The New York herald., 1874-10-22
The city Estimates.

The City Estimates.
The Board of Apportionment met yesterday,
and adjourned in order to allow the Comp
troller to make out budget for 1875. Mr..
Green's recent financial statement, addressed
to Mr.. William A. Booth and others, proves
the necessity of large reduction in the esti-
mates of the present year for the expenses OF
the city government Leaving out of the cal
culation the revenue bonds, which are simply
money raised in anticipation of taxes, and
paid as the taxes come in, we have the fol-
lowing comparative condition of the debt in
1871 and 1874, by Mr. Green's showing:-
Sept 1e 1871. sept Il, 1874;
Funded debt. :......... $50. 1888 sll6, lSoSlS
Temporary debt. l1,S24,5oo l,7s5'o73
Total bonded debt. .S9a s4s, e5s sla7, ,e2s, ,se2
Debt In september. lS7l... 9S9a3ooo
Increase In three years. $43, 9S2, 234
If we give Mr. Green the benefit Of all he
claims in his last financial stump speech the
fact is still before the taxpayers that they owe
just upon forty -four million dollars more than
they owed when Mr.. Green took charge of the
city finances The practical questions are, not
who made this debt or who is to be blamed
for its rapid accumulation, but how is it to
be paid and what measures can be adopted TO
prevent its further increase? If Mr. Green is
not working faithfully and intelligently to that
end he is unfit to be at the head of the
financial department Of the city government
The Comptroller claims by some unintelli-
gible process Of figuring to have reduced the
debt in three years thirteen million dollars,
and elsewhere in his statement alleges that
five million five hundred thousand dollars
Of the money raised by taxation in 1872, 1873
and 1874 has been applied to the payment of
the public debt Both assertions are equally
false. The following items of the tax levies
Of those three years are oil that have been ap-
piled to the payment Of the public debit
lS72-Redemption Of city dePt.......... sSsS' '4so @
Reduction OF city debt, ch. 5S5, Lava
DISQUALIFICATION OF city debt. ''' 1856 Sss
Total In three years. s2,s ssl 946
In these three years there fell due stocks
and bonds Of the city and county amounting
in round numbers to sixty million dollars.
We therefore paid Of our liabilities, as they
became payable, less than three million dollars,
and gave new evidences of Indebtedness for.
or "bridged over" ffty-seven millions. This
is as if merchant should pay five cents on
the dollar as his notes fell due and give new
notes for ninety-fve cents on the dollar.
Every business man knows how long such a
merchant would remain outside the list of
bankrupts. Yet while we have paid only one
twentieth Of the amount of our debts as
they became due in the last three years,
we raised for the expenses of the government,
in 1872, s34 O36 900; in 1873, $31, ,061, 800, and
in 1874, $50, ,312,8l8
II must be clear to every man Of sense that
the true method of financial reform is to
enforce the economical administration Of the
affairs Of the municipal departments, to cut
off all needless expenditures and to devote as
much as possible Of the money raised by tax
alton to the payment Of our bonds as they fall
due. The pruning knife should be unspar-
ingly applied and the heads of departments
should be compelled to manage their public
business as they would their private business,
and not use the peoples money as fund to
increase their personal patronage or to pro-
mote their selfish interests. The financial
department can be run for $150OOO at the
outside. Every other department should be
similarly reduced, and, above all, no public
officer should be allowed to add any portion Of
the expenses Of his Office to the debt account
The people look to Messrs. Vance and Wheeler
to force such reform in the estimates as is
now imperatively demanded in the interests Of
the taxpayers; and as Mr.. Havemeyer is about
to relieve the city Of his official company he
cannot do better than to give his voice also in
favor of wholesome and radical change in
the departmental expenditures.