The New York herald., 1877-09-01
The CITY Debt.

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defence-that the public has been confused
and bewildered by the mass of contradic-
tory statements Comptroller Kelly, in the
report which we published yesterday,
shows no disposition to warp the facts, and
it is possible by study and COMPARE
son of the very full schedules and
tables subjoined to his report, as
printed in the City Record, to reach all
Ineligible and, in the main, trustworthy
view of the liabilities of the city and its
fiscal transactions during the last year.
There is one important branch of the sub
ject-the assessment bonds-on which more
precise information was desirable; but even
with this the Comptroller has not juggled
although he fails to furnish anything be-
yond vague, loose statement. Batting
this defect, to which we will recur further
on, the Comptroller has supplied all the
facts necessary for o correct estimate of our
present financial condition. The funded
debt of the city minus the sinking
fund available toward its discharge
amounts to S9l, ,651, 615. TO this the Comp
troller adds, as liabilities which swell
the debt, assessment bonds amounting to
$22. 144, 400, and revenue bonds amounting
to S18, 800, ,977, making the total Of city in
debtedness of every form and description in
excess Of the sinking fund $132, 096, 992
But there are other deductions which might
as properly be made as that OF the sinking
fund. The revenue bonds can be classed
with the debt only technically, no more be-
longing with it than exchequer bills do in a
statement of the public debt of Eng
land. The revenue bonds represent
short temporary loans in anticipation Of
taxes Of the year. large portion OF the
city payments, including the State tax as
the heaviest single item, have to be made in
the early part Of every year, but the taxes
of the year are not collected until near its
close. But, taking one year with another,
the revenue bonds are all paid ont of the
proceeds of the taxes, and form no part OF
the standing debt of the city. But these
revenue bonds are one Of the chief instru-
ments for juggling with the debt and de-
ceiving the public. Their large and con-
stant accumulation during the first nine
months of every year give a deceptive
crease Of the debt, and their rapid extinction
toward the close of the year may be twisted
in a contrary sense. Mr.. Kelly, while CIV
ing the actual figures of the revenue bonds,
and reckoning them as debt makes clear
explanation of their real nature, and takes
away all excuse for misunderstanding their
true relation to the fiscal operations Of the
city
The Comptroller also removes all grounds
of cavil in relation to the assessment bonds
by adding the whole amount Of them to the
city debt, although in theory they stand in
about the same relation to it MS the revenue
bonds. But the theory does not accord with
the facts In theory the assessment bonds
represent amounts of money due to the city
from the owners Of property assessed for i'm
provements; and if this were the true state
of the case the assessment bonds would bear
precisely the same relation to the city debt
as the revenue bonds, being mere advance
by the city of unpaid money due it from
individuals. But, in point of fact, the
sessment bonds represent large amounts Of
assessments that can never be collected
While they are all real obligations against
the city large portion Of them represent
fictitious means of payment. We are sorry
that Mr.. Kelly, in report which seems so
sincere and candid, has not purged the
city accounts Of this fictitious element.
Although he may have been unable to do it
completely he might have made a near ap-
Proclamation to it. But he merely recog-
nizes the existence of this phantasmal ele-
ment in the city accounts without coming
to close quarters with it and exposing it in
detail What he says is this
1t Is true however that account of vacations of
assessments by the courts ramssions and for
city, deficiency OF several million dollars has arisen
in the funds derived IRON the collection OF assess-
scssmen bonds which deficiency eventually be
met by taxation or by rounding portion OF these
bonds, instead of renewing or roissung them at ma
turity.
We are sorry that the Comptroller has not
with bold hand carried torch into this
dark corner of the city finances. 1t may be
impossible for him to tell to dollar, or
even, perhaps, to within o million of dol
lars, what amount of outstanding assess
ments can and what amount cannot, be COL
lected but he could easily have dissected
out the greater portion of this huge fiction
and removed it from the city accounts. The
part assessed on city property is purely tic-
titous, and the records of the Finance De-
partlnent must afford the means Of ascertain
ing the precise amount of that portion of the
assessments. The vacation of assessments
by courts, remissions and errors" must also
be matter of record and ascertainable with
out difficulty. These parts Of the assessments
will never be collected, and it is absurd
to let them stand in the accounts as
resources Mr.. Kelly has not, indeed, prac-
tised or attempted any deception on this
head but we are sorry that he has shrunk
from the trouble and pains of close nves-
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