The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-02-22
mr.. Green's Financial Jugglery and
Falsehood.

mr.. Green's Financial Jugglery and
Fslsehood.
We exposed yesterday the scandalous
jugglery by which Mr.. Green, in his reply to
the Board of Aldermen, has attempted to
palm of on that body and on the citizens
false statement OF the increase of the public
debt during the time he has managed the
city finances That increase is stated by
him to have been $50, 600. 900. while it is
in reality $45, DOC, 900, as any intelligent
citizen may ascertain by q reference to
official documents within the reach of
all Mr. Green assumed the manage
meut of the Finance Department on Septem-
Der 16, 1871. At that date the public debt
was as follows, exclusive Of revenue bonds,
anticipating the year taxes as set forth by
the Comptroller in the Mayors Message to the
Common Council on January 10, 1874.
Document No. b.
Funded debt Of the city and county. ,1ss
Temporary debt, PAYABLE wholly or in
part from assessments. .............. u,S24.600
Gross debt on September 10, $9a. o4ao6s
This is the statement as made by the
Comptroller himself more than three years
after the time he took Office, and after the
figures had undergone the closest scrutiny.
The debt on December 81, 1874, as shown by
Mr.. GREEN'S balance sheet for 1874 was as fol-
lows exclusive of revenue bonds to be paid
out of the taxation of that year,
Funded debt PAYABLE from taxation
Assessment bonds payable wholly or in
part from assessments. ............ 2os51,0o
Gross debt on December 81, 1874 $780, 0s2, o57
Gross DEBT on September 10. lS7l..... s3.943.e6s
Increase Of debt under Green. ... s45,l4s,sso
No amount of subterfuge can alter the fact
that the debt has increased under Mr.. Green's
management by this enormous amount.
The statement that the increase is only
$33, 900, 900 is therefore false, intended to
deceive the Board of Aldermen and the peo-
pie in regard to their true financial condition,
and hence an official misdemeanor on the part
Of the Comptroller. It is immaterial who may
be responsible for the increase or how much
of it may be attributable to the old misrule
and corruption. The people are entitled to
know the truth, and Mr.. Green wilfully mis-
leads and deceives them.
call attention in Mr.. Green's reply to the Al
dermen is that relating to ''unadiusted claims"
against the city outstanding on December 81,
1874. The amount of these claims is alleged
by Mr.. Green to be $6,971, 149. We charge
that this is gross and wilful misrep-
resentation. In February, 1874, the Commits
sioners of Accounts, having been instructed
by the Board Of Supervisors to ascertain the
claims outstanding against the county alone,
reported them to be 81, 0s7, SIC. They could
not, however, obtain any information from
the Comptroller's Office to aid them in the
inquiry, and did not pretend that this sum
included all the county claims. At that time
they were engaged in examining the floating
debt, or ''unadjusted Claims" against the
city also, but were suddenly stopped by per-
emptory mandate from the Mayor not to con-
tinue the labor or report the result They
had, however, previously discovered claims
to the amount OF $4,000, 900 and had not
half completed their work. The Corporation
Counsel reported at that time that there
were then pending suits against the city to the
amount of Sc, 100000. Enough is therefore
known to satisfy us that Mr.. Green's present
statement is untrue, although the entire
truth will not be disclosed until the
secrets of the Finance Department have
been thoroughly unearthed. 1t is sufficient
now to say that the amount claimed on con-
tracts alone, of which Mr.. Green makes no
statement is probably more than three times
the sum he asserts will cover the entire '.un-
adjusted claims against the city. There were
also pending on the 3Oth of September last
931 suits against the city, exclusive of suits
to set aside or restrain the collection of assess-
ments, and these involved an amount OF about
eight million dollars. Comparatively few of
them have yet been settled, and the places of
such as have been disposed of have been sup
piled with new actions. It will be well, in
view of these facts, not to accept Mr.. Green's
figures as reliable in any instance but TO in
sist upon thorough scrutiny of all his ac-
counts by the proper officers, and to afford
them the most ample facilities to make the in
vestigation thorough and to push it with
vigor.
THE THIRD TERM QUESTION. his recent
vooo;footo NJ Thurlovu Wood orcorcca. tb.t