Year: 1869

that or grand and comprehensive system
Of Improvement and reform in this direc-
tion. Over thirty years ago Aaron
Clark, then Mayor of New York, sent .
message to the Common Council calling their
attention to the importance of having ''strong
docks" along our river fronts for the protection
and accommodation of shipping Since that
time up to the present moment we have con-
tinued to rest content with system Of tinker
ing and patching which has at last left us with
dock facilities inferior to any city claiming to
be commercial port of any magnitude or
character. Various schemes have been pro-
jected, it is true, for the Improvement Of our
piers and wharves, but they have, unfortu-
nately, been almost invariably the jobs Of sets
Of adventurers and spectators, who have had
in view their own profits rather than the inte-
rests Of the city. Some have proposed to build
iron docks and to throw out streets beyond the
present water lines others have offered to
take the whole dock property on lease at
nominal rent and to put it in thorough repair
for the dockage; but all have sought to secure
some special privilege of warehousing or some
thing else that would afford them an opportu-
nifty to squeeze fortunes out Of the rich COM
merce Of the city. ~


Our dock property is Of enormous prospec-
tive value, and il sold at the present time and
in its present condition would not fetch within
many millions of what it is honestly worth.
The great fault Of our legislators has been an
incapacisy to comprehend the mighty future ol
the metropolis, and hence narrowness o
policy with regard to expenditures for local
improvements. What the interests of the city
really demand is that the Corporation should
take this entire property into its hands, and that
fund of five or six million dollars, if neces-
sary, should be appropriated to build solid
stone docks and to make our piers and wharves
capable Of accommodating commerce greater
than that of Europe at the present day. In
the onward march Of civilization the American
nation, itself but birth Of yesterday, is des-
tined to become the centre of the world, and
its own central point will be here, in the city of
New York. Where now our commerce reaches
thousands it will then reach millions. The
men who legislate to-day should legislate not
for the hour only, but for the great future that
lies before us, and for that inevitable destiny
which every intelligent mind must foresee is In
store for our country. We therefore recon-
mend the attention Of the Boards Of Aldermen
and Assistant Aldermen, as well as that of the
State Legislature, to the present dilapidated,
disgraceful, dangerous and heathenish condi-
ton Of our rotten piers and wharves, and we
call upon them, one and all, to use every effort
in their power to secure q broad, comprehen-
sive, far-seeing policy in relation to these i'm
portant public works. Let US have no more
picayune attempts at tinkering and patchwork,
and no lobby jobs, seeking to put the commerce
Of the city under the blackmsil of private cor
porations. What we need is an appropriation
worthy the wealth and character of the city
and large enough to give US system Of
docks second to none in the world
for solidity, safety and extent of accom-
mediation. Greeley may howl about ex-
travagance, and the whole pack of sore
headed politicians and bogus reformers
may grumble because some other sring"
than their own will have the expendi-
ture Of the money but the pickings and
stealings of a few hungry officials win amount
to mere flea bite If we can secure such piers
and wharves as are demanded by the great
and growing commerce Of the city.