The New York herald., 1879-09-28
MIR. HATFIELD'S REMOVAL.

WHY THE MAYOR ASKED FOR THE RESIGNATION
OF THE COMMISSIONER OF ACCOUNTS ~.
The announcement Of the resignation of Mr.. r. T..
Hatfield as Commissioner of Accounts together with
the circumstances attending such fact given
through the Mayors Office lately published in
the HERALD. In an interview with Mr.. Hatfield yes
terday afternoon, that gentleman is alleged to have
remarked :-"The holding OF tho Office (Commis-
sioner Of Accounts) depends solely ON the will Of
the Mayor. and it is very natural to suppose that
any one desiring to hold the Office and secure tho
emoluments of the same will DO anxious to please
the Mayor Although the appointing and removing
power remains with the Mayor, he has In my
opinion no control the working OF the Office
in the examination OF the expenses OF the
several departments and officers. particularly
with reference to salaries and duties. nor
the way such Investigations shall be- had,
the charter specifying that the Commissioners shall
make such examinations rs they may deem advisa-
BILE. In investigating the Finance Department was
engaged for about hve months, examining every
thing infinitely, and after thorough investig cation.
presented my report, which was a very elaborate
ono ana is matter of record. l found
that it was not satisfactory to the Mayor.
and ! did not feel inclined to change my
report aud make IL different from the facts which
had ascertained l determined to send in my
resignation rather than incur the risk OF removal.
prefer not to say anything to what tho Mayor
desired or required me to report, but that correct
who had the slightest of the facts OF
the case
Under this Abatement 1t would appear that Mr. Hat
heid sent into the Finance Department by
Mayor Cooper tor the sole purpose of fnding out
something wrong in the accounts of Comptroller
Kelly. Failing In this, he asked to resign his
office.
POSITIVE CONTRADICTION.
The Mayor was questioned relative to those state
mcnts yesterday. He pointed to . provision of tho
charter which compcls examination by the Com
missioners OF Accounts OF the Finance Department
at least once In every three months. as follows:-
''lt shall be their duty. once in three months.
aud oftener II they deem 1t proper to examine ali
vouchers and accounts In the Offices of the Comp
troller and Chamberlain, and to make and publish
In the Cy Record detailed statement OF tho hnan-
cial condition OF the city. showing the amount OF
It's funded ana floating debt. the amount received
and expended since the last preceding report, with
a classification of the sources OF revenue and
penditurc aud such other information tnoy shall
deem proper"
The Mayor continued to explain his position by
saying MIR. Hatfield was sent to examine the
counts of the Finance Department without any spe-
cifc instructions from He went In there In
January last and occupied eight months in inves-
tigaton which should have been done within three,
laid down in the charter. When the report caine
to me also found several inaccuracies, to which
called the gentleman's attention. then asked for
his resignation, which he handed In. That is all
there Is about IL. Anything else Is mere fabrica-
tion."