The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-05-04
The Lsgislsture OF Is54-xts Charse-
ter and It's Work.

tnere mas not Oe0u qulto 30 mucn EhbcaAlty
perfected this session as in some previous
years. The disposition to be corrupted was
AZ good as ever but there was nominally no
New York charter to fight over, though the
unprincipled partisan jobbery in the last few
days of the session practically reconstructed
our city government; no big railroad bills
on hand. no comprehensive schemes of
plumber to be carried through. The stealings
were of petit larceny description, with one
or two exceptions and the jobs were of q
negative rather than positive character.
The lobby was not prosperous. for the reason
that the members adopted the new plan of
forming gangs" and making their own terms
instead OF treating through the powers of the
third house" But the accustomed self-pro-
lection pensions were received from the great
railroad corporations, the ferry companies,
the insurance companies and savings banks;
rapid transit was made profitable, the Canal
Ring paid out money to defeat the Canal Fund
ing amendment and for other purposes; the
municipal department struggles in this city
yielded plum, and there were several tri-
fling jobs to each of which small compensa-
ton was attached.
There were OF course some fair men in both
houses of the Legislature, but they were not
numerous enough to secure honest and desir-
able legislation. From the commencement
to the close of the session there was
no indication Of o disposition to legslate for
the public interests. This was especially the
-. 10 D.,
city of New York. Rapid transit, important
as it is to the welfare OF the metropolis, was
made corrupt job in the hands of rural
guerillas. Bills to promote local improve
ments in the city were torn to pieces by the
hands of the pensioners of rival departments,
leaving us in the same deplorable state of
stagnation and dilapidaion under which we
have been suffering for the last two years.
Just at the close Of the session radical
change was made in our city charter in ODE
dience to partisan demands, without one
thought for the interests Of the metropolis
and it's million of inhabitants. While some
good laws were passed, as is always the case
however corrupt q Legislature may be, the
general legislation was Of this selfish, venal
and partisan character, and all that saved the
Legislature of 1874 from a reputation as in
famous as that which attaches to the Legis-
lature Of 1871 was the absence Of any great
schemes of public plumber.
Out of the four rapid transit bills
passed-the Gilbert Elevated, the Beach
Pneumatic, the Water Line and the Greenwich
Street Extension-itis just possible we may get
o railroad; but rapid transit commission
was what the people desired as the most Ger
tain means of success. The Gilbert Elevated
appears to hold out the fairest prospect at
present, but it will require prompt and ener-
getic action to give the public confidence in
the corporation. The Gardner Water Line
bill, which provides for railroad and ware
houses, is great scheme, but would require
an enormous amount of capital to carry it
through Its projectors declare, however, that
all the money needed will be supplied by
English capitalists. No doubt the project is
grand one and the value of the concessions
must be very great; but some years must
elapse, under the most favorable circum-
stances before it could be carried out The
Greenwich street eone-legged" line, as it is
called, is now q success and its extension
will be of great public convenience; still, it
does not meet the wants of the people, and
we must look to the Gilbert Elevated with the
greatest amount of hope, for the Beach
Pneumatic does not invite confidence, and the
travelling sidewalk is simply an expert
ment, and wild one at that.
It is an evidence Of the little regard that
our legislators have for the public interest
and the very considerable attention they pay
to the projects of schemers and spectators
that the rapid transit problem seems little
nearer solution now than it was when the
Legislature met. There were plans for rapid
transit that would have met very satisfactorily
the public demands on this subject but they
stood apparently only on their own merits,
and the practical legislator can never compre-
bend any fact of that sort; but schemes in
the success of which the public can indulge
very little hope received the attention denied
to the others. Why our lawmakers should not
assent to what the people want and should
instead give the sanction of authority to what
the explolters of the people want is q fact
easily understood but very lamentable.
The consolidation of the New York city
and county governments = Mr.. Charles
O'Conors bills q measure that ought
to have been passed four or five years
ago. It will simplify the financial bust
ness of the city, and should save some
expense AS we have already shown, this is
bill which puts into the Department of Public
Works much power that the trainers of the
measure meant to put elsewhere, but owing
to the clumsy manner in which the bill was at
first drawn, and the very important points it
overlooked, two supplementary bills were
made necessary for the perfection Of the con-
templated plan, and, as one of these
bills failed to pass, our ambitious
reformers, contemplating the stars, fell into