The daily gazette., 1877-02-21
Municipal Salaries.

The taxpayers of New York are
sorely troubled over the burden OF
municipal expenditures and are casting
about for ways and means of relief,
Committees of citizens have been hold
ing conference with Mayor Ely and
Mayor Ely has been consulting with
heads OF departments, and while the
utmost desire for economy 10 express
sed nobody can find the place where
retrenchment can take place. The
great trouble with New York city is
tho complex character Of its govern
ment. 1t is controlled partly from
Albany and partly at home. The
Tweed frauds were perpetrated by a
board of supervisors established by
Albany legislation. The powers of
the city government have been divid-
ed and subdivided among departments
and bureaus, until there are now nine
teen departments, with 5,514 officials,
and with salary lists aggregating 90,
733, ,73l. These departments ali have
their several bureaus, and together
constitute an immense machine, whose
tremendous inertia the most robust re-
former Of q Mayer cannot overcome
1t Is the old story of the Circumlocu-
tion office and the Barnacles. This
process of expansion in municipal de.
partments, and of increase in salary
lists, is going on all over the country,
The Irish World, in q recent issue,
presented some interesting statistics,
derived from official sources. upon the
relative pay Of workingmen and of
city officials for the years 1867 and
1877. Twelve classes of workingmen
--masons, bricklayers, carpenters,
&C., are selected, and their average
wages In 1857 and 1877 are compared
with the compensation of twelve city
officials for those years. The COM
parison Is interesting. In Brooklyn
the mean aggregate wages of twelve
worklngmen show q decrease of $5,-
423 as compared with 1867, while the
salaries of twelve city officials show
an increase of $50, 700 as compared
with their compensation in 1867. A
similar comparison made Of Boston
shows a decrease of @3,903 for the
workingmen, an increase of $24, 700
for the officials. In st. Louis there is
a decrease of $4.S53 for the working
mCu, AL luCIoosc VI plbsOOO lOT tHC
city officials. The comptroller's office
at New York declined to furnish any
comparative statistics. In the case of
this city, the decrease in the wages of
twelve representative workingmen has
been 81, ,037, while the increase in the
salaries of twelve officials has been
$7,565. This increase has taken place
chiefly In the following items: Mayor,
1000 to $4,000 mayors secretary,
81, 200 to 81 900; mayors clerk, 5000 to
81, 200; city register, $2.500 to $4,000;
city solicitor. 81 500 to $4,000, and city
councilncn, from ST. so per diem, when
in session. to 81. 900 per annum. While
salaries have been going up the cost
of living has been reduced, and the
purchasing power Of money has been
increased. Everybody knows that
household supplies Of all kinds are
much cheaper now than in 1857; and
yet when the cry of retrenchnent goes
up, the economies must strike upon
the day-wages class and not upon the
high-salaried officials are excessive;
they are small in comparison with
other cities; but it is not right that
they should be increased while the
wages of other workers diminish -
baltimore Gazette.