NEW YORK (CITY). 



589 



charges of malfeasance. The case had not 

 been finally disposed of at the end of the year. 

 A special presentment was made by the grand 

 iury, in May, against the Department of Pub- 

 lic Works, for the extravagant and wasteful 

 methods that prevailed in its administration, 

 and the evasion of legal requirements in the 

 making of contracts, but no indictments were 

 found and no official action taken for the rem- 

 edy of the alleged abuses. In June, the special 

 grand jury of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, 

 which had been formed for the purpose of in- 

 quiring into the administration of the affairs 

 of the city, and which had made the above- 

 mentioned presentment, submitted a more 

 comprehensive document, criticising the loose 

 methods prevailing in the Department of Taxes 

 and Assessments and in the Comptroller's of- 

 fice, and suggesting measures of reform. 



Politics. The local political contest was in 

 a measure separate from general politics. 

 After the National Convention, the Tammany 

 Democracy, while avowing its support of the 

 Presidential ticket, refused to unite with other 

 organizations in any political demonstration, 

 and nominated a separate ticket for city and 

 county offices, its candidate for mayor be- 

 ing Hugh J. Grant. A citizens' committee 

 agreed upon ex-Mayor William R. Grace as a 

 candidate for that office, and secured his accept- 

 ance by the County Democracy and Irving 

 Hall factions of the Democratic party, and a 

 complete ticket was arranged for the support 

 of those opposed both to Tammany Hall and 

 to the regular Republican organization, which 

 latter made nominations of its own, Mr. Fred- 

 erick S. Gibbs being the candidate for mayor. 

 The enlarged powers given to the chief execu- 

 tive of the city by the legislation of the year 

 (see NEW YOEK STATE) made the local contest 

 one of unusual importance, and the eagerness 

 of each faction to elect the mayor led to a com- 

 plication of issues. The total vote for mayor, 

 exclusive of 384 defective and 451 blank 

 ballots, was 226.536. Grace received 96,288 ; 

 Grant, 85,361 ; Gibbs, 44,386 ; and Crittenden 

 (Prohibitionist), 501. The other candidates, on 

 the Citizens' and County Democracy ticket, 

 were elected by a less emphatic vote. These 

 were E. V. Loew, Comptroller; A. L. Sanger, 

 President of the Board of Aldermen ; Randolph 

 B. Martine, District Attorney. Three Judges 

 of the Court of Common Pleas were elected, 

 and four sets of candidates were nominated, 

 including those of the Prohibitionists, who re- 

 ceived less than 600 votes. Those elected were, 

 J. F. Daly, R. L. Larremore, and Henry Wilder 

 Allen, all of whom were already on the bench. 

 The first two were Tammany candidates, and 

 the last a County Democracy candidate. Daly's 

 vote was 78,349 ; Larremore's, 77,279 ; and Al- 

 len's, 74,242 ; the third Tammany candidate 

 receiving 70,556, and the Republican candidate 

 having the highest vote receiving 72,803. The 

 city vote for Presidential Electors was: Cleve- 

 land, 133,222 ; Elaine, 90,095; Butler, 3,499; 



St. John, 1,031. There were 822 defective and 

 1,477 blank ballots. For Judges of the Court 

 of Appeals the vote was: Andrews, Repub- 

 lican, 218,724; Rapallo, Democrat, 218,903; 

 these having been nominated by both parties ; 

 Rice and Co wen, People's party, 1,455 and 

 1,561 respectively; and Farrington and Wil- 

 lard, Prohibition, 598 and 592. The vote on 

 the constitutional amendment, restricting the 

 power of cities to incur indebtedness, was 

 109,761 for, and 1,778 against it. The number 

 of voters registered was 240,948, against 182,- 

 351 in 1883, and 217,029 in 1880. 



Considerable excitement was caused after 

 the election by the course of Mayor Franklin 

 Edson in making appointments to office before 

 the expiration of his term. There had pre- 

 viously been a dispute as to the time of the 

 expiration of the terms of two members of the 

 Board of Police Commissioners. The law of 

 1873 had fixed the time for the expiration of 

 the terms of the commissioners then in office, 

 and had provided that thereafter the term 

 should be six years. The "consolidated act" 

 of 1882 had declared that a person appointed 

 after the beginning of a term should only hold 

 for the rest of that term, and until a successor 

 was appointed and qualified. Mr. Joel B. Erb- 

 hardt had been appointed for the remnant of a 

 term expiring May 1, 1877, but had, in fact, 

 held over until May 20, 1879, when Stephen B. 

 French was appointed. Mr. DeWitt C. Wheel- 

 er had in like manner been appointed for the 

 remnant of a term expiring May 1, 1878, but 

 had held over until May 25, 1880, when Joel 

 W. Mason was appointed. It was contended, 

 on the one hand, that Messrs. French and Ma- 

 son were entitled to full terms, beginning with 

 the date of their appointment, and on the other 

 that they could hold only for unexpired terms 

 beginning with May 1, 1877 and 1878, respect- 

 ively. The former view had been held by 

 the Counsel to the Corporation, and acted up- 

 on by the mayor, until, on the 24th of No- 

 vember, the latter announced his conclusion 

 that the terms had expired in May, 1883, and 

 May, 1884, and that the commissioners were 

 holding over, and submitted new appointments 

 to the Board of Aldermen, which were prompt- 

 ly confirmed. Mr. French was reappointed, 

 but, in place of Mr. Mason, Mr. John McClave 

 was named. Mr. Mason disputed the right of 

 Mr. McClave to the office to which he had been 

 appointed, and applied to the Attorney-General 

 of the State for leave to bring a suit for a writ 

 of quo warranto to test the question. This was 

 denied by Attorney-General Dennis O'Brien, 

 who, after a full discussion of the provisions of 

 the law, which he declared to be ''indefinite, 

 uncertain, and almost chaotic," concluded : 



It is my opinion, therefore, that the Legislature 

 meant what it said when it declared that the term of 

 office should be six years ; that when a commissioner 

 holds over, after the expiration of his term, he en- 

 croaches upon another term of six years, and that 

 when his successor is appointed and confirmed he 

 must be appointed for the balance of that term en- 



