352 



and that in this respect the security was inferior to that of our water 

 bonds, wherein all the works, including reservoirs, pipes and hy- 

 drants, were pledged for payment. In order, therefore, to furnish a 

 new credit for park bonds, which should make them equal to water 

 bonds, an act of the Legislature was passed in the spring of 1865, 

 authorizing proceedings to be taken for the purpose of transferring 

 the ultimate fee to the city. Such proceedings were accordingly 

 had, the residuary interests of the owners, valued by Commissioners 

 appointed by the Supreme Court, and payment made to the parties. 

 The result showed that capitalists fully appreciated the additional 

 security thus established for park bonds, since they immediately 

 rose in the market, and feel to this day the effect of this salutary 

 provision. The fee of the land having been acquired, the Commis- 

 sioners feel assured (and they are sustained by the best legal author- 

 ity), that if the Legislature concurs in a sale there can be no diffi- 

 culty about the title. 



I have tried to give you a plain statement of the facts which have 

 a material bearing on the point at issue. The questions involved 

 are of vital interest to the taxpayers of this city. Holding the re- 

 sponsible position we do, as Commissioners of the Park, and having 

 to carry forward this important public work in the face of serious 

 disadvantages, we feel it absolutely necessary that we should have in 

 the future, as we have had in the past, the intelligent, willing support 

 of our fellow citizens. 



The scheme, as you will see, has a definite beginning, and middle 

 and . end to it. The first stage has been passed through, and the 

 result shows that our calculations were sound, for no one can deny 

 that the enhanced value of Brooklyn property to-day fully justifies 

 the liberally conceived plan of operations we recommended when our 

 whole intention was laid bare before you three years ago. 



We are now in the middle of the work ; all the important 

 points, save one, have been carried. We have all the ground we 

 want, and where we want it. Our most burdensome operations in 

 the field have been successfully carried through, and we are hence- 

 forward in a position to go ahead under more favorable circum- 

 stances. What the end is to be we cannot tell, for the point left 

 unsettled seems to us to be of vital importance to the financial suc- 

 cess of the whole • undertaking. It is the one now before you for 

 consideration. 



What we ask, with a profound conviction of its necessity, is what 

 we have asked for from the first, that the Legislature shall give us 

 the power to make a fresh disposition of the land on the east side of 



