most surely upheld by the permanency of the laws by which communities are governed; so that charter, from which all powers and rights are originally derived, should never be subjected to alteration or amendments, except under circumstances of the most imperious necessity. Believing this, I cannot but deprecate the practice which has grown into use of late years, of applying, almost annually, to the Legislature of the State for amendments to the charter, whose necessity is urged to meet special emergencies, or alleged exigencies. We are now governed by portions of four distinct charters; and although their various provisions do not absolutely conflict with each other, I cannot but feel, that a more complete organization of our municipal affairs would have been better secured by one complete and perfect instrument. Various State laws are also in operation, affecting the internal regulations of our city, which, in my judgment, could have been carried as successfully into operation by the action of the municipal authorities, without the intervention of the Legislature. This disposition, of late years, to apply to the Legislature for amendments and alterations in our charter, as well as to existing State laws affecting our municipal organization, is, in my opinion, pernicious in its tendency, and derogatory to the dignity and character of our city. Originally possessing powers ample for all possible contingencies, and fully adequate to meet the demands of municipal government, powers, conferred on us as a city, and guaranteed, as to their permanency and efficiency by thecon'stitution of our state, and which rendered us actually independent of legislative interference; we have permitted ourselves to be subjected to the control of the state authorities, until, al though we stand first among the cities of the Union, we have, in truth, as few powers, and as few rights as the least of them, and the legislative action of each year takes from us some powers, and divests us of some rights. It cannot be expected that Legislators, uninformed by observation as to the actual wants of our city, and unacquainted with its actual resources, can legislate always for our best interests; and that public interests and public good are often made subservient to private interests and private ends, is abundantly demonstrated by our experience. I suggest, therefore, gentlemen, that you cause all the existing provisions of the various charters in operation, to be collated and compiled in one volume, as well as the various laws formed by the legislature, affecting our city. They will be found abundant for the protection of life and property-for the prevention of frauds, and the successful administration of our local affairs. Let the ordinances be also revised and framed so as to conform to all the requirements of the charters, and with proper laws, properly administered, we need not exhibit again the humiliating spectacle of a city like New York, virtually admitting its inability to conduct its own municipal affairs, without the interference of the legislative authorities. You are called on, gentlemen, to administer the government of this city, under circumstances calculated to impress you with a deep sense of your responsibility, and the conviction that you will be held to a rigid accountability by your constituents. The interests committed to you are vast and important; you represent a constituency excelled by few in the world in point of numbers; by none in intelligence and promptness to appreciate fidelity to a public trust, or to discover and denounce abuses of their confi. dence. Much has been confided to you-much will be expected from you, and in no way can you so surely meet the requirements of your constituents, as by harmony of purpose and unity of action with reference to measures affecting the peace, order, comfort and general well being of the community. The financial condition of our city, as regards the estimated receipts and expenditures for the current year, has been so recently and lucidly set forth by the Comptroller, in presenting his annual estimates for appropriations, I need not dwell upon it, but submit a concise statement of our indebtedness, and the extent of our resources, as prepared up to the 30th ultimo. Permanent City Debt, Redeemable from the Sinking Fund. January 2d, 1854. per cent. Public Building Stock, redeemable in 1856.... $515,000 66 Building Loan Total amount of Stocks.... Stocks held by Commissioners of Sinking Fund for pay ment of City Debt...... Investment in Revenue Bonds... $13,960,856 $3,092,548 200,000 Amount of Bonds and Mortgages, say 924,600 Balance in Bank, Dec. 31, 1853 say. 420,000 4,637,148 Actual amount of Permanent Debt, Jan. 2d, 1854, say. ....... $9,323,708 Funded Debt redeemable from Taxation, and papable in Annual Installments of $50,000. 6 per cent. Building Loan Stock, No. 2, redeemable in 1854-6.............. Public Building Stock No. 3, in 1857-62... ..... $150,000 300,000 The interest on the above stocks is paid from the "Sinking Fund for payment of interest on City Debt." It is a gratifying fact that the resources of this fund are fully adequate for the payment of said interest. It has been the practice heretofore to allow the expenditures to outrun the appropriations to an extent so great as to become a serious item in the tax bill of each succeeding year; but I trust that a practice, fraught with such pernicious tendencies, will no longer be encouraged, but entirely avoided. The appropriations for each year are based upon estimates furnished by the heads of each of the departments of the city government, and ought never to be exceeded except under circumstances of peculiar emergency. The annual expenses of our city now exceed those of the four largest States in the Union, including our own; and they have increased, during the past few years, to an extent not warranted by the growth or real necessities of the city. It is in your power to prevent any further unnecessary increase in the expenditures, by refraining from authorizing work to be done which is not really called for by the wants of the city, when the regular appropriation is exhausted, and which must be paid for by special appropriations, to be added to the taxes of the succeeding year. I can only invite your attention to these important mat ters; the power to regulate and control them for the best interests of our constituents remains with you. The subject of railroads in cities has of late attracted much attention, not only in our own community, but in many of our sister cities, and has been very thoroughly discussed, so as to render any extended remark on my part unnecessary. This matter is one of such vital interest to our city, I deem it my duty to bring it officially to your notice, and to offer some suggestions which the apparent tendency of the times seem to render proper on this occasion. Railroads, for city travel, are now in operation in the Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth and Eighth avenues, and in the Tenth avenue the Hudson River Railroad Company has a track which is used only for their regular freight and passenger cars. That the railroads for city travel in those avenues are generally esteemed as great conveniences, can hardly be doubted; and the number of our citizens daily passing over them sufficiently attests their utility and popularity. Wherever railroads have been laid so as to interfere with lines of omnibuses, they have generally attracted the largest share of the travel—the rapidity, ease and punctuality of the cars being almost invariably preferred to the omnibus. But even these numerous roads scarce suffice to accommodate the community, and there can be little doubt that public opinion is tending strongly to favor their location wherever it may be deemed feasible. The public streets are, beyond all question, common high-ways; they are the property of the city, and entirely |