New-York tribune., 1919-07-16

before the board, you state that the
ordinance granted an exclusive ur;v.
llege to curb brokers. The people of
teh city must imply from this that the
board OF Aldermen is guilty of leeis-
latlng special privilege to a class who
are daily being accused of mulctino the
investing public OF their savings. That
TINS is not the case is evidenced nv
the fact that the only opposition ~
the passage of this ordinance was the
curb brokers themselves, many of
whom had conveyed to ne their siren
uous opposition, and who had maid
counsel to voice their oppXition to the
committee on General Welfare. of
whlch Alderman Collins is chairman.
Swami Directed Amendment
Ihe ordinance was amended upon
the written suggestion of District Al
torney Swami, and acknowledged to
HIM in writing that the ordinance had
oeen amended so as to cover any street
IN the City of New York and to pre-
vent the evasion of the ordinance bv
moving from their prsesnt location.
both his communicate and mine were
oeIore you while you were considering
your veto.
ou now state that the ordinance
does not contain the necessary quail
hcatlons for curb brokers and that
under the provisions of the said ordi-
nance disreputable brokers could pro
cure licenses by the mere payment of
the $500 fee. Then it is evident that
there are disreputable brokers oper-
atlng. on the curb, and if your veto is
permitted to stand they may continue
unmolested and without municipal
supervision: Under this ordinance, as
passed by the board, the Commissioner
of Licenses, the same as in ali other
cases of licensing, would have the
power, and it would be his duty not to
grant to anyone license who was, in
his opinion, disreputable, dishonest or
unqualified to hold license.
10 bear this out, refer you to Sec
ton GAL of the Greater New York
Charter, which states, that the com
missioner has full power and control
over, the granting, issuing, renewing,
revoklng, suspending, and cancelling of
all licenses and the courts have held
IN interpreting this power of the COM
missioner that hiA judgment as to who
is qualified licensee is final and is
not renewable by certierari.
-! also refer wou to Section Of
Article l, Chapter IA, of the Code of
Ordinances, covering the general pro-
VISIONS under which all licenses shall
be issued and under which the curb
markets license would come, which
gives to the License Commissioner the
power to suspend, revoke or cancel, and
is so broad in it's power that he may
take testimony and subpoena witnesses
applicant is qualified to hold license
of any character.
"This Is Not So," Says Moran
You also state in your communica-
tion that the typewritten memorandum
showing that this ordinance was
amended, was pasted on the back cover
OF the printed ordinance. This is not so.
as the ordinance and its amendment
are all ypewritten on the one page, and
on the front cover is the notation in
red ink, that this ordinance was
amended as within noted AS a further
evidence that the ordinance was in
proper form as amended, as that it
could be properly interpreted, I refer
you to the City Record Of July 3, three
days before your veto, showing the
minutes OF the meeting of the Board of
Aldermen, in which the printer set up
the ordinance in its amended form.
The Board of Aldermen for two
years, one Of which l have been its
presiding officer, has untiringly tried
to enact into law that which is for the
OF the people OF this citl. I am con-
vlnced that they have accomplished
this in most creditable manner. It is
regrettable that at the conclusion of
their work reflection of this kind,
which is wholly unwarranted and badly
incorrect, should go forth.
Respectfully yours,
ROBERT L. MO RAN"
"Childlike," Asserts Quinn
Alderman W. F. Quinn, sponsor of
the ordinance imposing a license sys-
tenn on curb brokers, last night in a
reply to Mayor Hylan on his veto of
the measure, said:
Nothing could be more childlike
than Mayor Hyland's attempted justi-
fication for his veto of an excellent
ordinance such as the curb brokers
ordinance is. He faithfully adhered to
all the arguments and propaganda of
the officers and prominent members of
the Curb Market Association, who no
doubt drilled him thoroughly during
their long interview in his office be-
fore he vetoed this ordinance.
"Unless President of the Board
Moran and the Democratic majority of
the board want to go on record as ap-
proving such lack of understanding of
the public's interests they must call
special meeting and override this veto"
Mr.. Moran, in answer to an inquiry
last night, said nothing would be done
about calling & special meeting of the
aldermen to consider repassing the
curb brokers' ordinance until after the
meeting of the Board of Estimate and