The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-01-01

tuIOuc OVcT but lfOuCleIS
The New Governor and Mayor-The
First Step in Reform.
To-day Samuel j. Tilden and William H
Wickham will be installed in Office, the one as
Governor Of the State and the other as Mayor
of the city OF New York. Both are democrats
in the best acceptation of the word; demo-
Gratis from their faith in the fundamental
principles of that old and honorable party,
and not because accident or interest has
thrown them into utilization with the organ
ization. Mr.. Tilden's democracy was learned
in the school of Van Buren,, Wright and
Marcy MIR. Wickham, younger man, has
grown up in reverence of the example
afforded by the lives of those pure and ear
nest statesmen. Neither of them are mere
machine politicians. When the leaders of
their party proved unfaithful to public trusts
and false to the principles they professed our
new Governor and our new Mayor fought side
by side against spurious democracy and
labored to cleanse their own politi-
cal household. Their triumph to-day
is the merited reward of their fidelity then.
They have lived to restore their party to
honor and to power; to elevate it once more
to the head Of the leading State and city Of
the Union, and TO place it on the high road to
success in the nation. While they have Sc
cured these advantages to the political organ
ization to which they are attached they have
bestowed upon the people of New York the
benefit of harmonious State and municipal
governments for the Governor and the
Mayor are happily now in accord. Their
principles and their objects are the same.
They have no conflicting interests to study
no clashing ends to promote. Standing side
by side on the sound democratic platform of
''home rule the object of each will be to
strengthen the hands and invigorate the adj
ministration Of the other.
Mr.. Tilden succeeds a Governor who has
filed his Office acceptably, and he may not
find so ample field for reform as will
spread out before Mayor Wickham. The
great advantage he will enjoy over his
predecessor will be his freedom from such
party obligations as would necessitate an un-
due intermeddling with the government of
the metropolis. Governor Tilden will seek to
rule the State in an honorable and becoming
manner. and, standing on democratic prin-
ciple, will leave to Mayor Wickham the en-
tire control of the affairs Of the city. Thus
the mischievous political provision in the
charter of 1873, which compelled Governor
Dix to act as o republican check on the late
Mayor, will be ignored by Governor Tllden,
or, rather, will be interpreted by him as re-
curing his approval of any removals of
municipal officers that may be regarded by
Mayor Wickham as necessary to the interests
of the city. A more ample field for reform,
as we have said, spreads out before our new
Mayor. He succeeds an homogeneous, inef-
ficient and disreputable administration.
For two years the city Offices have
mainly been partitioned among incapable
men on personal considerations in disregard
of the interests and wishes of the people.
The consequences have been violations OF
law in almost all the municipal departments
and corruptions in many. Above all, the
public finances have been managed by an
overbearing and cunning charlatan, who has
managed to usurp functions not pertaining to
his Office and to bring the city to the verge of
bankruptcy; for no property can long stand
a constantly increasing debt that represents
to-day tax of fifteen per cent on all the real
and personal estate Of the city, joined to an
annual taxation for the ordinary expenses of
the government amounting to three per cent
oy,1 clx bov 10
called upon to remove, and if he desires to
make his administration success he must set
earnestly about the work the moment the
courtesies of his Inauguration day have been
properly dispensed.
The first duty of the Mayor will be to re-
model the finance department and to place
in the Comptroller's Office o fnancier of
recognized capacity and integrity. The peo-
pie must know their actual financial condi-
ton at once, and this they cannot know until
Mr.. Green has been removed. Trckery, de-
ception and falsehood have marked mis- official
course from his first financial statement in
1871 down to the fraudulent estimate for the
interest account imposed upon the Board OF
Apportionment last June. We can have no
satisfactory reform in the other departments
of the city government until the finance de-
partment has been purified and placed under
the control of some such citizen as John j.
Cisco, Frederick Tappan, E. p. Fabbri, W.
Seymour, Georges Forrest, John L. Agnew
Edward Cooper, Abel Dennison. or some one
of similar standing. Any one of these names
would command the confidence and thu
esteem of the people and IMPROVE
the public credit; for, while on
city bonds may find market, the publ
credit suffers severely from MIR. Green
wretched policy. No one will trust the cit
or do work Tor the city on advantageous term
so long as he sits at the head of the financ
department. When the removal OF MI
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