The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-07-07

which the Coroner covered up as much as
! possible the shortcomings of his friends and
neighbors.
The Bridging over Policy In Our
City Finances.
The only safe principle that can be adopted
in city government is that which teaches us
to pay as We go. Our present embarrassed
financial condition is due to the fact that
under Mr.. Green's management we have
wholly abandoned that principle and adopted
in Its place bridging over" policy, whose
end, unless it be checked in time, must be
bankruptcy. Our gross debt on the first day
of the present year was in round numbers one
hundred and forty-two million dollars. To
this may fairly be added twenty millions Of
unliquidated claims and other liabilities, COM
monty called floating debt" the actual
amount of which Mr. Green refuses to dis
close. There had been recovered against the
city, between January, 1872, and January,
1875, judgments to the amount of two million
five hundred thousand dollars large pro-
portion of which appear on the record as I'M
satisfied, although, from the loose man
ner in which the business of the
Finance Department is transacted, 1t
is impossible to discover how much
of this amount has been paid and
how much RETAINS unpaid drawing seven
per cent interest. 1t is safe to calculate that
we actually owed in gross at the beginning of
the present year one hundred and sixty-four
million dollars, including the funded, tenn
porary and floating debt, unsatisfed judg-
ments and claims then pending in the courts.
We have sinking fund of twenty-seven mil
lion dollars to go toward payment of this
debt. The temporary debt is nomnally
twenty million dollars, but this embraces va
Gated assessments and assessments that be-
long to the permanent debt of the city, being
made on city property. We cannot safely
calculate upon receiving back from assessment
rolls much more than half of this temporary
debt, or, say, twelve million dollars. Thirty
nine million dollars is, therefore, all the pres
ent provision we have toward paying a debt
of one hundred and sxty-four millions
Thirteen mi lion dollars of our debt ma
lures in 1875, and should be paid and can
celled this year. We have made provision to
pay less than three millions of this amount
We renew or ''bridge over ten millions by
issuing new bonds and stocks to take up those
that fall due, in accordance with mschievous
laws devised and secured by Mr.. Green legal
izlng such reckless tinancIering. On the 1st
of January last there remained uncollected
more than twelve million dollars of the three
nj Iv al nil
lion dollars of the three years assessments,
or a total of twenty million dollars of uncol-
lected taxes and assessments Probably at
least twelve millions of this amount will never
be collected at all, and will become charge
against the city, 10 be added either to the debt
or to the years taxation. But while twelve
million dollars Of the taxes Of 1872, 1873 and
1874 remained uncollected on January l. 1875,
the appropriations for the three years. to be
paid out of the taxes, had all been drawn up to
that date, except two millions and quarter;
hence ten million dollars which ought to have
been derived from taxes must have been OBJ
tanned from some other source to pay the ap-
preparations. Here, again, we have Mr..
Green's "bridging over policy. Instead of
repoming the deficiency to the Board of APP
portonment each year, in order that it might
be added to the next tax levy, the Comptroller
has concealed the fact of its existence, and
driven the increasing ball before HIM by the
unlicensed use of revenue bonds, thus post
poning the final reckoning We thus stand
to-day with known deficiency of ten million
dollars in the city treasury, without taking
into account the deficiency through assess
ments uncollected vacated and still unpro-
yided for, and which must also be saddled on
the city ut last.
This is only glance at the many evils of
the deceptive, "bridging over" policy inaugu-
rated by Mr.. Green, but it is sufficient to
show that our present loose incompetent and
reckless financial management cauDot be con-
tinued much longer without landing us in
bankruptcy.