Worcester Daily Spy

Power Vested in a New York Alderman Man.—As a specimen of the combination of powers in the person of a New York Alderman, a fact unparalleled in any civilized government, we give the following from the New York Tribune of yesterday:

Elected, in many cases by knavery, in his legislative capacity, he makes an ordinance; in his executive capacity (or rather usurpation) he puts it in execution; in his judicial character, he punishes or exculpates, as he may find it for his interest, the breakers of the same enactment. As Supervisor, he selects the Grand Jury that is to investigate his own conduct; as Alderman, he runs the city in debt—as Supervisor, he pays the bill. As Alderman, he enacts laws regulating the sale of liquor; as Commissioner of Excise, he executes the same law; as Judge, he (sometimes) punishes its violation. In fact, the Alderman is everything—lawyer, judge, and executioner;—holding the property, the peace, and honor of the city in his hands, with no effective check upon his conduct, however infamous or dangerous it may be.