GREATER NEW YORK.

HE Commissioners appointed, under chapter 311 of the Laws of 1890, to inquire into and report upon the consolidation of certain areas about the port of New York into one municipality, respectfully report: That during the nearly five years that have passed since their appointment, they have given much time and attention to the work assigned to them.

It was only at the session of 1894 that the passage of the act to submit the question of consolidation to the arbitrament of the electors was secured.

These electors, availing themselves of the provisions of this act, have given their verdict in favor of union.

The Secretary of State certifies the official result of the ballot as follows:

It will be seen that every municipality proposed by the Commissioners for union has declared in its favor, with but two exceptions, the towns of Flushing and Westchester, the vote in the former of these towns being 1,144 for and 1,407 against, and in the latter there appears a majority of one against. Taking the total vote throughout the area of the Greater City, there stands the decided majority of 44,188 in favor of consolidation, and it is not to be left unobserved that the great municipality that offers the chief advantages of union is unmistakably favorable to it.

The popular will having been thus expressed, it remains for the Legislature to determine the terms and conditions upon which effect shall be given to it.

The great diversity of civil jurisdictions already established by law-legislative, executive, and judicial, each at work in its own way-within the area proposed for the Greater City is but rarely understood, and their respective functions are often ill-defined and imperfectly comprehended.

A few statistics are subjoined to give some idea of the complexity of affairs with which we have to deal:

New York.. 4,186,119.96 1,801,739 63. 1,562,582,393 370,936,136 38.85 24,864.

+ Includes only the whole towns of East Chester, Westchester and Pelham. Debt of New York County, sinking fund deducted, $105,784,549.12. The debt of Kings, Queens, Richmond and Westchester counties cannot be authentically ascertained. Entire State tax for the whole State is $9 253,702.88.

As things now are, counties, towns, incorporated villages, school districts, officers and boards, with their varied powers and duties, wheels within wheels, issue their mandates, contract debts, devise and execute each its own plans.

Were this complicated condition confined to the preservation of order and peace, and to affairs not involving physical undertakings, the untoward consequences might pass away with the lapse of time, leaving no traces other than great expense and discomfort.

When, however, it comes about that the numerous agencies employed in this confused condition are applied to and act upon material works, it will readily be seen that the results, becoming fixed, are projected into the future with continuous cost and discomfort to succeeding generations.

To fuse these multifarious powers, duties and functions-involving, as they do, the conveniences, the necessities, the nearest interests of three millions of people into a unit of governmental care and control is a task of no ordinary dimensions.

The suspension or disturbance of the varied machinery of administration, now operating within the area to be united, until other agencies are provided, will inevitably bring confusion, litigation, and possibly further damaging consequences.

To provide, then, the methods and means for the transfer from existing conditions, complicated as they are, to those more simple and direct, without shock or injustice or injury to persons or property, there may well be employed the utmost forecast, the widest experience, and the most conscientious and painstaking application.

While the Commissioners would gladly see this transition promptly effected, they are of the opinion that the details involved in the transfer, so far as they

affect the tenure of existing officials, their emoluments, and the scope of their duties, should be left to be worked out without disturbance as time brings fitting opportunity, and as considerations of prudence and protection of public and private interests dictate.

What is at present proposed is the enactment of a simple declaration by the law-making authority, that the territory concerned, its people and its property, shall thereafter be one city, under one government, with one destiny; and the bill herewith submitted to the Legislature is framed in consonance with these views. That the administration of the affairs of the enlarged city should be continued under the same corporate name, “The Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York," seems too clear to admit of serious discussion. The city of New York is known the world over, and it appears quite inexpedi ent to attempt a change of its name.

In any thorough consideration of this subject there occur three prominent conditions that must sooner or later be dealt with-namely, debt, taxation, and valuation.

It seems but reasonable that those intending a partnership should each bring some contribution toward the accomplishment of the ends for which it is formed. The indebtedness of the divisions proposed to be united differs widely, as does the rate of taxation and the percentage that the valuation for taxation bears to actual value.

In the city of New York, the debt of the city and county are practically the same; and though this debt differs in details as to maturity and rate of interest, it is one debt and its volume easily ascertained. There is also but one rate of taxation and one standard for valuation.

In Brooklyn it is very different. There are some forty odd rates of taxation, each higher than that of New York, and there exists both a county and city debt. Compared with the simpler condition of New York, this is confusing; and it would seem that the sooner the situation is simplified the better it would be.

However desirable it may be, it is very obvious that the existing diversity in the financial affairs of the various municipalities cannot at once be replaced by a system less intricate and more simple. It also must be left to be adjusted by time and the equitable provisions of future legislation, and in such wise that ultimately within the whole area of the Greater City but one standard of valuation for taxation, one equal rate of taxation, and one debt-contracting authority only, shall exist.

There appears to be no insurmountable obstacle to the vivifying of the framework of the proposed unification, by the immediate setting in motion of the executive departments of Police and Health.

The appropriate functions of these two bodies, which are to be exercised in the common field, are admittedly essential for all, and, in the interest of all, can be neglected in none.

Should the Legislature deem it wise to put these particular agencies at work at an early date, the appointment of Commissioners of Police and of Health, with jurisdiction over the whole area of the Greater City, might well be left to the joint action of the present Mayors of the two principal cities, with the provision that such of the subordinates of these Commissioners as are to act in divisions outside of these cities should for the present be made upon the nomination of the existing authorities of these divisions respectively.

The existing forces to remain as now, with their duties and emoluments,

until those beneficial changes are made which it is quite too apparent are imperatively demanded.

It is perhaps as well to call to mind the fact that the Commission that has for nearly five years been devoted to this work was constituted on the basis of the home-rule idea. The State, the parent of all its subdivisions, has among the members of the Commission the State Engineer and Surveyor and a representation of six members appointed by the Governor; the cities of New York and Brooklyn each has its representative, designated by their respective Mayors ; and the counties of Kings, Queens, Richmond, and Westchester each has its representative, designated by their respective Boards of Supervisors, so that the Commission is distinctly representative of the various localities.

The Commissioners are also of the opinion that among the earliest and most essential movements for administration of the contemplated union should be the constituting of an elective local legislative body, with adequate powers and sway to give to it dignity, respect, and importance. This is the solid and only permanent basis of local self-government-Home Rule.

In this body the elected representatives of each locality should have a large voice in the determination of the improvements to be made and the moneys to be expended in their respective districts, preserving local influence with ultimate central authority, which latter should be relieved of administrative details when its intervention is not necessary, and the local representatives intrusted with such duties as they can conveniently discharge, care being taken to respect the natural desire of the citizens of various localities for the preservation of memorials of historic achievements and local traditions.

Every year that passes brings with it new complications, fixes those existing more firmly, greatly increasing the obstacles to union, while rendering its desirability more manifest.

In London the subject of amalgamating its congeries of subdivisions, jurisdictions, powers, and authorities has claimed attention for more than fifty years. Commissioners after Commissioners have addressed themselves to the task.

As late as March, 1893, a Royal Commission issued "to consider the proper "conditions under which amalgamation of the City and County of London can "be effected, and to make specific and practical proposals for that purpose.'

With no feeble or scrimped authority, but supplied with those ample powers so evidently essential for the intelligent performance of the great work intrusted to them, these London Commissioners proceeded, and in August last submitted a report bearing signs of patient investigation, judicious discrimination, and an experienced and informed statesmanship.

Reading its pages, one can but feel an anxious desire that the unification of the cluster of municipalities about our port may not be postponed, to be entangled with increasing obstacles, but that it may be now resolutely and disinterestedly met and consummated.

With a climate that contributes and favors the beauties and the bounties that come with the ever-varying seasons, with a diversity of topography that responds to the amenities and the requirements of a great city, with a population of similar pursuits and interests, with capacious waters that bear to its marts the commerce of nations, nothing beyond the approval of the expressed wish of the electors by their representatives in the Legislature remains to insure the permanent establishment at this port of a city that shall in its institutions and in its administration stand as a type and an example.