The New York herald., 1874-03-27


what are we coming7 The cost is the Cor
oner's excuse If this is the kind OF economy
we are to have from our new rulers It is time
We were done with them
The possibility of neso issue Of i'concerti0Ie
paper I regard scih omazenent and a''a'ety, ana
in my judgment, such an issue ,oodd be a detra-
ment and shGne.-CHARLEs SUMMER
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Our Increased city Debt and Taxa
tion-Why Should the People he De-
ceived:
The taxpayers and business men Of New
York do not need to be told by Comptroller
Green that the rule of the Tammany govern
ment OF 1869-71 was a rule Of extravagance,
recklessness and robbery. It is because they
knew this fact two years and half ago that
they rose up and drove the Tammany office
holders from power, and they are not likely
to forget it to-day, while Tweed is on Black
wells Island, Ingersoll at Sing Sing and many
another dishonest official in exile. But when
"reform" administration came into power
indeed, from the moment the control of the
finances and the key of the treasury passed
out OF Tammany hands, we were promised
exemption from the payment Of another dol
lar of dishonest claims, strict economy in the
administration Of the government decreased
debt and lessened taxation. We have no
reason to suppose that Mr.. Green has paid 9
single dishonest claim since he has been in
Office, but the promises of reduced debt and
lessened taxation have not been fulfilled.
We are now told that their violation
is due to the former ''Ring rule;" that the in
creased debt of 1874, the amount of which the
Finance Department appears to be unwilling
or unable to tell us, is the 'Iegacy of Tam
many corruption" and that over $39, 600, 900
of taxation for the present year, levy of
So 40 on every 500 of taxable property in
the city, is due to the same baneful cause.
These pleas are false upon their face. Comp
troller Green and Mayor Havemeyer, who
seem incapable Of making two financial state
ments that will harmonize, stated in their
January Message that SO, 1873 of the in
crease in the debt was to ''pay old debts, "
and in their reply to the Foley memorial
they put the amount at $S,943. 334. Accept
ing the largest sum as correct, we find the
interest at seven per cent on this amount to
be little over $3.50, ,OO0 We are repeatedly
told that it requires So, OOO,0 600 more to pay
the interest on the debt in 1874 than it required
in 1871. How, then, can the increase of the
debt be wholly or even mainly attributable
to the old Tammany extravaganza and corrup-
tion? So far as the increased taxation of
1874 is concerned, not single item of the
$40, 900, 600 which, the taxpayers Of New York
are called upon to pay this year is on account
of the Tammany rule of 1871 and the preced-
ing two or three years, with the exception of
the amount Of interest we have named,
$3.50, ZOO. And even this cannot be said to be
paid on account of Tammany corruption,
without implying that Mr.. Green has paid
dishonest Tammany claims.
s'The Board Of Apportionment has found it
necessary to appropriate s39, ,21S,945 to meet
the expenses of government for the present
year" says Mayor Havemeyer, in his January
Message. Now we are told that, while the
tax levy of 1871 was nominally $23, 1862, ,527,
the actual amount required and which ought
to have been levied was $35, $50, 843 That
is to say, the amount of taxation imposed
upon the city of New York in 1871, when
''sinecures, waste and extravaganza abounded
in every department of the municipal govern
ment, was in fact $35, 900, 600. Well, in 1874,
when every department of the city govern
ment is in the hands Of protessed reformers,
the taxation is 100000 more than that
0f fhiu tho 70 if1ct1xy
plain. 'sMr. Green is not to blame" cry the
satellites of that primary financial planet.
But Mr.. Green is not the whole city govern
ment and every department is now in the
hands Of protesting reformers, who came into
power under pledges of honest administration,
decreased expenditures, diminished taxes and
reduced debt. The people demand to know
why this is the case. They are put off with
false figures made up to impose upon them,
or amused with complicated financial problems
designed to show that while we owe $50, 600, 900
or $40, 900, 900 more under reform than we owed
under Tammany and pay 5000, 900 more in
1874 than we paid during the 'Ring' Rule"
our expenses have actually decreased
SO, 600. 900 or $4,000, 900. Ordinary brains
cannot master these intricate calculations,
but every man of common sense who owns
$2O,O 900 of taxable property in this city knows
that while he paid tax of s400 three years
ago he is called upon to pay $3.50 this year.
The people have right to know exactly
how these heavy expenses are incurred, and
there is plain and simple method Of inform
ing them. Last year the large amount of
SIT 100000 was drawn out of the city treas
ury through warrants on the Chamberlain.
Let us have an account in detail of these
warrants, showing the exact amount drawn
for each department of the city government.
We shall then see practically what the
departments cost. Let US have, ais o, de-
tailed statement of the claims outstanding
against the city; not mere summary, but