Mayor Kalbfleisch was reëlected Mayor. In his message of January 3, 1871, he places the population of the city in 1870 at 400,000; the taxes levied during the year at $8,000,000; the city debt at $36,000,000. The period was active in building operations. The foundations of the still unfinished Roman Catholic Cathedral were laid in 1868. The Twenty-eighth Regiment armory was completed in 1870. The Brooklyn Theatre was begun early in the following year, shortly before the finishing of the new wing of the Long Island College Hospital, and the laying of the corner-stone of the Church Charity foundation at Albany Avenue and Herkimer Street.
Brooklyn acquired a police department distinct from that of New York in 1870. The management and control of this new department was vested in a board of commissioners, known as the Board of Police of the City of Brooklyn, composed of the Mayor and two other persons nominated by him, and appointed by the Aldermen. The first two commissioners thus chosen were Daniel D. Driggs and Isaac Van Anden. Patrick Campbell was appointed chief clerk. Henry W. Van Wagner was placed at the head of the detective squad. The following provisions were embraced in the law establishing the department. "The commissioners shall divide said city into precincts, not exceeding one precinct to each thirty-six of the patrolmen authorized to be appointed. They may also establish sub-precincts and assign two sergeants, two doormen, and as many patrolmen as they may deem sufficient to each sub-precinct, and shall appoint a telegraph operator who shall be assigned to duty by the chief of police. They shall appoint as many captains of police as there may be precincts, and assign one captain and as many sergeants and patrolmen as they shall deem sufficient to each precinct. The police force shall consist of a chief of police, captains, sergeants, and patrolmen, who shall be appointed by the commissioners. The number of sergeants shall not exceed four for each precinct, and one for each special squad; and the number of patrolmen shall not exceed the present number now doing duty in said city, unless the Common Council of the city of Brooklyn shall, by resolution, authorize a greater number, in which case they shall not exceed the number fixed in such resolutions; and such resolutions may be passed by the Common Council from time to time as that body may deem expedient. The commissioners shall fill all vacancies in the police force as often as they occur."
By the message of Mayor Powell[38] in January, 1872, it appears that there were 450 men on the police force, supported at an annual expense of $500,000. The total liabilities of the city were then over $30,000,000, and the total county debt nearly $4,000,000. During 1871 twenty miles of streets were graded and paved, and 2,596 buildings erected. In his second message, a year later, the Mayor reported that the water department was self-sustaining.
The pressure of opinion in favor of a new charter for the city resulted in the appointment of a committee of one hundred, whose report appeared in 1872, shortly before the death of ex-Mayor Kalbfleisch. In May the charter was passed by the State Assembly. By this charter the offices of Mayor, auditor, and comptroller were made elective; the excise and police departments were consolidated; the appointment of heads of departments was placed in the hands of the Mayor and Aldermen, the departments being as follows: Police and excise, finance, audit, treasury, collections, arrears, law, assessment, health, fire and buildings, city works, parks, public instruction.
In November, 1873, John W. Hunter, who had represented the third district in Congress, was chosen Mayor. The Mayor's message in the following January shows that the city debt rose from $30,669,768.50 in 1872, and $32,012,884 in 1873, to $37,431,944.
It was in February of this year that a largely attended meeting of the Municipal Union Society urged the consolidation of Brooklyn and New York. Meanwhile the town of New Lots, known as East New York, had voted for annexation to Brooklyn. The city's growth continued at a remarkable rate. In the decade between 1864 and 1874, 19,660 buildings had been erected. Of this number 1786 had been built during the year ending 1874.
Perhaps the most sensational incident of the year 1874 was the announcement of Theodore Tilton's action against the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Brooklyn's foremost preacher and orator. The news that the pastor of Plymouth Church was to be sued by his former friend upon charges assailing the integrity of Mr. Beecher's relations with Mrs. Tilton, created intense excitement in the city, and throughout the country.
The action was opened in the City Court before Judge Neilson, and the trial began on January 5, 1875. The public interest aroused by this extraordinary trial has no parallel in the history of the county. During the months of the progress it remained the chief topic of public and private talk in the city. The court room on trial days presented an historic spectacle, and excitement reached a great height when, at the end of June, the case was at last closed, and the fate of the great preacher was placed in the jury's hands. It was on July 2 that the jury reported its inability to agree. The case was never retried, and the painful drama thus came to an end.
That such an incident should cast a cloud over Henry Ward Beecher's life was inevitable. But the cloud passed away. Mr. Beecher remained at his post, his fame and influence growing; and the celebration of his seventy-fifth birthday drew to the Academy of Music one of the most remarkable gatherings ever witnessed in that place. Mr. Beecher's sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," occupied a seat in one of the boxes.[39]
In 1875 the population of the city was estimated at 483,252; that of the county at 494,570. In November of this year Frederick A. Schroeder was elected Mayor. Schroeder represented the staunch German element, which had begun long before this period to form an important proportion of the city's population. He was the founder of the Germania Savings Bank. In 1871 he was elected comptroller. His opponent in a heated mayoralty contest was Edward Rowe.