New-York tribune., 1885-01-06
rrxvv WORK DAILY TRIBUNE TUESDAY, JANUARY 1888
mining tho amount Of indebtedness intended BY the
THE SINKING FUND.

Constitution.
THE SINKING FUND.
is needIess here to enter into any discussion Of tho
Sinking Fund or to make any detailed statement as to
what II H. That was sufficiently done by the Corpora
sion Counsel In an opinion rendered to my
and dated November IL, 1884 It Is sufficient TO say
that N is not an asset Of the city which can be used
the as an Offset against the amount OF
funded debt but Is held by the Commissioners In trust
for the payment Of certain Of the cts obligations ana
M such is inyoabe that doubtful whether the
Legislature itself could pass act lookngto the can
collation. or other Of the bonds stock In Its posses
sion without violating tho constitutional inhibition
against the enactment of law impairtng the opiigaon
OF q contract.
The immediate effect Of the amendment to the Consti
tuition will be to materially change tho methods which
have heretofore existed Of raising moneys for various
public improvem ents Public moneys have until now
raised in two ways VIZ: through the tax levy ana
bulk of the annual expenditure being for the temporary
purpose OF administration raised directly BY taxation
@ nd ali 'nSs Hy as the opening
latng grading paving etc. OF streets tne h
tss and buildings the Improvement Of the 'front.'
expenditure for other than sss
city, have heretofore been met by Issuing the
Of tho city Of the various classes oy law IN
will be necessary to raise the adequate iuhas oy hser
ton in the annual tax levy While be- Sns OF ns
result win tina; al srDoPGr the except aSn.tns ny
i iisn of the new agusduct and water ter supply
will come immediately under the control and be subject
ed to criticism and approval OF the Board OF Estimate
and Apportonmen and be provided Tor Dy an appropr
alton in annual estimate Tho present instead or
future will thus be compelled to sustain the
burden OF all public improvements unt such time as the
ratio Of Funded Debt to the assessed value or our
real estate will permit the further Issuing OF the
obligations This expenditure WILL however, be limited
by further provision OF the Constitutional Amcndment
which requires that 1.-THE amount hereafter to be raised
by tax for county city purposes In any such
city loe 1000 nhabants In addition 70 proVd-
Ing for the principal and interest OF any existing debt
cent valuation Of the real and personal
estate OF county city, While the Constitution
thus leaves ample margin for purposes OF dministra
tion and improvements, II nevertheless provides very
necessary safeguard against over raNation Although
the work of Improvement will DO somewhat crippled,
look upon the whole for very benencent ultimate re-
suits from the change In the law. tending TO enforce
economy and to on tho temptation 70 ehtravagance
the salty which will arise for including In the annual
tax heretofore met Oy the Issue OF
bonds viii largely Increase the aggregate amount re-
quircd 10 be raised by taxation In lsSb ana succeeding
years and this consideration should lead all our publo
officials to tho exercise of the most stringent economy III
their several departments
APPROPRIATIONS FOR 1885 AND THE TAX RATE.
s33 s7I 9O5 Al om which is deducted ~ 100000 sup
piled by General Fund for the reduction OF taxation
leaving $3i s7l .905 al TO be raised by tax; which
amount will be increased. however by half million dol
lars or more deficiencies In the actual product OF
the taxes, say total OF S3s,3120OO
The following Is a comparative table showing the
amounts appropriations for all objects and pur
poses IN the nal estimates for the years 1854 and 1885,
respcctiveyi