The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-06-22
The Proposed Reduction OF the City
Expenses.

Expenses.
The Board of Apportionment is to meet
again to-day to act ON the revised estimates
for the current year, with a view to cutting
down the public expenditure and decreasing
the rate of taxation. Two members of the
Board-Mr. Vance, the President of the Board
of Aldermen, and Mr.. Wheeler the President
OF the Department Of Taxes and Assessments
are ready to act upon the estimates and to cut
off every unnecessary expenditure, so as to
make an actual saving to the taxpayers, pro-
vided they are furnished with the information
required to enable them to do SO. Among the
departments extravagantly conducted and
where economy can be practised without det-
riment to the public interests are those of the
Public Parks, Finance and Charities and Cor
rection. The Finance Department is a nest
of sinecures. If the members of the Board
of Apportionment will take the trouble to ex-
anime the Comptroller's warrants they will
find in the Bureau of the Receiver of Taxes a
long list of ''extra clerks" some of whom
have drawn salaries every month for the last
year and halt, and are thus entitled to be
called permanent" although their duties
may be nothing more than newspaper writing
in the interest of the Comptroller. So in almost
every bureau of the Finance Department an
asylum for ''incompetent friends may be I'M
earthed. The salary of Deputy Comptroller
is claimed in the estimate, while such an Office
has never existed under Mr.. Green. The
Collector Of Assessments, who has served
about two months, is down for years salary.
The sum Of twenty thousand dollars
is claimed for spies and experts,
although the army of clerks in the Comp
troller's Office should certainly be sufi-
cient to examine all bills that may come be-
fore the department. A large expense is in
Cured by the Comptroller for the benefit Of
Acting Chamberlain Whittemore, which
should properly be disallowed and paid out of
the Chamberlain's salary, as the law requires.
In the Park Department the whole expendi-
ture under the construction as well as on tax
account, should be shown before any proper
estimate of its expenses can be made The
Board Of Apportionment should remember
that the people do not desire to incur any
more expense for out-of-the-way roads and
unsightly buildings in Central Park, but
are satisfied with the Park as it is for the
next ten years, provided they can have o
grand rendezvous for carriages, horse riders
and pedestrians, after the fashion Of the great
parks of Europe. This popular Improvement
can be secured at trifing outlay, and the
expensive architects and engineers who live
on the Park funds can be dispensed with as a
needless luxury. The Department of Chair
ties and Correction should be most carefully
scrutinized, and not a dollar should be placed
at the control of that department until the
Board is satisfied that it is absolutely neces.
sary and will be honestly expended But all
these economies require that the whole man
agement in detail of the several departments
where extravaganza is suspected should be
placed before the Board of Apportionment.
Mr.. Vance and Mr. Wheeler appear resolved
to do their duty and demand such intorma-
ton before acting ON the estimates. Will the
Mayor unite with them in this commendable
action? If he does the responsibility for OBJ
structing the decrease of the rate of taxation
will rest alone on the Comptroller.