electricity for lighting, heating and power purposes; of the public baths; of the purchase of fuel, stationery, etc. COMMISSIONER OF BRIDGES-Appointed by the Mayor for six years; salary, $7,500. He has cognizance and control of the management and maintenance of the New-York and Brooklyn Bridge, its railroads and collection of tolls and fares; the construction, repair, maintenance and management of all other bridges that may be constructed, in whole or in part, at the expense of the city of New-York, and of the construction, repair and maintenance of all other bridges that are or may be in whole or in part a pubiic charge, not included in public parks, except the East River Bridge. PARK DEPARTMENT-Three commissioners-one for Manhattan and Richmond, one for The Bronx, and the other for Brooklyn and Queens-salary of each, $5,000. ART COMMISSION-Composed of the Mayor, the presidents of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Library, and the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, one painter. one sculptor. one architect, and three other residents of the city, none of whom shall be a painter, sculptor or architect or member of any other profession in the fine arts. No work of art shall become the property of the city either by gift or purchase, or be erected in any public place, witnout the approval of the Art Commission. COMMISSIONERS OF BUILDINGS-Appointed by the Mayor from candidates who have had at least ten years' experience as architects or builders. Salary of the commissioner for Manhattan and The Bronx, and for Brooklyn, $7,000 a year, and for Queens and Richmond, $3,500. COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC CHARITIES-Salary for the commissioner for Manhattan and The Bronx and of one for Brookiyn and Queens is fixed at $7,500, and for the one for Richmond, $2,500. They administer the public charities of the city and regulate payments to private institutions, subject to the rules and regulations of the State Board of Charities. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION-Appointed by the Mayor; salary, $7,500. He has charge of the administration of all institutions for the detention of criminals and misdemeanants of the city. FIRE COMMISSIONER-Appointed by the Mayor; term, six years; salary, $7,500. He appoints a deputy commissioner for Brooklyn, one fire marshal for Manhattan, The Bronx and Richmond, and one for Brooklyn and Queens, at a salary of $3,000 each. COMMISSIONERS OF DOCKS-Three appointed by the Mayor; terms, six years; salary, $5,000 each, with the exception of the president, elected from their number, to receive $6,000. COMMISSIONERS OF TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS-Five, appointed by the Mayor; the president of the board, so designated in the appointment, to be for six years, and the others for four years. Salary of the president, $8,000; other members, $6,000. BOARD OF ASSESSORS-The Mayor is authorized to appoint five persons, each with a salary of $3,000 a year. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION-The charter provides for the following school boards: For Manhattan and The Bronx, twenty-one members; Brooklyn, forty-five members; Queens and Richmond, each to be of nine members. The term of all members of school boards is three years. A Board of Education for the entire city is provided, to consist of nineteen members, as follows: Of the chairman of each of the four school boards, ten elected by the Board of Manhattan and The Bronx, and five elected by the Board of the Borough of Brooklyn, all from the membership of said boards, respectively. Members of the Board of Education and of the several school boards serve without pay. BOARD OF HEALTH-President of the Police Board, Health Officer of the Port and three Commissioners of Health, appointed by the Mayor for six years. The annual salaries are: President, $7,500; commissioners, other than the president, $6,000; sanitary superintendent, $6,000; secretary, $5,000; assistant sanitary superintendents, $3,500; register of records, $4,000; assistant registers of records, $3,000; chief clerk, $3,000. COURTS-The City Court of the old city of New-York is continued under its former name. The Justices' Courts and the office of the justices of the peace of Brooklyn and Long Island City and the district courts of the old city of New-York are abolished and consolidated under the name of the Municipal Court of the City of New-York. For this court the Mayor is authorized to appoint seven additional justices. The boroughs are divided into districts, in each of which sessions of the Municipal Court are to be held. Manhattan has eleven districts; The Bronx, two districts; Brooklyn, five districts; Queens, two, and Richmond, three. The office of Police Justice of Manhattan and The Bronx and the Court of Special Sessions of Brooklyn are abolished. For the purposes of the administration of criminal justice, the new city is divided into two divisions. The first division embraces Manhattan and The Bronx, and the second dvision embraces Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond. CORONERS-Four in Manhattan, and two each in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond. COUNTIES AND OFFICIALS-The wards of Manhattan, The Bronx and Brooklyn are continued the same as before the consolidation. The five towns and all the incorporated villages within Richmond County are abolished, and the territory included within the towns of Castleton, Middletown, Northfield, Southfield and Westfield are to be known as Wards 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, of Richmond. The towns and villages in that part of Queens County included within the city of New-York are abolished and are designated as follows: Long Island City, Ward 1 of Queens; Newtown, Ward 2; Flushing, Ward 3; Jamaica, Ward 4; Hempstead, Ward 5. The Mayor is to appoint the Corporation Counsel and all the administrative and executive officers of the city except the Controller. In addition to those heretofore enumerated, the Mayor appoints two Commissioners of Accounts, three Civil Service Commissioners and a Chief of the Bureau of Municipal Statistics. It is provided that all veterans, either of the Army or Navy or the Volunteer Fire Department who may be in the service of either the municipal or public corporation, shall be retained in the service. The area of Greater New-York embraces 306 square miles, and contains (as estimated) nearly 3,500,000 people. In 1893, the year preceding the passage of the act by the Legislature to submit the question of consolidation to the arbitrament of the electors, the assessed valuation of real estate and of personal propery in the several counties now embraced in the municipality was as follows: On January 1, 1898, it had 1,093 church edifices, two great universities and ninetythree other educational institutions, sixty-three libraries, thirty art galleries, fiftyfour theatres, eighty-one clubs, 112 hotels and 218 banks. Its parks have an area of 73,336 acres; its cemeteries have a "silent population" of 4,000,000. Early in 1898 the Health Board made an estimate of the population of New-York City, with this result: The following table gives a list of the Mayors of New-York since 1665, when Thomas Willett was appointed by the Governor of the Province. The office was filled by the same appointing power until 1784, when for six years the power was vested in the Appointing Board of the State of New-York. From 1820 to 1830, when the charter was amended, the Common Council was the appointing power. The last named Mayor, Robert A. Van Wyck, was the first elected under the Greater New-York charter: 10 S. v. Cortlandt 1677 11 T. Delavall... 1678 12 F. Rombouts. 1679 13 William Dyre. 1680-1681 1684 (Tory) 1776-1784 17 S. v. Cortlandt 1686-1687 rence 1834-1837 61 Aaron Clark. (1837-1839 31 John Johnson. 1714-1719 62 I. L. Varian. 1839-1841 32 J. v. Cortlandt 1719-1720 63 R. H. Morris. |1841-1844 33 Robt. Walters 1720-1725 64 James Harper | 1844-1845 Terms. Mayors. 65 W. F. Havemeyer 1845-1846 66 A. H. Mickle.. 1846-1847 67 Wm. V. Brady 1847-1848 68 W. F. Have 69 C. S. Woodhull 1849-1851 WAR REVENUE LAW. The act of Congress of June 13, 1898, known as the "War Revenue Law," consists of fifty-one sections, all of which, excepting Sections 31, 32, 33, 34, 50 and 51, relate to internal revenue, as follows: Section 1.-Tax on fermented liquors. Section 2.-Special taxes. Section 3.-Tax on tobacco, cigars, cigarettes and snuff. Section 4.-Special taxes on tobacco dealers and manufacturers. Section 5.-On the method of furnishing stamps. Sections 6 to 26 (inclusive).-Adhesive stamps, Schedules A and B. Section 27.-Tax on gross receipts of certain refineries, etc. Section 28.-Tax on seats in palace or parlor cars and on berths in sleeping cars. Sections 29 and 30.-Tax on legacies and distributive shares of personal property. Sections 35 to 49 (inclusive).-Tax on mixed flour. The sections noted above as relating to other matters than taxes, etc., are in full as follows: Section 31 is administrative and reads: "That all administrative, special or stamp provisions of the law, including the laws in relation to the assessment of taxes, not heretofore specifically repealed, are hereby made applicable to this act." Sections 32 and 33 relate to loans, and read: (32) "That the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to borrow from time to time, at a rate of interest not exceeding 3 per centum per annum, such sum or sums as in his judgment may be necessary to meet public expenditures, and to issue there for certificates of indebtedness in such form as he may prescribe and in denominations of $50 or some multiple of that sum; and each certificate so issued shall be payable, with the interest accrued thereon, at such time, not exceeding one year from the date of its issue, as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe: Provided, That the amount of such certificates outstanding shall at no time exceed $100,000,000; and the provisions of existing law respecting counterfeiting and other fraudulent practices are hereby extended to the bonds and certificates of indebtedness authorized by this act." (33) "That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to borrow on the credit of the United States from time to time as the proceeds may be required to defray expenditures authorized on account of the existing war (such proceeds when so received to be used only for the purpose of meeting such war expenditures) the sum of $400,000,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, and to prepare and issue therefor coupon or registered bonds of the United States in such form as he may prescribe, and in denominations of $20 or some multiple of that sum, redeemable in coin at the pleasure of the United States after ten years from the date of their issue, and payable twenty years from such date, and bearing interest payable quarterly in coin at the rate of 3 per centum per annum; and the bonds herein authorized shall be exempt from all taxes or duties of the United States, as well as from taxation in any form by or under State, municipal or local authority: Provided, That the bonds authorized by this section shall be first offered at par as a popular loan under such regulations, prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, as will give opportunity to the citizens of the United States to participate in the subscriptions to such loan, and in allotting said bonds the several subscriptions of individuals shall be first accepted, and the subscriptions for the lowest amounts shall be first allotted: Provided, further, That any portion of any issue of said bonds not subscribed for as above provided may be disposed of by the Secretary of the Treasury at not less than par, under such regulations as he may prescribe, but no commissions shall be allowed or paid thereon; and a sum not exceeding one-tenth of 1 per centum of the amount of the bonds and certificates herein authorized is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to pay the expense of preparing, advertising and issuing the same." Section 34, which relates to the coinage of silver bullion, reads: "That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to coin into standard silver dollars as rapidly as the public interests may require, to an amount, however, of not less than $1,500,000 in each month, all of the silver bullion now in the Treasury purchased in accordance with the provision of the act approved July 14, 1890, entitled 'An act directing the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of Treasury notes thereon, and for other purposes,' and said dollars, when so coined, shall be used and applied in the manner and for the purposes named in said act." Section 50 reads: "That there shall be levied, collected and paid upon tea, when imported from foreign countries, a duty of 10 cents per pound." Section 51 reads: "That this act shall take effect on the day next succeeding the date of the passage, except as otherwise specially provided for." The act provided that sections 2, 4, 6 and 28, and Schedules A and B should not take effect until July 1, 1898, and that the sections relating to "mixed flour" should not take effect until sixty days from and after the date of passage of the act. Section 5 provided that "until appropriate stamps are prepared and furnished the stamps heretofore used to denote the payment of the internal revenue tax on fermented liquors, tobacco, snuff, cigars and cigarettes may be stamped or imprinted with a suitable device to denote the new rate of tax, and shall be affixed to all packages containing such articles on which the tax imposed by this act is paid. And any person having possession of unaffixed stamps heretofore issued for the payment of the tax upon fermented liquors, tobacco, snuff, cigars or cigarettes shall present the same to the collector of the district, who shall receive them at the price paid for such stamps by the purchasers, and issue in lieu thereof new or imprinted stamps at the rate provided by this act." Section 25, also relating to stamps authorized to be used, reads: "That the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall cause to be prepared for the payment of the taxes prescribed in this act suitable stamps denoting the tax on the document, article or thing to which the same may be affixed, and he is authorized to prescribe such method for the cancellation of said stamps, as substitute for or in addition to the method provided in this act, as he may deem expedient. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, is authorized to procure any of the stamps provided for in this act by contract whenever such stamps cannot be speedily prepared by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing; but this authority shall expire on July 1, 1899. That the adhesive stamps used in the payment of the tax levied in Schedules A and B of this act shall be furnished for sale by the several collectors of internal revenue, who shall sell and deliver them at their face value to all persons applying for the same, except officers or employes of the internal revenue service: Provided, That such collectors may sell and deliver such stamps in quantities of not less than $100 of face value, with a discount of 1 per cent, except as otherwise provided by this act. And he may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, make all needful rules and regulations for the proper enforcement of this act." Constructions of various provisions of the law have been published from time to time in "Treasury Decisions." The title of the act, of which the following is an abstract, and which includes the rate of tax, pecuniary penalties, interest and discount expressed in figures, is "An act to provide ways and means to meet war expenditures and for other purposes." DETAILS OF ARTICLES, TAXES AND PENALTIES. SECTION 1.-BEER, LAGER BEER, ALE, OR OTHER SIMILAR FERMENTED LIQUORS. Thirty-one-gallon barrel.. $2.00 (Like rate for other quantity or for the fractional parts of a barrel. Discount of 7 per cent to brewers. Additional tax to be assessed on beer in warehouse already stamped.) SECTION 2.-SPECIAL TAXES AFTER JULY 1, 1898. Bankers with capital, preceding fiscal year, not over $25,000.. .$50 00 200 50.00 20 00 20.00 10 00 .100 00 Proprietors of circuses. Proprietors or agents of all other exhibitions or shows for money. .100 00 10 00 Proprietors of bowling alleys and billiard rooms, for each alley or table. 5.00 SECTION 3.-TAXES UPON TOBACCO, CIGARS, CIGARETTES AND SNUFF. Tobacco or snuff, per pound. 12 Proprietors of theatres, museums and concert halls in cities over 25,000 population per last census.. Cigarettes weighing over 3 pounds per 1,000.... 3 60 New packages of tobacco and snuff authorized: 1%-ounce in lieu of 2-ounce; 2%ounce in lieu of 3-ounce; 32-ounce in lieu of 4-ounce; 1-ounce (new package). Additional tax on certain tobacco, etc., bearing old stamps to be assessed. SECTION 4.-SPECIAL TAXES UPON TOBACCO DEALERS AND MANU FACTURERS. The amount of such annual taxes to be computed on the basis of the annual sales for the preceding fiscal year. Dealers in leaf tobacco, sales not over 50,000 pounds. Over 50,000 pounds and not over 100,000 pounds. Over 100,000 pounds.. Dealers in tobacco, sales over 50,000 pounds.. $6.00 12.00 24.00 12 00 (Persons whose business it is to sell, or offer for sale, manufactured tobacco, snuff or cigars are dealers in tobacco, excepting manufacturers thereof selling own products at the place of manufacture.) SECTION 6.-TAXES PAYABLE BY ADHESIVE STAMPS. Bonds, debentures or certificates of indebtedness (see also Sections 13 and 17) issued on or after July 1, 1898, on each $100 face value or fraction thereof... $6.00 12.00 24.00 6.00 12.00 24.00 05 thereof Certificates of stock, each original issue, on each $100 face value or fraction Agreements to sell certificates of stock, on each $100, etc. Assignment in blank, or by any delivery, or by any paper or agreement or (If evidence of sale, etc., is on books only, stamp the books; if by transfer of certificate, stamp the certificate; if by delivery of certificate assigned in blank, seller must give to buyer a bill or memorandum of sale, to which stamp must be affixed; the bill or memorandum to show date, name of seller, amount of sale, and matter of thing to which it pertained.) Boards of Trade and Produce Exchanges, products or merchandise: Present or future delivery, for each $100 value, etc.. For each additional $100 or fractional part thereof in excess of $100. Bank check, draft, or certificate of deposit not drawing interest, or order for payment of any sum of money, etc., at sight or on demand.. Bill of exchange (inland), certificate of deposit drawing interest, or order for payment of any sum of money, otherwise than at sight or on demand, or any promissory note except bank notes issued for circulation, and for each renewal of the same, for a sum not over $100.. And for each additional $100, or fractional part thereof, in excess of $100.... 01 01 02 02 02 And from and after July 1, 1898, the provisions of this paragraph apply as well to original domestic money orders, issued by the United States, and the price of such money orders is increased by a sum equal to the value of the stamps herein provided for. Bills of exchange (foreign) or letters of credit, orders by telegraph or express, Bills of lading or receipt (not chartered party) for goods, etc., to be exported Bills of lading for goods, etc., shipped from one point to another within the Bonds: Indemnity, and all other bonds of any description, except those required Vessels over 600 tons... Contract: Broker's note, or memorandum of sale of goods, merchandise, stocks, Each additional $500, or fraction thereof over $500. ........ 50 01 25 50 Over $500 in value.. 100 Entry for withdrawal from customs bonded warehouse. 50 Insurance (life): Policy of insurance, each $100 or fraction thereof. 08 Except on industrial or weekly payment plan, when the tax is on the amount of first weekly premium at... 40% Returns are to be made monthly. Provided further, section does not apply to fraternal, beneficiary societies or orders, or farmers' co-operative companies, or employes' relief associations on the lodge system, and solely for members' benefit and not for profit. Insurance (marine, inland, fire): Each policy on each $1 or fraction thereof.... 1/2 |