New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-10-22

and refund TO permanent Improvement
accounts the money diverted from them
during preceding years and used 70 re-
deem old revenue bonds. This would
have enabled him TO clean. the city's
financial decks so far as obligations and
debts that had been incurred on budget
account for the years prior TO 1905 were
concerned. To deal with obligations and
debts that had been incurred on budget
account after and Including 1905 he had
the legislative enactment empowering
the Board Of Estimate to include in
each years budget an appropriation
large enough to provide for the wiping
out of debts and obligations incurred on
account Of uncOlleetible taxes.
The 1udicious exercise OF these powers
would have enabled the Controller In
year or two TO have put the city's
finances upon sOunder business basis
than they ever had been since CONSOLE
latiOn. 10 would have enabled him to do
away at once with the very questionable
practice of issuing revenue bonds in an
ticipation of the receipt of uncollectible
arrears Of taxes of former years levies
in order to get the money with which
TO refund revenue bonds outstanding
against those uncollectible arrears. Il
would have enabled him also to begin
gradual refunding TO permanent i'm
prOvement accounts of the money taken
from them and used to redeem revenue
bonds issued In former years. in excess
of the taxes collected to redeem them
WHAT WAS NOT DONE.
All this is precisely what the Con-
troller did not do. OF the s36,OOO,OOO of
corporate stock authorized TO be issued
for that purpose he only appropriated
beggarIy $4,000, 900 to provide for uncol-
lectible taxes of levies prior to 1905. al
he obtained s71,345,195 from the sale Of
corporate stock bonds.
But in obtaining legislative authority
TO declare taxes of levies prior TO 1906
uncollectible, and in securing permission
from the Board of Estimate to issue $685.
100000 of corporate stock to wipe out
this unrealizable asset. the Controller
created a new limit to the subsequent
issue and sale OF revenue bonds against
taxes of levies prior TO 1905. He could
not now legally issue revenue bonds
against arrears of those taxes that had
been declared uncollectible and that had
been provided for, even II such bonds
were only for refunding purposes, for
even the nominal asset against which
those bonds had OutstOod previously had
now been completely wiped out, and the
money necessary to redeem the bonds
had been authorized to be raised by the
issue of corporate stock.
Yet this is precisely what the Con-
troller did do. There were outstanding
at the end of 1906 s1s.7O6.6s7 OF revenue
bonds in excess Of the total unsolicited
taxes at that time. less the s36.OO0,OO0
that had been declared uncollectible and
had been provided for by an authorize
ton of corporate stock. and less also
100000 of the 1905 tax levy which had
also been declared uncollectible and
which had also been provided for by an
appropriation in the budget of 1907.
The manner In which the Controller
used these new factors. created at his
own urgent request in 1906. and met
these new conditions has already been
indicated in these columns. and will be
further dealt with in detail in succeed
ing articles