New-York tribune., 1885-09-15
MAYOR GRACE TO MR. GIBBS
sraGEsrED MUNICIPAL REFORMS.

The senale - -, in fhe Aidermanic chamber Ill the
;sr Hail All the members OF the con'i w ne
present Isaac s Barrett cnael number Of
R,uance Department. submitted q tha Con-
Inah;ts from the reports OF tuJ ;tv
eroler showing the financial ,o % traDsfeTs
n,Oasa shaved among other things, tNo dr;S
Iesornende3 balances to the general tHha @ HudS an
~ ~ wear 1sS4 One of these was I0r lew
and was applied to the IeGne.fSn for 81 CO. s17 CO. and
lod @ nnriied TO the reduction OF the TAX eny enyior %
Tss5 Chairman Gibbs read replies 10 .le CIR" All
,,ar addressed to the heads OF departments ,bn
ie..ssseJ the Willingness of the writers 10 an Rnh
pawmlttee in its investigation: rIestSSa' Sa om,nal
OF the Dock Department. wrote th"' baS rny inst,
report Srdod OF 70 % the Mayor, aud this contained
DrobaHiy tue information SOUGHT ,nc+o Ior thot he
Haughson Of the Esflsed his investigated
Tbe most important coinlnuncati"" ""' ~
Mayor Grace. The Mayor says; .,-..,o, oDor,
asuo a1or,a,en % rs 10 enable the committee TO aavse
10 ~ ~eTt Legislature what beneficial esslaSn shU i'm M
adop,e&u & W he taxpayers of this city, and to Simplify SO
lar as Consistent with eheent pupnS t are adminis.
methods by when the an"iiS VI ~ Wv
The Mayor cites two laws passed by the ne iuso tho
Legislature requiring the & of
aitS of SIC 800 aud the other the cIesuq3h u o,
Commission to build bridge across tne dnaa hv
River which could Just as wei nave ooo" UNIV "
The Park Department. lie auos .,.,. =, oovu
have cited these two acts. not In any spirit 1 h
ina'n,sint 4 but simply in tue hope thMat M ine Il,
Committee you represent may recognize he gs t o az "
the system The remedy for the Legislature apply Is TO
initiate such amendment OF tHe oia me enactment
by subsequent Legislature OF suSn ssura Local in
municipal corporations as VIII Ienc in All matters OF
purely local concern -. o..,,
Referring to the question of exempting properly
from taxation, the Mayor says: c.,,
Rv report asked by and furnished py ,ne h
missoners of Taxes and Assessment on AprL vi 'o m
present year. 1t appears that theIe was a.
exensiye of property owned by the United & St.gs anu anu
the City Of and 5Ha at sSSSBSS 0 Doubtless
great part property so exempted Is use% or dps
which h ' u not true Of the Whole aud almost
certain that a general act could bs devised W MnIon "'
limit such exemptions to strictly meritorions cases
qbe Mavor suggests that the Cooperation Attor-
news Bureau, and that of the Bureau OF lheuill. %
brances in the Department OF Fuolic WoIhs nir" UI
consoIidated and the new bureau be given coht[Il f
of street membranes. 1he Mayor SPEAKS "o Aoi-
lows concerning the Police Department:
The method now provided by Law for the dlsDnrse e,
of the money appropriateu iO e hat nrnyided in
the case of any other department OF the city govern ~
Sno S Is noi1 monthly one.twefth of the total annual
appropratiOn for the department. Ihe lnones ~ ps.
sctnd ~ at nor are his checks drafts required
m be eouutersigned by any Otoial outside Oh tae
Control duplicate vouchers for all payments but tais
Constitutes in effect check upon his M
was ever adopted or why it should be continued
The Mayor believes that a change should pc
made i'm the method of providing money ior TIC
Dock Department. lie says
There is no provision of law by which the Board OF
Estimate apportionment can include N the amga
appropriations any mcney neyv "r hsen % brought by
Certain taxpayers Of this 10, "a. city yr,u tho no
the issue and sale of Of any ey aTS Sesn
belov the limit prescribed by the constitution anu te
counsel to & Iaf Sp areaV exceeded II this acon
shond intimately be decided in favor OF thc PainIns
the operafons of the Dock Department must absolutely
sIen Unless The Legislature shall give authority TO the
BOARD of Estimate and AppOruonmeht 10 lhc9oe SUN
oariment in the annual appropriation To meet tine
administrative expenses by the issue Oh long oOnI n
sure incentive 20 extravaganee ahd casts up1 on
who are TO after us burdens which shouu e
by %rseyes an sppna nnl1 esma Of her requirements
to the secretary Of the Board OF Estimate ana
ment and should be permitted TO Spend no more thah
that Board shall finally appropriate. Ill
The Mayor suggests whether II would not be wei,
10 create a new and distinct department charged
with the control and distribution OF the water SUP
ply and the collection of rates Ihls is now pu-
reau iu the Department of PUBLIC WoIks. lie thnKs,
also that the term of the President OF the Board OF
1Idernen shonld be extended to two years, as that
oficial is a member of the Board of Estimate ana
Apportionment and III that capacity gains an expe-
rience which may be of great beneht 10 the ci'y'
GFNERAL LOGANS FORTHCOMING BOOK
A HISTORY OF THE CAUSES LEADING To THE sK-
cEssroY OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
General john A. Logsn's book IS now IN the hands an
of It's publishers A. K. Hart q Co., OF No. ~ Muir
ray-st The title for theworkwas onlydecided upon
last week. while Mr. Hart was in Chicago. and il
one that gives an excellent idea OF the contents on
TIE hook 1t is " The Great Conspiracy its HIS
tory aud Origin" The book is study OF the causes
which brought ab the secession OF the south
from the Union. d lg back TO the time Od 1He
reporter yesterday
General Logan first made known to few per
sonal friends about years ago lthat he intended
writing book, and since then he has been at worB
upon il when the duties of public life dld not re-
quire his attention. He believes that that the Sc.
e tIa rat
by conspiracy that had It's origin about
the year 1775, or immesiately before I'M
declaration Of war between the colonies ahe h
the mother country, extending down through the
War of the Rebellion TO the surrender at Appomat-
tox Court House on April 8, 1865. Neither Grant
nor any of the generals prominent IN the war ar
mentioned, nor does the writer speak OF himself
either of his experiences during the war or OF hl,
public life since. 1t decidedly non partisan, and
both military and civil life was the author. Tht
work purely historical and adheres strlctiy u
the title There is no attempt to use fOwery Ian
guage and the reader will not require dictionary
at his elbow ready for frequent use The style II
much like the Generals speeches. plain, terse, Ou
to the point, with each sentence vel rounded. Al Al
immense amount OF valuable information Is con
tanned in the work, covering wide field of thought
and study OF course 1t necessary In work OF thu
kind to refer to some other authors, but the most
it is matter never before published and the re
mainder is so old that the present generation ar
generally unacquainted with 1t. The book, whe
completed, Will be one Of the most valuable WORK
ever published and the prospects that it vii
have a wide circulation. We are getting the frs
proof sheets ready. and they VIII be gwen out
until about February /. 1t will be imperial octav
in size. containing 800 pages;
Ihe first edition Will be sold entirely by sqDscrii
tion at the following prices: PLAN cloth bndln
S3 10; sheepskin binding 30 and Iurkey-morocc
binding 81 90"
SPECIAL AGENTS SEARCHING TRUNKS.
Special Agent Aver is preserving profoun
silence the Custom House regarding mysterious nve