The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-04-22
BIGGEST CITY ON EARTH.
Sanguine Promoters of the Gotham
Scheme to Absorb Several
Suburban Towns.
It Is Proposed to Unity Them All
in One Great Munich
pality.
A Population of Three Millions to Start
With-Five Millions In q
Few Years.


Few Years.
New York, April 0.-The movement to
consolidate the city of New York and neigh
boring cities and towns in the same state
into one great municipality is daily grow
ing in favor, for its advantages are mani
fold and the arguments against it com
psratiyely mild. The promoters of the en-
terprise are very sanguine and reports
received from their representatives in
the legislature give reason for encourage
ment. They say that while the bill intro
duced at the last moment is not as strong
as it might have been, a canvass of the leg
~islators indicates that it will have a strong
support from the first. An appropriation
of So, 600 is asked for the purpose of carry
ing out the scheme, and this strikes some
rural members as too much money to be
devoted to such al object, but the proba-
bilities are that the full amount will be
granted.
w. W. Goodrich, chairman of the Kings
county republican committee, is out for the
plan for enlarging New York by taking in
Brooklyn and other suburban cities. A
letter from him indorsing the scheme was
read at n meeting to-day of the municipal
ity consolidation commission. Ex-Mayor
Schroeder. of Brooklyn, addressed the COM
mission in favor of consolidation. He be-
lieved Brooklyn had everything to gain by
the contamination of the project, and SO
far as New York was concerned he could
not see hat it would be injured in any way.
H would have the executive administra-
@;op diui1o5 into departnaots lint the lao.
~islative government should be one.
Tho proposition to consolidate into one
municipality the cities of New York,
BROOKLYN, Long Island City aud other
suburbs has been discussed more or less
for twenty years and over. The arguments
in favor of the proposition have the strong
est foundation, but i'll opposition were the
individual interests, of the dozen or more
corporations that it was proposed to swal-
low up in one. That opposition took the
form of a predicted increase In taxation,
the difficulty of adjusting the varied in
und the assertion that outside districts
would be heavily taxed to pay for improve
ments in the central ones.
On the other hand, the proposition could
not be comhated that all the population
within a ladlus of fifteen or eighteen miles
from New York city had a community of
interest which no imaginary or even natural
line could obllterate. Brooklyn was as
much q part of the great municipality as
though the East river did not exist, while
the bulk of the population of Westchester
county and of Staten island were New
Workers in everything except actual resi-
dence.
Even the counties of Hudson and Essex,
in New Jersey, were largely peopled by Now
York business men, and while state lines
present an insuperable obstacle to the con-
solidation of Jersey CITY, Hoboken and
Newark with New York, yet those cities and
a dozen smaller intervening towns are
nothing but suburbs to the metropolis.
After much discussion the time seems to
have arrived for Il determined movement
looking to the consolidation with New York
city of large portions of Westchester. Kings,
Queens and Richmond counties, or in other
words the west end of Long island, all of
Station islaud and II large territory north Of
Manhattan island. I'll area included with
in the proposed limits is some twenty-five
miles in length by eighteen in width. 1t
has the Hudson river. Kill Won kull and the
Arthur Kill on the west, the ocean on the
south and on the east an imaginary line
formed by a circle with the New York city
hall rs the center and with a radius of
eighteen miles. The northern boundary
is the present city line. taking III d large
section of Westchester county.
These boundaries include 400 square
miles of territory and over 200 miles of
water front. No other place in the world
has such commercial facilities, with wharf
age where trains$from every Joint between
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans can run
alongside ships bound for every quarter of
the globe: with waite ways penetrating in
every direction and lined with commodious
warehouses. Had nature planned the loca-
ton with the especial view of creating the
greatest commercial entrepot of the world
she could hardly have improved on the
situation.
The cities and towns included within the
limits OF tine proposed consolidated city are
as follows: New York, Brooklyn, Long
Island City, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle.
Wakefield, College Point, Mhitestone. Great
Neck, Flushing, Jamaica, Newtown, Hemp
end. Castleton. Middleton, Edeewater,
Mortified, southfeld and Westtield.
The aggregate population of these places,
according to the recent census, is 1850, 372
people. But in the case of New York city
alone the census returns were some $50, 600
short of the actually, as demonstrated by
the recount made by the city officials. 1t is
but fair to assume. then, that the popula-
tlon of the new city would be at least g.
DOC. coo, thus making New York the second
city in the world. 1t would rank as follows
with the four largest cities: London, A.
All ,661:7New York, (at least Q, $3.50, 1872; Paris,
2.344, $50; Berlin. l,h47.5 33.
Beginning with fully 5000, 000, the new
city would undoubtedly within another
twenty-five years become the first city of
VIC oIlu ~ AdVc q pOpulhtlOu Oh HI
least {, 600. 900. There are at least 800, 600
people on the western shore of the HUI =
son river who are New Workers more than
they are J~erseymen. Their business in
terests lie in the metropolis, and were it not
Tor the insurmountable difficulty of state
lines there can be nc doubt that a large
section of the thlckly populated portion OF
New Jersey would seek admission TO tho
great city. 1t is now to all intents and pur-
poses a part of New York. and in any other
country than this would be included within
the Same municipality.
Already a tunnel to connect JERSEY CITY
with New York is we'll under way, and with
Its success none of the great trunk lines ter
minating on the wester n shore of the Hud-
son can afford to be kept out of New York
city. They will be obliged to construct
other tunnels for self protection.
The East river, on the other side of the
present city, will within another decade
have at least one and probably more
bridges across 1t, each additional link ONLY
serving to bring the separate Communities
into closer relationship of common inter
est.
The adjustment of the financial affairs of
the various cities that it is proposed to CON
solldats has been the subject of much dis
cussion. aud it is believed that an amicable
basis can be determined which shall be lust
to all concerned.