The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-04-11
CONSOLIDATION OF NEW YORK.

The consolidation into single municipal
ity of New York and the towns and cities i'm
mediately adjacent to IT. proposition which
a duly appointed local commission has under
advisement. will be step, if the proposition
is adopted. that will have both local and a
national importance.
The press Of New York city seem TO favor
the suggestion very strongly. and there are
many reasons why it should receive the very
decided approval of the different communities
directly involved. 1t is natural that the peo-
pie of those communities should take pride in
the thought that when consolidation actually
occurs, the municipality that will be formed
will be second only to London in the size Of
the population that will be included in its
limits under a single government.
New York would become the second city in
the world in the number of its inhabitants, a
fact which would have a tendency to spread
abroad its fame even more extensively than
is now observed. And this fact will have a
special significance when it is recalled that
this enormous city has reached its present
proportions in period Of time which seems
to be a very brief span AS compared with the
centuries in which London has grown to the
size TO which it has attained.
The advantage to be derived from the pro-
posed enlargement Of the Now York munich
pality is not altogether sentimental. There
are practical and substantial advantages
which will attcndit The mere fame of such
a community" the New York sun remarks
very justly. may enure TO its practical pros
perity by drawing to it the attention and the
admiration of all mankind. stimulating their
curiosity and provoking in them the desire to
share in the glory and the opportunities of
such a centre of civilization. 1t also generates
within the community itself spirit of pride
and of dignity which conduces to its we'll
being"
The view which the communities of the
United States at large take of the proposed con-
solidation being entirely unbiased By local
prejudices or the conflict of local interests is
SO far as can be inferred. very favorable TO
the step under Amusement. Indifferent to
the reasons which have purely local bear
ing, the general sentiment of the country
looks only at the question in its national
aspects. The right to claim that the United
States, the youngest of the frst-class powers
Of the world. has the second city on the globe,
is one that may very properly appeal to the
pride of the American people as a whole.
And that pride is still further increased
when they remember that in the course Of an
other century. if the present rate of growth
observed in the communities lying on New
York harbor or in its vicinity, is maintained,
these communities will constitute the most
populous centre either in the Eastern or West
ern Hemisphere. With ample room existing
for the local extension of these communities.
when they shall be consolidated into one
municipality there is no reason whatever
why they should not by the end of another
hundred years. surpass London in the size Of
their population.
II that consummation is reached, and il NAV
be confidently anticipated. New York will be-
come, in at least one respect, the metropolis o
mankind. Financial supremacy is not un.
likely TO follow the attainment OF such magni
tude in population, and this will be all tina
will DO needed to give that city universe
prominence amOas the cities Of the world