Daily American Telegraph

AMERICAN TELEGRAPH
Municipal Inauguration
Yesterday was an interesting day at the City Hall. John W. Maury, esq., the newly-elected Mayor of the city, and the Aldermen and Common Councilmen elect. were sworn in.
In the Board of Aldermen, the preceding President of the Board, B. B. French, esq., was re-elected; Dr. W. B. Magruder, Alderman from the First Ward, was elected Vice President, and B. F. Middleton, esq., Secretary.
In the Common Council, Nicholas Callan, esq., was elected President of the Board. and Richard Barry, esq., re-elected Secretary.
Mr. Jacob Kleiber was elected messenger to the two Boards.
The usual form of proceeding with respect to examining the returns of the election was then gone into; succeeding which, a committee from the Board of Aldermen, Messrs. Towers and Magruder, waited on the Board of Common Council, announcing their organization and readiness to proceed in the inauguration of the Mayor.
The Mayor was then introduced to the hall of the Board of Common Council, escorted by the late Mayor and two members from each of the Boards, both Boards being present. Mr. Maury spoke as follows:
Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen and Common Council: In appearing before you, in obedience to the forms prescribed by our charter, to assume the duties and responsibilities of the office with which I have been honored by my fellow-citizens, I desire to return my heartfelt thanks for this manifestation of their confidence and regard, and to express my deep sense of the obligations their partiality has imposed upon me ; and while it is a source of regret to me that my abilities to serve them fall so far short of offering an adequate return for their kindness, yet I shall enter upon my duties with a firm determination faithfully to devote all the energy and ability I may have to their service.
I do not propose at present to say more than to refer generally to a few subjects which, in my opinion, should claim our more immediate attention. I shall reserve for a future and more appropriate occasion any detailed reference to the affairs of the city.
Among those objects which should claim our notice at present are the laws in relation to the preservation of order and the protection of property; for the recent acts of incendiarism and violence show that there is a spirit of lawlessness in our midst which may lead to the most dangerous consequences, unless speedily crushed. If our laws are not sufficient to give the necessary protection in this respect, it will be our duty to see that they are properly amended. My exertions shall not be wanting to see those we have enforced.
And. in this connexion, I cannot omit the expression of my earnest hope that the establishment of an institution for the reformation and punishment of youthful offenders against our laws may receive your serious attention. The want of such an institution has long been deeply felt, and the evils resulting therefrom are daily seen and lamented by all good citizens.
Although our city has been peculiarly blessed in respect to health, yet the rapid increase of population calls for increased attention to every thing likely to affect it in this respect. The adoption, therefore, of a complete system of sewerage and drainage is absolutely necessary to enable us to maintain its good reputation in this respect. The application already made to Congress for additional powers on the subject, I hope, will receive the favorable attention of that body at an early day.
In respect to the finances of the Corporation, I feel it to be my duty, on this occasion, to impress upon you most earnestly the necessity of exercising much forbearance in making appropriations for the ensuing year. I have no expectation that the means of the Corporation will permit any improvements of importance to be executed during the year. The appropriations already made and unexpended greatly exceed the ability of the Corporation to carry them into effect.
This condition of the finances is mainly in consequence of the large expenditure for the improvement of the Washington canal--the amount having far exceeded any estimate made at the time the work was commenced as to its probable cost.
Our public schools, although in a highly prosperous condition, have not the ability to accommodate all the children who desire to attend them: and I trust the application before Congress for aid to them will receive the favorable consideration of that body, and that we shall at no distant day be able to say that every child in our city has an opportunity of obtaining a good education at our public schools.
The Corporation is much in want of additional powers in respect to the levying and collecting of taxes, the laying of pavements, and other objects of ,the greatest importance to the proper administration of the affairs of this city.
Steps have already been taken by our immediate predecessors to obtain from Congress some amendments to our charter, and it is much to be desired that the subject should not be permitted to rest until they are obtained.
In conclusion, gentlemen, permit me to congratulate you upon the general prosperity which pervades our city, and to say that it will be my pleasure, as it will be my duty, to co-operate with you in all measures which may promote its prosperity and that of our citizens.
After these remarks, the usual oath was administered to the Mayor by the President of the Board of Aldermen; subsequent to which, the Mayor received the congratulations of his numerous friends and fellow-citizens, great numbers of whom were present to witness the ceremonial.