The New York Herald Newspaper, July 16, 1872, Page 8

MESSAGE OF MAYOR MALL. Ai Males A RL ME eh An Important and Interesting Ex- hibit of the Present Condi- tion of the Municipality. JHE CITY DEBT $86,000,000. Total Valne of Real Estate and Realty Eree- tions. Belonging to New York City and County, $243,985, 499, A Brigade of Teachers and an Army of Scholars. An Inadequate Police Force—Cogent and Important Reasons for an In- erease of the Department. The Street Cleaning Service and Expense To Be Trebled on BGrown’s Contract. Important Suggestions to the Depart- ment of Public Instruction. CROTON WATER AND ITS PURITY The City Prison a Disgrace to the City, the American Nation and the Chris- tian World, “The Tombs” the High School of Crime and the State Prison Its University. A Complete Code of Ordinances ° Required. The following is the message of His Honor Mayor Hall, which was laid before the Board of Aldermen ‘et the regular mecting yesterday :— Finance, The business of the Finance Department may be estimated by the following facts:—From January to July in the current year a total of 10,711 warrants have been issued by the Comptroller and counter- signed by the Mayor. From July, 1871, to July, 1872, these officials also signed and countersigned 24,002 bonds or stock certificates, originals or transfers, ‘The following table from the Comptroller’s books shows how the city and county debt stood at the commencement of the year, and how and why it has been varied up to July 1, inst :— City debt— Dec, 31, 1871, June 80, 1872. Sinking fand.... + + $22,819,216 $23,513,163 Payable from taxation. 85,180,092 38,163,592 Temporary debt 44,000 16,262,372 Revenue bonds 100 14,746,497 County debt— Payable from taxation. 29,239,800 29,379,500 | Revenue bonds,........ 890,000 5,022,300 Total........+ .$103.551,708 $17,087,425 Less sinking fund. 20,182,321 21, 0 Total...) $88,300,386 $105,855,475 For the six months ending with the 30th June, stocks have been issued on account of, viz. :— Assessment fund (payable from assess- ments to be collectea) . Arrearages of 1871.. pesvecsecsecess Appropriations and for 1872 (payable from taxes of 1872 to be collected) . County Court House. Croton water purposes. “heey Public schools. Public works (sewer New York bridge Public parks $19,517,372 Stated in round numbers, the apparent total debt 4s now about one hundred and twenty-seven mil- lions. Against this, at the present time, 1s about weven millions in the treasury and about twenty- ne millions in the sinking fund. Before the firstof January next'there will be a reduction in the debt of about eleven and one-half millions, by the retire- ment of floating revenue bonds through moneys collected in the autumn by taxation. Deducting the sinking fund capital and the revenue bonds the debt next January ought to stand about eighty-six millions. If all the moneys advanced upon assess- ment and improvement accounts were refunded (as the law contemplates they shall be), the debt would be further reduced about fifteen millions. One naturally inquires, is there any security for this debt? ‘There is a large real estate capital tacit- ly and substantially mortgaged to pay the debt. A commission of experts, consisting of Messrs. Court- Jandt Palmer, Anthony J. Bleecker and Adrian H. Muller, were last year duly employed to appraise this real estate. After several months of patient examination they reported the following esti- mate :— Miscellaneous property. $4,863,740 Bunary lots . 2,718,307 Public Charit 000 Board of Education Fire Department. Police Department. Markets. Pablic squares and parks . Wharves and piers, North River. + 7,698,000 ‘Wharves and piers, East River « 5,624,433 | Oroton Aqueduct Department « 90,000,000 Total value of real estate and a erections belonging to New York City ANA COUNLY..... 06.6 eeeeeeeeees $243,985,499 And it must be constantly borne in mind that ail the recently incurred liabilities, as weil as the pros- pective ones, which are represented by bonds and Stock issues, do really become equivalents in pur- chase money for lasting improvements to the city (enhancing taxable values) or for permanent struc- tures enjoyed aud owned by the corporate authori- tes, The Board of Apportionment has ordered a tax levy during the current year for $30,437,523 01, and appropriatid $2,000,000 from general fund. Since ese amounts were apportioned the Legislature has authorized the further sum of $900,000 to be raised by tax for street cleaning investmentS and @isbursements. The tax rate for the year will be about $2 75. Of the first amounts there is to be the following legally arbitrary use:. State tax, including State tax for com- Mon schools, to be paid by the county of New York seeeeee $5,745,049 82 Interest on bonds and stocks of the ity of New York +. 6,072,637 74 Interest on bonds and stocks of the county of New York....... 2,412,670 00 Principal of bonds and’ ‘stocks that may become due and payable from ‘taxation within the year 1872. Total........- $14,915, By this table, in connection with the State Comp- trofier’s report, it will be seen that one county— New York—is compelled through State agency and Influence to pay between forty and fifty per cent of the entire State tax, leaving only fiity or sixty per cent to be shared by sixty other counties, The Board of Apportionment also appropriate the aero of the taxation and general fund as iol- ow: City expenses to December 31, 1872... $14,996,311 19 @ounty expenses to Dec. 31, 1872..0.. 2,524,984 07 Total...... eovveesy $17,521,745 26 ‘The detail of these expenses appear from a table annexed to the Comptroller's budget. * The statement of current city and county ex- raped sounds large, but we must always recall in 8 connection the statistics which bel ong to the mecessury mailtenance and development of the motropolis, Our resident population is about @ million. Now York city comprises 22 square miles. It has 29 miles of water frontage. It has 300 miles of paved and 160 miles of unpaved streets, Twenty shonsand gas lights nightly burn in streets and pub- lic places, at a public expense of r year for oon Jamp. Three hundred and fifty Fitted of Gro- ton water pipes and 277 miles of sewers need con- stant watching and repairs. Demands for new ains and sewers increase with the population and Buildings. ‘One hundred and seventy-tive miles of @eowers are yet to be made. There are over 2,000 men in the police force and 600 firemen, whose sal- erics bg 4 amount to a round sum of three mil- 3. ‘e employ aD average number of 4,000 ‘workmen each day of the year upon public works. New York is not only anemporium of weaith, but an asylom for poverty and crime. The city con- ‘so the the of Fre pr gg time, by outdoor and institutional cl ity, the suf- ferings of 195,334 of the poor and the sick. New York is not only the city of charities, but it sur- ‘all cities of the world in educational advan- it maintains a brigade oi teachers and an army of scholarg in public schools, It contributes to the support, under private auspices, of 50,000 children in the private schools of various denomi- tious. New York city disburses largely also in the endeavor to force orance and greed to respect the laws of health. It expends a quarter of a mil- lion for salaries of judges and Court attachés, ‘This sum sounds largely, yet it must be remem- bered that, substantially, New York Courts are the tribunals where moves immense litiga- Uon from joreign countries and from every State in the Union. The city authorities must necessarily take the initiatory and lead in all pub- lic improvementa, and advance the first cost of them until it can be toa great extent collected back from property owners; and they are generally glad to be udvantaged without paying for the bene- it at all, or, if paying, to prolong the day of pay- ment as long as possible, ‘This assessment advance averages several millions per year, and must always be borrowed and the interest lost. Promises that the city and county expenses will diminish, aud not increase, must necessarily prove delusive. The city expands, and in every year demands new obligations for expenditure and shows fresh fiscal necessities, Taxation rates nust increase yearly. ‘the reformer is not yet born who can hereafter even keep them under three per cent. In five years hence taxpayers will look back and comparatively wonder at the present com- plaints. Attractive to capital as the city has been in the past, the docks, parks, well cleanéd and per- fectly paved strects of its future must prove more magnetic to wealth. Increase of population and of taxable capita) will, however, distribute the loud of accumulating tax, Police. Police information best exists in files of the pub- le press, ‘The subject, however, is of intimate im- portance to citizens aud ourselves, and especial at- tention 1s therefore invited to the Report of the Po- lice Department. Six years ago the number of pa- trolman was 1,848, The number now is only about three hundred more, While undoubtedly ’a police force that is constantly subjected to popular inilu- ences and political changes becomes necessarily de- fective in system and management, much oi the adverse critic! that is hastily made upon police operations in this city is due to the fact—not en- tirely appreciated by either press or popula that, while all appreciate how vastly our property and population have increased within the past six years, only 800 additional policemen have been apportioned by law to that metropolitan growth, A recommendation of your body to the isla~ ture ior an increase of the police force to would do much toward meeting the exigency. During the recent conflict between labor and capl- tal im this city the police force were on duty throughout the twenty-four hours of three consec- utive days, ‘The force ought to be sultici meet any contingency of risk and to preclude all necessity for calling for military aid. If citi- zens knew how extended in some parts of the city were the beats over which respectively only one patrolman walks at night, our appeal for additional police force would be uni versally seconded. Nevertheless, the recollections of the past year, a8 well as the police report, show that the police are entitled, as a body, to great praise and confidence, notwithstanding’ their dis- parity of numbers—the very professional and drilled law-breakers of the metropolis outaumber- ing them constantly. ‘The Police Department have recently assumed charge of street-cleaning powers and duties, As yet the machinery is detective; but such ample ar- rangements have been maae that hereaiter it may be reasonably expected, the broom grown old, in- Stead of the n one, will sweep clean. Much of success, however, must depend upon the citizens themselves, the streets from dwellings and stores ought to be removed through private means and expenditure, Public street-cleaning contemplates the carrying away of dirt arising trom the authorized public use of the streets. Whatever the law authorizes the use of law-makers should protect to the excent of its use, and that only. The wretched condition of the cobble-stone pavement, especially in the river- ward extremities of the city, doubles the expense of street cleaning in such localities, If your hon- orable body would authorize the’ repiving of a renter number of streets, then in the end the | i " nereased expense of the paving could be met by the diminishing expense of street cieaning. Jour- nalistic compiaint has been made that, under the new arrangement, the expense of street cleaning beeomes so lurge! Fairly examined, there suould be no complaint. The last coutractor was to re- celve about five nundred thousand doilars per year, This service, taking all his obligations, was td a the entire paved surface of the city, on an average, twice a week. The estimate of the present ex- pense Is based upon the intended cleaning of the whole paved suriace of the city every twenty-iour hours, That is, the street-cleaning service being trebled, the expense will be trebled. The present expense is just about three times the former one, and the bids for the service varied from $700,000 for three times a week to $1,400,000 for daily ser- vice. Docks. Attention is called to the very interesting report of the Department of Docks, including the report of the Engineer-in-Chief, General McCle! ‘One of the most important and necessary works ever undertaken in this city is the building of wharves and piers, in accordance with the plans of the Department of Docks. ‘The plans of the department were approved by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, April 27, 1871. The Legislature, recognizing the value and mag- nitude of the work of improving the water front, conferred upon this department very extensire powers, and piaced at its disposal $3,000,000 per annum, to be raised by the issue of city bonds, ie Leahey of the Commissioners of the Sink- ing Fund. ° + fe will be seen oy reference to the report that during the year ending April 30, 1872 (the first year since the adoption of the plans), the department has expended the sum of $1,075,605 61. During this time, however, the department, in accordance with the provisions of the City Charter, made gp ergy to the Commissioners of the Sink- ing Fund that the Comptroller of the city be directed to issue $2,000,000 of dock bonds for the improvement of the water front. ‘he Commisstoners of the Sinking Fund on May 18, 1871, directed the issue of $1,000,000 of doc! bonds, and on November 43, 1871, directed the issue of an additional $1,000,000, It appears, however, from the report that of these $2,000,000 the department received from the Comptroller but $1,100,000, and this by a system of instalment extending over a year, which has had the tendency ofcrippling the work and of infusing a feeling of doubt aud discouragement into every undertaking of the department, Inasmuch as the Comuissioners of Docks, with a wise and com- mendable purpose, during the whole two years of the existence of the department have acted upon the resolution to incur no obligation on behalf of the city, unless the department has in its treasury the funds to meet its obligations, or unless the Commissioners are assured by the Comptroiler that the necessary funds would Placed at the dis- posal of the department in time to meet its obliga- tions as they matured, Spectal attention is called to that portion of the report which treats of the receipt of the funds from the Comptroller. It will readily be seen that to push forward with economy, efliciency and despatch the important work of building the new bulkhead wall and_per- manent piers the Department of Docks must know with some degree of certainty, at the commence ment of each working Season, the amount of money that will ve availabie for its purposes, ‘The money that 1s appropriated by the Commis- sioners of the Sinking Fund should be placed at the disposal of the department within a reagonable time after the issue of the bonds has been ordered, The Commissioners of Docks express the opin- fon that the new bulkhead wall of concrete and granite can be constructed, making a ri street of 260 feet wide on the North River, and 200 feet wide on the East River; and commodious perman- ent piers of preserved wood or of concrete and nite can be erected 500 feet long, and varying ‘om eighty to one hundred feet in width, without any ultmate cost to the city. They represent that prominent commercial interests stand ready to iease the piers to be constructed on the new sys- tem on such ter as will pay the interest on the outlay, provide a fund for the keeping of the struc- tures in perfect repair anda sinking fund to pay the principal of the bonds issued for the improve- ment of the water front, as they shall mature. This is a most promising prospect, and consider- ing the business experience and capacity of the gentlemen at the head of the department, our people have good reason to feel confidence in this regard. ‘o surround our city with a bulkhead wall and river street, and with commodious piers, havin, ail the modern contrivances for the cheap, rapi¢ and easy handling of freight, as are set forth in the plans of the Department of Docks, is a work in which all our citizens have the deepest interest, and in which they should feel the greatest pride; and if this work can be accomplished without any great ultimate cost to the city, the officials having itin charge will receive the approbation ‘of the whole communtiy, Your attention is also called to that portion of the report which sets forth the grant to the city from the State of land under water, lately obtained by the efforts of the Commissioners of Docks. ‘This property ts worth several millions of dollars, Public Instractio: In the Department of Public Instruction, asin other departments, the working of the appointing system in place of the elective system, has had its second year of trial. If in any department the need of special choice for peculiar fitness seemed neces- sary, this was the department, Since the Mayor's last message, Mr. Isaac Bed and Mr. Francis A, Palmer have ceased to be members of the Board of Public Instruction, and Mr. Isaac W. England, (who, Medphask PMA yt the position after a few mnonths), an lessrs. Enoch Fancher and Ed- ward. Jenkins were appointed to the tions, The changes among the School Trustees have been comparatively few. The expenses of the department for the year 1871 cannot be accurately stated, This department, in common with others, suffered from confusion in the financial department of the city, The board esti- mated its expenses for the year 1871 at $2,796,500, But the amount recelved was but $2,260,206 44 for , Whieh, with @ special tynd of ,000 for new schools, the amount expended by this board for the schools directly under its con- trol and being those called the corporate schools, general expens There were, however, several claims referred to the Board of At as roby arising pe of 1871, which have not yet settled, total amount of expense for the ye: BH will probably be near the amount above stated. is, however, aside from the fund to be raised by bonds for the building and furnishing of the ormal College and Mode! Pr’ School, For the present year the boa mate for general p! at $3,017,265, The Board of Audit and Apportionment have appropriated to them $2,868,700, _ For the oles, ‘of the City of New York they asked $160, the appropriation is $125,000, The increase in the sum aske counted for by the increase in the teachers’ salaries, nearly Smear per, cent, and an increase ofthe number of schools. Some classes of teach- ers were certainly underpaid before, and the in- crease seems not unreasonable. ‘The avei attendance in all the schools entl- tled to receive aid from the city was in 1871, 103,243— a falling olf from the average attendance of 1570 of 579, ‘The whole number of scholars taught (a very deceptive statistic), was 234,68¢—a falling off of over five thousand from the previous year. In the schools directly under the control of the Board of Public Instruction, the average atteudance fell from 96,633 to 95,622, and the total number taught from 220,441 to 212,987, Excluding from these the normal schools and evening schools, the erage Number registered is 101,883, and the aver- attendance 84,603. For the accommodation of these there is class-room for 108,475 children—not a large excess, when it is considered how widely the attendance at times varies from the register, aud how largely the classes differ in numbers. With all these drawbacks, the attendance in our own city is nominally only second to that of Boston, in which one <ig hen of the population is reported as attending public schools; and possibly this arises from a different mode of stating its attendance, It may be added that In Massachusetts there are laws making some schooling compulsory on all children employed at work. An attempt made to enact something similar in the laws of our own State failod last winter. The school year differs from the financial year, and during the past school year, which is no! yet quite completed, it would appear that the average attendance has considerably increased, ‘The new school buildings in process or actually completed will do something to relieve the pres- sure on the present schools. These new buildings Hall the débris which is thrown into | | sists of one chief, one assistant chief and e'| In accordance with the policy inaugurated in 170, ave regarded as permanent additions to the wealth of the city, and are paid for out of a special fund. When completed, and most of those now in process of erection will be finished in time for the new school year, they will relieve the city in some cases of the payment of rent ior contracted and ill-suited buildings. Complaints haye reached the Mayor that In man; of the schools repairs have been greatly neglected 80 that the schools are not only unsightly but un- healthy, and that in other schools the provisions for heating have been utterly madequate to such an extent as to drive away scholars. It is the duty of the Board of Public Instruction to inquire into this, and if these complaints are well founded to correct them, Parsimeny is not economy; and, though economy is a duty in every public’ officer, it is not economy to deprive chijdven of instruction under & penalty of a fit of sickness and its attendant doctor's bills; nor in a lower sense to suffer teachers to earn wages without service and buildings to be ruined for lack of necessary repairs. ‘The total number of teachers reported in Decem- ber, 1870, was 2,787; in December, 1871, 2,765, of whom 108 are special teachers—an apparent fall. ing off—perhaps because the High School was ex- cluded from the report. It has been stated that the number of teachers has been increased in the present year. ‘The Mayor may add here that during the past few years, and especially during the past has been quite a change of policy in the action ot the Board of Public Instiuction, Originally de- fended on the simple ground of giving to each in- dividuai of our community sufficient education to enable him to follow or not as he pleases, a further training at his own expense—in other wo to give him a merely elementary education—there 1s a strong feeling now ¢' ublic expense such education as she or he is capa- ble of. This is shown in the establishment of the Normal School, the Evening High School and the College of New York, and in the extensive changes made in the course of studies during the present year, As Chief Executive Officer, without being called on for individual judgment, the Mayor simply invites attention to the discussion, 80 that every constituent may for himself express his wish upon incurring expense for a benefit which he may de- sire to reject. A movement has been made (beginning as it should among the citizens but continued by the Department of Public Instrnetion) for the estab- lishment of a pension system for teachers of long standing, who are unfitted by infirmities for active work, The city and the department have no power over the matter. through it the Legislature, Two of our departments are practica provided with a retiring em aiter disabling service; and the matter now be- longs properly to the good sense of our people, Fire Department. The many subjects requiring consideration in his last Message compelied the Mayor to notice more briefly the condition of the Fire Department than its great importance to the city would justify. He contented himself with saying that ‘no suggestion of complaint had been made throughout the year against it.” The commissioners charged by the Mayor under the authority of the charter with its control, after another year’s administration, now merit a fuller notice of the results they have ac- complished as shown by their report, No change of system in any department of the city government has been so complete as that for the protection of its citizens from fire. The Volun- Z | teer Department cherished in its associations with the boyhood of every old New Yorker had outlived its period of usefulness. Steam had gradually re- placed the hand-brakes on which for generations is members had gallantly exerted their muscle amidst scenes of danger and confusion for the pro- tection of life and property. A pair of horses be- came substituted by progress for the enthusiastic crowds who filled the ropes with theft willing hands, and the air with their shouts, Asan atvend- ant consequence large numbers of members were no longer requisite ina compact paid department, In a commun. ty where So many were educated fir men under the old volunteer system, and were roud af the achievements to which they had pelonged, the transfer of the duty to companies organized under the new system was watched with ajealous and prejudiced eye, with little confidence at the outset in the result, It required to become a complete success to inspire the confidence of a community where the education of a fireman Is as general as that of a soldier in some of the countries of the Old World; and when it could be said at the end of ifs sixth year that ‘no complaint has been made” it may be considered as having received the highest praise that could be given, especially in a period of genera! criticism of all civil affairs. At the time of the change of system (in Jnne, 1865), the Volunteer Department consisted of 19 engineers, 169 members of engine companies, 1,075 members of hose companies, and 658 members of hook and ladder companies—a total of 3,521 fire- men, divided into 62 engine companies, 54 hose and 17 hook and ladder companies—a companies. The department now con- en en- gineers, 383 members of engine companies, 147 of hook and ladder companies, and 60 hose and ladder men attached to suburban companies—a total of 603, divided into 87 engine companies and 15 truck or hook and ladder companies. ‘Io these are to be added in each case the watchmen in bell towers, telegraph operators and line men, and other em- ployés of the department. With so large a reduc- tion of force the duties of the firemen have essentially changed, and discipline and constant atcention to duty supplies what is lost in numbers. It is indispensable that everything connected with the service should be the best obtainable, and that apparatus, horses and machinery shouid all be in constant readiness for action, when time is often the main element tosafety, To ensure this, each man is selected for appointment after a physical ex- amination by the surgeon of the department, and must be thirty-five years of age, or under, to avoid his becoming, at an early day, superanuated on the hands of the department. He must algo be able to read and write, to enable him to perform the duties of an officer, to which he becomes eligible. Thathe has performed duty in the old Fire Department ts an element of fitness, but not an absolute requisite. No man 18 admitted to the rolls of the department, however recommended, who is not qualified for the position, or allowed to remain after he has devel- oped want of unfitness for his place. The use of liquor when in uniform or on duty is strictly pro- hibited, and drunkenness attended with dismissal. When appointed each member is assigned to bis position and drilled in his duties, so that when ag- gregated into companies of ten or twelve men suc! company moves as a unit. The Chief Engineer, district engineers and company oficers are tried and experienced firemen. ‘The engineers of steamers are skilled in their profession, and appointed on certificates of qualifi- cation from reliable sources, and the officers are men promoted, after a competitive examination, for special fitness. Each*apparatus house is not only in daily official report with the headquarters, but can be communicated with at any moment by telegraph or by the “talking circuit,'’ and when the glarm is sounded at the same instant both in head- marters and in company quarters Me man inthe Aepartment knows hisduty and his place, and is ready to take it without confusion or delay, Even the horses, which are Pace selected and i from necessity under fhe closest scrutiny and in the highest condition (being fed, shod and exer- cised with perfect regularity), learn to know by in- stinct the time for action, and back from their stalls when the alarm signal is sounded, ready to take their places at the pole or shafts when the halters are loosened without assistance. At fires all persons are excluded by a cordon of police, ex- cepting members of the department and the insur- ance patrol, and by this means the loss by plander, ge percentage over that by fire, has entirely pe og Ata ‘ire the Ce oye beginning with the individual and extending to the company, ts found where several companies act together, all with @ from confusion or delay. In the’ department 1s entirely in hand, and can be used by the his assistants, even where several fires occur at once, without weakening Its eMiciency at cither, a8 each com) knows, by carefully prepared codes and charts, where its services are due, To preserve this system and to retain the men in euch subordi- nation as is requisite the ruies are necessarily strictly enforced, In case of their violation the delinquent appears before the Board on its weekly trial day, the Featimony is taken on oath, and the finding printed in an order and placed on the re- cords of every company, showing the names of the olenuer, the davure of the olfence aud the penalty, fixed their esti- 4 year, there | ident to give every one at the | ‘the State must act upon it; but | the Mayor commends it to the Common Council and | which was estimated by the underwriters as a very | Chief and of: a bile with oveldpmentor merit, and pro- motion 18 0) when vacan to every member, if q to be ia from , with orders to rally on their quarters in cage of alarm. ‘The whole city, as well as the city institutions on the are connected with headquarters the extensive line of telegraph recently com| Combustible Material, created by the lati This bureau licenses all dealers in kerosene other liquid oila, and constantly testes samples of the oils they deal in. During the year, 2,836 licenses for kerosene oil, 129 for powder and 1,572 permits jor fireworks have been issued, and 9,762 samples of oll tested, Sur- veyors are constantly on the alert to discover i flammabie oils, or their carcless use, and that im- portant source of danger is now completely under the control of the department. This bureau also has it in charge to see that hoistways in stores are kept covered at night, and hydrants and the telegraph unobstructed, It has within the year turned into the relief fund of the department $31,401 for li- censes alone. The extensive system of telegraph now used by the department, including over six hundred miles of wire, with its communicating or talking cir- cuits, and thorough connection of every t of the department with its headquarters, affords great additonal protection in the rapidity with which ids, parealy olarms are communicated. It also to the expenses of the department In its care ant maintenance, in additional attendance, chemicals, é&c., and in repairs and constant tethporary re- movals of some of its 2,600 poles, rendered neces- sary by the erection of new buildings on the lines, iC. The expenses of the department for the past rear, according to the report of the Commissioners, ave been about $1,030,025 82. Of this $825,000 has been expended, as they state, for the pay roll of the officers, members and employés, as fixed by law. _ The expenses do not vary materially from those of preneatg years. No extraordinary expen ave been incurred within =the ‘ear, and the ontlay has been for the ordinary working of the department, the amounts asked for by the ‘Commissioners for additional buildings for companies above Fifty- ninth gtrect, on the upper end of the island, and for their equipment, having heen rejected by the Hoard of Estimate. The rapid growth of the city about and above the Central Park, and the entire change ofthe character of the improvements, and the concentration of valuable Prgpersy in that vicinity, since the organization of the department, appears to the Mayor, as it has to the Commission- | ers, after careful consideration, to require the in- crease of the number of companies in that quarter, which they have sought the means to contribute, but have been unable to procure in the present un- Willingness to increase the public expenditure, The Mayor, therefore, cordially concurs in their recommendation, The purchases of the department are made in quantity, anc its supplies issued on requisitions set- ting forth the articles required, and approved by the department before thelr issue. In case anew article is required, its necessity and the condemna- tion of the old one must be first certified by the Inspector. The entire working of the department has been reduced to a system, compliance with which is re- quired, and, if necessary, enforced on ail its officers and men; and the result is a uniformity and econ- omy of action which goes far to render the Fire De- partment of New York a model, to make it the cen- tre of constant inquiry and study by the depart- ments of other cities of this country and of Europe, and to enable the Mayor to say that its superiority is creditable to those entrusted with its charge and @ source of pride to the citizens of New York. The Croton Aqueduct in good condition, and will stana time, t willbe seen from the report of the Commis- sioner of Public Works that the Croton Aqueduct has delivered an abundant supply of water to the city during the past year, notwithstanding the fact that the season was a drvone. The report also shows that the Croton Aqueduct 18 In a good and sound condition, and that there is every reason to believe that with proper care it will perform for centuries to come the duties for which it was built. CAPACITY OF THE CROTON RIVER FOR THE FUTURE AND THE NECESSITY FOR STORAGE RESERVOIRS, Tne report of the Commissioner of Public Works, With its accompanying documents, show that the water shea of the Croton River, above the point at which the Aqueduct receives its supply, is capable | ol supplying witn a never-failing quantity of water. acity with three times the population of that of New York at the present time. It is on!y necessary to construct enough reservoirs throughout the ‘oton basin in order to store the water to be used when the natural flow of the river and its tripu- taries is too small to supply the needs of tue city. ‘The Storage Reservoir, now nearly completed, will, with the assistance which maybe had from tne natural lakes, protect the city against a dearth of water for several years, and the Department of Public Works 18 already preparing to construct a new one, which can be finished in time to meet the ual necessities of the city; and there are numer- ous sites upon which additional storage reservoirs can be constructed as the requirements of the city increase with its growing population. It is, there- fore, unnecessary to look elsewhere for a source of supply. GREAT PURITY OF THE WATER. The Crofon basin is on the confines or within the limits of the great range of the Alleghany Moun- tains, and its lands are very hilly or mountainous, and contain but little of what is known as swamp laad, The whole district is full of neverfailing springs. There are also within its boundaries many small natural lakes, which are generally located on high ground, near the sources of the streams; they have bold shores and deep water of Uhre! purity, and evidently receive a large part of their water through subterranean passages from remote dis- tricts, as the higher land in their immediate vicin- ity could by no possibility furnish from rains and shows the large quantity of water which flows from them. The rock which underlies the country is almost wholly granite, and hence but little or no mineral impurity is found in the waters ot this. dis- trict. The water of the Croton district is seldom turbid, owing to the fact that the land is 80 uneven, rough and stony, that itis now, and will in the future, be better suited for grazing purposes than as a grain-growing country. It is evident that Providence naturally designed this basin to supply & great metropolis with water. NEW WATER MAINS. The new large water mains that the Department of Puulic Works are now laying will undoubtedly greatiy improve the head of water throughout the city, ind in case of fire strengthen the security of property, WASTE OF WATER, The amount of water furnished in this city is greater for each inhabitant than in any city in the world, but the waste is enormous, The of Public Works is using every means in its power to check this waste, but, unaided by the citizens, it cannot overcome it entirely, because the water, when unobservedly wasted on private property, runs into sewers unnoticed, If the citizens would ert themselves to aid the department in che: ing this growing evil all night have water deliv- ered to them under a better head than they are how able to get it. Department of Taxes, The Report of the Commissioner of Taxes and Assessments, submitted herewith, is replete with interesting Information to F who participate in the direct support of the local government, and will well repay the trouble of careful perusal. The aggregate valuations of real and personal estates for 1872 amount to $1,104,008,087, and for 1871 to. $1,076,253,633, showing an increase for the current year of $27,844,454, It will be seen from the report that, while the assessments of personal estate in the city and county of New York were increased over $83,000,000 in six years, the personal assessments during the same period in the rest of the State were diminishe $17,000,000, ‘the Commissioncrs estimate in their report that the aggregate of mortgages upon real estate in the city of New York amounts to a sum exceeding $490,000,000, of which life insurance companies hold $100,000,000 and savings banks about the same amount, while a large part of the remainder is held by parties residing out of the State, Banking capital in the city of New York is as- sessed in the suin of $76,727,745 for the year 1872. The total number of assessments made is:— Of pieces of real estate...... Of names on personal book. Of shareholders of banks. Total.. empt Property. The real estate belonging to the city, with other real pre ey, exempt irom taxation under general and special laws, is valued by the Commissioner at $275,000,000, The Department of Taxes is thoroughly organ- ized, and is conducted by the Commissioners in the most vigilant, careful and eiticlent manner, Department of Parks. The public excitement which began to prevail early in the autumn of 1871, in regard to the finan- cial condition of the city, led to consequences ‘which proved a constant source of embarrassment to officers of the departments, as well to those who retired as to those who succeeded, A reduction in the force of men employed was soon afterwards compelled, anda number of the works in progress obliged to be suspended. Con- siderable changes in the forms of the executive or- ganization were also made, In the expectation (based upon assurance) that the then newly elected Legislature of the State wouid enact a law under which the department would be reorganized, the new board was neither Prepared to pursue all of the plans previously adopted, nor fairly enabled to enter upon new undertakings, the designs of which might soon come under the reviston of other minds, This explanation, and the assurances (although they have not been realized) in regard to the action of the Legislature were sustained to the end of the fiscal year. It has resulted from the cirenmstances thus re- ferred to that few important works reported in rogress at the end of last year have been carried completion, and that the larger part of the out- of the department has been upon undertak! f character but unquestionable importance, the plans of which were already established and in art realized, such asthe grading and super- structure of boulevards, avenues and streets, and the reconstruction of the numerous smaller public pee of the city, the plans of which were given the last report of the department. A precise and detailed statement of the expendi- ture of “he dacal year ending January 1, 1872, as di- | vided asm” "various classes of undertakings, and Connected with the department is oes of epartment | department ane and overdue to partment have applied to the onineaien, of its previous indebte ness—an indeb: incurred faith, but unexpectedly confronted by a deficiency account. The further development of certain plius and jects had in view by the department in 1871 has en suspended, and one under which the work of construction had been without proceeding the north ineadow built, has been demolished. ‘The only other important cha: of plan decided upon by the board under Presidency of Mr. Stcb- bins has been in relation to the buildings to be erected for the Metropolitan Museum of Art aud the American Museum of Natural History, re- spectively, After a consultation with the trustees each of these institutions it has been determined that the site for the first shall be fixed upon tite lo- cality proposed in the report of the Board of Com- missioners of the Central Park in 1869, near Firth avenue, between Seventy-ninth and Eighty-fourth a instead of on the ground formerly Known as Manhattan square, which is set apart as the site of the Museum of Natural History. Buildings of great extent and considerable elevation may be erected in each of these localities without breaking the principal landscapes or dosenenptiog. any im portant line of communication upon the Park. The chief objection to them was recognized in each case to be thelr distance from the present centre of population of the city; but, after prolonged and earnest discussion, 1t was concluded to be iimpracti- cable to secure sites of sufficient exteut to which this objection would apply in a much less serious degree, without too large a sacrifice of other public interests, Plans for both Museum buildings are preparing, and their construction is expected to be soon undertaken, ‘The plans adopted last year for the smalicr parks of the city were found generally so far advanced that though in numerous respects not conformable to the ideas of a m: changes in them pleasure uare, however, was in process of being dismantled for new works, but not so far reformed that any notable modification of the first plan would necessarily involve a large waste of work already executed. A few changes have, therefore, been determined in it, mainly with the desired purpose of making passage trough the park {n various directions less devious and se- curing broader verdant surfaces, Harlem River and Westchester. Considerable work has been done during the year in the matter of examining the bridges across the Harlem River and making soundings, borings and plans for new structures, ° The bridge at McComb’s Dam, having been found to be in an unsafe condition, has been rebuilt, and the bridge at Third avenue repaired and put in complete working condition. A preliminary plan for a tunnel under the Harlem River, at the head of Seventh avenue, has been prenares and several plans have also been received ‘om bridge constructors, in pursuance of in- naaeae irom the department, for iron draw- Approximate estimates have also been made of the cost of building tunnel and draw-bridges, The soundings of the Harlem River and Spuyten Duyvil Creek have been nearly completed from Mc- Comb’s Dam bridge to the Hudson River, defining the boundary line between New York and West- chester county and establishing connections be- tween the surveys and improvements on the New LOPES and those in progress in Westchester county, Plans have been adopted and filed for the laying out of about three thousand linear feet of streets in the immediate vicinity of High Bridge. The surveys in Westchester county under the control of this department are being pushed rap- idly forward to completion, ‘The department had, during the last two years, laid a large extent of concrete pavement for walks and roads. Various patent compositions and pro- cesses had been employed for this purpose, all of which were promised and reliably expected to be- come improvements upon the ordinary stone and gravel roads and walks previously used. On inspec- tion at the close of last winter the condition of out @ very small part of all these pavements was found to be satisfactory to a majority of the new Board. The surface of tite walks which had been laid more one year seemed disintegrated in whole or in fre. quent patches (to a great extent by the auction of the extreme frost), and it was evident that an ex- ensive reconstruction or larger repair was mme- diately necessary. A number of gentlemen connected with the pub- lic works of Philadelphia, Washington and Brooklyn were invited by the department to make an ex. amination and study of the subject, aud a report of certain conclusions reached by thei has been made public. It was ascertained that over one hundred patents for bituminous concretes especially de- signed for the surface of walks and roads had been issued from the United States Patent Office, the specifications of most of wich provide for an ad- mixture of substances, the only effect of which would be detrimental to the purpose in view. ‘The reason of the failure of others is found either in the fact that the bituminous substance used coatains different and unknown proportions of accidental impurities, some positively harmful and some sim- ply useless, or in the fact that greater judgment and skillis in some cases exercised by the work- men engaged in the manipulation of the combina- tion than in others. The practicability of obtaining here a concrete gga oi precisely the same character as those which have been found for years age 80 satisfactory in Paris is not ‘doubted, but as yet no method by which an equally valnable result can be accomplished, except at a cost which would forbid its general application, has been completely estab- lished. A great deal of enterprise is now directed to the determination of such a method, and in seve- ral cases With results which at least are promising. Itis believed that, as experience reveals the causes of imperfection, these will. be gradually overcome. The department intends hereafter to proceed in the trial of this class of pavements with that caution which experience justifies. Thus far it is claimed by many citizens, and by @ majority of the board, that no satisfactory roads or waiks for pleasure grounds have been found, at all events, less expensive in original construction or in maintenance than those originally laid down twelve to fourteen years ago on the Central Park, and which were composed solely of broken stone and gravel. jority in the we been de round of Union resent board, no rminedon. The Meteorological. The report of Mr. Daniel Draper, the Director of the Meteorological Observatory, contains very full tables and charts showing the temperature and pressure of the air, the direction, force and velocity Of the wind and the amount of rain fall from the beginning to the close of the year 1871. In addi- tion to the registration of these statistics Mr. Draper has undertaken a sctentific inquiry in regard to two questions of popular interest :— First, as to the influence of the clearing of land on the increase or diminution of the rain fall, and, second, a8 to the change, if any, in the climate of New York or that of the Atlantic States. The de- ductions of Mr. Draper in regard to these points are based notouly on the observations made under his own nnmediate direction, but on an examina- tion of registers kept in Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston, Great Britain and other parts of Europe during a long series of years, Mr. Draper's investigations lead him to the con- clusion that the clearing of land does not diminish the volume of rainfall; that no change in the climate of the Atlantic States has occurred within a c tury; that surface changes through agricultur drainage, &c., give rise to no appreciable meteoro- logical effect, and that the popular opinion which supposes that such influence exists erroneous. Most of the instruments of the Observatory have been so arranged as to be open to public inspec- tion, and it is satisfactory to learn from the Director that nearly every day several hundred visitors to the Park find intelligent amusement in watching their indications and studying their construction. As in former years, the records have been employed in the courts of law for the determination of various questions of facts in dispute, The Muscum of Natural History. During every week day of the past year the col- lection of the American Museum of Natural History has been open to the public at the Arsenal buildings on the Park, and the Truste report the attend- 8 altogether ; ance on many days may be sately estimated at 10,000. By a joint understanding between the Park Department and the Trustees of the Museum, Mon- day and Tuesday in each week is reserved for spe- cial students and teachers and pupils of public schools, the object of this arrangement being to furnish opportunities for the explanation or speci- mens to classes, and thus to make the Museum an important part of the educational system of the city. As we indicated in the last report, the old ny in whioh the collection is exnobesd ‘was not origl- nally intended to be used for any such purpose, and the arrangements will necessarily be of a some- what temporary character until the proposed new building is erected. ‘The collections are constantly increasing in vaiue, partly WR and partly by donations from tnose in The remaining part of the Verreaux collection pur- chased in Paris, which was delayed by the Franco- Prussian war and subsequent seizure of the French Key sing has been received in perfect order and i Te ta with the other museum property in e A valuable collection of corais has been purchased of Captain Medway, United States Army. The ‘rarest speciinen in the collection of birds belonging to the Muscum, the Great Auk, now extinct, has been | ge a during the Jast year by Robert L. Stuart, The great collection of over 20,000 specimens of Lepedoptera, presented by the late Coleman 8, Robinson, has been received and is being carefully rearranged. A complete skeleton Of the Irish fossil deer, found in the it Ln near Limerick, has been presented by professor bert 8. Buckmore, and donations of imens from forty other persons {n diferent of the country has been received. ‘ ‘A department has been formed of economic oloy cluding specimens of the stones used for building and ornamental, and another of economic botany, to contain specimens of the various native and Imported woods adopted for use in this country. ‘The new subscriptions recelved by the trustees amount to $22,000, The Report of the Commissioners of Pub- Mo Charities and Correction exhibits the denidcence of the city in the treatment rested in the success of the institution. | the poor, and destitute children. more of the city rmoment. The a, ) Various: one of " and Physicians and surgeo! tute @ school for instruction in medical sci- once uns by those of London or Paris, uring: year 1871 there were 21,532 patients treated gt the public hospitals, 17,717 ae the urea for the Outdoor Sick, and 5,645 at their homes; ae infants: and small children were received a the asylums and nurseries, and 1,738 boys had the benefit of daily Instruction at the Nautical and In- dustrial Schools, and 115 of both sexes in the Idiot School. The number received at the several charit- able institutions of the department were 27,877. At. the Labor Bureau employment Was obtained for- baie rsons, To the City Prison there were com- mitted 51,468 persons, of Whom 21,182 were trans— ferred to the Workhouse and 2,868 ‘to the Peniten. tiary. The aggregate number of persons received in ‘the several institutions, including patients treated at their homes by the physicians of the de- Paronent: and of the destitutes releved by the rintendent of Outdoor Poor, was 195,334, fe dispensation of public charity is the m delicate function of municipal government, and fraught with good or evil as it may be wisely or in=- judiciously administered. If the relief granted be» lavish and indiseriminate the increase of pauper- isin and of crime is inevitable, ‘lhe Commissioners of the Public Charfiles appear to have observed the! mean between under or lavish expenditure and paeeony, for no complaint is heard of great dis~ ress in our midst, nor is the number relieved ex~ cessive; but, om the contrary, it 1s less than im former years, By the table in the report of the Commissioners: the number of inmates of the Almshouse on Janu- ary 1, 1850, was 1,318 or 1 in 440 of the population 5. January 1, 1860, was 1,613, or 1 in 432 of the popula~ tion; January 1, 1870, 1,114, or 1 in 808 of the popula- rT anuacy 1, 1871, 1,190, or 1 in 840 of the popu- ime and the table iaakes a still more favorabio | exhibit for outdoor poor relief. In 1866 there were relieved by Superintendent of Outdoor Poor 23,034 persons, In 1871 there were relieved by Superintendent of Outdoor Poor 19,157 persons, For the seventh time tue Mayor calls attention to the building called im law tie City Prison, but most appropriately Known as the Tombs, It is a cause Of disgrace, hot only to the city and the American nation but to the Christian world, that there was not built ten Ee ago anew and larger prison of detention than the one yet used. This was built upon piles over aswainp. It cramps those whom the law presumes to be innocent with a con- finement more impure and irksome than is meted out to convicted criminals, ‘The young girl, imprisoned for the theft of urgens: temptation, is compelled to hear the blasphemies of the criminal crone, Oliver Twists and Fagins meet within conversational distance, Foul air, fouler association and absolute lack of exercise unite to make the Tombs the High School of Crime, as the State Prison is its University. Except for the sys- tem and watchfulness of the departinent in charge of the City Prison its moral horrors would be still blacker, The Mayor appeals to the press to bear its engi- nery upon the taxpayers in order to force from them @ consent to a liberal expenditure of money in con~ structing a new prison and overthrowing the Physical and moral tortures of tae present one. ‘The Mayor does this at the risk of being charged with, encouraging ajob. Ifpubiic jobs can ever be guarded in a country lixe this, then arrange so as to have tie Legislature provide an unexceptionable Com- Inission Of Construction. The Mayor appeals to the Common Council to aid in the regulation of thie subject by furnishing a Municipal memorial to the Legislature. The Annual Report of the Superintcn= dent of the Department of Buildings will be found full of important and interesting. statistics, Being at the terminus of a decade it vi properly embodies a brief synopsis of the operations of the department since 1862. We are naturally rather proud of the admiration with which the annually improving architectural beauty of our city Inspires strangers and, we have no less reason to congratulate our citizens upon the in- | creasing saiety of the city from the calamities of fire. The full credit to the judicious Building laws which, since 1862, have ‘n improved and amended from time to time, is not popularly acknowledged, nor are the diiticulties en- countered py the departments in execut- them understood. The present report statistics upon these points. New York, a8 the metropolis of the country, should set the exauiple to all minor cities of a cormplete model building law, as periect in all its requirements as architectural skill ts able to compile upon our own and tue experience of the bund ng cities of the Old World, ‘Yue report exhibits tae eorts made by the department to this end, the w advancement of | the law during the ten years and the detatis of the | Opposition encountered are not a little curious and | interesting. The prejudices to be overcome, the | slow,,tedions process of educating the popular | mind up to the point where it is clearly perceived. that the object and aim oj the building laws are the | safety of the people and the increased architec- | tural beauty of the city, while the duties of the | department are merely to watch over these inter- ests and see that the laws are executed properly. It is worthy of note, however, that the chief oppo- | sition to the enforcement of the regulations as been confined to those who desire to erect cheap buildings without regard to the object o1 the law. ‘The adoption oi some efficient method of escape | in case of tire, iron shutters, metallic cornices, | proper stairways, and especially safe party walls, each in turn fiercely opposed by thie | class of persons when first proposed, have now | come into general use by good builders, not only j in New York bot in otner cities, where laws to en- force their adoption do not exist. The statistics | concerning the use of iron in buildings are quite important. From its durability, Lig and econ- omy iron has been generally adopted for building purposes, but to render ity employment quite sale requires to be tested, The provision in the law making this necessary met with some opposition until abundant experience, endorsed by the best authorities on building, have confirmed the wis- dom of the law. Comparison of statistics of sev- eral years also exhibits the substantial roving | and ‘material prosperity of the city, During the year ending April 6, 1872, plans and specificutions Were submitted to the department tor examina- tionand approval, embracing 2,518 bulldings of all classes and 1,373 old buildings for alterations and repairs, The estimated cost of the new buildings Was $37,580,016, and of the alterations and repairs. $4,301,051, making a total of $41,931,997 to be ex- pended on buildings in one year. whee | the same fe period 2,036 buildings were completed and 2,333 new ones commenced, 1,209 altera- tions completed and 1,224 commenced, Of the plans offered for approval 1,869 were in accordance with law and approved; 540 required amendment and 104 were rejected; 530 unsafe buildings were reported, 31 of these were taken down and the remainder made safe ; 1,302 violations of law were reported, nearly all promptly removed. by owners upon notice without recourse to the Courts, The growth of the city and consequent increase of the duties of the department are very aptly illustrated in the summary of statistics for the several years. For example, in (362 but 639 new buildings were erected, while in 1871 there were 2,036, In 1862 174 buiktings were altered, and in 1871 1,209. During the ten years 15,113 new build- ings were erected and 7,089 altered. The whole number of unsafe buildings reported during the yearand rendered safe or removed was 3,348, and the number of violations reported was 19,087, unusual number of violations (3,630) reported in 1870 and 1871 was in consequence of an extensive | and critical survey inaugurated in those years by the department, whereby a large number of latent abuses were exposed and removed. Had the ends of this survey been attained, besides the discovery of innumeraple violations of law, the. department would have been able to add to our municipal archives complete statistics of the loca- tion, dimensions, value and character of every building in the city; but want of suticient appro- priation compelled the reduction of the working material of the department, and the labor wag necessarily abandoned. | _ In 1862 there were but 12,000 tenement houses of all classes, and, in the language of the report, “im. every possible condition of danger and dilapida- tion.” Fire escapes were unknown, and a tie oc- curring in one of those old buildings became a dis- aster to the entire neighborhood. There arc now over twenty thousand tenement houses of a tar better class, and with, mostly, efMicient means of escape in case of fire, In 1862 the fire limits, as the district covered by the building regulations was termed, included but @ part ofthe city. They have been extended from tine to time until the Whole city is now protect d;. ‘o increasing the labor and responsibillty of the ‘department. The Superintendent concludes his interesting historical summary by congratulatin, the pubite upon the building laws as a ‘auccess, and says, “that according to the experience of the- department, and in the opinions of the best buila- ers and architects, although still imperfect, the: contain no provision that conid be dispensed witi | without more or less disadvantage to the pubiie welfare.” In its trialsand dimenities In enforcing the law { against malcontents and violators, it is agreeable to know that the efforts of the department have | received the hearty co-operation of the leading architects and builders of New York. Reference Is made in the report to misunderstandings brought about by the interpretation put npon forms exer- cised Me the Supreme Court in regard to moditica- tions of the law, which, as they no longer exist, is not necessary to mention. The inferences to be drawn from the facta furnished in the report are conclusive as to the necessity and importance of & stringent building law, enforced by a distinct depart- ment of skilled and competent officials, In language of the report, the building laws of the metropolis should be as perfect as inman “knowl- edgo and experience can make them,” and, what- ever may be public or private opinion as to the: organization and conduct of the department, what- ever partisan prejudice or preference may ido. or desire as to the means or methods of execating the laws, the object and aims of all bull la~ tions Be and aa blgeony bo seek to Apply the axioms of pra “de a ean experience in the baaing Vo elie. with a view to the general welfare, ifort and safety of the people, not ouly in the presont, but in Tegard to the future. ‘he report is full of valuable statistics and inter- esting suggestions, upon which space and time for- bid farther ciaboration. Law Department. The report of the Law Department is gepesialty: po a Ma) time of the Corporation Counsel satisfactorily and incessantly occupied in the pre- | |