USA > New York > New York City > History of New York city from the discovery to the present day, V. 2 > Part 32
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" He once told me an anecdote that I wish that I could recollect in all its particulars. He had painted some pictures which had given great satisfaction -a thing he appreciated far higher than money; but being unexpectedly dunned, and failing in other quarters, he was obliged to resort to the collection of his dues from this source with great reluctance. He wrote a note expressive of these feelings, which he repeated, and which I understood perfectly, but the person to whom it was addressed, not being cast in a delicate mold like him- self, took it as a reflection on his want of promptness in making payment, and treated it accordingly. He said it cost him a degree of chagrin that was almost insupportable.
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" SARATOGA SPRINGS, January 22d, 1846.
. " I have just seen in the Commercial the death of Henry Inman, the artist. The shock was very great, not having heard of his illness. He died on the 17th inst., of disease of the heart, aged 45. He suffered greatly, I remember, from physical derangement while I was sitting, so that he was often very fever-
* Inman's intention in this respect was carried out during the latter portion of his life. In 1844, accompanied by his daughter. he went to England, having been sent on a special mission to Rydal by Professor Henry Reed, of Philadelphia, to procure the likeness o." Words- worth. Mr. James T. Fields, in his charmingly, told Yesterdays with Authors, gives au account of a visit he made to Wordsworth, and the interview between himself and the poet ' and his wife. During this visit he saw a duplicate of the picture painted by Imman hanging in the poet's library. " The painter's daughter, who accompanied her father." writes Mr. Field, "made a marked impression on Wordsworth, and both he and his wife joined in the question ' Are all the girls in America as pretty as she ?' I thought it an honor," continued Mr. Field, "that Mary Inman might well be proud to be so complimented by the old bard."
. During his stay in England, Inman painted. also, very remarkable likenesses of several distinguished persons, among whom was Dr. Chaliners .- Author.
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APPENDIX XIII.
ish, and I used to be on the qui vive lest I should do or say anything to increase his irritability. Persons of less vital energy would have taken to the bed under circumstances when he worked laboriously. When the rage for speculation came on, he was drawn into the vortex, and alas ! poor fellow, he is only one among many, whose peace of mind was destroyed, and whose sleepless solici- tude produced diseases from which death could alone release them. How many creations of beauty are entombed with him !
" A sentiment which he once quoted to me, as expressive of his feelings, now comes back to me with great force. 'For myself,' he said, 'much rather would I sleep where the moonbeams would convert into diamonds the dew. drops gathering on the rosebuds, than to lie beneath the dome of St. Peter's- rather rest where the soft south-wind would wake the fragrance of blossoms which affectionate hands had planted, than to molder in the chambers of the eternal pyramids.'" *
* At the time of his death Inman was Vice-President of the National Academy of Design. Immediately upon his decease, of a complaint aggravated, if indeed not brought on, as hinted in Mrs. Stone's Diary, by anxiety of mind, a public exhibition was given in New York of such of his paintings as could readily be collected, for the benefit of his widow and children. The extent of his works may in some measure be judged of from the fact that this particular col- lection contained one hundred and twenty-seven paintings of various kinds .- Author.
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APPENDIX XIV.
MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR HOFFMAN RELATING TO THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
Showing the Value of Real Estate, etc., etc. ; together with a Comparison between New York and other Cities.
To the Legislature :
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, ALBANY, January 2d, 1872.
The financial condition of New York City is a matter of great interest to the people of the State at large, and, in some degree, to the commercial world, its stocks and bonds being held for investment at home and abroad. In view of the recent events, I deemed it my duty to procure for you full information as to its liabilities and resources, and addressed a letter to the Chairman of the State Board of Commissioners for Revision of the Tax Laws, the Hon. David A. Wells, who seemed to me specially fitted for the work, requesting him to investigate and report to me. In consequence of delay in his obtaining some of the facts, his report did not reach me until my annual message was in print. My letter to him and his reply are as follows :
STATE OF NEW YORK, EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, Albany, November 25th, 1871.
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MY DEAR SIR-The financial condition and credit of New York City are of interest as well to the people of the State at large as to its own citizens. It is important that the actual condition of our great metropolis in reference to its indebtedness and its resources should be made known with accuracy ; and I desire to communicate the facts to the Legislature and the people of the State · in my next message. Will you undertake to investigate the matter in my behalf?
Very truly yours, JOHN T HOFFMAN.
Hon. DAVID A. WELLS,
Chairman, etc.
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APPENDIX XIV.
NEW YORK, December 28th, 1871.
SIR-In response to your note of November 25th, requesting me to investi- gate and report to you on the relation which exists between the indebtedness of the city and county of New York, and the resources available for the pay- ment of such indebtedness ; or the extent of the resources of property which may be fully regarded as constituting an adequate and inalienable security for the ultimate payment in principal and interest of such indebtedness, I have the honor to submit the following exhibit :
FUNDED DEBT.
By report furnished on request by Hon. A. H. Green, Comptroller, it appears that the funded debt-bearing fire, six, and seven per cent. interest-of the city and county of New York, was, on the 16th day of December, 1871, SS7,- 371,808.51 ; and the assets of the sinking fund of the city and county-con- sisting of stocks and cash-available for the redemption of debt, were on the same day $20,137,093.02 ; thus making the present net funded debt of the city and county of New York, $67,234,715.49.
FLOATING OR TEMPORARY DEBT.
The temporary or floating debt of the city and county of New York-con- sisting of bonds issued in anticipation of receipts and assessments, arrears of interest, State taxes, unpaid warrants and the like-was on the 16th day of December, 1871, $28,259,071.35 ; or, deducting cash on hand-$6,959,919.62 in the city and county treasury-$21,299,152.73. 1
In addition to the above, the Comptroller also reports claims already pre- sented on unsettled accounts, to an estimated aggregate of $6,000,000; which last included would make the total ascertained debt and " claims presented" of the city and county of New York, on the 16th of December, 1871, $94,523,- 867.22.
PROSPECTIVE INDEBTEDNESS.
So much for the present aspect of the indebtedness of the city and county of New York. In respect to the future, it is to be noted :
First .- That much of the existing temporary and floating debt of the city and county of New York as above indicated-including an aggregate of assess- ment bonds issued in anticipation of tax receipts of $14,950,700.00-is redeem- able from the collection of assessments, or arrears of taxes, and that a very considerable amount of these assessments and arrears is certain to be collected ; and,
Second .- That the city holds bonds and mortgages on account of sales of real estate to the amount of $1,132,893.26 ; the proceeds of which, when col- lected, are applicable for an increase of the sinking fund held for the redemp- tion of the funded debt.
On the other band, it is known that claims to a very considerable amount for services rendered and materials furnished to the several departments of the city and county government, during the year 1871 and previously, are yet to be presented, and that the carrying out of such public works as are already in progress, or certain to be authorized, will also require further additional expenditures.
But in estimating the amount of these prospective requirements for expend.
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APPENDIX XIV.
iture, it should not be overlooked, that the amount of claims against the city yet to be presented is not likely to be in excess of the arrears of assessments and taxes yet to be collected ; and further, that the amount to be hereafter expended on account of public improvements cannot, with any regard for economy and moderation, ever prove disproportionate to the concurrent increase in the material resources of the city, arising from its certain and rapid increase in wealth, business, and population.
So that, making every allowance for contingencies, or any immediate advances on account of public improvements, the total present liabilities of New York city and county may be safely estimated as not in excess of one hundred millions of dollars ; and further, that the ratio which the liabilities of the city and county at present sustain to their assets and resources is not likely to be changed for the worse in the future; certainly not if the safeguards against corruption and extravagant expenditure, suggested by recent experi- ence, are by the Legislature authorized and provided.
INFLUENCE OF PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS IN AUGMENTING THE SOURCES OF MUNICIPAL REVENUE.
As bearing upon the question of future municipal liabilities, on account of expenditures for public improvements, it is interesting to note the result which has followed one of the largest single items of expenditure authorized by the city for such purpose, and which at the time of its inception was denounced by . many as a measure of indefensible extravagance. We refer to the expendi- tures incurred by reason of the construction of the " Central Park ;" the cost of which, up to 1869, is returned at $10,463,965.00.
Now. an examination of all the facts pertaining to this expenditure will show, that, so far from its having been a burden upon the city treasury, it has really proved a direct and important source of revenue. Thus in 1856, before the Park was commenced, the total valuation of real estate for taxation in the three wards around the Park, the 12th, 19th, and 22d, was $26,429,566.00; but in in 1866, when the Park had been practically completed, the valuation of the same property for assessment was returned at $$0,070,415.00, an increase in ten years of $53,640,850.00. And further, the revenue received by taxation on this increased valuation was sufficient, in 1870, to not only pay the interest on all the bonds of the city issued for the Park purchase and construction, but actu- ally afforded a surplus of over ($3,000,000) three millions of dollars; or a sum .sufficient, if used as a sinking fund, to pay the entire principal and interest of the cost of the Park, in less time than the Park was in the course of con- struction.
ASSETS AND RESOURCES.
The maximum of the liabilities of the city and county, on account of indebt- edness, having been thus estimated, we come next to the no less important consideration of the assets and resources available for the payment of such ' indebtedness; or the real tangible property which may be properly regarded in the nature of security or guaranty for the payment of such obligations of . indebtedness as the city and county of New York may have lawfully issued.
Any valuation of the public property of the city must, from necessity, be very indefinite, inasmuch as many of the items which would be included in any inventory-as the streets, sewers, lamps, public monuments, and the like -
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APPENDIX XIV.
are not susceptible of a money valuation, and if attached would be practically of no benefit in the hands of a city creditor ; but apart from these, it cannot be doubted that the value of the lands and buildings, wharfs, water, ferry, and market rights in possession of the city and county, and which can be readily convertible in open market into a money equivalent, is in excess of every pres- ent municipal or county indebtedness.
The valuation of the public property of the city of New York, given by the Mayor in an official communication to the Board of Supervisors, August 16th, 1871, was $242,985,499.00.
In this valuation were comprised the following :
Markets.
$4,767,374 00
Sundry Lots of Land.
2,719,307 00
Wharfs and Piers
13,322,433 00
Public Parks and Squares.
106,416,490 00
Total $126,725,574 00
Next to the so-called public property of the city and county, the property most readily available for attachment and levy in case of a default in the pay- ment of the principal or interest of the city's indebtedness, is the real estate of the city and county, the revenue derived from the assessment and taxation of which constitutes also the main element and strength of its municipal credit.
The valuation of this class of property for the year 1871, as returned by the Commissioners of Taxes and confirmed by the Board of Supervisors, was $709,306,410.00. But it ought to be clearly understood, that this valuation for tax purposes does not represent any fair valuation of the property assessed, or even an approximation thereto, and in great part for the following reasons :
The taxation required to defray the expenditures of the State, as a whole, is apportioned to the several counties of the State, according to their property valuation ; and hence there has been for years, and is now, a strife between the different boards of county officials, to run down the valuation of property to the very lowest practical figure, in order to divert as large a proportion of the State taxation as possible from themselves, and throw it upon their neigh- bors ; and as some of the counties in the interior of the State have been so successful in doing this, as to actually reduce their valuation to thirty, twenty, and even a smaller proportion of the real and true value of the property assessed, a similar course of procedure has been forced upon the tax officials of New York, as a matter of necessity and local protection. And thus it has · come about that, instead of a returned assessment valuation of $769,306.410.00, for 1871-'2, representing the true market value of the real estate of the city and county of New York, in private ownership, it does not, in all probability, represent more than forty per cent. of such true value; an estimate which, instead of being a conjecture, is based on a large amount of evidence, recently collected by an expert for the Board of Commissioners for Revising the Laws , of the State relative to Taxation.
The conclusion, therefore, seems warranted that the value of the real estate of the city of New York-public and private-which may be fairly regarded as an available security for the liquidation of the city and county debts, can
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APPENDIX XI .
not be less than two thousand million dollars, on which the present debt, as above estimated, namely, $100,000,000, would be equivalent to a mortgage of five per cent.
In this estimate it will be observed that no account has been taken of the valuation of the personal property owned or held by citizens of the city or or county of New York. The amount of such property valued and assessed for the year 1871-'2 was $306,947,223.00. The investigations of the State Com- missioners lead, however to the conclusion, that this amount does not repre- sent so much as twenty per cent. of the real value of this description of property concentrated in the city of New York ; or, in other words, that the true value of the personal property of New York city cannot be estimated at less than fifteen hundred millions. Much of this property, it must be acknowledged, can never be reached for assessment purposes by any law which the ingenuity of man can devise ; or which any civilized poople would tolerate in respect to execution ; but, whether returned for assessment or not, it nevertheless exists, and by increasing the ability to pay, operates to decrease the real burden of taxation imposed on other property of a more tangible and accessible character.
It is also to be noted, that if the new plan of assessing personal property recommended by the State Board of Commissioners, and which is to be pre- sented this winter to the Legislature in the form of a definite code, is adopted, namely, doing away with the direct assessment of individuals for personal property, and substituting therefor, as an equivalent, the assessment of indi- viduals on a valuation of three times the rent or rental value of the premises · by them occupied, the amount or equivalent of such property returned for assessment and taxation will be very greatly increased ; and the financial resources of the city be thereby correspondingly augmented.
INCREASE OF NEW YORK IN POPULATION AND WEALTH.
In estimating the prospective ability of the city of New York to sustain and liquidate indebtedness, the recent and prospective increase of the city in popu- lation and wealth constitutes an element of not a little importance. Thus, from 1820 to the year preceding the outbreak of the civil war, 1860, the average rate of increase for each successive period of five years was 2S per cent. ; a continu. ous rate of growth probably without precedent in any country. During the · period of the war, or from 1860 to 1865, the population of the city decreased 934 per cent. Since 1865, or during the five years from 1865 to 1870 inclusive, the gain in population was 26;2 per cent. ; thus indicating that the average rate of increase experienced prior to 1860, was again likely to be approximated.
The increase in the valuation of the property of the city and county for assessment purposes, during the ten years from 1860 to 1870, was 812 per cent.
The present increase in the value of the real estate of the whole city for assessment purposes, is estimated by experts to average about fire per cent. per annum .*
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* The annual message of the Mayor tells us New York has an area of twenty-two square miles, and twenty-nine miles of water front; four hundred and sixty miles of streets, roads. 'and avenues, nineteen thousand street gaslights, and is penetrated underground by three , hundred and forty miles of Croton water pipes, and two hundred and seventy-five miles of sewers; has a population of nearly a million, one thousand horse-railway cars. two hundred and sixty-seven omnibuses, about twelve thousand licensed vehicles, and as many more pri- vate vehicles; a city which, in ten months, paid the Federal Government one hundred and
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APPENDIX XIV.
RELATION OF TAXATION TO POPULATION AND PROPERTY.
It is also interesting to note the relation which taxation sustains to popula- tion and property in New York and some of the other leading cities of the country. The following data are derived from the most authentic sources :
CITY OF NEW YORK .- Population, 1870, 952,292 ; aggregate State, city, county, and school taxes, 1870, $25,403,859.00 ; special taxes as estimated by officials, $2,000,000.00 ; total taxation, $27,403,859.00. Taxation per capita, $29.08.
BOSTON .- Population, 1870, 250,525 ; aggregate of all taxation, 1870, $0,050,420.00 ; taxation per capita, $36.00.
CHICAGO .- Population, 1870, 298.977; total taxation, general and special, 1870, $9,356,333.00 ; taxation per capita, $30.00.
But as in the opinion of some experts the burdens of taxation in any com- munity are properly represented by the relation which the aggregate of the annual levy of taxes sustains to the value of property assessed, attention is further asked to the following comparisons :
In Boston and Philadelphia real estate is returned for assessment at nearly its full marketable value. On this basis the relation of taxation to real estate valuation in these two cities would be as follows :
BOSTON real estate valuation, 1870, $365,593,100.00 ; aggregate taxation, 1870, $9,050,420.00 ; ratio of taxation to real property valuation, 1 to 40.
PHILADELPHIA real estate valuation, 1871, $491,844,096.00 ; aggregate taxa- tion. 1871. $9,026,753.00 ; ratio of taxation to real property valuation, 1 to 54.
CINCINNATI real estate valuation as made anew for 1871, $123,427,888.00 ; aggregate taxation, 1871, $4,004,035.00 ; ratio of taxation to real property valua- tion, 1 to 30.
In the city of New York, on the other hand, on valuation of real estate acknowledged to be only about 40 per cent. of the real property, the ratio of aggregate taxation to real property valuation would have been in 1870, as 1 to 27; but if the valuation of the real estate of New York were advanced in pro- portion to the value taken for assessment purposes in Boston and Philadelphia, the ratio, instead of being as 1 to 27, would be much more favorable than in either of the cities above mentioned, or in the approximative ratio of at least 1 to 65.
It is therefore evident, that in comparison with the actual accumulated and tangible wealth of the city of New York, any liability, on account of indebted- ness, which the city lias as yet incurred, or is prospectively likely to incur, is very insignificant ; and, with a reasonably honest, efficient, and economical gov- Finment, such as public opinion and legislative authority, guided by recent experience, seems certain to compel, there can be no good reason why the inter- est-bearing debt obligations of the city should not be regarded as the most desirable of investments. I am, yours, most respectfully,
DAVID A. WELLS.
Chairman Board of Commissioners for Revision of the Laws of the State of New
York relating to the Assessment and Collection of Taxes.
To Hon. JOHN T. HOFFMAN, Governor of the State of New York.
twenty millions of dollars for duties on imports, and exported in the same time two hundred and Afty-one millions of dollars' worth of merchandise .- Vote by the Author.
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APPENDIX XIV.
I have also received a letter, dated 29th December, 1871, from Hon. Andrew H. Green, Comptroller of the city of New York, in which he says :
" Immediate legislation is essential for the maintenance of the credit of the city by the meeting of the obligations maturing early in January, and to make provision for past claims which are due and which are of pressing importance. Equally important is prompt legislation to make provision for the maintenance of the Government of 1872.
" As the law appears now (Chap. 583, sec. 3, of 1871), no authority exists to make appropriations till May next, leaving the four first months of the year 1872 without any provision by which payments of necessary expenses for these months can be made."
I respectfully ask your immediate attention to those suggestions, and such early legislation with reference to them as may be necessary and proper. . JOHN T. HOFFMAN.
APPENDIX XV.
HISTORY OF THE SCHOOLS AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK CITY.
ADDRESS
DELIVERED AT THE ORGANIZATION MEETING OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, ON THE 29TH DAY OF APRIL, 1871, BY THE PRESIDING OFFICER,
COMMISSIONER HOOPER C. VAN VORST. .
The sentiment of the people of New York in favor of public instruction was early developed, and has been of constant, steady, and progressive growth. It has long since been fixed as a wise State policy. Even in its colonial con- dition some efforts were made in that direction ; but when the State had come to be thoroughly organized, and its political status established, one of the first of its deliberate acts was a provision made for the organization of a system of instruction for the young. The importance, as a measure of State, of the establishment of a system of common-school education was apparent to the mind of Gov. George Clinton, who, as early as 1792, called attention of the Legislature to it in his annual message. Under his administration, and upon his recommendation, the first important and practical legislation was had looking to the foundation of a sound system of public instruction, and the sum of fifty thousand dollars a year-a large appropriation for those days-for five years was made for this object. In 1798, and before the expiration of the five years limited by the act, schools had been established in a majority of the then counties of the State, and about sixty thousand children during that year received public instuction. The legislation so happily inaugurated by Gov- ernor Clinton was further supported by subsequent executives and legislatures. Through the encouragement of Governors Jay and Tompkins in the early period of its history, and in later years of Governors Marcy, Seward, and others,
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APPENDIX XV.
all legislation needed to firmly establish and liberally sustain the system was from time to time secured. It is impracticable now to follow the various stages in the history of this important subject. But its movement, although at times retarded, steadily progressed. Appropriations were from time to time made as its wants demanded, and funds were established for its support and complete administration. The amount of public money now appropriated in the various districts of the State for the support of free schools exceeds ten millions of dollars, and which sum is chiefly raised by direct taxation ; and the number of children who received instruction during the past year is about nine hundred and seventy thousand. To such a magnitude has this system grown in the State, under its fostering care, in the space of about sixty years.
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