New-York tribune., 1896-10-25

s.r,o, oor,s and drivers, collecting and hauling
refuse ON September II, at ~ per day. 200.
"If tbo services Of men and horses come uhoer
the wording 'or other property anu IL t"e e''''
service law and its extensions d. the 1nayo' Wv
not apply at all to this junior prahch VI 'N'
Department Of Street Cleaning late'y h'aus"
rated. then these bills ought to be paid' anu o'i
any proper advice or decision on that suo'e''
they will be paid. To make the TACT ina. '"e'
have not been paid as yet an occasion ioi al
abandonment Of all work by the Depa''"e"
is. of course, absurd. The courts anord q"''"
and easy remedy, IL a resort TO the coui' was
necessary which in this case 1t Is not. " "en '"e
Police Department had question III 'ee
the validity of some bills they did not w''"''a"
the patrolmen from the streets anu ao""
,ha ,,orr ,ptrustcd to their hands When the
t,ira Denartment bills were held, as they nave
haon severa, times on legal grounds the Com
mjssioners did not direct the IRE ehs"eo
remain at home when the alarm souhueu' ~
r,ror,r,a,t c,nrot he coerced into auditing and
,.,,no hills n which there is any legal op-
lection The only reason why there Se'
be any friction between the Depdit''e"' -
c,roo, f,oorirg and this Office is that whenever
lille . other denartments are delayed or ques-
,iored hv our auditors which constantly nap
pens. the matters are quietly decided o' '"e
10, C,oupseI or bv the courts whereas, wheh-
ever the slightest question is raised mere ''
Auditing Department In regard 10 any -
of the Street Cleaning Department Coiohe'
ing at once says or does something sensa''o'"''
WILL. NOT BE BULLDOZED.
"I do not propose to he bulldozed by Colo"e'
Waring or ANYBODY else into paying what an
not clear is Il legal claim against the CITY, Inv
Finance Department Is not a paymaster d'oie.
II is the Auditing Department OF the CITY, cha'se"
with the duty Of seeing that the departments
obey the law and of investigating every quea''o''
of law or fact which comes before IT, lhi' W.
will be performed If every other department -
the city goes on strike ~ A.
Colonel Warng made statement auu'"o
his pronunciamento OF Friday night ne S"'u
that in their interview at the Controilers ~ o,''.
,ot. Friday afternoon. what Controller Fltch
said "was a clear decision that he would not pay
Herbert Tate as long as he could heip IT,
Colonel. .Waring went on: "Mr. Tates account
runs back more than four months The CITY ho"
owes him. to October Q. about S2'Voo. IL na'
noS paid him one dollar on this account. i"e
first Of the bills sent to the Coh'ioe, "
July H. From that time to this there nave oee"
ho,f nronises n waiting for an opinion OF the
counsel
serted that the bills should be paid. sometimes
,oor,ro remarks as TO why we would continue
TO employ Tate sometimes promises to attend
. ,ho r,o,tor in a few days; once a statement
made TO me personally that he was ready 10 pay
,,,os, ~ wbot was due to Tate in few days, ana
n putting Off on two or three later occasiohs'
Yesterday the Controller delivered nat state
mont os TO his determination to sustain the Clen
Service law and as to his grave doupts as " ;, I'D
right TO employ carts driven by other IMAM n, ~,
Service men, in such a way as 10 pe accep,tu w
.ny man cyho knows how the Controller always
signifies his decsions) as absolute ana Nha !.
was az clear as day that he would never pay
dollar on this contract II he could aVolu H.
SAYS HE is RESPONSIBLE.
"TbIs placed me Immediately in position OF
responsibility toward all contractors, WHICH
will not accept. 1t need be matter OF very
few moments for the Finance Department 10 iihu
some way to continue doing what 1t mas Always
done In this matter and what 1t must continue
TO do When that way is found. and paymeht
assured. or when. In any other manner can pe
relieved of my responsibility in the matter, WORK
will begin again. ! realize to the fuil the sely
serious result OF even one days s'oppase Vi
work. but cannot continue to employ cohtfac''''
who not to be PAID ,
"Mr Herbert Tate has been made so conspicu'
Gus In connection with Mr.. Fitchs opposition 10 10
this Department az now carried on. tnat Will
saw I'm Justice to him that have had pretty con-
stant business relations with nm Tor tne last
nine years and that | know him well. he Is
an honest. intelligent and capable man. | snail
always he glad to his services in the Depart
ment when / need an efficient and honest con-
tractor"
Commissioner Waring gave out Il copy Of let
ter written To the Controller by DEP Ity and Act
ing Commissioner F. NJ. Gibson on september
90 last. while Colonel Waring was In Europe
urging the immediate payment Of Tate's bills
II was followed Mr.. Warng said. by an inter
view between Captain Gibson and the Controller
at the Finance Department at which ColoneI
Warng says the Controller asked; "Why rate:
Can't you get somebody else To do that work.?
Captain Gibson replied that we liked tate
and that he was doing the work to our satisfac.
tlon and for less money than any one else would
do IL for. To this the Controller replied that ne
would rather pay somebody else more"
THE CONTROLLERS REPLY.
on seeing Colonel Warnings statement yester-
day afternoon. Controller Fitch made the follow
ing reply: Il have read what Colonel Waring
says in regard to the questions involved In Mr..
Tate's account He Is entirely mistaken as to
his being placed in any position OF responsibility
toward all contractors. There is no legal ques-
tion about any other work that know of. and
every bill OF the Department has been paid. as
every proper bill Will be. Mr.. Tate has been
paid on other accounts several hundred thousand
dollars since he came here n little over year
ago. and cannot be in any great need. For
Colonel Waring to stop the business OF his De-
partment In order to force the immediate pay
ment of his bills is most improper. and is proba-
bly, Illegal. but no action OF his will drive this
Department into doing anything not based on
proper legal advice decision OF the courts"
Mayor Strong was plainly annoyed yesterday
by the dramatic and sensational method which
Commissioner Waring had adopted for driving
Controller Fitch to pay the bills Of Contractor
Tate. Although the Mayor kept his own counsel
and gave no public expression of his displeasure
IL has been open secret in several departm
that he was highly ncenscd at Colonel Waring
for exactlng from the city his hotel bills and
travelling expenses in Europe this summer while
on a three months vacation. having received full
ray besides for every day he was absent. The
Mayor was no less vexed with the Controller for
allowing Colonel Warnings bill without contest
ing II.