Gentlemen, your duties and labors will be many, arduous and difficult. The devotion of your time and your energies to sustain and watch over the rights and privileges of your constituents, will give you high and undisputed claim to their respect and gratitude. In all your efforts in such a cause, you may be assured of my willing and cheerful co-operation. And I humbly trust that this may be the year, when our commerce shall be restored to its former renown, when the interchanges of trade shall exhibit their accustomed activity, when mechanical industry shall meet with appropriate rewards, when the toils of every laborer shall be repaid with competence and plenty, and when all within our once prosperous and highly favored city, shall rejoice in the full fruition of prosperity and happiness.

AARON CLARK.

DOCUMENT NO. 2.

BOARD OF ALDERMEN,

MAY 14, 1838.

The following Communication was received from the Water Commissioners, relative to the Croton Aqueduct, which was ordered to be printed and placed on file.

THOMAS BOLTON, Clerk.

To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New York:

The Water Commissioners beg leave respectfully to represent: That, in their semi-annual report of the 1st of January last, they presented to the Common Council, their views on the subject of carrying the Croton water over the Harlaem River, and for the reasons therein set forth, they unanimously decided to cross the river with iron pipes, on a properly constructed bridge, leaving an opening, or arch way, sufficient in their opinion for all useful purposes of navigation. A plan and estimate of the cost accompanied the report. At the same time,

in order that the great saving in the expense of the project proposed and adopted by the Commissioners, might be seen, they submitted a plan, for crossing the river with an aquedect on a regular inclined plane, upon a high bridge of 131 feet above tide water, at an expense of $935,745, while the plan recommended by the Commissioners, for crossing the river on a low bridge, with iron pipes, would only cost $426,027, making a difference in favor of the latter of $509,718.

The subject was referred, in the Board of Aldermen, to the Committee on "Roads and Canals;" and the Commissioners, with the Chief Engineer on the works, were invited to attend several meetings of the Committee, when the necessary explanations were made, and the reasons in favor of the plan adopted by the Commissioners freely communicated. A majority of the Committee, however, deemed the plan proposed by the Commissioners, injurious to the navigation of the river. In order to obviate this objection, as far as consistent, the Commissioners proposed to leave an open archway of 120 feet in width, instead of 80; and 65 feet in height, instead of 50; which would still make the difference in the cost, in favor of the low bridge, $459,718.

On the 23d day of April last, the Committee on “Roads and Canals" submitted their report to the Common Council, favoring the construction of a high bridge, at an expense of nearly half a million of dollars more than the plan proposed and adopted by the Commissioners. That report is still before the Common Council, unacted on. The Commissioners feel themselves justified in taking exceptions to some parts of this report, as they think statements are made, and conclusions drawn from them, not warranted by the facts of the case. The Committee, at page 619 of their report, introduced, the estimates of Major Douglass, for crossing the river, both by aqueduct and by syphons, which shows a difference in favor of the syphons of only $51,370, while the estimates of Mr. Martineau, for crossing the river with syphons, which was adopted by the Commissioners, when contrasted with the estimates of Mr. Douglass, for the

high bridge, (Mr. Martineau having presented no estimate for the said bridge,) makes the difference in favor of the syphon $227,912 62. At the same page, the Committee observe :"This same bridge, which was estimated to cost $415,650, is now estimated to cost $935,745," and they deem it "worthy of consideration, whether, with such discrepancy in the estimates, it would not be well to make more thorough and satisfactory estimates, before commencing the work." To this, neither the Commissioners or Engineers can have any objection, if it should be deemed necessary by your Honorable Body. They, at the same time, think they have already given, in their report of the first of January last, satisfactory reasons for the discrepancy alluded to, which may be found at page 380 of the said report, where they observe, "The sum required is more than $3,000,000 over any of our former estimates, and can only be accounted for by the fact, that the Engineers, originally employed, did not possess the means of testing their calculations, by the actual cost of the work under contract, as we have been able to do, &c." These reasons, the Committee have not al luded to, not having deemed them worthy their attention; but, had they, or either of them, travelled over the line of Aqueduct before and since the commencement of the work, the Commis sioners think they would have been better enabled to estimate the cause or discrepancy than they now are, in a work of greater magnitude than is to be found in this or any other country.

At page 624, the Committee state, that the receiving reser voir is at 86th street, and until the water reaches this, it is not proposed to draw off any water for the use of the city above that street. No benefit, therefore, will be derived from the proe ject, to the upper parts of the island, while at the same time, they would be taxed to pay the interest on the debt, &c. This conclusion is by no means correct; the Committee might, with the same propriety say, no provision is made for supplying that part of the city, between the receiving reservoir at 86th street, and the distributing reservoir at 34th street, or between that

and the Battery. The duty of the Commissioners is, to bring in the water, not to distribute it. The water will stand at 86th street, about 120 feet above tide, and may be distributed from the receiving reservoir, to a large portion of the upper parts of the city, as high as the attics of the buildings, and it is believed, there is a very small portion of the land on the island so high, but that they may receive the water from this reservoir, in their basement at least. If that part, or any other part of the city is not supplied with water, therefore, it will not be the fault of the Commissioners, but of those whose province it is to distribute it by pipes.

At page 620, and at several other parts of the report of the Committee on "Roads and Canals," it is asserted that "the navigation would be obstructed for every thing, except boats and vessels without masts."

The general assertion by the Committee "that an archway of 65 feet in height, and 120 feet span, will not admit vessels with masts, to pass through it," is what we had no right to expect. It must be known to the Committee, as it is to every per son having any knowledge of the vessels navigating our rivers, that there are many of them which could, with perfect ease, pass through this archway. The two masted craft employed in transporting manure, have masts from 35 to 45 feet in height. Nearly all the market boats, as they are called, of from 40 to 50 tons, have masts measuring, from the keelson up, from sixty to sixty-five, as the Commissioners are informed. There are, however, no doubt, several hundred vessels with masts, now navigating both the North and East Rivers, that could pass through an arch of 65 feet in height, and any of the steamboats, with their towboats, would find no manner of difficulty in the passage. The large sloops of 90 or 100 tons, with masts of 80 feet in height, would not be able to pass; but, if the contemplated canal shall be cut sufficiently wide and deep, and if McCombs Dam shall be removed, and some parts of the channel excavated, then, and in such case, these large vessels may come from the North River as far as the bridge, and also