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NEW YORK STATE AND THE
METROPOLITAN PROBLEM
 Government Studies

FELS INSTITUTE SERIES

University of Pennsylvania Press

T h i s v o l u m e is o n e of a series devoted t o
p r o b l e m s of c u r r e n t a n d long-range significance
which are of p a r t i c u l a r interest
to students of local and state g o v e r n m e n t .

S t e p h e n B. Sweeney a n d T h o m a s J . Davy (Eds.) , Edu-

cation for Administrative Careers in Government
Service

S t e p h e n B. Sweeney and G e o r g e S. B l a i r (Eds.) , Metro-

politan Analysis: Important Elements of Study and
Action

W . H . B r o w n , J r . and C. E. G i l b e r t , Planning Municipal

Investment: A Case Study of Philadelphia

R e e d M . S m i t h , State Government in Transition: Reforms

of the Leader Administration, 1955-1959

H a r o l d H e r m a n , New York State and the Metropolitan

Problem

O l i v e r P. W i l l i a m s and Charles R . A d r i a n , Four Cities:

A Study in Comparative Policy Making
NEW Y O R K STATE AND THE
METROPOLITAN PROBLEM

by
HAROLD HHRMAN

PHILADELPHIA
University o f Pennsylvania Press
© 1963 by the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania

Published in Great Britain, India, and Pakistan

by the Oxford University Press
London, Bombay, and Karachi

Library of Congress Catalog Card N u m b e r : 63-7856

Printed in the United States of America

 Preface

THIS BOOK is not a description of the metropolitan problem in

New York State. Nor is it a survey of the impact of state
government upon metropolitan areas. It is an examination of
New York's metropolitan policy as derived from and applied
to state participation in selected local and joint state-local
activities and an evaluation of this policy's impact upon metro-
politan integration.
The questions to be asked a r e : W h a t is New York's metro-
politan policy? W h a t is its impact upon metropolitan integra-
tion? W h a t is the relative effectiveness of the several tools of
intergovernmental relations through which the state influences
local compliance with its objectives ? And, finally, how much
leadership can the state be expected to provide in solving the
metropolitan problem?
Because the concept of metropolitan integration is vital to
the evaluation that follows, I have felt that a general discussion
of the metropolitan problem was warranted in the first chapter.
Although the subject has been treated exhaustively and no
doubt better by others, I believe the chapter sets a foundation
necessary for the rest of the book.
Chapter I I reviews New York's expressed attitudes toward
metropolitan problems, particularly from the legislative point
of view. Chapters I I I through V I deal with functions chosen
to illustrate both the derivation and application of state policy
and the alternative methods of state influence in local affairs.
Some may believe that other more important functions might
5
6 N E W Y O R K S T A T E AND T H E M E T R O P O L I T A N PROBLEM

have been chosen. Perhaps so, but I feel the generalizations

thus derived and discussed in Chapters V I I and V I I I are
applicable to all of the state's dealings with metropolitan areas.
T h e manuscript was originally prepared in late 1 9 6 0 and
early 1961. Although through later revision I have attempted
to bring it reasonably up to date, I doubt if any significant
changes in state policy have occurred with regard to either the
specific functions here examined, or the metropolitan problem
in its entirety, that would seriously modify my conclusions
today.
T h e present publication represents a revision of a disserta-
tion submitted to the Department of Political Science at the
Maxwell Graduate School of Syracuse University. T h e disser-
tation was begun while I was a Research Fellow in a project
examining decision making in the Syracuse metropolitan area
sponsored by the Ford Foundation. O n e of the purposes of the
Ford Foundation grant was to provide several graduate
students with the opportunity to undertake dissertations in the
field of metropolitan study, while participating with senior
faculty in the project. T h e dissertation and its subsequent
revision are thus a direct product of that opportunity.
For suggestions, comment, criticisms, and for the intellectual
stimulation they provided during our association, I am indebted
to the members of the Syracuse project, Profs. Roscoe C.
Martin, Guthrie S. Birkhead, Jesse Burkhead, and Frank J .
Munger, and then Research Fellows Herbert M . Kagi, Lewis
P. Welch, and Clyde J . Wingfield. T o Professor Martin a
special note of thanks; as project director and dissertation
adviser, he added to my already abundant debt to him for
years of teaching, encouragement, and guidance.
T h e present revision was undertaken with the support and
encouragement of the Fels Institute of Local and State Govern-
ment and its director, Prof. Stephen B. Sweeney. I am indebted
 PREFACE 7
to him and to my colleagues at the Institute for their help a n d
patience during these past months of iethinking.
D u r i n g the course of this study a n d in conjunction with the
Syracuse project, m a n y state and local officials a n d private
citizens supplied me with the benefits of their experience in
f o r m a l interviews a n d in informal conversation. T h e i r names
are too numerous for mention here and to single out a few
would fail to express my full gratitude to all. Responsibility for
the accurate statement of facts a n d opinions derived f r o m this
source is, of course, solely mine.
A statement expressing appreciation for my wife's help a n d
companionship would necessarily be too lengthy and too
personal for inclusion here. M y debt to Edith is apparent to
all w h o know her.

HAROLD HERMAN

Philadelphia, 1962
 CONTENTS

I The Metropolitan Problem 13

II The Legislature's View 33

III Water-Pollution Control 58

IV Public Health 82

V Public Education 106

VI Highways 132

VII Tools of State Influence 162

VIII Leadership for Metropolitan Integration 178

 TABLES AND MAPS

TABLES

1 Population of Central Cities and Outside Areas in

the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas of
Upstate New York, 1940-1960 36-37

2 Population of S.M.S.A.'s Residing in Urbanized

Areas, 1960 38

3 County Health Departments, When Created 97

4 Non-City School Districts Offering Kindergarten

Through 12th Grade, Fall, 1959 122

5 Authorizations for Federal Highway Systems,

1957-1969 137

6 Comparative Expenditures for Highway Con-

struction, New York State 139

7 Highway Mileage in New York State, 1957 141

8 State Payments to Local Governments for High-

way Purposes, 1950-1958 148

MAPS

A. Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas in New

York State, 1960 34

B. County Health Departments and Metropolitan

Areas in New York State, 1960 98
NEW Y O R K STATE AND THE
METROPOLITAN PROBLEM
 I

The Metropolitan Problem

IN 1960, New York's legislature faced what might have

been considered an agreeable task of distributing additional
aid to local school districts. The distribution was to be a supple-
ment to funds allocated by formula, in effect, a windfall to
local districts. Nevertheless, for several weeks, the legislature
engaged in a dispute that belied the apparent Republican unity
of the state government.
For once, New York City's share of state aid was not a
central issue. The dispute took a different form of upstate-
downstate conflict, Long Island versus central New York.
Leaders of both factions based their appeal for more aid on the
problems and needs of metropolitan areas, although the up-
staters mercilessly strained the term's application to gain the
eventually decisive support of their more rural neighbors.
Regardless of the sincerity, or lack of it, motivating the
legislature's reference to metropolitan needs, the mere use of
the term is suggestive of the extent to which it has come to
dominate state politics. Its use in support of conflicting policies
may warrant inferring that the term serves more for purposes
of political appeal than preciseness of definition. More to the
point, the controversy over educational aid demonstrates that
New York's legislative leaders, no less than many others both
13
14 N E W Y O R K S T A T E ANI) T H E M E T R O P O L I T A N PROBLEM

in and out of public office, seldom agree on the exact meaning

of the metropolitan problem and even less often on the means
for its solution.
Although the legislature's disagreement may be regarded
simply as a not unusual example of sectional bargaining for
shares of state aid, no equally simple explanation accounts for
differing administrative views of the metropolitan problem.
Indeed, administrative officers are as divergent in their
approach to the metropolitan problem as legislators. Depart-
mental officers appear to differ in opinion, particularly in
regard to state policy toward metropolitan areas, somewhat in
relation to the type of agency in which they are located. Mem-
bers of "staff" agencies are generally critical oi state policy,
while their "line" colleagues seem more inclined to applaud
specific actions stemming from their own respective programs.
The latter tend to define the metropolitan problem program-
matically, viewing its solution as the individual and collective
removal of functional stumbling blocks to effective program
performance. The former regard programmatic accomplish-
ments as stopgap, halfhearted measures that fail to attack the
heart of T H E metropolitan problem.
Academicians disagree as much, if not more, than practi-
tioners. During the several decades academicians have devoted
themselves to the metropolitan problem, the diversity of its
treatment has grown in proportion to the interest it has
attracted. It was to be expected that differences in orientation
and interest among the several disciplines now absorbed in the
subject would provide varying approaches to the problem. But
even among political scientists, whose views are perhaps most
relevant to the subject, recent studies have evidenced an
increasing variety of methodological and analytical treatments
of the metropolitan problem.
Methodological distinctions contribute greatly to political
 THE METROPOLITAN PROBLEM 15
science's apparent difficulty in intradisciplinary communica-
tion. T o a generally newer group of scholars, definition of the
metropolitan problem hinges upon individual and community
perception and behavior and not, as they critically imply, upon
the subjective values that underlie their less methodologically
inclined colleagues' theories of good government. In their
commitment to methodological rigor and to the concept of a
neutral descriptive political "science," they offer no suggestions
for metropolitan solutions but perform a valuable service in
providing techniques for measuring and anticipating public
reaction to future proposals.
T o the more traditional-minded political scientists, a recog-
nizable metropolitan problem exists, if only due to the failure
of political practice to conform with their conceptions of
desirable governmental activity. They also accept responsibility
for proposing and pursuing measures to improve practice.
Identifying the metropolitan problem and posing policy alter-
natives whereby New York State may contribute to its solution
must then concentrate on the works of this latter group,
although the former's contributions will serve to introduce
feasability and public acceptance as criteria for evaluating the
strategic worth of any particular policy alternative. Even thus
limited, a definition of the metropolitan problem still leaves
considerable room for disagreement.
THE PROBLEM

At its inception, metropolitan study was greatly influenced

by the administrative efficiency and governmental reform
movements. Structural reorganization was a key tenet of these
complimentary movements. Early metropolitan literature,
represented by the works of Studenski, Merriam and his
colleagues, and Victor Jones, pictured the metropolitan
problem primarily as one of structure.' After presenting data

' Paul Studenski, The Government of Metropolitan Areas, A Report

J6 N E W Y O R K S T A T E AND T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM

indicating the extent of population concentration around

large cities, they typically went on to enumerate and describe
the many governmental units organized to provide municipal
services to these population masses. Service inequalities, a lack
of cooperation, and ineffective or non-existent planning for
future growth were some of the ills attributed to this complex
and irrational governmental pattern. T h e problem was simple :
too many governments. T h e solution was equally simple :
metropolitan government.
True, there were some services that were not as seriously
affected by the multiplicity of governments as others. Put
another way, governmental activities would not benefit equally
when conducted on a metropolitan scale. Nevertheless, all
would benefit some. If, as was expected, metropolitan govern-
ments could not be created easily or quickly, there were a
number of temporary devices that could alleviate the more
serious functional manifestations of the problem—water
supply, sanitation, traffic, etc. In the final analysis, however,
the temporary devices—special districts, annexations, function-
al consolidations or separations—were merely palliatives and
were only preliminary to the establishment of integrated
metropolitan governments.'
Even in the early years, there were some indications of the
intellectual broadening that would accompany latei metropoli-
tan studies. Although Merriam, Parratt, and Lepawski hinted
that, before they were through, their query would carry them
"to a consideration of the basic economic, cultural, and social
aspects of urban-rural living, and to a re-examination of the

Prepared for the Committee on Metropolitan Problems of the National

Municipal League (New Y o r k : National Municipal League, 1930);
Charles E. Merriam, Spencer D. Parratt, and Albert Lepawsky, The
Government of the Metropolitan Region of Chicago (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1933); Victor Jones, Metropolitan Government
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942).
1 Studenski, ibid., p. 389.
 T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM 17
structure and function of American government itself,"' a
number of years were to pass before political scientists would
follow McKenzie's lead and explore the full economic and
social implications of the metropolitan phenomenon. To
McKenzie, much more than structure and efficiency was
involved in metropolitan growth, at stake was the nation's
entire economic system, as well as the stability and security
deemed essential to wholesome social living.4
Perhaps because structural changes failed to accompany the
earlier studies or because of the increasing complexity of post-
war metropolitan life, scholars soon began to minimize the
structural aspects of the metropolitan problem. Fashions in
academic terminology, stimulated by foundation funds, encour-
aged a rash of research and writing tending to place all of life's
problems within a metropolitan context. Whereas previous
study had dealt with the "fractionated" or "Balkanized" nature
of government in metropolitan areas, research itself was
"fractionated" in the 1950's, as economic, social, and political
problems were singled out for study.
Moreover, the process of research was itself transposed from
that of studying problems emanating from the metropolitan
complex to that of measuring the impact of the metropolitan
area upon specific social, economic, and political interactions.
Ylvisaker has described this type of development as the usual
fate of the inquiring mind. "Complications seemed easier to
come by than solutions. In the problem of the city one caught
hold of the towering questions of life and civilization by the
toe.'" But questions of life and civilization appear to be little
" M e r r i a m et al., op. cii., p . 6.
' R . D . M c K e n z i e , The Metropolitan Community (New Y o r k : M c G r a w -
H i l l B o o k C o . , 1933), p . 3 1 8 .
' Paul N. Ylvisaker, " I n n o v a t i o n a n d Evolution : Bridge to the F u t u r e
M e t r o p o l i s , " Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social
Science, C C C X I V ( N o v e m b e r , 1 9 5 7 ) , p . 158.
18 N E W YORK S T A T E AND T H E M E T R O P O L I T A N PROBLEM

affected by governmental structure. The study of organization

and structure became outmoded. These became "traditional"
subjects of research and as such were kindly, but firmly, put
aside.'
One resulting redirection of research was an emphasis upon
"problems" rather than "the problem" of metropolitan areas.
To some, this shift represented a tactical concession to the
increasingly mounting political opposition to general govern-
mental reorganization. If some change was to be forth-
coming, perhaps it would be necessary to view problems inde-
pendently, thus encouraging solutions less controversial than
total reorganization. To others, however, a more fundamental
commitment to existing governmental institutions was involved.
They refused to recognize a metropolitan problem but saw
rather a number of functional difficulties that could be resolved
with but slight modification of the existing system of govern-
ment. The "crazy quilt" pattern of metropolitan life would
eventually right itself in the tugging, hauling, and compromis-
ing of a democracy. Time would heal.'
Further complications were introduced by those, who, while
not content to await resettling of the "crazy quilt," nevertheless
expected little to be gained from structural change. It would
not accomplish enough, according to Chute, to whom the
political problems of a metropolitan area include "but are not
dependent upon or limited to, the form of government and
the number of units of local government involved." For
example, Chute ascribes a number of metropolitan problems to
* Coleman Woodbury has helped in the reorientation of metropolitan
research. He outlines his interests in "Great Cities, Great Problems,
Great Possibilities?" Public Administration Review, X V I I I , No. 4
(Autumn, 1958), pp. 332-340.
1
Martin Meyerson and Barbara Terrett, "Metropolis Lost, Metropolis
Regained," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social
Science, CCCXIV (November, 1957), pp. 1-9.
 T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM 19
the Island of O a h u , despite the absence there of more t h a n
one unit of local g o v e r n m e n t :
[One such] is financial. For example, what public expenditures
(or projects) should be undertaken? Who shall pay the bill? . . .
'I'o what degree should a metropolitan area spend money on
planning and building projects for the long-run future of its area
and nearby territory, or, on the other hand, restrict its budget to
short-run needs?'
W h a t makes the problem Chute describes metropolitan? Is
it not a political a n d budgetary dilemma common to all govern-
ments, a problem of policy that is as national a n d as local in
scope as it is metropolitan ? If there are any budgetary ramifi-
cations of metropolitanism that differ from the universal prob-
lem of political choice in allocating resources, are they not
necessarily derived f r o m the difficulty of accumulating
resources a n d exercising rational choice through the m e c h a n -
ism of a multitude of governments?"
Not only structure but government itself came to be ignored,
as political scientists adapted and applied techniques of the
sociologists, demographers, social psychologists, a n d ecologists.
T h e extension of research activity tended to obscure the
boundaries of the subject itself. O n the one h a n d , metropolitan
problems were completely divorced from governmental con-
siderations. O n the other h a n d , to those political scientists, w h o
retained interest in governmental policy if not organization,
the metropolitan problem became indistinguishable f r o m the
universal problem of political choice. Is there then nothing

' Charlton F. Chute, "The Honolulu Metropolitan Area," Public

Administration Review, X V I I I , No. 1 (Winter, 1958), pp. 8-9.
" Although presented to support a view of the metropolitan problem
that differs from the orientation of this study, this point is more fully
developed by Jesse Burkhead in "Metropolitan Area Budget Structures
and Their Implications for Expenditures," Paper read before the 52nd
Annual Conference of the National Tax Association, Houston, Texas,
October 28, 1959.
20 N E W Y O R K S T A T E AND T H E M E T R O P O L I T A N PROBLEM

unique about the metropolitan problem ? Is it merely a question

of providing services to large population masses, nothing more
than a more obvious and critical form of the general
question of American local government: "How can we provide
the needed services to everyone at a fair cost and in a demo-
cratic fashion ? " "
Thus defined, however, is the problem solely local ? Is not the
economic and democratic provision of governmental services a
state, national, and international problem as well ? The simile
begins to strain when extended to the international scene, but it
is precisely the similarity of metropolitan and international
conditions that challenges this overly generalized conccpt of
the metropolitan problem.
The word international connotes the difficulty of achieving
an equitable and democratic distribution of world resources.
The political boundaries that mark the jurisdictional limits of
sovereign nation-states create artificial (albeit self-imposed)
distinctions of need and resources. Similarly, the diversity of
governments within metropolitan areas deprives its residents of
the ability to air and satisfy whatever few or many demands are
common to them. If the general problem of local government
is how to provide services, the problem of metropolitan areas is
who is to provide services. It is the concentration of population
in numerous independent, proximate governmental units that
distinguishes metropolitan from local problems.
Whether represented by one or any number of governments,
metropolitan, as well as urban and rural, residents will always
be faced with the question of how to provide services and with
the choice of spending for short or long-run objec tives. These
are questions of policy—the how's, not the who's. It is within
this context that Banfield and Grodzins feel compelled to
" G u t h r i e S. Birkhead, The Metropolitan Problem (New York: National
Municipal League, 1953), p. 8.
 T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM 21
comment on the frequent failure to distinguish between
"problems which exist in metropolitan areas" and "problems
which exist by virtue of the inadequacies of governmental
structures in the metropolitan areas."" Hardly necessary twenty
years ago, this admonition today contributes a needed element
of clarity to the ever expanding range of metropolitan area
studies.
T h e distinguishing political characteristic of a metropolitan
area is, by definition, its multiplicity of local governmental
units. Ascribing to this one characteristic all of the problems
which exist in metropolitan areas is as unrealistic as ignoring it
as a source of metropolitan ills. T h e extent to which govern-
ment and its structure enter into metropolitan analyses depend
upon the observer's choice of the questions of life and civiliza-
tion to be examined. If the current emphasis on the broad social
and economic consequences of urbanism, as evidenced by con-
cern for economic development, lacial harmony, or taxpayer
reluctance to divert resources from the private to the public
sector is to continue, then governmental structure and indeed
government itself may necessarily be of only secondary im-
portance. If the question to be examined is less ambitiously
defined, government may once again occupy a central role in
metropolitan study.
T h e metropolitan problem is here conceived as the dysfunc-
tional effect that numerous proximate yet independent units of
local government impose upon the development and fulfillment
of public policy in areas of concentrated population. T h e effect
of an overabundance of governments is to deprive an inter-
dependent population of a forum and market place in which
political negotiation and compromise can take place. T h e irony
of local government is such that, by insuring the continued

" Edward C. Banfield and Morton Grodzins, Government and Housing

in Metropolitan Areas (New Y o r k : McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1958), p. 32.
22 N E W YORK S T A T E AND T H E METROPOLITAN P R O B L E M

absence of such political institutions, resistance !o consolidation

at the metropolitan level serves increasingly to foster centraliza-
tion at the more removed state and federal levels of
government.
THE SOLUTION

T o the political scientists who first examined the problem,

metropolitan government was the solution. Within the limits
of their institutional and primarily administrative orientation,
their logic was unassailable, for by definition an area-wide
government would eliminate the problem.
T h e most serious challenge to the political scientists' position
questioned the limits they had set to the metropolitan problem.
Even on their own terms, however, the advocates of metro-
politan government were still not unrefuted. T h e apparent
simplicity of their solution ignored the difficulty of drawing the
boundaries of the metropolitan community. Its limits varied for
purposes of sewage disposal, traffic control, and every other
governmental activity.
A more fundamental criticism questioned the existence of
evidence to support the commitment to administrative
efficiency, so essential to the integrationists' position. Are not
the repeated defeat of proposals for governmental integration
evidence, in fact, that administrative efficiency and organiza-
tional neatness are hardly capable of inspiring changes in
political sentiments and preferences? Moreover, accepting the
primacy of efficiency as a goal, one could well demonstrate
that consolidation and integration are not necessarily produc-
tive of economies of scale."
Integrationists countered by offering a more sophisticated
rationale and plan for metropolitan government. T o meet
" For example: Werner Z. Hirsch, "Expenditure Implications of
Metropolitan Growth," Review of Economics and Statistics, X L I , No. 3
(August, 1959), pp. 232-241).
 THE METROPOLITAN PROBLEM 23

objections that an area-wide government would be inflexible,

they suggested a pattern of local relations modeled after the
federal system. As in the national system, local federalism
would be adaptable to changing conditions. There would be
no need for detailed initial distributions of functions between
the metropolitan and subsidiary governments. T h e system
would develop in time. However, the creation of an area-wide
government with general powers was necessary to provide the
system with leadership and continuity.
With use of the standard of efficiency declining, a new
dimension was added to support metropolitan government. At
the same time, it provided a basis for criticizing the continued
use of temporary ad hoc devices. Governmental integration
was no longer advocated merely on administrative grounds; it
had social and political value as well. Metropolitan government
was the only democratic means of balancing area needs.
Furthermore, it would help promote the consciousness of
community interest so vital to the future of the area. Thus
Robert Wood, who seems torn between the logically persuasive
arguments of integration and the sentimental, perhaps
irrational, values of diversity and decentralization, hesitantly
concludes that metropolitan government must be supported, for
[The] conditions of urbanity are the basic reasons for supporting
the idea of a single metropolitan government, and they seem
more logically persuasive than the customary arguments of
efficiency and administrative tidiness. A [metropolitan govern-
ment] is likely not only to be better managed in the professional
sense, but more democratically managed as well. . . . By making
the metropolis a true political entity, a different type of blending
of urban and suburban becomes possible.11
Although Wood is inclined to sacrifice diversity to newer
11
Robert C. Wood, Suburbia: Its People and Their Politics (Boston :
H o u g h t o n Mifflin Co., 1959), pp. 2 9 7 - 2 9 8 .
24 N E W Y O R K S T A T E AND T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM

values appearing in our society, as was McKenzie earlier, some

political scientists and apparently most metropolitan residents
prefer that the sacrifice should be made gradually, if at all.
Whether motivated by conviction or a sense of strategy, people
of this mind usually offer one of two functional alternatives to
general governmental integration. One alternative relies upon
the use of ad hoc devices for piecemeal solutions to specific
functional problems. It recognizes, for certain purposes, the
inherent inadequacy of the present system of local government
in metropolitan areas but stops short of recommending over-all
revision of the structure or responsibilities of local governments.
The second approach differs in that it seeks to promote adjust-
ments with no structural change at all. Voluntary cooperation
and the strengthening of existing units of government are its
tools."
The conflict between the New York State Equalization Board
and the State Tax Commission illustrates a practical applica-
tion of the difference in functional approaches. Both organiza-
tions are concerned with achieving more equitable local real-
estate assessments. The Tax Commission believes a complete
revision of the present decentralized system is required. The
Equalization Board feels that satisfactory results can be
obtained by strengthening local boards and stimulating them
to cooperate with one another."
" A summary of the many approaches to metropolitan study is con-
tained in George S. Blair, "Approaches to Metropolitan Area Study,"
Metropolitan Analysis, eds. Stephen B. Sweeney and George S. Blair
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1958), pp. 3 0 - 4 4 . In
particular, pp. 3 1 - 3 7 contrast the functional and integrational views.
Blair places those favoring cooperation in the integration camp. Because
their efforts are, in practice, directed at specific functional problems and
because they differ with integrationists on the need for general area-wide
government, this group has been categorized here as a branch of
functionalism.
" See the report of the State of New York, Temporary Commission on
the Revision and Simplification of the Constitution, "Real Property
Assessments," Staff Report No. 27 (mimeographed, n.d.).
 THE METROPOLITAN PROBLEM 25
A metropolitan solution that has won increasing acceptance
in recent years is one that virtually defies classification. The
oft-reported proposal to elevate county government to a prom-
inent role in local affairs has gained added vitality in associ-
ation with both integrationist and functionalist efforts to solve
the metropolitan problem. The urban county" often represents
an effective (and realistic) compromise between efforts to re-
organize local government and desires to retain complete local
independence.
Although integrationists point to the many metropolitan
areas that now extend beyond the limits of single counties and
to their inevitable increase in number, they are grateful for the
immediate centralization that can be achieved under county
auspices and for the promise that the break-through in county
government holds out in the continued battle against
decentralization.
T h e urban-county concept is acceptable to most functional-
ists too. The county is a traditional, if not everywhere fully
operative, unit of government. It can be used as a means of
dealing with those special problems that are too great to be
handled by local units individually or collectively. The pro-
ponents of metropolitan action through cooperation only,
however, have good reason to be suspicious of the foothold in
centralization thus gained. Assurances that the assignment or
withholding of specific functions to counties allows enough
flexibility for the protection of local interests is not always
enough to overcome their objections to a strengthened county.
In the final analysis, a revitalized county government offers
a lesser threat to the traditional concepts of local government
" T h e urban county in this sense refers not merely t o a county char-
acterized as u r b a n in population but also to one that is politically a n d
organizationally equipped to provide urban services. See Victor Jones,
" F e d e r a t e d Forms of Metropolitan G o v e r n m e n t , " The Future of Cities
and Urban Redevelopment, ed. Coleman Woodbury ( C h i c a g o : University
of C h i c a g o Press, 1953), p. 591 ff.
26 N E W YORK S T A T E AND T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM

and home rule than some of the more drastic proposals for
metropolitan government. At the same time, it mitigates some
of the more obvious problems stemming from metropolitan
growth and serves as a focal point for further reorganization.
T h e urban county thus has some basis of appeal to all groups.
However, a revitalized county that does not assume most, if
not all, municipal functions falls far short of the integrationist's
goal. Although early proponents of metropolitan govern-
ment were criticized for overemphasizing institutional and
administrative aspects of government and politics, integration
today is supported on grounds other than mere efficiency. If,
as Wood suggests and as is here defined, the metropolitan prob-
lem is that of facilitating the development of needed area-wide
policy, its solution demands institutional expression. T h e
integrationist no longer assumes that the mere existence of one
government will relieve all the problems in a metropolitan
area, but he does believe that the presence of the institution
can itself promote the consciousness of community need and
purpose necessary to elicit and rationally weigh alternative
policies.
In effect, the absence of metropolitan consciousness, the
factor that influences many to resign themselves to a functional
approach to the metropolitan problem, reinforces the integra-
tionist's belief in the immediate need of metropolitan govern-
ment. Where the functionalist differentiates between govern-
mental and community integration, holding the former
dependent upon the latter, the integrationist, alluding specifi-
cally to American National experience, asserts that govern-
mental institutions need not result from, but may lead in, the
development of a political community. T o him, metropolitan
government is more than a future probability, it is an immedi-
ate necessity."

" T h i s position is illustrated by two slightly different t r e a t m e n t s of t h e

 THE METROPOLITAN PROBLEM 27
What of the converse point of view : is political integration
dependent upon the existence of institutional integration? In
the functionalist camp are many who believe, to the contrary,
that gradual stimulation of attachments to a metropolitan
community through experience with functional metropolitan
solutions is the only solid foundation upon which to build per-
manent integrated institutions, to which the integrationist
replies by characterizing functional action as actually dis-
integrative and as serving only to insulate the community from
the more basic structural governmental problem of the metro-
politan area.
At one time, integrationists conceded some value to individ-
ual functional improvements in governing metropolitan areas.
Criticisms were generally directed at their inability to provide
more than temporal y relief and iheir failure to attack the
problem comprehensively. Today, there is a tendency to reject
even so innocuous a functional device as interlocal cooperation,
on the grounds that it both "delays the eventual day of reckon-
ing" and promises to strengthen and thus help maintain the
present decentralized pattern of local government." In this
view, functional solutions are at best temporary palliatives, at
worst deliberately evasive tactics. This strong a commitment to
structural reorganization appears to confuse means with ends
and to prefer a whole loaf to nothing at all.
This present study is undertaken with a bias toward the
integrationist conception of the metropolitan problem but not
relationship between community and governmental integration. D r a w i n g
heavily o n Bogue, Cari F. Kraenzel stresses the role of government as
a creator of community in " T h e Social Consequences of River Basin
D e v e l o p m e n t , " Law and Contemporary Problems, X X I I , No. 2 (Spring,
1957), pp. 222-223. Jefferson B. F o r d h a m depicts a somewhat less causa-
tive relationship in A Larger Concept of Community (Baton R o u g e :
Louisiana State University Press, 1956).
" Blair, " A p p r o a c h e s to Metropolitan Area Study." op. cit., p. 38
28 N E W YORK S T A T E AND T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM

with a belief in the overriding necessity of metropolitan govern-

ment. Metropolitan integration is here defined as both an end
and a means. T o the extent that governmental integration
contributes to the growth of community cohesivcness, it is, at
some points in time, less an institutional expression of metro-
politan consciousness than a factor in its evolution. But the
effort expended in creating and maintaining governmental
institutions is itself dependent upon reaching minimal con-
census regarding the merits of area-wide treatment of specific
governmental functions. Piecemeal functional solutions may
indeed reduce the urgency attending the need for governmental
integration, but they may also be the most effective means of
structuring the minimal concensus required to even approach
comprehensive metropolitan reorganization. Public and official
familiarity with metropolitan action in an increasing number of
functional forms may be a decisive contribution to reducing
resistance to more thorough plans for metropolitan govern-
ment."
Additional considerations also militate against too hastily
dismissing the functional approach. Realism is one. A second is
the possibility that the tangible results of functional solutions
deserve greater weight than their eventual impact upon govern-
ment in metropolitan areas. O n e need not be committed to
viewing the metropolitan problem as solely a collection of
specific functional difficulties to recognize the value of easing
transportation or abating pollution in metropolitan areas,
despite the resulting delay to the day of reckoning. While

" Robert C. Wood characteristically hedges in suggesting that "the

solution most scorned by some experts, the 'stop-gap,' ad hoc improvisa-
tions . . . [may serve to] bring together different groups of participants
to debate and compromise . . . providing at least a basis for the exercise
of power under democratic control." "A Division of Powers in Metro-
politan Areas," Area and Power, ed. Arthur Maass (Glencoe, Illinois:
The Free Press, 1959), p. 67. In contrast, see his somewhat different
evaluation in Suburbia, op. cit., especially p. 13.
 THE METROPOLITAN PROBLEM 29
governmental integration may be the most desirable path to
pursue, it is unpardonable to sacrifice the possible benefits of
functional solutions in order to allow problems to multiply to
the point where governmental re-organization becomes impera-
tive. Building a new structure upon old ruins may often be less
expensive than remodeling, but the social costs of allowing local
governments to fall into ruin are much too high.
Thus, an evaluation of New York State's metropolitan policy
can be based neither solely upon its effect on governmental
consolidation nor exclusively upon its contribution to the
alleviation of functional problems. The criteria for measuring
the impact of state policy must be generally defined, subject to
considerations of "the long run." State policy is here judged
integrative, if, in the long run, it contributes to the development
or strengthening o f :
1. Public awareness of the areal implications of local
activities;
2. Popular desire to approach the solution of areal problems
on a metropolitan scale;
3. Institutional mechanisms for evoking and organizing
public participation in areal policy making.
T H E S T A T E S AND T H E PROBLEM

Concern with the metropolitan problem has renewed interest

in state-local relations. Municipalities are, after all, creatures
of the state. General recognition of state influence in metropoli-
tan affairs has not, however, been accompanied by agreement
as to its consequences. Most observers trace at least part of the
blame for the mess our cities are in to inept, if not malicious,
state policy. Others, looking more to the future than the past,
foresee the possibility of state leadership contributing signifi-
cantly to the lessening, if not the eventual solution, of metro-
politan problems.
30 N E W Y O R K S T A T E AND T H E M E T R O P O L I T A N PROBLEM

New York State's experience with metropolitan problems

offers an excellent opportunity to analyze the possible impact
of future state metropolitan policies throughout the country.
New York's reaction to metropolitan growth has, of necessity,
been more pronounced than that of most states. It has
developed a complex pattern of relationships with local
governments that embodies sometimes inadvertent, but more
often conscious metropolitan policies. The impact of these has
been substantial and would in itself justify examination.
Furthermore, recent indications suggest that New York's future
policy will follow paths already broken. Moreover, other states,
if they have not already done so, seem likely to pursue similar
paths.
What can states do to help solve the metropolitan problem ?
The question has been considered in most metropolitan
studies or surveys. Suggestions for state action usually present
variations on recommendations contained in a report prepared
for the Council of State Governments by John C. Bollens in
1956. That document, The States and the Metropolitan
Problem,'' still represents the most comprehensive treatment of
this aspect of state-local relations.
The States and the Metropolitan Problem can be classified
definitely as integrationist. Although it attributed functional
components to the general problem and suggested that state
governments consider and provide for the use of various
functional devices to alleviate the severity of their effects, the
report emphasized that the major long-run problem of
metropolitan areas is that of inadequate governmental organiz-
ation. It called upon states to
[establish] general governmental jurisdictions of metropolitan

* John C. Bollens, The States and the Metropolitan Problem (Chicago:

The Council of State Governments, 1956).
 THE METROPOLITAN PROBLEM 31

scope—jurisdictions that are representative of the people directly

affected and are accountable and responsive to them. : i
A most r e m a r k a b l e aspect of the Council's report was the
primary role and responsibility it ascribed to states. It
suggested that, while appropriate national and local action was
indispensable, states held the key to the metropolitan solution.
Its recommendations, however, hardly substantiated placement
of the key. If anything, they stressed the primacy of local action.
O n l y one r e c o m m e n d a t i o n called upon states for anything but
advisory or permissive action. In sweeping language, that
r e c o m m e n d a t i o n suggested that states appraise the a d e q u a c y
of local governments, m a k i n g "necessary changes in a c c o r d a n c e
with the results of the a p p r a i s a l . " " T h e scope of those changes
and how they were to be put into effect were nowhere detailed.
W h e t h e r primary or secondary, there is no doubt that states
have a role to play in metropolitan integration. T h e Council's
report tended to define that role almost exclusively in terms of
constitutional and legislative contributions to revisions in local
governmental structures and territorial boundaries. I n contrast,
it is here assumed that states possess a variety of mechanisms,
ranging from constitutional and legislative m a n d a t e to admini-
strative consultation and advice, through which influence m a y
be brought to bear on local governments. A state's metropolitan
policy is thus a reflection of the totality of state-local
interactions.
T h e chapter immediately to follow reviews the development
of N e w York's legislative understanding of the metropolitan
problem and the current legislative attitude toward participa-
tion in its solution. T h i s understanding has been expressed
largely functionally. If the metropolitan problem can be solved
only through general governmental reorganization and intogra-

Ibid., p. 22.
11 Ibid., p. 132.
32 N E W YORK S T A T E AND T H E METROPOLITAN P R O B L E M

tion, then New Yorkers, at least, must look to other sources of

leadership than their state government. But the potential
impact of state leadership assumes more significant proportions
if one accepts the possibility that the path to metropolitan
integration may lead through functional solutions. Conse-
quently, subsequent chapters review the state's legislative and
administrative participation in four areas of local activity
customarily identified with the metropolitan problem : public
health; water pollution control; public education; and
highways.
Analysis of state activity in each of the functional areas will
be concerned primarily with their impact upon metropolitan
integration. A complimentary objective is to weigh the relative
effectiveness of alternative methods of state participation in
local affairs. T h e actual programmatic results of slate policies
will be examined only in passing.
A related consideration is the extent to which states should
strive for leadership in metropolitan integration. T h e Council
of State Governments obviously believes they should and must.
Others are equally convinced that the major responsibility for
adjustment, change, reorganization, or whatever will lead to
metropolitan integration rests with local governments. T o them,
the state's duty lies in merely removing obstacles to the exercise
of local initiative."' Justification of either position, in turn,
involves a fundamental question yet to be examined. T o what
extent are state governments capable of providing leadership
for metropolitan integration ?

11 A balanced discussion of the role of the state and local governments,

containing an evaluation of both positions, is to be found in Wilfred D.

Webb, "Federal, State, and Local Responsibilities in Solving Metropolitan
Problems," Proceedings of the Texas Conference on Metropolitan Prob-
lem*, May 16-17, 1958 (The University of T e x a s : Institute of Public
Affairs,-1958), pp 6 4 - 7 0 .
 II

The Legislature's View

N E W YORK C I T Y has recently been elevated to a supermetro-

politan category in Census Bureau listings. Its demographic
uniqueness, coupled with the singular treatment it receives
from the state, virtually necessitates a decision that might other-
wise have been made on the grounds of expediency. As an
entity, the New York metropolitan area will not be considered
here, although occasional reference will be made to the city
and its suburbs.
There are then six urban centers in upstate New York that
qualify as Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas by Census
Bureau definition. They vary greatly in geographic and popula-
tion size and political complexity. The Buffalo S.M.S.A.
includes more than million inhabitants. Erie County's
portion has more than 1 million residents distributed almost
equally between the City of Buffalo and the rest of the county.
The population of the Utica-Rome S.M.S.A. numbers 338,000.
Of these, 66,000 are located in Herkimer County, one of the
largest in area in the state, and one which contains a good
portion of the state's forest preserve.
If a metropolitan area is typified by developing urban con-
ditions, it is well to remember that not all the communities
33
 THE LEGISLATURE'S VIEW 35
included in the Census B u r e a u ' s m e t r o p o l i t a n tally are so
a f f e c t e d . E v e n relatively u r b a n Erie C o u n t y m a n a g e s to escapc
full involvement in the p r o b l e m s of u r b a n i z a t i o n . T h e C o u n t y
is composed of f o u r t y - f o u r p r i m a r y units of g o v e r n m e n t — t h e
c o u n t y , three cities, fifteen villages, a n d twenty-five towns. As
late as 1958, it w a s j u d g e d that ten of these jurisdictions h a d
been relatively u n a f f e c t e d by m e t r o p o l i t a n g r o w t h a n d eight
others h a d felt the pressures of u r b a n i z a t i o n only slightly. 1
T h e Census B u r e a u ' s use of whole c o u n t i e s for purposes of
d a t a compilation seriously dilutes distinctions of complexity
b o t h within a n d b e t w e e n m e t r o p o l i t a n areas. Inclusion of all
of H e r k i m e r in the U t i c a - R o m e S . M . S . A . is misleading, as
well as unrealistic. So too were the rccent a d d i t i o n s of M a d i s o n
a n d O s w e g o Counties to the Syracuse A r e a and Saratoga
C o u n t y to the A l b a n y - S c h e n e c t a d y - T r o y S.M.S.A.
S o m e of the misleading c o n n o t a t i o n s of w h o l e - c o u n t y d a t a
were r e d u c e d w h e n the Census B u r e a u i n j e c t e d Statistical into
the previous title, S t a n d a r d M e t r o p o l i t a n A r e a . As T a b l e 2
indicates, identification of the u r b a n i z e d s e g m e n t s of S.M.S.A.'s
also helps dispel the illusion of total urbanity ordinarily
a t t a c h e d to the m e t r o p o l i t a n label. Nevertheless, as the con-
t i n u e d addition of new units a n d the r e p e a t e d d o c u m e n t a t i o n
of p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h in m e t r o p o l i t a n areas attest, those areas
are n o r m a l l y t h o u g h t to coincide w i t h c o u n t y b o u n d a r i e s .
T h e lack of a clear definition of a m e t r o p o l i t a n a r e a other
t h a n a statistical one c o m p o u n d s the difficulty of c o n c e p t u a l -
izing m e t r o p o l i t a n a r e a problems a n d c r e a t i n g i n s t r u m e n t s for
their solution. T h e task of d e t e r m i n i n g the limits of any one
m e t r o p o l i t a n a r e a for the purpose of p r o v i d i n g g o v e r n m e n t a l
services is equally as i m p o r t a n t (and difficult) as t h a t of defining

1
State of New York, T e m p o r a r y Commission on the Revision and
Simplification of the Constitution, " M e t r o p o l i t a n Buffalo a n d Niagara
Falls," Staff Report No. 25 (mimeographed, December, 1958), pp. 9 - 1 1 .
36 NF.W Y O R K STAT?: A N D T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM

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 THF, LEGISLATURE's VIEW 37

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38 NEW YORK STATE AND T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM

Table 2. Population of S.M.S.A.'J Residing in Urbanized Areas, 1960

Per ccnl
total
Per r e m popula-
outside lion
Total Central Urbanized urban- urban*
population ritv Outride outside ized ized

ALBANY-SCHENECTADY-TROY
Albany 342,926 129,726 143,200 98,274 68.6 66.5
Schenectady . 152,896 81,682 71,214 50,494 70.9 86,4
Rensselaer ... 142,585 67,492 75,093 20,632 27.5 61.8
Saratoga ... 89,096 — 89,096 7,137 8.0 8.0
Total S.M.S.A. 657,503 278,900 378,603 176.537 46.6 69.3

B I N G H A M TON
Broome ... 212,661 75,941 136,720 82,200 60.1 60.1

B I FFAI.O-NIAGARA FALLS
F.rie ... 1,064,688 532,759 531,929 368,838 69.3 84.7
Niagara ... 242,269 102,394 139,875 50,379 36.0 63.1
T o t a l S . M . S . A . 1,306,957 635,153 671,804 419,217 62.4 80.7

ROCHESTER

Monroe 586,387 318,611 267,776 174,791 65.3 65.3

SYRACUSE
O n o n d a g a ... 423,028 216,038 206,990 117,248 56.6 78.8
Madison 54,635 — 54,635 — 0.0 0.0
Oswego ... 86,118 — 86,118 — 0 0 0.0
Total S.M.S.A. 563,781 216,038 347,743 117,248 33.7 59.1
UTICA-ROME
Oneida 264,401 152,056 112,345 35,257 31.4 70.8
Herkimer ... 66,370 — 66,370 466 0.7 0.7
Total S.M.S.A. 330,771 152,056 178,715 35,723 20.0 56.8

All S . M . S . A . ' s . 3 , 6 5 7 , 7 0 0 1,676,699 1,981,361 1,005,716 50.8 73.3

 THE LEGISLATURE'S VIEW 39
the area for purposes of comparison. T h e metropolitan com-
munity for the purposes of one governmental function
frequently fails to coincide with the service area to which
others should or do extend. Almost all of O n o n d a g a County is
today concerned with the problem of water supply. Highway
construction, transportation policies, and traffic control are of
importance to only selected communities within the county
and interest residents of Madison and Oswego Counties only
slightly; and transportation is usually regarded as the most
recognizable and popular of metropolitan problems.
T h e difficulty in defining the metropolitan area is of more
than academic concern. It is itself a reflection of the tenuous
metropolitan consciousness attached to the specific functional
problems that occasionally attract public attention. It is easier
to feel part of an area experiencing a recognizable problem of
water supply or sewage disposal than to identify oneself with
the vague concept of a "metropolitan c o m m u n i t y . "
T h e tendency to define metropolitan boundaries by function
rcinforces the functional concept of the metropolitan problem.
In turn, efforts to stimulate awarness of a need for general
governmental reorganization give way to concentration on
techniques of functional problem solving. Metropolitan prob-
lems and metropolitan action become identified with specific
government activities. State officials reflect the prevailing
functional emphasis in their dealings with localities. Torn
between local demands for general legislation only and con-
flicting demands that specific functional problems be solved
individually, they have been hesitant to do more than suggest
alternative patterns of local reorganization, while increasing
state supervisory relations with local units through the state's
own highly specialized and often uncoordinated maze of
executive agencies.
40 N E W YORK STATE AND T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM

THE UPSTATE METROPOLITAN AREAS

Notwithstanding the difficulties it presents, the Census

Bureau definition can be used, with qualifications, to identify
the outermost limits of those sections of the state where metro-
politan problems have emerged to challenge existing local
governmental capacities.
Buffalo—Niagara Falls. The position of Niagara Falls
within this area is a subject of some confusion. T h e Temporary
Commission on the Revision and Simplification of the Consti-
tution commissioned a separate report on metropolitan Niagara
County in 1957. Previous to 1960, the Census Bureau listed
both Buffalo and Niagara Falls as central cities but subse-
quently changed the latter's position and the area's title to
reflect more adequately the larger city's dominance. The pre-
1960 joint listing is used here and in the accompanying tables,
primarily to highlight the continued growth of Niagara Falls.
Buffalo and a strip development extending northward to the
falls form almost one continuous urban settlement, serving as
the hub of this metropolitan area. Local problems are compli-
cated by extensive international, national, and state participa-
tion in water resource activities in the falls, river, and lakeshore
areas.
Rochester. The state's third largest city is the center of a
metropolitan area bounded by Monroe County. It shares with
the Binghamton Area to the south the advantages or dis-
advantages of relative isolation from other major urban centers.
The city and county enjoy a tradition of mutual confidence
and cooperation, rarely interrupted by the major urban-
suburban disputes characteristic of less politically stable
communities.
Syracuse. T h e addition of Madison and Oswego Counties
to the Syracuse Area reflects the impact of highways upon
metropolitan growth. Syracuse lies at the junction of the New
 THE LEGISLATURE'S VIEW 41
York State T h r u way and the Empire State Expressway.
Although O n o n d a g a County is far from completely urban,
continued industrial dispersion portends even greater future
development for it and its neighboring counties.
Albany-Schenectady-Troy. Saratoga County was added to
this S.M.S.A. in 1960. Because of the timing of this research,
Saratoga, as well as Madison and Oswego, will not be con-
sidered metropolitan counties in subsequent chapters. The
capital area presents the most obvious picture of complex
metropolitan development in upstate New York. The tricities
and the counties in which they are contained, Albany,
Schenectady, and Rensselaer, are highly interdependent. The
counties share common resources. They are small in area and
densely populated. Patterns of commutation are extensive and
varied. T h e location of the state capital in Albany and the
domination of the area by strong political organizations of
differing party allegiance further complicate the area's political
structure.
Binghamton. In some respects the Binghamton Area, com-
posed of the city and Broome County, is the most difficult
in which to obtain intergovernmental cooperation and agree-
ment. Unlike other metropolitan areas in which population
outside the city is just beginning to equal or surpass that of the
central city, approximately 65 per cent of Broome County's
population is located outside Binghamton. This population
(of more than 130,000) is largely concentrated in the villages
of Endicott and Johnson City and the town of Vestal.' These
jurisdictions retain forms of organization and attitudes toward
governmental responsibility that make adaptation to the urban
problems they and the city share very difficult.
Utica-Rome. T h e cities of Utica and Rome are both located
in Oneida County. T h e proximity of a number of older munici-
palities and "dormitory" communities on its western edge have
42 NEW YORK STATE AND T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM

caused the inclusion of Herkimer County in the metropolitan

area. Herkimer accounts for more than one-third of the popula-
tion residing outside of the central cities.
With the exception of Binghamton, the metropolitan areas
follow the "water-level" route across central New York, from
Albany to Buffalo, formerly marked by the Erie Canal and
now followed by the New York Central Railroad and the New
York State T h r u way. Many expect the T h r u way to stimulate a
ribbon of urban and industrial development all along its path.
Because of topographical differences, the possibility of a
similar north-south axis developing along the route of the
Empire State Expressway, linking Watertown, Syracuse, and
Binghamton, is considered more remote.
T o date, the Thruway's impact has been most noticable in
the merging of the Syracuse and Utica-Rome S.M.S.A.'s. T h e
fortuitous location of five Thruway interchanges, plus an excel-
lent strip of U.S. 20, between the two major cities accounts
primarily for this phenomenon.
The upstate urban centers lend themselves to no ready poli-
tical characterization. If anything, they tend to contradict the
stereotype of central cities and surrounding counties domin-
ated by different political parties. They have shown varied
evidence of political agreement and disagreement, but none
has yet to approach the improbable position of pitting a
Republican city against a Democratic county.
STATE RECOGNITION O F T H E METROPOLITAN PROBLEM
Concentration of population in and around the larger
upstate cities has long occupied the state's attention. Numerous
acts granting extraterritorial jurisdiction to city agencies, the
creating of special multijurisdictional authorities, and the
granting of urban powers to towns such as Union and Vestal
illustrate early attempts to deal with problems arising from
 THE LEGISLATURE'S VIEW 43

urban sprawl. But it was not until quite recently that any
general concept of a metropolitan area and its problems was
applied to upstate communities. Indeed, until the 1940's the
term metropolitan, when used in New York State, usually
referred only to the New York City area.
Recent state concern for the metropolitan problem was
clearly expressed in the appointment of the Joint Legislative
Committee on Metropolitan Areas Study in 1957. But New
York enjoys a remarkable heritage of governmental research,
dating almost from the turn of the century, that deals more or
less directly with the same problems that arc now of such
great concern.
A history of New York State's governmental studies has
yet to be written. It could well serve to illustrate the develop-
ment of public administration theory in the United States.
M a n y of the personalities identified with the public administra-
tion movement presented their thoughts in reports to New York
State legislative committees and study commissions. The
reports and action resulting from them can also be used to
trace the impact of changing social and political philosophies
upon American government.
In addition to the continuing programmatic research efforts
of its executive agencies, New York State employs two major
devices for fact finding, the legislative committee and the
temporary commission. Both are usually temporary devices,
although some have lasted for many years, and both enjoy
great flexibility in organization and purpose. T h e temporary
commission (the word temporary is often omitted from the
title) usually draws its membership from local governmental
and non-governmental sources and the executive branch of
the state government, as well as the state legislature. T h e com-
mission is usually employed where the subject under considera-
tion requires an extensive public information campaign or
44 NEW YORK STATE AND THE METROPOLITAN PROBLEM

where a greater appearance of objectivity or non-partisanship

is required.1
There has been a noticeable difference in temper and
manner of presentation between the legislative committee and
temporary commission reports of the 1920's and 1930's and
their more recent counterparts. With the exception of the staff
reports prepared for the Temporary Commission on the
Revision and Simplification of the Constitution, contemporary
printed reports invariably present only the collective conclu-
sions of the commission or committee. T h e earlier commission
reports in particular usually included staff papers and depart-
mental memoranda as well. Through these one could trace a
proposal or line of reasoning from its inception in a paper by a
staff member or noted consultant to its acceptance or rejection
by the commission and its individual members.
The earlier works are sprinkled with bold and provocative
proposals, argumentative reasoning and vigorous dissents. In
contrast, contemporary reports seem to reflect a determination
to avoid conflict and to present only those conclusions to which
everyone can agree. Nevertheless, they continue to provide
valuable insights into the development of past and present atti-
tudes and policies in regard to government in general and
metropolitan area problems in particular.
A number of historic studies and proposals have dealt with
issues directly relevant to metropolitan problems in upstate
New York. Three groups of studies can serve to exemplify
trends in New York's approach to the emerging and now
mature metropolitan problem. The first consists of the work of
the Senate Committee on Taxation and Retrenchment and its
successor, the Joint Special Committee on Taxation and
: Legislative methods o f fact finding a n d policy development, with
particular regard to the use of c o m m i t t e e a n d commission, are described
by Phillips B r a d l e y , " I n t e r l o c k i n g C o l l a b o r a t i o n in A l b a n y , " Public
Administration Review, X V I I , No. 3 ( S u m m e r , 1 9 5 7 ) , pp. 1 8 0 - 1 8 8 .
 THE LEGISLATURE'S VIEW 45
Retrenchment. T h e second group of related studies includes
the reports of the Commission for the Revision of the Tax
Laws, the Commission on State Aid to Municipal Subdivisions,
and the New York State Planning Council. Together these two
groups of studies represent an almost continuous review of
New York's governmental operations, with particular empha-
sis on taxation from 1916 to 1938. T h e third group of studies
is that conducted by the Joint Legislative Committee on Metro-
politan Areas Study, since its appointment in 1957.
Taxation and Retrenchment. It has been suggested that
metropolitan problems were first experienced in New York
State only after 1920, when the flow of population into central
cities began to subside relative to growth in the suburbs.' Con-
sequently, prior to the 1920's the most serious governmental
problems were those associated with the central cities' adjust-
ments to expanding population. State thinking at this time
clearly distinguished urban from rural areas and needs. Urban
areas (cities and some large villages) could well profit from
new theories of organization and management, but for the
most part rural areas could continue to discharge their limited
responsibilities through the elective and administi ative struc-
tures designed for them in the eighteenth century.
The concern foi municipal problems at this time was the
product of three forces: population growth and resulting
demands upon city governments for increased services; state
and local interest in reform and professionalism in government,
motivated largely by nationwide exposures of corruption and
mismanagement; and a related movement for economy in
government in the face of anticipated increased service
demands and alleged past extravagances.
Economy motived the appointment of the Committee on

* State of New York, Joint Legislative C o m m i t t e e on Metropolitan

Areas Study, 1959 Report, Legislative D o c u m e n t No. 19 (1959), p. 23.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
assassinavano i Francesi, e cacciare alcune famiglie suddite ad
Austria ed a Napoli, e dare a lui il passo per la Bocchetta.
Divincolavansi que’ padri con umilissime scuse; quand’ecco
l’ammiraglio inglese Nelson assalta una nave francese in rada e la
rapisce: dalla quale prepotenza disgustati, i Genovesi accettano
l’amicizia di Francia, escludendo la bandiera britannica.
La Toscana tenevasi quieta e spettatrice della generale
effervescenza, ma che giova? Buonaparte ha in pronto querele di
proprietà francesi violate; e pur confessando che il granduca serbò
imperturbata la neutralità, e che il Direttorio lo trattò
vituperosamente, per ordine di questo fende la Toscana a bandiere
spiegate, spinge una divisione sopra Livorno (1797 27 giugno), e
cacciatane la squadra inglese, col pretesto di vedere se negozianti
britannici vi tenessero merci nascoste ordina un generale esame dei
libri mercantili, rabbuffa il governatore conte Spanocchi come
traditore perchè lasciò sfuggire gl’Inglesi. I mercanti si ricomprarono
dalla visita con cinque milioni, fu ordinata una spontanea
illuminazione delle case, e gl’impiegati si rassegnarono; ma la
popolaglia insorgeva se il municipio e l’arcivescovo di Pisa non
l’avessero rattenuta. Buonaparte, confiscate le sostanze d’Inglesi e
di Napoletani, occupate le fortezze, pensa spossessare il granduca,
soltanto perchè austriaco: intanto solleva la Lunigiana e Massa e
Carrara, piantandovi la libertà o almeno l’albero, e suggendone
denaro.
La Corsica era ambita dall’Inghilterra, e solo Paoli poteva sostenerne
l’indipendenza in faccia alla Francia. — Il popolo côrso che tanto
fece per la propria libertà (diceva egli), darà l’ultimo de’ suoi figli,
anzichè andare confuso con un altro»; e a chi chiedeva se tanto
sangue non dovesse servire che a tingere la porpora d’un principe
straniero, — Prima i coralli sormonteranno l’isola, che Paoli s’infami
di ciò». Chiamato a Londra e ricevuto con grandi onori, stipulò
l’annessione della sua isola colla britannica, conservando
nazionalità, religione, leggi. Male vi s’acconciarono i Côrsi; fomentati
dai Buonaparte, scossero quel dominio; e Saliceti andò a fare
giurare odio alla monarchia, e disporre i suoi patrioti alla nuova
servitù. Paoli, perseguito dalla calunnia, rassicurato dalla coscienza,
prese allora l’estremo congedo dalla patria: — Saluto tutti i buoni; nè
di quelli a cui il mio nome potesse recare qualche rimorso, ricordo
altro che le buone azioni. Insorgemmo per la libertà: questa ora si
gode nell’isola; che importa da quali mani vi sia derivata? Tutto
andrà bene se non più castelli in aria, ma ciascheduno procurerà
vantaggiare nella propria sfera, anzichè come pulcini a bocca aperta
aspettare da altri l’imbeccata. Chiuderò gli occhi al gran sonno,
contento e senza rimorsi sulla mia condotta politica: Iddio mi perdoni
il resto». E ritiratosi a Londra, visse fino al 1807, vedendo un suo
compatrioto assidersi sul primo trono d’Europa, eppure non
rinnegando la fede repubblicana.
Ma l’esercito giacobino non dovea solo spandere rugiada di libertà
sui popoli, sibbene turbinare su Roma la vendetta dei tanti mali, che
proverbialmente imputavansi al clero di tutta Europa. Il Direttorio
scriveva a Buonaparte [16], la religione cattolica sarebbe sempre
irreconciliabile colla libertà, e il maggior ostacolo a consolidare la
repubblica in Francia; andasse dunque, ne distruggesse il centro, e
o la desse a un’altra potenza, per esempio alla Spagna in compenso
di Parma, o v’istituisse un Governo che rendesse spregevole quello
de’ preti, e papi e cardinali lasciasse annidarsi fuori d’Italia.
Altrimenti la pensava Buonaparte, egli nato non a distruggere ma a
sistemare: pure propose di fare una cavalcata sopra gli Stati del
papa, e raccorvi il denaro che gli occorreva per difilarsi sopra
Vienna. Mosse dunque, e posta all’avanguardia la legione lombarda
col generale Lahoz, invano contrastato dal generale Colli a capo de’
Napoletani, depreda Loreto (1797 13 febb.), arricchito di voti da tutto
cristianità, e la madonna ne manda a Parigi. Allora fra il popolo
pretino di Roma più non si parla che d’Attila e del Borbone; si
trafugano robe e persone verso Terracina; e lo scompiglio universale
non lascia al papa altro scampo che di venire a patti. Il cardinale
Mattei presentatosi umilmente a Tolentino al vincitore, ne accetta
una pace (19 febb.), per cui sono ceduti alla repubblica francese il
contado Venesino con Avignone, e alla cispadana Bologna, Ferrara
e la Romagna; libero passo alle truppe; il papa disapprova
l’assassinio di Bassville, e ne risarcisce la famiglia; darà manoscritti
e capi d’arte preziosi, fra i quali Buonaparte, egli devoto
repubblicano, nominatamente inchiuse i busti di Giunio e Marco
Bruto.
Il Governo pontifizio, che già per gli allestimenti avea domandato dai
ricchi metà delle gioje, degli ori, degli argenti, dovette chiederne
l’altra; buttò carta monetata, e dal clero riscosse un prestito
corrispondente al sesto de’ beni che godeva: anche dopo la pace
quattro milioni esigettero le truppe, oltre bovi e bufali e allume in
quantità e accatti d’ogni maniera. Intanto i commissarj andavano a
levare la Bibbia greca, e il Dione Cassio del v secolo, il Virgilio del vi,
il Terenzio dell’viii, la Trasfigurazione di Rafaello, il San Girolamo di
Domenichino, l’Apollo e il Laocoonte; d’un altro milione gravando lo
Stato per trasportarli.
Nè Carlo VIII di Francia, nè Carlo V d’Austria aveano rapito i capi
d’arte a Roma; Federico II di Prussia era entrato due volte in Dresda,
due i Russi e gli Austriaci in Berlino, senza toccarne le famose
gallerie: ora il latrocinio nuovo mascheravasi di civiltà o d’amore alle
arti; e in quest’offesa al diritto delle nazioni, alla politica, al gusto
adopravansi Francesi d’alto ingegno e di buon cuore, e dagli Italiani
ricevevano somme onde rapire di meno [17]; talmente quella nazione
perde ogn’altro vedere quand’è abbagliata dalla gloria. Essa vantava
di regalarci ancora a buon prezzo la libertà conquistata col suo
sangue: ma l’Italia, se era disgustata dei nobili, dei re, dei preti,
serbava affetto per la religione e per le arti; e in questo duplice culto
appunto trovavasi oltraggiata imperdonabilmente.
Buonaparte crebbe le fortificazioni d’Ancona, i cui cittadini aveano
piantato l’albero, e raccomandava al Direttorio che nella pace la
conservasse, come opportuna a dar padronanza nell’Adriatico e
predominio sulla Turchia. Avendo egli mandato complimenti alla
vicina repubblica di San Marino, e offrirle cannoni ed un aumento di
territorio, que’ magistrati risposero: — Semplice costume; intimo
sentimento di libertà sono l’unico retaggio tramandatoci dai nostri
padri; l’abbiamo conservato fra l’urto de’ secoli; nè conati
d’ambizione, nè odio di potenti, nè insidie di nemici potrebbero
impunemente attentarci. Questa repubblica, contenta della sua
picciolezza, non ardisce accettare l’offerta generosa dell’eroe, nè
aspira a un ambizioso ingrandimento, che col tempo potrebbe
mettere in compromesso la sua libertà». Fra le gonfiezze universali
d’allora ricrea questa semplicità; piace una lezione di temperanza
data da pochi montanari all’idolo e terrore del mondo; lezione
inutile [18].
Allora Buonaparte torna sull’Adige per assalire Vienna. Audace
mossa chi consideri ch’e’ lasciavasi a spalle un paese appena
conquistato e molti nemici. Così la campagna d’Italia diveniva
principale, e qui, non più in Germania s’aveva a forzare l’imperatore.
Al Tagliamento Buonaparte vince (1797 11 marzo) e passa,
incalzando l’arciduca Carlo; superate le alpi Noriche, tiene il Tirolo, la
Stiria, la Carintia, Trieste, Clagenfurt; e se all’esercito che trionfa sul
Reno con Moreau e Jourdan, viene fatto di congiungersi a questo,
l’Austria è cancellata dalla carta d’Europa. Ma il Direttorio non ha
denari per sostenere quella marcia, sicchè Buonaparte propone
pace all’arciduca Carlo, e a Leoben se ne segnano i preliminari.
Colla vecchia Europa riconciliavasi dunque (18 aprile) la Francia
repubblicana, ormai convinta che non era possibile farla tutta
democratica. Ben seguitavano a predicarlo per sentimento i
rivoluzionarj, per maschera i governanti: ma i proclami dei generali
dissonavano dalle trattative de’ ministri, il linguaggio diretto ai popoli
da quello tenuto coi re. Piantar alberi, drappellare bandiere,
mantacare paroloni lasciavasi in Lombardia, eppure il Direttorio avea
prestabilito darla all’Austria in cambio dei Paesi Bassi. Se non che
Buonaparte le avea posto affezione come a sua creatura, o come al
primo gradino d’una grande scala; sicchè pensò cercare qualch’altro
compenso per l’Austria, e stabilì di tradire Venezia.
Quelli che contro ai turbini della forza credono valga la prudenza,
tacciano Venezia d’avere smentito l’antica reputazione politica
coll’affettare sicurezza mentre le tribune parigine rintonavano
d’imprecazioni contro la sua nobiltà, i suoi Dieci, i suoi Inquisitori, i
suoi piombi, i suoi pozzi. Accuse convenzionali, mentre vera colpa
n’era l’ostinarsi a custodire gli ordini, anzichè lo scopo a cui quegli
ordini erano diretti. Da ottant’anni sussisteva essa unicamente
perchè mancava chi la soggiogasse.
Minacciata dai democratici, essa diffidava dei despoti, e
principalmente dell’Austria di cui sapeva esser lungo spasimo; ma
credette stornare il pericolo col non confessarlo, e gl’Inquisitori di
Stato vietarono di comunicare al senato i sinceri ragguagli, togliendo
così il fare proposizioni opportune. Nella micidiale perplessità potea
più durarsi quando l’esercito francese già dilagava sul suo territorio?
Gli oligarchi proponeano d’armare, e guaj a chi primo violasse i
confini. — Abbiamo quindici milioni di sudditi; sul continente italiano
venti città popolose e ricche: soldati trarremo dalle isole e
dall’Albania, addestrati nell’incessante nimicizia coi Turchi; le cerne
della Carnia e del Friuli ci daranno bellissimi granatieri; robusta
gioventù le valli della Brenta, dell’Oglio, del Serio, come le pianure
del Polesine, del Trevisano, del Veronese, e i colli padovani e
bellunesi: pieno è l’arsenale, e le vittorie recenti dell’Emo attestano
che l’antica bravura non è morta: buoni ingegneri restaureranno le
fortezze: restano risparmj abbondanti, e il patriotismo de’ privati
verrà a soccorso». Così gli animosi, mentre i timidi avrebbero
preferito gittarsi in braccio all’Austria; ma altri: — Perchè non
piuttosto alla Francia? essa vincitrice e repubblicana, essa non
interessata a distruggere la nostra repubblica, ma solo a svecchiarla
secondo le sue idee».
Si scelse il peggio, la neutralità inerme; e invitata a fare lega colla
Francia, la Spagna, la Turchia contro l’Austria, la Signoria protestò
che la esistenza riponea nella felicità e nell’affetto de’ sudditi, non
aver altra ambizione che di non esporre questi ai mali d’una guerra.
Parole d’oro per un congresso della pace, e che avranno solleticato
a riso i generali combattenti.
Di fatto, come le operazioni belliche lo portarono, Buonaparte entrò
sul Bresciano, protestando non intendeva fare il menomo torto alla
Serenissima; Beaulieu coi Tedeschi ne toglie pretesto di violare
anch’egli il territorio, e sorprendere Peschiera: ma quando
Buonaparte ebbe vinto a Borghetto e passato il Mincio, quegli
dovette lasciarla e ritirarsi pel Tirolo, mentre i Francesi presero
stanza in quella fortezza, e invasero anche Verona (1796 giugno).
L’ordine di mandarla in fiamme come ricovero del conte di Provenza,
fratello dell’ucciso re; Buonaparte non l’eseguì, ma ebbe tutta la
linea dell’Adige, e così agevolato l’assedio di Mantova. Con
altrettanta buona fede il generale Cervoni aveva sorpreso il castello
di Bergamo, levato le lettere da quella posta, e dalla casa Terzi il
tesoro depostovi dall’arciduca quando fuggiva da Milano; del quale
una preziosa scatola di viaggio, da Maria Antonietta regalata alla
nostra Beatrice, crebbe il corredo della donna di Buonaparte [19].
A tal modo trattavasi una repubblica, addossandole poi tante accuse
quante si suole a chi vuolsi sagrificare, e ritessendo con essa i turpi
maneggi, praticati dianzi dai re colla Polonia. Singolarmente vi si
mantenevano emissarj «per promuovere lo spirito pubblico,
sviluppare l’energia, consolidare la libertà»; cioè fomentare gli odj e
le fazioni. I nobili esclusi dal libro d’oro macchinavano contro
l’oligarchia, i poveri contro i ricchi, i gentiluomini della terraferma
contro quei della dominante. In Milano un comitato espresso
attendeva a rivoltare la terraferma veneta, capi il Porro milanese, i
bresciani Lechi, Gámbara, Beccalosi, i bergamaschi Alessandri,
Caleppio, Adelasio. In fatto il 12 marzo si solleva Bergamo, ai 18
Brescia, poi Crema, cacciando i magistrati veneti. La Serenissima
mandò a querelarsene; e Buonaparte le esibì di venire colle armi a
sottometter egli stesso le città ribelli; la repubblica nol consentì ma
doveva aspettar inerme il proprio sfasciamento, e intanto mantenere
con un milione al mese le truppe francesi: le quali non solo volevano
i viveri, ma toglievano i bovi e i cavalli occorrenti all’agricoltura,
disperdeano il vino nelle cantine, tagliavano gli alberi fruttiferi,
batteano, violavano, uccideano, mentre gli abbondanzieri
impinguavano della miseria de’ soldati e degli abitanti. Perchè
gl’imperiali avrebbero operato più moralmente che i Repubblicani? e
chi n’andava di mezzo era la neutra Venezia, era il popolo innocente.
I paesani domandavano armi per difendersi; ma la Signoria calmava,
assopiva, esortava a pazienza; chiunque mostrasse sdegno o
compassione veniva in grido d’aristocratico ed austriacante.
Ma i montanari delle valli Camonica, Trompia, Sabbia insorsero
(1797 marzo) armati contro le novità, capitanati dal conte Fioravanti:
Salò respinse i repubblicani, comandati da Lechi, e lui fecero
prigioniero. Verona, ridotta a puzzolenta caserma, facea schifo agli
stessi cittadini; e se non bastavano le violenze a’ privati, furono rotte
le porte delle fortificazioni, tolte le chiavi della città, le artiglierie dalle
mura, le munizioni dai magazzini, i ponti. La gente indignata afferrò
le armi, e trucidò da quattrocento Francesi in cinque giornate. Il fatto
deplorabile grida vendetta: accorrono Francesi e Lombardi con
Lahoz e Buonaparte, che affrettatosi a soscrivere l’armistizio di
Leoben, punì ferocemente Verona, e le impose taglie così
esorbitanti, che Augereau stesso dovette mostrargliele impossibili.
Buonaparte attribuiva ogni colpa al senato, mentre i democratici
nella capitale urlavano contro il patrio Governo, come contro i re e il
papa. Secondo soleasi nei frangenti, Venezia aveva intimato che
nessuna nave estera penetrasse nell’estuario. Un legno francese di
corso, inseguito dagli Austriaci, ricoverò sotto il cannone di Lido, e fu
fulminato e preso dagl’indignati Schiavoni (1797 17 aprile). Crebbe
allora lo scalpore, e Buonaparte ai deputati spediti a scagionarsi
rispondeva: — Quando avevo a fronte il nemico, offersi l’alleanza di
Francia e fu ricusata: ora che dispongo di ottantamila uomini non
voglio udire condizioni, ma dettarle. Io sarò un altro Attila per
Venezia; più inquisitori, più libro d’oro, rimasugli della barbarie; il
vostro Governo è decrepito»; e dopo minaccie, promesse, lungagne
le indíce guerra, senza brigarsi che questo diritto era riservato ai
Cinquecento.
Anche dopo perduto il continente, Venezia potea reggersi, ove le
fosse bastato costanza quanto al tempo della lega di Cambrai, o
quanto poi nel 1848. Essa contava ventidue vascelli dai settanta ai
cinquantacinque cannoni, quindici fregate, ventitre galere e molti
legni minori, e un ricchissimo arredo di bocche da fuoco e d’ogni
occorrente per allestire la flotta e le fortezze. Per munire le lagune e
provvedere al passaggio delle truppe straniere impose il dieci per
cento sulle pigioni, una tassa sulle gondole e i servi, una taglia sulle
arti; ma appena ricavò seicensessantaduemila ducati, mentre i doni
spontanei salsero a novecentomila: fece prestiti, levò i pegni ai Monti
di pietà, le argenterie alle chiese e alle confraternite, ricchi e
grandiosi corpi, i quali per la patria non ricusavano verun
sagrifizio [20]. Se avesse adoprato tutti i suoi mezzi, chi potea
valutare quanto tempo costerebbe ai Francesi l’impresa? e per poco
che durasse (riflette Buonaparte) [21] qual effetto la resistenza
produrrebbe sul resto d’Italia?
Ma ai consigli mancava la risolutezza che salva; l’occupazione de’
beni in terraferma desolava i patrizj; d’altra parte trapelava che a
Leoben già si fosse patteggiata la vendita delle provincie venete. Dal
terrore altrui prendeano spirito i democratici, cioè i fautori dei
Francesi, i quali imitandone le arroganze, davano d’urto a tutto che
sentisse d’italiano. Sperossi salvare il leone col torgli dalle branche il
vangelo e mettergli i diritti dell’uomo, ma non bastò e veniva
abbattuto da ogni parte: Padova minacciava interrompere i canali
che avvicinano l’acqua dolce alla metropoli: molti agognavano
d’essere i primi a disertare dalla patria per avere posti e guadagni
nell’ordine nuovo.
Mentre i patrioti gridano Viva la libertà, il popolo grida Viva san
Marco, e infuria contro di quelli; gli Schiavoni saccheggiano le case, i
Dalmati, avversi sempre ai Francesi, e più dacchè questi aveano
vilipesi i loro soldati a servizio della Serenissima, si ammutinano,
trucidano i novatori, e bisogna domarli col cannone.
I Manini di Firenze, mutatisi per le patrie turbolenze a Udine, col
soccorrere generosamente ai bisogni di Venezia v’ottennero il
patriziato. Lodovico, discendente da quelli, come procuratore di
Vicenza, di Verona, di Brescia, tanto ben meritò, che la Serenissima
lo elesse procuratore di San Marco, poi doge il 1789, quantunque
non venisse dalle antiche famiglie tribunizie. Splendidissimamente si
solennizzavano queste elezioni [22], e in quella del Manin fu gittato
denaro a profusione alla plebe nel giro consueto della piazza,
diecimila ducati ai nobili poveri, pane e vino a chi ne volle: ma basta
leggere la promissione ducale impostagli per tor molta ragione alle
accuse che gli si danno di negligenza e debolezza, chè male può
fasciarsi un uomo, poi dirgli cammina. In fatto egli non seppe che
esibire di rinunziare la sua carica ai rivoltosi; pusillanimità
applauditagli come eroismo; e l’unico lamento di lui sonò: — Non
semo nemmanco sicuri sta notte nel nostro letto».
Mandasi a Parigi a trattare a qualunque siansi condizioni, e per
averlo meno triste si profonde oro al venale direttore Barras [23]: poi il
granconsiglio rinunzia all’ereditaria aristocrazia, riconosce la
sovranità del popolo, e alla repubblica francese consente sei milioni,
venti quadri e cinquecento manoscritti: per ordine di Francia si
scarcerano i detenuti politici, cioè quelli che tramavano contro la
repubblica, si puniscono gl’Inquisitori e il comandante di Lido, si
licenzia la milizia schiavona.
Con tante bassezze speravasi salvar almeno l’indipendenza; ma
dentro trescavano i demagoghi, e n’era centro Villetard segretario
della legazione francese, e principale turcimanno il Battagia. I
cospiratori spingono il granconsiglio (1797 12 maggio) a decretare
sia introdotta guarnigione francese, e viene istituita una nuova
municipalità. Coloro che aveano trionfato del demolire la Bastiglia, e
trionfato al paro dello scannare migliaja d’ingiudicati all’Abadia e al
Carmine, gemeano e fremeano sull’efferatezza delle carceri di
Venezia; e dimenticando quanti patrioti giacessero in ben altro
squallore nelle regie carceri sottomarine di Messina e nelle alpestri
di Fenestrelle, vollero s’aprissero (16 maggio) gli orribili pozzi e i
piombi ricantati, e vi trovarono... un prigioniero.
Buonaparte, lieto d’un’occasione che diminuiva infamia ai preliminari
di Leoben, finse un accordo col granconsiglio: ma, secondo avea
concertato, il Direttorio francese [24] ricusa le stipulazioni fatte con un
corpo che avea cessato d’esistere; ricusa le riserve, pur tenendo
saldi gli obblighi che v’erano convenuti; onde si decreta abolita
l’aristocrazia, diano tre milioni in denaro, tre in munizioni navali, tre
vascelli di guerra, due fregate [25].
Stabilita la municipalità democratica, cominciano le solite gazzarre
popolane contro tutti i resti dell’antico dominio; si rilasciano i
condannati in galera, si distribuiscono al popolo quattordicimila
ducati; il dì della Pentecoste piantasi l’albero parodiando il Veni
Creator, e si manda a sperpero e saccheggio il palazzo ducale,
testimonio di tanta sapienza politica, tanta virtù patriotica, tanti
omaggi di re, tante devozioni di ministri; e i tributi di tutto il mondo, e
le rarità di cui da secoli i viaggiatori faceano patriotica offerta, e i
doni dei sultani di Bagdad, d’Egitto, di Costantinopoli, vanno preda
del popolo sovrano e degli speculatori; stracciansi le bandiere,
monumenti d’insigni vittorie; si pone il fuoco al seggio ducale, e il
libro d’oro è arso con ischiamazzante solennità [26]. Poi vennero le
consuete depredazioni delle casse, fra cui ducentomila zecchini
depositati dal duca di Modena, poi dei capi d’arte nelle chiese e ne’
musei, il Giove Egioco della biblioteca, il san Pietro martire, la Fede
del doge Grimani, il Martirio di san Lorenzo del Tiziano, lo schiavo
liberato e la sant’Agnese del Tintoretto, il ratto d’Europa, una
Madonna, il convito in casa di Levi di Paolo Veronese, una Madonna
di Gian Bellino ed altri dipinti, e ducento preziosi codici. Dal tesoro di
San Marco si trassero le gemme de’ reliquarj, e l’oro si mandava alle
zecche: delle armi bellissime e storiche conservate presso il
consiglio dei Dieci, fecero preda gli uffiziali: saccheggiato l’arsenale
che aveva quarantasette cale, nove tettoje acquatiche, trentatre
cantieri pel legname, una corderia unica al mondo, arricchita dai
boschi di Montello, di Cansiglio, dell’Istria, dal rame d’Agordo, dalla
canapa ferrarese e bolognese; il bucintoro e i peatoni, di cui la
ricchezza e gl’intagli destavano meraviglia nelle feste del doge,
andarono arsi o sconquassati; affondaronsi alcune navi. Non
bastando il denaro, Haller e Serrurier facevano darsi per
ducencinquantamila franchi in catrame, il doppio in sartiame,
altrettanto in àncore e ferraglie, trecencinquantamila in sevo e ragia,
quattrocentomila in tela da vele, settecentomila in canapa; e si tentò
spegnerne fin le ultime industrie veneziane [27]. Altrettanti segni di
rapacità lascia Massena a Padova; e vuolsi valutare a cinquanta
milioni di ducati lo spoglio pubblico. Fin dalle gallerie private si
tolsero quadri e medaglie e cammei, e per ultimo insulto il leone
della Piazzetta, e i cavalli che diconsi di Lisippo. A Lallemant, capo
del sistematico ladroneccio, furono regalati sette cammei. Il vulgo,
vedendo i Francesi rubare, rubare i municipalisti, si buttò a rubare
anch’esso; altri Veneziani, e non tutti ebrei, compravano il rubato dai
Francesi e dal vulgo. Il municipale Dandolo ordinava una nota di tutti
i benestanti per confiscare quel che avessero d’oro, argento,
contanti, gioje di là del necessario: e solo l’accidente impedì
d’attuare un insano decreto della municipalità, che traeva al fisco le
sostanze eccedenti la rendita di cinquemila ducati.
Intanto un avviso esortava gli artisti: — Orsù, incisori, dateci l’effigie
di quel grande che beneficò l’umanità col sublime trattato Dei delitti e
delle pene; sia quella effigie incoronata dalla filosofia; le stia presso
in atto riconoscente Italia, cinta degli emblemi della libertà;
l’immortalità dall’altro canto tenga in mano il maraviglioso sapiente
dettato». Le procuratìe nuove e le vecchie doveano nominarsi
galleria della libertà e dell’eguaglianza: sul libro del leone si scrisse,
Diritti e doveri dell’uomo e del cittadino; e tutti a leggere giornali, tutti
accorrere ai teatri, sonanti d’insulti ai re, ai nobili, ai preti, ai
magistrati; i cittadini indossavano la carmagnola degli operaj; le
donne procedeano seminude in tuniche all’ateniese aperte sul
fianco, in farsetti all’umanità, cappellini alla Pamela, chioma
raccorcia alla ghigliottina; e satire e caricature scompisciavano il
lacero manto e le glorie di sedici secoli. Vero è che non mancavano
insulti all’albero della libertà, ed alla figura di questa surrogavansi in
più luoghi le aquile e Viva l’Austria e l’arciduca Carlo; il che causò
qualche supplizio. I Dalmati infuriati trucidarono alcune truppe
giacobine a Sebenico, e il console di Francia e la moglie; apersero le
prigioni, s’impossessarono delle artiglierie dicendo voler adoprarle
contro i democratici di Venezia: così a Trau, a Spalatro, a Zara, dove
la gente di campagna accorse distruggendo quanto sapesse di
rivoluzionario, uccidendo chi in fama di democratico, deliberata
piuttosto a darsi a Casa d’Austria.
L’Austria, non che lamentarsi che i Giacobini scorressero a nuovi
acquisti, pensò trarne profitto, ed occupò l’Istria e la Dalmazia,
possessi veneti, «volendo l’imperatore preservare la tranquillità de’
suoi sudditi dallo spirito di vertigine delle vicine provincie»; e si stese
fin a Cattaro, facendosi giurar fede da quello strano misto di razze, di
culti, di lingue. Venezia chiedeva a Buonaparte snidasse
quegl’invasori; ed egli le permise d’allestire una spedizione pel
Levante. Era una nuova perfidia di Buonaparte per trarre la flotta
fuori del porto, e così sguarnire la capitale. Veleggiò essa in fatto a
Corfù, ma con insegne francesi, e da Francesi fu preso il governo
anche delle Jonie [28].
Buonaparte facea far feste a Venezia, e vi mandò la propria moglie,
che fu caricata di doni nella speranza che ammanserebbe il
liberticida, come l’avea sperato Pio VI nell’offrirle statue e una
collana di cammei: egli intanto a Campoformio (1797 16 8bre)
conchiudeva il mercato [29]. Il Direttorio aveagli imposto
l’emancipazione dell’intera Italia; ma egli dissobbedisce e assegna
l’Adige e Mantova alla riconosciuta Cisalpina, Magonza e l’isole
Jonie alla Francia; obbliga l’imperatore a dare la Brisgovia in
compenso al duca di Modena; a Casa d’Austria abbandona la
lungamente agognata Venezia col Friuli, l’Istria, la Dalmazia, le
Bocche di Cattaro. Sì bene il ministro Cobentzel avea saputo
carezzare l’indovinata ambizione di Buonaparte, che tutto il profitto
toccò all’Austria; la quale, colla perseveranza che si ammira anche
in causa che si disapprova, dopo tante sconfitte si rifacea della
perdita de’ Paesi Bassi aquistando il mare e l’immediata
congiunzione delle provincie italiane colle sue slave, toccando anche
alla Turchia ond’essere pronta a partecipare al più o men vicino ma
inevitabile spartimento di quella. Quanto alla Cisalpina essa
confidava ricuperarsela. I Parigini mostrarono tanta esultanza della
conchiusa pace, che il Direttorio non osò palesarsi scontento
dell’operato di Buonaparte.
Trattavasi di metter le catene a quella Venezia, che aveano suscitato
a rivoluzione col pretesto di liberarla. Già le si era tolta la flotta, e
distrutto quanto potesse servire all’imperatore per crearne una
nuova. Il Villetard, fanatico se non colpevole stromento di quella
tradigione, dovette annunziare alla donna dell’Adriatico la sorte
destinatale (1798 gennajo), promettendo ricovero e patria in Francia
o nella Cisalpina a chi volesse. Come un compenso, ai magistrati
suggerì d’arricchirsi colle spoglie della patria; ma dovette rescrivere
al Buonaparte: — Trovai ne’ municipali animo troppo alto sicchè
volessero cooperare a quanto per me proponeste: Cercheremo
libera terra, risposero, preferendo all’infamia la libertà». Buonaparte
rispondeva insultando: — E che? la repubblica francese spargerà il
suo prezioso sangue per altri popoli? I Veneziani sono ciarlieri
dissennati e codardi, che non sanno se non fuggire. Se rifiutano
arricchirsi delle prede pubbliche, non è probità, non altezza
d’animo». Ma quando ai loro lamenti egli replicò, — Ebbene
difendetevi», il veronese De Angeli proruppe: — Traditore, rendici
quell’armi che ci hai rapite».
Venezia ch’era vissuta tredici secoli, con pochissime sommosse e
neppur una guerra civile, finì spossata; eppure fra tante ruine di quel
tempo destò vivo rammarico pei vilissimi artifizj, e lasciò un
affettuoso desiderio in quegli stessi che erano compianti come suoi
servi. Gli abitanti dell’Istria e della Dalmazia non sapeano darsene
pace, e nel consegnare all’austriaco generale il vessillo di San
Marco, versavano lacrime solenni al cospetto de’ nuovi padroni;
alcuni ne mostravano tale accoramento, che fin i soldati austriaci
commossi lasciavano che il conservassero. A Zara, lo stendardo si
porta in duomo, il maresciallo Strático lo consegna al vicario
generale monsignor Armani che intonato il De profundis e lasciatolo
baciar con entusiasmo ai cittadini lo sepellisce: così a Pirano, così
altrove; intanto che i vincitori e i venduti tentavano strappar a
Venezia fin la pietà, ultimo diritto della sventura, diffamandola a
guisa del giovinastro che espone alle risa la donna ch’egli
contaminò.
 CAPITOLO CLXXVII.
La Cisalpina. Conquista di Roma, Napoli e
Piemonte.

La repubblica francese toccava all’apogeo; estesa dai Pirenei al

Reno, dall’Oceano al Po; sostenuta da generali prodi, non ancora
disonorati da egoistica ambizione; rinnovato colla Spagna il patto di
famiglia; l’Impero e l’Austria ridotti ad accettar la pace; Inghilterra
non avea potuto impedirle di acquistare i Paesi Bassi e di
predominare nell’Olanda, e mal reggeva da sola alla guerra, di cui
era stata l’anima e la cassiera. Il mareggio che succede alla procella
non era finito, ma la durata di quindici mesi già dava qualche
consistenza al Direttorio, che venuto in credito per le vittorie di
Buonaparte, potè reprimere violentemente e i Realisti, e i Terroristi, e
circondatosi di altre repubbliche, pensava a sistemarle.
Primogenita di queste, la Cisalpina fin allora restava ad uno di que’
governi militari, che fanno schifo a chi abbia sentimento dell’ordine e
del dovere. Buonaparte, uom di guerra e di disciplina, teneva altro
linguaggio che il gonfio e iracondo de’ repubblicanti; non irritava i
preti, blandiva i ricchi, e pensando che mal si costruisce sul popolo
mobile e capriccioso, repudiava gli esuberanti per rannodarsi i
moderati, e cingeasi coi nomi storici de’ Visconti, de’ Melzi, de’ Litta,
de’ Serbelloni, de’ Contarini, de’ Morosini. Ergevasi anche protettore
de’ dotti, e appena entrato in Milano scrisse all’astronomo Oriani: —
Le scienze e le arti devono nelle repubbliche essere onorate, e chi vi
primeggia nel sapere è francese, ovunque sia nato. So che a Milano
i dotti non godono la considerazione che meritano; ritirati ne’
gabinetti o ne’ laboratorj, credonsi fortunati quando i re e i preti non li
molestino. Oggi tutto mutò; il pensiero è libero in Italia; non più
inquisizione, non intolleranze, non diverbj teologici. Invito i dotti a
farmi conoscere come dare alle scienze e alle arti belle nuova vita
ed essere nuovo. Chi di essi vorrà andare in Francia, sarà accolto
con onore; il popolo francese stima più l’acquisto d’un matematico,
d’un pittore, d’un erudito, che della città più ricca. Cittadino Oriani,
spiegate voi questi sensi del popolo francese ai dotti di Lombardia».
Il nostro patriotismo suole andar in solluchero allorchè qualche
straniero sparla di noi, consolazione che non ci si lascia
scarseggiare. L’Oriani, più semplice e perciò più vero, rispondeva
alla superba compassione del Buonaparte che «i letterati di Milano
non erano stati negletti nè vilipesi dal Governo, anzi godeano oneste
pensioni e stima proporzionata al merito; anche nella guerra
presente n’erano stati puntuali gli assegni, i quali sol da poche
settimane cessarono, a gran costernazione di poche famiglie; sicchè
l’unico modo di farne cessare le calamità e d’affezionarli alla
repubblica francese, sarebbe di rimetterne in corso i soldi».
Soggiungeva volesse il generale attribuire tali parole all’amor suo
per la verità e la giustizia: chè, quanto a lui, avea pochi bisogni, ed
era sicuro di trovar da vivere in qualunque paese, ed anche allora
stava in lui l’accettare una cattedra ben provveduta in una delle più
celebri Università [30]. I democratici non avranno fatto mente al
coraggio della semplicità, ma è tristo modo di rigenerare una
nazione il cominciare dal deprimerla con insulti, col raffaccio iroso,
colla servile imitazione forestiera.
Buonaparte, a dieci valentuomini, tra cui il padre Gregorio Fontana,
commise di preparare una costituzione per la Cisalpina; ma il
Direttorio ordinò vi si applicasse la francese (1797 8 luglio). Dopo le
consuete dichiarazioni dei diritti dell’uomo e del cittadino, essa
portava la repubblica una e indivisibile, distribuita in dipartimenti,
distretti, Comuni. Al 21 marzo gli abitanti di ciascun distretto si
uniscono per nominare i giudici di pace e gli elettori del dipartimento,
uno ogni ducento teste. Le assemblee elettorali al 9 aprile nominano
i membri del corpo legislativo e del tribunale di cassazione, i giurati,
gli amministratori de’ dipartimenti, i giudici e presidenti de’ tribunali,
l’accusatore pubblico. Il corpo legislativo consta di quaranta in
sessanta seniori; di ottanta in cenventi membri il granconsiglio:
questo propone le leggi, quello le approva o rigetta, insieme
stabiliscono l’annua imposta. L’esecuzione è commessa a cinque
direttori nominati dal corpo legislativo, i quali scelgono i ministri
responsali; un’amministrazione centrale in ogni dipartimento, una
municipale in ogni distretto; un’altra corte di giustizia pondera le
accuse contro il Direttorio o i legislatori. Libero a tutti di scrivere,
parlare, stampare; l’esercito è per essenza obbediente.
Allora si abolirono maggioraschi e fedecommessi; si posero all’asta
le commende maltesi; i beni e debiti delle provincie e de’ Comuni si
riconobbero nazionali. La repubblica fu dichiarata libera; ma
l’esercito cisalpino era comandato dal côrso Fiorella; truppe francesi
per tutto il territorio e nelle fortezze; molti Francesi in uffizi principali;
e per un anno sospesa la libera stampa. Così a noi, che già
godevamo una forma di libertà municipale, era tolta per imporci la
costituzione d’un paese che non l’aveva; e Buonaparte nominò egli
stesso per la prima volta i direttori, i consigli legislativi, e quattro
congregazioni, di costituzione, di giurisprudenza, di finanza, di
guerra. La libertà molti l’aveano sulle labbra, alcuni nella testa, pochi
nel cuore; gli uni la simulavano per farsi perdonare l’antica servilità;
gli uni per impinguarsi mercanteggiandone, o per brogliare contro le
leggi e la giustizia; molti, sinceramente scambiando la conquista per
emancipazione, esultavano di vederci dati un nome, una bandiera,
un esercito; speravano che il governo militare finirebbe, e ce ne
rimarrebbero i frutti; lasciavansi ingenuamente lusingare a quelle
apparenze di governo popolare, ed all’indestruttibile fiducia
dell’indipendenza. Buonaparte li conosceva, gli accarezzava, e ne
rideva; trattava superbamente i deputati e le dignità che venivano a
inchinarlo nella villa di Montebello, che già chiamavasi sua reggia, le
api del manto imperiale trasparendo dalla tracolla repubblicana [31];
ma pure veniva ripetendoci le triste conseguenze delle nostre
scissure, il bisogno d’acquistare il sentimento della propria dignità e
d’avvezzarci alle armi; «proponete (raccomandava) le persone
meglio conosciute per attitudine, onestà, civismo, non i terroristi e i
patrioti intemperanti e ringhiosi, amici del sangue e della guerra, che
in ogni cosa trascendono, e non sanno che diffamar il Governo».
La Cisalpina non era soltanto una conquista, sì bene un
inoculamento della rivoluzione in Italia, e bisognava estenderla per
conservarla. Avea vicina la Svizzera, repubblica all’antica, divisa in
Cantoni formanti una confederazione debole e viziata di feudalità.
Nell’interno, le classi godeano i diritti in differente grado, e molte
servivano di sgabello alle privilegiate; alcuni paesi giaceano sudditi
di altri, che liberi dentro, erano tiranni fuori. Di qua dai monti avevano
signoria il Cantone di Uri sulla Leventina: Uri, Schwitz e Unterwald
sulla Riviera e Bellinzona; i dodici Cantoni insieme su Lugano,
Locarno e Valmaggia; sulla Valtellina i Grigioni. Paesi, lasciati in
balìa di magistrati ignoranti, che comprata la carica di governatore o
di giudice, pensavano a rifarsene con usura. Le più volte il balio non
faceva che venir di qua per rivendere la carica a qualche suddito, e
dopo un buon pranzo tornava indietro col titolo e coi quattrini. Quindi
giustizia vendereccia, prepotenze tollerate; che più? vendute
impunità in bianco per delitti da commettersi [32].
Nella val Leventina gli abitanti viveano de’ pingui pascoli e dei
trasporti pel Sangotardo, riconoscendo i loro padroni con lievi
pedaggi e scarsa imposta. Avendo gli Urani negato dar il soldo ai
Leventini che aveano militato, questi fecero turba, cacciarono il balio
(1713), nè si quetarono finchè i cinque Cantoni cattolici non
decretarono dovuti i soldi. La giustizia ripristinò la pace, e furono
detti cari e fedeli alleati: ma più tardi vennero portati ai padroni
lamenti (1755) contro tutori che malversavano le sostanze de’ pupilli;
e gl’imputati pensarono coprire colla sommossa le colpe, e levatisi in
armi imprigionarono il balio. Uscirono gli Urani a domarli; Orso di
Rossura ed altri capi furono decollati davanti a tremila popolani, che
a testa scoperta e a ginocchio piegato dovettero sentir proferita
l’abolizione di tutte le franchigie e garanzie, e giurare la servitù.
Anche nella Valtellina poteasi redimere a contanti ogni delitto, salvo
l’omicidio qualificato; e poichè i processi fruttavano denaro, i podestà
erano attenti non solo a scoprire delitti, ma a farne commettere;
tenevano sciagurate che seducessero, poi accusassero il correo,
desiavano sommosse per toglierne pretesto a confische.
L’immoralità de’ dominanti e le discordie invelenite fra i Planta fautori
dell’Austria e i Salis inchini a Francia, incancrenivano i patimenti
della Valtellina. Quante volte non aveva essa ricorso al duca di
Milano per far osservare il capitolato che aveva ottenuto dopo il
sacro macello del 1620, e di cui esso era garante!
Cessata la confidenza fra governanti e governati, cresceano le
gozzaje; il giureconsulto Alberto Desimoni di Bormio, per avere
scritto a difesa della costituzione della Valtellina, fu condannato a
morte in contumacia: sommovimenti interni cominciarono prima de’
francesi, i quali gl’incalorirono. Ben presto tutta Svizzera ribolle
contro le annose tirannidi (1797); a nome della libertà rovesciansi le
repubbliche; i Francesi, invitati a sostenere i democratici insorgenti,
s’impossessano delle casse, e dichiarano che le leggi e i decreti del
Governo paesano non varranno se contrarj alla Francia. I
repubblicani di Milano e di Como aveano tentato sollevare i baliaggi
italiani, e alcune guardie nazionali penetrarono fino al lago di Lugano
piantandovi l’albero. Furono respinti, e i commissarj svizzeri vennero
a tenere in dovere il paese: ma una mano di patrioti si presenta a
loro, e colla sicurezza che dava la vicinanza della Cisalpina,
domanda i diritti dell’uomo; essi fuggono, e l’albero è piantato, non
col berretto frigio, ma col cappello di Tell. Quando poi furono
dichiarati liberi ed eguali tutti i sudditi della Svizzera, essi baliaggi
divennero membri della repubblica Elvetica, destinata a ben altra vita
che non l’effimera della Cisalpina, a cui ricusarono aggregarsi.
La Valtellina pensò ella pure novità; ma alcuni preferivano unirsi ai
Grigioni come quarta lega in eguaglianza di diritti, altri attaccarsi alla
Cisalpina; e intanto la plebe assaliva i signori, le chiese,
principalmente le cantine, ballonzando e cantando secondo la moda,
spezzavansi gli stemmi de’ vecchi pretori, pur non mancando chi
mettesse fuoco agli alberi della libertà. Un conte Galliano Lechi,
prepotente e dissoluto bresciano, fuggito a Bormio per sottrarsi ai
castighi meritati in patria, e di nuovi meritandosene con braverie ed
altro, eccitò l’ira del popolo, che lo uccise con due suoi bravacci. Le
gazzette li presentarono come martiri della libertà; i comitati di
Bergamo e Brescia inveivano contro le persecuzioni fatte in
Valtellina ai patrioti; il generale Murat, scesovi da Edolo colla sua
brigata, intimò amnistia e pace; e Buonaparte offertosi mediatore,
chiamò a sè deputati grigioni e valtellinesi. Quelli non ascoltarono:
questi sì, e chiesero d’unirsi alla Cisalpina; ma voleano riservare per
unica religione la cattolica, immunità di fôro per gli ecclesiastici, non
partecipare all’ingente debito della repubblica nè alle inesplebili
contribuzioni; a tacere le meschinità da campanile, per cui Bormio
voleva stare disgregato da Sondrio, e Chiavenna fare casa a parte.
Lunghissime anticamere dovettero durare i deputati al quartiere
generale d’Udine: infine Buonaparte proferì (28 8bre) che, non
essendo comparsi i Grigioni, ai Valtellinesi restava facoltà d’unirsi
alla Cisalpina; andassero ad aspettarlo a Milano. V’andarono; e quivi
seppero che «la loro sorte e felicità era ormai fissata stabilmente con
quella dell’Italia libera»; e perchè rimostrarono che ciò trascendeva il
loro mandato, Buonaparte li sbraveggiò come non fossero
«compresi dal gran principio dell’unità e indivisibilità della repubblica,
la quale deve formare una famiglia sola».
Così quella valle divenne parte della Cisalpina; confiscati i beni che i
Grigioni vi possedevano; a Murat, per le gravi spese che diceva
incontrate, si regalarono una ricca sciabola e mille luigi, estorti a
forza dalla valle, dove fra le allegre spensieratezze si cominciò lo
spoglio delle chiese, e l’altre novità religiose. Queste eccitavano
maggior indignazione perchè rammentavano quelle del 1620;
nessuno andava alle assemblee primarie che doveano accettare la
costituzione; v’ebbe congiure e sommosse, domate colla fucilazione;
e il tribunale istituito a Bergamo contro gli allarmisti esercitava
tremenda azione anche nella valle.
Vedemmo come l’Emilia fosse eretta in repubblica Cispadana; e il
congresso accolto a Modena aveva compilato una costituzione alla
francese, e nominato direttori Magnani, Ricci, Guastavillani, persone
moderate: ma Buonaparte ordinò che quella repubblica fosse unita
alla Cisalpina. La quale così abbracciò l’antica Lombardia, Mantova,
Modena con Massa e Carrara, le legazioni di Bologna, Ferrara,
Romagna, oltre Bergamo, Brescia, Crema, Peschiera, cioè i paesi
veneti sulla destra dell’Adige; più Campione e Macagno, feudi
imperiali presso gli Svizzeri, la Valtellina e il ducato di Parma. Divisa
in venti dipartimenti, contava tre milioni e ducentomila abitanti,
coll’Adige, Mantova, Pizzighettone per difesa, e grandi elementi di
prosperità. Nel lazzaretto di Milano solennizzossi la federazione
italiana (1797 9 luglio), i deputati e le guardie nazionali sull’altare
della patria giurando libertà ed eguaglianza: una di quelle feste, che
fanno vivere un popolo intero d’una vita sola, e battere all’unissono
migliaja di cuori; ma non dovea lasciare se non un mesto desiderio.
A Genova, straziata come il debole in mezzo ai forti litiganti,
osteggiavansi a morte aristocrati e democratici, e a questi ultimi
erano stimolo i giornali ed emissarj milanesi; il commissario Faypoult
facea colà quello che Bassville a Roma, e Villetard a Venezia, viepiù
da che quest’ultima fu perita, e ai lamenti de’ nobili rispondendo, — I
tridui e l’altre santocchierie non ritarderanno i lumi, e meglio fareste
a dirigervi regolarmente verso là dove è inevitabile l’arrivare». In
fatto i patrioti insorsero (maggio), ma il popolo ricordandosi del grido
con cui avea cacciato i Tedeschi, ai tre colori oppone le effigie della
Madonna; nella Polcevera e nel Bisagno si diffonde la sommossa
non senza sangue; i patrioti soccombono; e Buonaparte manda
querele pei Francesi trucidati, e rabbuffi contro l’aristocrazia; fa
arrestare alcuni (14 giugno), esige soddisfazioni, modifica la
costituzione sul taglio di moda, all’antico senato sostituendo i due
consigli legislativi, ed un senato esecutivo preseduto dal doge;
garantiti la religione cattolica, il banco di San Giorgio e il debito
pubblico; cassati i privilegi; nei posti colloca persone moderate e
delle varie classi, e scrive alla repubblica: — Non basta astenersi da
ciò che contraria la religione; bisogna non inquietar neppure le più
timorate coscienze... Illuminate le plebi, mettetevi d’accordo con
l’arcivescovo per dare loro buoni curati, meritate l’affetto de’ vostri
concittadini». Ma il popolo coi soliti impeti, brucia il libro d’oro (9bre);
abbatte la statua d’Andrea Doria «il primo degli oligarchi» [33];
consacra alla ligure rigenerazione la casa dello speziale Morando,