, liquor
dealers included, will best subserve their own
interests in faithfully abiding by the law.
Submission to the laws is the only law of
safety to free people, who for unjust laws
In the matter Of rapid transit some progress
has been made but we are far from believing
that the BEST or nearly the best, has been
DONE We rejoice that our "Long Par
lament is ended, and we congratulate the
people of the city and the State that if, in its
voluminous record of bills passed, there are
many jobs, there are also some wholesome
measures of substantial value. Reform is q
plant of slow growth, and its fruit is often
blighted in the ripening. Our crop of 1873 is
better than was that Of 1872, and let us hope
for still better yield Of good fruit in 1874.