to complete the project, and the annual expense attending the delivery of the water, should be paid by a tax on the real and personal estate of the city, in the same man- ner that the watching, lighting, and repairing the streets and roads, are paid ; or as the expense of the police, criminal courts, board of health and public schools are paid. These axe matters in which the poor man partakes equally with his rich neighbor, all being pro- per and necessary municipal expenses for preserving the peace, health, comfort and morals of the community ; and are of no greater importance in a public point of view, than a copious supply of pure and wholesome water, an element admitted on all hands to be as necessary as any of the municipal measures we have enumerated. We spend millions for erecting and ornamenting our public buildings, while a fourth of the money would raise structures equally convenient, but not equally ornamental. We open public squares and enlarge and widen our streets at an immense expense, in order to increase the health, convenience and beauty of the city ; all of which might be saved, if we were content to live, as our ancestors did, in narrow streets, without parks, squares, or public places. In thus adding to the convenience and beauty of the city, however, and increasing its salubrity, we act wisely, because it improves the health, ac- commodation and comfort of the inhabitants ; but with the most unaccountable inconsist- ency, we submit to the use of water which entails upon its recipients more insidious evils than narrow streets, plain buildings, or closed parks and squares, merely because the cost of procuring a pure and wholesome article may add to our taxes a few cents on each hun- dred dollars of property annually. It was impossible to resist such statements ; and, accordingly, we find the Joint Com- mittee of Fire and Water, to whom was referred the communication of the Commissioners, with its various accompanying documents, reporting in a few days (on the 4th March) a full concurrence in the views of the Commissioners, and a recommendation that measures be forthwith adopted to take the sense of the citizens, as required by law, as to whether the great work should be undertaken. The report of this Committee, drawn, we believe by Wm. S. Johnson, pays only a merited compliment to the Commissioners, when it says " if any confidence is to be placed in man, or any deference yielded to his opinion as mere authority, these Commissioners are entitled to it. They consist of five of our most re- spectable, intelligent, and public spirited citizens ; they have, for two successive years, de- voted a large portion of their time gratuitously to the subject matter of the report, looking for their reward only to the approbation of their fellow citizens, the perfection of a great public good, and the gratitude of posterity. Acting on such principles, we may without hesitation accord to them our full confidence, and may adopt their conclusions with safety." The following conclusions are derived from the Commissioners' report : CROTON AQ.UEDUCT. 137 1. That all the water of the Croton may be taken from near its mouth and brought to the city of New York in an aqueduct, declining 15 inches in a mile, and delivered in a reservoir on Murray's Hill, 114 feet above high water line, which is near 7 feet 10 inches higher than the roof of the highest building in the city. 2. That in the driest seasons, and at the lowest or minimum flow of water, the Croton will supply thirty million gallons daily, and ordinarily more than fifty million gallons. 3. That the water of the Croton is limpid and pure, and fit for use at the place where they propose to take it from the river. 4. That the whole river can be brought to Murray's Hill in a close aqueduct of ma- sonry, at an expense of $4,250,000, and there deposited in reservoirs ready for distribu- tion. And, 5. That the revenue which would accrue to the city, from very low charges, for sup- plying the water, would overpay the interest on the cost of the work. " These," say the Joint Committee of the Corporation, "are the great facts upon which the Common Council are now called upon to act, and in the first place to pronounce the judgment, whether the work shall or shall not proceed. The Commissioners have most fully discharged their duty, and with great ability. It remains for the Common Council to do theirs. The Commissioners have examined and canvassed every plan, and even every proposition, which has been suggested for supplying the city with pure and whole- some