Year: 1871




In calling upon Comptroller Connolly TO
retire from the head of the Finance Depart
ment of the city government Mayor Hall has
justified the popular faith in bis frmpess,
independence aud integrity. The develop
ments which have recently been made, and
especially the singular loss of vouchers
from the Comptroller's Office, through an
alleged burglary, have aroused popu-
lar feeling which cannot be allayed
except by the retirement of all suspected
officials, and Mayor Hall, in commencing
the good work Of striving to cleanse
the departments, has proved that no personal
or political consideration will deter him from
carrying out the wishes Of the people and
giving to the city the full advantages Of
a reformed government. The Comptrol-
ler's refusal to comply with the request of the
Mayor sets public sentiment at defiance, and
will confirm the general belief in his unftness
| for the trust he Obstinately insists on retain
| Ing. In the letter in which he declines to re-
tire from his Office Mr.. Connolly declares that
he fails TO see any diminution of public con-





finances. If 90 he must be blind to
| all that is going on around him and
deaf to voices which sound distinctly enough
in other ears. The indignation which has re-
Gently been so apparent to all except HIM
self has been directed mainly against his off,
cial acts; and, apart from partisan attacks
which have been made upon the whole city
government the Comptroller must be aware
that just public anger has been aroused by
| the evidences Of greed and corruption which
are only too apparent in the management OF
| the city finances.


1t is easy to be understood that the Mayor
labors under certain difficulties in his official
position which embarrass his action in regard
to the heads of the city departments. In
common with the Comptroller he is now
filling a new term Of Office, and can take no
official action upon events which have
occurred in former terms. Hence he
bases his request for Connolly's re-
tirement upon the fact of the al
legged burglary at the Comptroller's Office.
There is, indeed, just cause Of complaint
against the Comptroller on this ground alone.
The Financial Department is one in which the
documents and securities, varied and valuable
as they are, should be guarded with
the most efficient vigilance. One of
the reasons for removing the Office
from the old building TO the new City
Hall was the additional security which the
latter promised for its contents. The loss of
documents Of especial Importance at this par
ticular time, accompanied by singular dis
inclination to afford such information as might
lead to the clearing up of the mystery, was
alone sufficient to shake public confidence in
the administration of the department.. But
Mayor Hall knows, aud Comptroller Connolly
knows, that suspicious of malpractices in
former years are rife against the Financial De-
partment, and that the circumstances sur
rounding this most remarkable loss are of such
character as to excite the gravest apprehen-
sions in the public mind. When, therefore,
the Comptroller pretends to sneer at the
complaint of the Mayor, and treats
it as light and trivial matter,
he seriously and dangerously mistakes
public feeling. There may be more
reason than he appears to imagine to fear
that the community may suspect his COM
plicity with the loss of the vouchers relating
to accounts now under investigation. His
assurance that the alleged robbery has
inflicted no injury upon public interests will
scarcely satisfy the people. 1t may be, as
he says, that 'the archives of the depart
ment contain ample abstracts of the stolen
papers )" but abstracts are not original or full
documents; abstracts will not expose forgeries,
or alterations, or fictitious signatures, should
such exist on original vouchers, and abstracts.
are not in this instance the sort of evidence
desired by courts and investigating commit
tees. 1t is not therefore satisfactory to find
the Comptroller anxious to set aside the
the Financial Departm tment with scoff and
sueer.


Equally unhappy is the Comptroller in the
argument he advances agains. his resignation
on the ground that such course on his part
would betray weakness of position or fear of
rigid investigation. Let US see how the
matter stands. Charges are openly made
that dishonest, unjust and exorbitant
accounts have been passed through
the Comptroller's office. Whispers are
ahoat of still graver malpractices;
of bonds improperly issued of books and
vouchers altered and tampered with of city
securities misapplied. In tue midst Of these
unqueting rumors and reports quantity Of
papers which would have thrown light, at
least on some of them, disappear from the
Comptrollers custody. burglary is re-
ported TO have been committed, but
a burglary which bears upon Its face
very fshy appearance. A glass
is broken, bolt withdrawn, and the thieves
make their way directly to closet in which