New-York tribune., 1876-04-22
NOR. WOODIN,S CH4RTER.

The bill relating to the local government Of
the City Of New-York which Mr.. Woodln has
carried through the Senate, and which now
awaits the action of the Assembly, Is CON
cerned principally with the faancial admins
tration assessments, contracts, and public i'm
movements. Many of its provisions arc highly
complicated, and it is not easy to understand
their purpose or their probable effect. Some
are clear enough, such for instance rs the sec
ton which abolshcs the Board of Supervisors !;
the section which prohibits the ISSUE of bonds
to n greater amount than $l.OOO,OOO in any
one year to pay for all works like tho Brook
lyu Bridge, the Museum of Art, the Fourth
Avenue improvement, the boulevards, Nc,
not chargeabe to assessments; and the
sections compelling all appointees of
the city government to live within
the municipal boundaries, and prohibiting
the employment of clerks, street-sweepers,
day laborers, scrubbing- women. and any other
persons who are not citizens. For the rest 1t
may be said that whilo close study of the
bill and familiarity with municipal affairs arc
necessary to find out all that Mr. Woodin
means by his extraordinary charter, it is plain
that its general drift is to favor contractors
and claimants, and that it covers more job
berry and fraud than any other instrument
ever devised for New-York except the famous
charter of William NJ. Tweed
Let us take two fragrant examples. Both
are found in Sec. 5. That section confirms oil
outstanding contracts for the execution OF
work payable in whole or in part from assess
ments-that is to say for all manner of street
improvements, including regulating, grading,
curbing, paving, guttering and sewer-buldlng.
No matter what fraud may have been perpe-
trated in the contract or the execution OF the
work everything is confirmed; everything
must be paid for; all illegalities are simply
wiped out How much this provision may be
worth to the street contractors Dir. WoOdln
perhaps knows; we certainly do not. Still
worse however is the following extract from
the same section:
Payments On all contracts heretofore entered into
which may be entered into in this section
yided shall be- made the rate and to the extent
torzed by such contracts for all work done hereunder
accepted used by tho city, and for all material and
supplies furnished aimee the 1st day OF January 1875
on the order the Commissioners Of Public Works for
to be used in the execution OF any works in progress
Such payments shall he made out OF assessment bonds.
and nothing herein contained shall impair delay such
payments.
The strange wording of this passage raises a
suspicion that it was framed to protect some
special interests but in any case IL is about
as bad as it could be. 1t destroys at one blow
the whole defense of the city against the most
corrupt and extravagant contracts. Tweed
was accustomed to make contracts at exorbi-
tant rates. His men were accustomed to exc
cute them in the loosest and most rascally
manner. Under the rule laid down by Mr..
Woodin all such contracts are legalized at
Tweed's price. 1t is sate't to say that there
are now disputed claims against the city
amounting to millions Of dollars for work
done under fraudulent contracts or not