NEW YORK. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



559 



of law, and also under an ordinance to be submitted 

 to or approved by the people of the city ; every ordi- 

 nance and law authorizing a debt to contain a pro- 

 vision for the extinguishment of the same within a 

 fixed period ; or else, giving to the mayor an abso- 

 lute veto upon all ordinances creating or increasing 

 the city debt. Upon all other ordinances, his vote 

 should not be overruled except by the vote of three- 

 fourths of all the members elected to the Board of 

 Aldermen ; and. in the case of ordinances containing 

 several items ot appropriation of money, he should 

 have power to veto some of them while approving of 

 others. 



8. Giving compensation to all officers and ap- 

 pointees of the city government by fixed salaries and 

 not by fees. 



9. Providing some well-defined, summary and ef- 

 fectual remedy in the courts for tax-payers against 

 abuses of trust by municipal officers, with the right 

 also given to them, under proper restrictions, to ex- 

 amine, from time to time, the affairs of any of the 

 departments. 



10. Providing that the acceptance of any office in, 

 under, or connected with the State government or 

 Federal Government shall vacate any office held by 

 thd same person in or under the municipal govern- 

 ment, and that no person shall hold more than one 

 office, at the same time, in or under the municipal 

 government. 



The revelations which were made concern- 

 ing official mismanagement in New York City 

 not only produced a feeling of dissatisfaction 

 among the citizens on account of the abuses 

 and corruption, but showed them that their 

 financial burdens had been unnecessarily in- 

 creased. The city and county debt, on the 

 16th of December, amounted to $87,371,808, 

 while the assets of the sinking fund avail- 

 able for its redemption were $20,137,093, 

 making the net funded debt $67,234,715. At 

 the same time there was a floating debt, con- 

 sisting of bonds issued in anticipation of re- 

 ceipts from assessments, arrears of interest, 

 State taxes, etc., amounting to $21,299,152, 

 after deducting the amount of cash in the 

 Treasury. Besides this, there were unsettled 

 accounts amounting, according to the estimate 

 of the Comptroller, to $6,000,000, making the 

 total ascertained indebtedness of the city and 

 county $94,523,867. The value of the public 

 property of the city was stated by the mayor, 

 on the 16th of August, at $242_,985,499. includ- 

 ing the following items : 



Markets $4,257,374 



Sundry lots of land 2,719,307 



Wharfs and piers 18.322.433 



Public parks and squares 106,416,4(50 



Total $120,725,574 



The valuation of real estate for the year, as 

 returned by the tax commissioners, was $769,- 

 306,410, but the actual value of the real estate 

 of the city, public and private, is stated by a 

 high authority as not less than $2,000,000,000. 

 Personal property was assessed for the year 

 1871-72 at $306,947,223, which is stated by the 

 same authority to be less than 20 per cent, of 

 the actual value. The population of the city 

 in 1870 was 922,531, against 805,658 in 1860. 

 The increase in the official valuation of prop- 

 erty and in taxation is exhibited in the follow- 

 ing table : 



The Legislature of 1872 assembled at Al- 

 bany on the 2d of January for the labors of an 

 important session. The Governor, in his mes- 

 sage, gave a large share of space to discussing 

 questions of reform in the administration of 

 justice, in the courts, in the conduct of elec- 

 tions, so as to protect the purity of the ballot, 

 and the efficient and economical government 

 of cities ; and urged a careful consideration of 

 these important subjects with a view to secur- 

 ing such reforms as are needful. He also rec- 

 ommended the passage of a joint resolution, 

 requesting the Senators and Representatives 

 from this State, in the Congress of the United 

 States, to use their efforts to have the following 

 amendment to the Constitution of the United 

 States proposed by the Congress, to wit : 



After the adoption of this amendment, Senators 

 from each State shall be chosen by the people of the 

 several States, and not by the Legislatures thereof; 

 whenever the term of a Senator is about to expire, 

 his successor shall be chosen by the people of his 

 State at the general election for members of the 

 House of ^Representatives in such State, occurring 

 next previous to the expiration of such term ; and 

 whenever a vacancy shall happen, otherwise than by 

 expiration of term, such vacancy shall be filled at the 

 first general election for members of the House of 

 Eepresentatives which shall take place in the State 

 in whose representation in the Senate the vacancy 

 shall have happened, not less than three months af- 

 ter the vacancy shall have occurred, and in the mean 

 time the Governor of the State may make a tempo- 

 rary appointment of Senator until the expiration of 

 one month after the election at which the vacancy 

 shall be permanently filled. 



NORTH CAROLINA. The trial of the 

 Governor, William W. Holden, impeached of 

 high crimes and misdemeanors, and malfea- 

 sance in office, his conviction and consequent 

 removal from that office on the judgment ren- 

 dered by the Senate as a high court, seem 

 to have been regarded by the citizens as tho 

 most important political events of the year in 

 North Carolina. A summary of the charges 

 which the House of Representatives preferred 

 against him before the Senate on December 

 20, 1870, was given in the ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA 

 for that year. A ninth article of impeachment, 

 charging the Governor with two fraudulent 

 issues of State bonds, to the aggregate amount 

 of $6,666,000, was presented to the House of 

 Representatives by one of its members on 

 February 9, 1871. A resolution, offered by 

 another member, " referring the article to the 



