New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-01-03
STREET CONSPIRACIES.

The action of the Board of Aldermen in pass
ing the Chambers Street Railroad bill over the
| MAYORS veto. in stolid disregard of the dem
onstratiOn 10y the Corporation Counsel that they
| have no power to authorize the construction oil
any street railroad, ought not to take us by sur
prise 1t is to be presumed that so fragrant
wrong as the original adoption OF the ordinance
| could only have been perpetrated in accord
ance with the terms of regular secret con-
tract. undcr which the Aldermen were to be
duly compensated for the wear and tear OF
reputation, censure of the press and public
| loss of character. and so on. Having entered
into piratical engagement n ''sense of duty "
compelled them, like Mr.. Gilbert's hero, to
serve faithfully till the end of their indent-
ures. They have now done what they agreed
to do, and the railway ncOrpOrators must
make the best of the invalid resolution.
We suspect that there is q further move
ment in reserve and that the railroad people
hope vet to make use of the ordinance they
have obtained from the Aldermen. Ii will be
remembered that under the constitution and
laws OF the State, as Corporation Counsel
Whitney demonstrates, street railways can only
be authorized by general act of the Legs
with the proviso that the scheme shall have
the consent of the local authorities and the
approval either OF a majority of the property
owners or OF Commissioners appointed by the
Supreme Court. The Company may now apply
to the Legislature for the enactment Of the
necessary general law, and when that il pro-
cured they will have only one more condition
TO fulfil. The consent OF a majority
of the prOperty-owners on Cbambcrs-st.
(t!iat is, the owners of anything over
half the frOntage) can perhaps be had without
much trouble The interests Of the owners of
lots on a certain street are often opposed to
the interests of the general public who have
TO use the thoi oughfares, as we see now in the
case of Broadway, where shopkeepers would
be glad to drive away the wagon traffic and
surrender the street to passenger cOnyeyances,
not rejecting, or not caring. that change
which might increase the number Of their
retail customers would do an irreparable in-
Jury to the city at large. 1t may be that
there are many shopkeepers in Chambers st..
too, who would be glad to Obstruct that nee
essary cross-town thorOughfare. Among the
pIoperty-Owners, moreover, would undoubt-
eddy be reckoned the Aldermen themselves,
inasmuch as the Corporation owns all on
the south side Of the street from Centre-St. TO
Broadway. Finally, if the projectors of the
road fail to secure the consent OF sufficient
number of lOt-owners, they can fall back upon
n board of three Commissioners.
If everybody's business were not unfor-
tunatey nobody's business, there would doubt
less be an emphatic public protest against the
destruction of one of the most important and
crowded of the few remaining cross-streets in
the lower part of the city available for heavy
traffic We trust, however, that the sentiment
OF wrOnged community will make itself OBJ
vious to the new Board of Aldermen and
cause this railroad job to be arrested while
there is still time. The resolution just passed
can be and ought to be rescinded without
delay.