New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-03-23
LEGISLATION FOR THE CITY.

srRIcrEp--sprcAL LEGISLATION UNNEcEssAhf'
reporter of THE TRIBUNE yesterday morning mo hg
fonnd Mayor Grace at his Office in the Slty nan oI
hind spile of warrants which ne was the historic
ing of. He does not, however use .he h h ~
desk at which certain other warrants 9 M rsre
acted pnbc ten ,Se o Of SnS Of The sub
ord,nate. i'm the Office. When asked wheineI NC
Was not dissatisfied with the present city cnaItei.
opinion the Mayor said:
IF the charter under which we are now worSing
had been devised for the very purpose OF annnnI5
GOOD government difficult, do not think u c" ;
Succeed better OF all the wretched methods I'M
aginabe think these r saH as pos
s,ble fron, the old system Of town government
which lies al the basis OF our nStttutloDs, aa
further have got away from II tne TU,se r o NJ
we invariably been We are governed III realty az
been 40 far put in commission and the PEOPLE have
so little control over their own ofhcers tnat We io
hardly better than y satrapy as things now are .h
What do you consider the worst features Vi 'i''
present system " ... a tbe conse.
oucnt difficulty of getting hrst-rate eHecn sinS
abity IN the Civil Service, the facility Of using
The departments for political purposes. ana lne plao
t;cai ipnossihty Of fastening responsibility upon
the executive heads of departments. IN the toiI0
Department for instance OF ID rme here for no
other reason than that they have multiple n SfI
aud have al even number-it is next " lnposSipILe
70 40 ANYTHING without giving and taking III
the Police Department where tWo ComiiSS hers
are Democrats and two Republicans, ana wneIee
three votes are required to carry any pd5op %;tb
measure unless their demands are conpled WIN
one party in the Board can bring Its business 10 an
absolute sandstill The resu is the appointments
are required to tie parceled Sl' oiai oy Than his
alike; and long rs he asks no more t I. US Us
share the nomination of member is equl!aiehhc 49,, W
an appointment because the man nonlIa.eu oI.ais
satisfactory to the nominating member tne otnoiiS
hold him r.sponslble-it such thing a. TeSPousioh
NV can exist usder such condllons.and 90 wnau U
desires asking to be served by nm In e saS
when their turn comes SoInetIlhoS 'n0 "O'' wv
sible appointments result"
'Do yon know any particular instance wheTe
bad appointment can be traced to tins system IN,
MOT only one, but many. think goou Illus
tr,tion is that of the case of Officer Fitzpatnck;
who after having been unfavorably reported on VI
I am correctly informed by the officer sent to
examine his case. person unht 70
hold an appointment was, nevertheiess' apPoilGFu
nv the Board only sully the record OF the service
by killing brother officer within very snort tnho
after lac was sworn in. and has now been sent 10
Sing Sing 10 serve four years 1erla VI p th
ment There was strong political influence ID the
case if am correctly advised, and the man was
appointed but the matter stands there Is no way
introduction of the dna method III any OF the
Departments would be equally bad, POSSIBLY even
worse because then, both members being required
TO vote afrnatvely for the passage OF resolution
one could hold out against the other untlI MS ue
sires were complied with. until one day truce o
would be called by the Commissioners coming 10 an
urd rstandng between themselves Every nlng
being done Oh the basis of trade, TINS VIII lie par
ticularly the case where the Commissions are So
called non partisan bodies. If there must be many
heads to a department say give us odd hunters
by all means Then II is Incut 10 Galy ou are
made up in this way. Responsibility being DIVIDED,
each Commissioner having made arrangements
with the Others will if he be good poltlcan drVe
things as much possible for his friends with the
result that more men are employed than are aDso-
N lutely necessary, and work Is done not always al
the cheapest rates
n APPOINTMENTS AND REMOVALS.
care there any other objections to the present
charter system acco riding TO your view -
Oh, yes: more. possibly, thai you would care to
.nhnittinS the MAYORS nominations to the Board
of Aldermen is all wrong. The people eX;;
pect him to make good Nominations, anu no be
shall not be permitted to make any othef homlma
lions thar the Board OF Aldermen pleaSes. In, ne
Board of Aldermen, however, do not want the pest
men from a standpoint of fitness simply Tor they
represent parties and want the best men LOT taeil
party purposes This is natural and while parties 1t
exisf as al present do not see how we can justly
quarrel with the Board Of Aldermen But none
the less # We are to have BFea of Oe' Aldermen
matter. As things stand, Mayor
can send in names of unobjectlonable men, IN all
respects his hly qualified and he VIII have TO 90 one
of two things-either see their names ald upon tne
table to continue me ns H Se yctoEy to the
politicians and have his ADMINISTRATION stamped
failure OF else do Just what the law apparently mas
In view; that is dickerwith the Aldermen ana SEND
In names satisfactory TO them. after the arrange
Inents of a bargain and so become party 10 theSe
nefarous political practices ana tnen Of o 6ack
-
bone or professional politician" -, 49, .o..
What do you think OF the difficulties In the way
of removal .,..
Here Won strike another evil that is the inter;
ference of the Governor, If the Mayor Is the real
executive, and If our people are caPaDie Oh
five is vested with the power OF removal, then me
Governor who represents ali entirely dlHeieht SOn-
stituency. should not be permitted To lhterleTe,
When a New York Commissioner IS removed by the
Eayor and his removal not confirmed Dy t1e uoVrr
ernOr, il amounts TO about TINS Ihat the Ivy W
York through
man should 20, but Enc, CaJtaTaugus
AID Suffolk, through their represen aives, say the
man should stay; and so we have the anomalous re-
eult that New-York City is governed by different
constituencies whose interests are wholly unlike
those Of our own people 80
What remedy do you suggestf"
The evils are deep seated; they are inherent In
onr very system and | do not believe III any ull-
wise and unnecessary experiment, me ihs mere i
never secure the desired end If were
TO draw q charter amendment I0r tne
city would make II very siInple-say pi1 III wv
sections BY the first, would reduce an C0lnls Is
eiors except Taxes and Assessments, the duties OF
which are si-judicial, to single head WIN th,s
further change that would separate the Election
Bureau from the Board of Police, and have It con-
sst Of two members TO be appointed by the mayor
and the Presiding Justice of the supreme GouII
General Term. For the second section, should
provide absolute power of appointment and removal
In the Mayor for cause WIN those eHcep,
tions and such few other changes as Will be
necessary TO make the system harmonious would
leave the present law unchanged, taking tins single
and radical step first and awaiting us result pelole
going further think the city would be Detter Oh,
from an administrative and economical point OF
view with a single Police Commissioner. although
he were democrat OF 5ngIe tban Il NOW is be.
cause responsibility could be fas ened upon the ex-
ecutive head immediately. In case OF "rohg-dOlng
he NAV be removed forthwith, or In case OF s non
removal the Mayor could be impeached. The
pressure of well-directed popular opinion would
bear heavily upon even partisan Mayo tlat ne
would have 10 remove a subordinate COminlssloner
pnder whom a department ulu hoJ lhIl'c' :.