It was impossible to resist such statements ; and, accordingly, we find the Joint Committee 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 fullconcurrence 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 respectable, 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

That all the water of the Croton may be taken from near its mouth and brought 1.

to the city ofNew 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