Year: 1875

ment for Next Year.


The Board Of Apportionment has for some
time been engaged in fixing the estimates for
the city government for 1875 Thesessions of
the Board have been held with closed doors,
and the first intimation the taxpayers have
been permitted to have of its action will be
found in the proceedings published to-day.
The law provides that after the Board of Ap-
portionment shall have determined on the
provisional estimates they shall be subject to
revision by the Board of Aldermen, and the
Board of Apportionment is then authorized
to approve or reject such alterations as may
have been made by the Aldermen,
and to decide upon final es-
innate, which is the amount to be
raised by taxation, less the receipts
from city revenue, for the year. There
would thus appear to be plenty of opportu-
nifty to correct any ill-considered action that
may be taken by the Board Of Apportionment
in the preliminary step but experience has
shown that after the provisional estimates
have been agreed upon it is a very difficult
undertaking to attempt any alteration in the
amounts of the appropriations. The late
Mayor and Comptroller were severely CEN
sured by their associates in the Board and
by the press for their efforts to consider and
fix up the estimates in secret session, and
the announcement Of some of the appropria-
tions made to-day proves how the star cham
Der system has now operated against the
public interests.


The extravagant expenditures Of the muni-
cipal departments have added heavily to the
burdens of our increasing annual taxation.
Every intelligent citizen knows that the city
government could be conducted at one-half
its present cost if it were managed as
business man would manage his own affairs.
One-third of the clerks in most of the depart
ments is q needless force Of employees. In
labor done for the city on the public works
nearly double the number of men are neces-
sary than would be needed on the same
amount of work done for private individ-
ual. We may not have the same bold sys-
tenn of robbery in our public offices now that
prevailed under the Tweed regime, but we
still have shameful extravagance in the
management of the public affairs. Now
the people demand that this unwarrantable
squandering Of their money in the service of
political heads of departments and of the or
CARNATIONS by which such heads are con-
trolled shall cease Real estate and the bust
ness interests of the city lie crushed under
the load of debt and taxation to which the
taxpayers are subjected, and it is time that
we should insist on strict economy in all the
city Offices. In its secret sessions the
Board of Apportionment has arranged the
appropriations on a scale to suit the pur-
poses of its members and not in
conformity with the interests of the
city. The Comptroller wants GER
tain amount of patronage in his Office.
The presidents of the Tax Department and
of the Board of Aldermen and the Mayor
want the same in their departments. The
consequence is a budget which takes two
millions more than is needed out of the
pockets of the people to answer political
purposes. No such reductions have been
made as the people had a right to expect and
demand, and the appropriations for 1876
WILL it is evident, be as extravagant and un-
warrantable as are those of the present year