The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-06-19
Is NOTHING S.ICREDY
The Eyes Of the Pohtician. Turned upon the
City of the Dead.


There are 1S2.Oi0 people in Greenwood
Cemefery. OF these 40 are n I'd at work grad
ing, OF giug, sodding, and planting; the rest are
fast asleep IN death. On all this gogdiy band,
the broad acres Of the cemetery aud the SS00.0OO
carefully laid away for use IN rainy day. the
politicians eye Il fixed That eve rs always quick
to detect ANYTHING with a bone In II. and, btlev-
Ing that Greenwood offers opportunity fo- PIT
tuntEc. NJ all events to plumber, perhaps he
puUic will not he surprised TO hear that efforts
have been made and are still making to wrest
the control Of this vast property from the hands
OF the men who designed and perfected 1t. aud
to transfer II to trustees who will be usable at
election times for political ends. The fret step
toward this end-that IL, the nrst public steu-
was an en1eavor TO commit the Legislature To-
such change In cemetery charters as would
eom pel Greenwood TO pay the assessments Tor
public improvements in Its vicinity. very
strenuous and determined effort WAS made to
secure this legislative action, but II failed for
the time heiug. Greenwood does not st4nd
alone In its Interested opposition to this sch eme,
for nearly every town IN the 1t tie has its rural
cemetery, and all are liabe to be affected In the
same way
Perry, said that although Prospect Park has more
acres Of land than Greenwood, GreeDwOod has
three times as many miles 81 road and Ave times
as II any miles Of path to Take care Of IL would
seem to he reasonable tn suppose that would
cost M m uch money 10 take care of treenw God
as ~ Prospect Park. At present the sources OF
income are tOree First. the sale Of lots second,
tue digeinR Of graves third. interest on the re-
serve. In time all revenue fnpm the trst source
VIII end. There ~ still vast TERRITORY to be sold,
but 1t Is going or steadily. The regular charge
an Obligdtion OF perpet ual care OF the grave. IL
must be sodded, mown and kept shapelv. The
/ at item this year was Immense. The rains dtd
sucn damage IN sinking graves as to r quire an
expenditure almost equal TO the receipts. There
were eighty thousand sunken graves, every one
of which had to be filed up. freshly mounted
and returfed. Constant supervision Ia absolutely
necessary In the winter and spring. when rains
i and freshets und ermine the vaults and sink the
! graves I'm al parts Of the grounds. The income
| from he nrst source IN the last hscai wear was
| $l0g.6SI26 aud from the second, s3l,o625J
Tue cemetery mas n reserve fund IN cash avail
| able assets of about y6OOOOO which would be
Increased, of course, by $l3lsOO II toe Land out
side were to be sold IN "A lamp, and sttil more To-
creased II 1t he taken into the cemetery and sold
IN detail The scbemine To get possession OF
the corporation for the purpose Of controlling
! this fund has occasiOned sOlicitude and alarm.
! 1t Is believed that tue cemetery will eventually
need and have fund OF about two million dol
| lars.
| At the annual election there are rarely more
| than two or three voting landholders, lot own
| ers, present. Obviously, tuen, II would be In
the power OF any unsc rupulous or designing set
| to purchase lots, attend the election. and put
themselves In power, thereby getting control OF
| the fund. To oDviate this IN a certain degree
| the corporation secured the passage OF law
which provides that u at any annual election
their votes the existing trustees shall elect their
| SUCCESSORS. There are fifteen trustees, OF whom
| I've 20 out every two years. IL would take six
years to make any marked change, therefore. Ia
the composition II the board. The board IL
composed this year as follows: Robert Ray
Henry f. PierrepOnt, Cyrus =. Smith, John IA
Preni&ce Phny Freeman, Russell Steohins, Ben
jamin u. Field, A. A. Low. J: Carson Brevoor
James W. Beekman, Arthur W. Benson, Alex
snder N. White, john W. G. Leveridee, Benjs
min d. silliman. j. A. Perry. or these Mr
lferrepont Is President, Mt. Low Vice Presi-
dent aud MIR. Perry Comptroller and secretary
The only compensation the trustees have Is u
each for their attendance at the several meet
ings; tue Comptroller has a salary of $3.50 pei
annum. The last fiscal years Income from al
sources was $3A TAO, aud the gross sxnendl
ture Was $j!s,gid IA. OF this $l54,S5.35 wal
spent ON labor and tlO4,5j905 on improve meuts
The salary list is interesting. although sn all. a
follows Comptroller. S7,5JO: Comptroller extrs
for back year. f1.JOO; Superintendent OF Inter
ments. $3.50; SUPERINTENDENT Of men. $l,5O
Civil Engineer S2,,OO: Gale keeper, 5000; oict
clerks, t+.52u.
MIR. Perry. the Comptroller, manages the Attain
OF tue corporation, devoting his time To then
now, as he has since 1872. al which time he wa
appointed to The position he now holds. III
says that he has frequently been approached bl
politicians. who desired to have the employ eel
Influenced m voting. but that he has tnvariaoil
net the advance with a nrm and decided mega
tive. He further SAYS tnat no appointment o
| engagement contract has at any time beef
secured through either politics OF religion. TIT
barrier once down would be down forever, an,
neither he nor the trustees would for moment
coustenance it. As a rule the visitors behav
properly. A deal OF stealing Is done by garden
ers, and some oy visitors.