New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-09
WAKE UP OR GET OUT.
THE NEED OF NEW BLOOD IN THE
BOARD OF BRIDGE TRUSTEES.
REDUCTION OF FARES TO ONE CENT hAof
COULD BE MADE IF USELESS EXPENSES
WE'RE CUT oFF-HowELL AND KEE-
NEY FILLING THE PLACES

NEY FILLING THE PLACES
OF BETTER MEN.
To the thousands of suffering citizens who are
daily compelled TO cross Brooklyn Bridge, I'M
willing martyrs in the cause Of labor or busi-
ness there is d deep conviction that change
OF management would be the best thing that
could happen Such a thought is by no means
the spontaneous combustion Of few hot days
engendered by the involuntary massing together
in a narrow space Of multitudes Of swelter-
ing humanity, but more truly the result OF a
long series OF inconvenience and outrages
caused by official indifference and neglect
Any one and every one who knows the first
thing about the improvements on the Bridge
and the weary space of time it has taken to
carry them out could by no process or reasoning
come to any other conclusion.
And so 1t has come to pass that the opinion OF
the public mind is that Messrs Howell and
Kaeney could perform no more fitting official act
of their public life than by resigning and giving
way to men better fitted by nature to carry on
and expedite great public work. instead or
hampering 1t by obstinate indifference and Of
fetal incapacity.
II Is almost inconceivable that the Greater
New-York should have tolerated for so long a
time two such ag-weights as Messrs Howell
and Keeney-men who resist the impetus OF
public progress until by its force carried along
and compelled to take an unwilling part In 1t,
and vet through some strange power able to per-
form the function of the tail that ways the dog
and the cry is keen for change.
But will 1t come?
AS president Of the Bridge trustees Mr..
Howell receives $4,000 year and his able
&C adjutor Mr.. Keeney. $4,000. OF course. these
men have other means outside Of their Bridge
stipend but on the principle that "a pubic Oh
flee is a private snap" the probability OF res
ignations from the two principal trustees or the
Brooklyn Bridge is about likely as change
to a spirit of modern progresslveness
The real trustees of the Bridge belong to the
age Of the town pump and the dinKy morse
car. They liked far better the old stage coach
and the plankroad days, so free from the mod
EN- rush than these days Of troublesome Bridge
problems.
The present Bridge management, wherein us
principal functonares are concerned, is nut
for Governor Morton to crack. and whether CT
not he will hearken to the increasing PUBIC
clamor for change and use his official hammer
is one Of those questions unfortunately requiring
time to answer. And all the while the suffer
ing public continues to suffer, While the chiet
Offenders go right along in their Rip Van
Wrinkle SomnOlency.
one of those all-absorbing questions by which
thousands Of people are affected is tnat Oh
cheap fares. The Bridge fare at the present DAY
is five cents for a round trip rms IS low
enough for many who would not bubble at
having twice the amount for single fare, but
there are thousands to whom fiVe cents d day
for Bridge fare Is considerable item
What the masses want Is cheap lare-a
fare which shall be one cent each way gay.
Mention a one-cent fare to the trustees VINO
abide by the decisions Of their two elders IN
all Bridge things. and they turn SICK al the
thought Mention the possibility of this pubic
benefaction to the elders of the tribe, ana tney
at once, according to the saying throw H.
"Impossibe"' says Mr. Howell
"Iupossible,' echoes Mr.. keeney.
"Vhat would YOU have US do?' eXclaims MI
Howell create a deficit? Such a thing would be
suicidal and is not to be thought or
There is no doubt that. according to the way the
Bridge is managed at the present day, with us
great force of employees. its trustees receiving
81 600 a wear for almost work, and Its many
other extravagances. reduction to one-ceht
fare would create a deficit of nearly S3ooOoo
What s wanted Is a change in the financial
management. of the Bridge-a change at once de-
cided and sweeping. by which all salaries sha,l De
reduced TO a business oasis anu dll usele'S u'"-
The sum of SO, 600 year each for trustees who
do not begin TO earn 1t Is public scandal Inc
sum of 81 900 for Bridge president, whose duties
are comparatively light and whose responsibility
is about the same. Is conceded by rlght-thihkihB
citizens to he an exorbitant figure, ana iar more
than the services given worth when one con-
siders that the place which should be an homo
rary one would be eagerly sought for by men far
better fitted for the position than the present in
cumbent 49,
Let the pruning begin at the head and slide
down without fear or favor to the bottom Elimi-
nate the political features Of the Bridge manage
ment by which so much political drtftWood has
fastened upon the public crib and hung there for
years. and perhaps Bridge expenses would come
| down to point where a slight deficit would be
made UP in the plan Of general taxation without
| harm to the humbest taxpayer