New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-12-21
THE COST OF REFORM.

Tho wise maker Of a political almanac woui1
srro,v include among his December prognosu-
cations the warning: about this time look OUT
for ,rammany walls over the cost OF REFORM
That wall Is especially loud Just now because
the Controller has fixed his eye on an uhhcces
sorv number OF carriages at the service or ID"
officers of the Charities Department. ana the
incident gives the cue 10 the 1amihahs p'"eH
to indulge in headlines about extravaganza anu
predictions that the budget will be bigger ~
S15 600 600 next year than in the last year Oh
Mayor Gilroy's administration
TO such predictions Mayor Strong makes the
annronriate answer that this talk about large
increase is pare assumption that the people
who do tho talking are ignorant on the subject
for the simple reason that the budget Is not YET
determined and that so far as he Is abe 10
iudre II will differ little from the budget OF ias'
year !, is true that the Charities Department
annears 10 have been over generOus In the mat
TOR of carriages. II seems to have spent Sl,ZoV
Cor three carriages which might well have been
done without With its responsibility greatly
decreased by the States assumption OF the care
of the insane. the Department has thought II
necessary 10 increase its force. and fairly opens
itsolf to criticism by so doing. But notwith-
standing all these awful things the Board or
Estimote's allowance 10 the Department or
Charities for 1897 is S43O5j less than for 1896.
So much for the expense OF reform even III a
department where the spirit Of economy does
moi prevail to the extent Of saving the tax
ma yers at the cost Of official ease.
II NAV be granted frankly by any friend OF
tho reform administration that there have been
mistakes made and expenses unwisely incurred
in the last two wears Some unfortunate ap-
no;ntments have doubtless been more regretted
by the Mayor than by anybody else. and the
dones Of these officials have been serious en-
barrassment TO the administration. But when
all this IS said the fact remains that the city
government as now conducted makes this city
infinitely cleaner morally and physically, n
n,oco where a decent man can better afford 10
live. than it was in the days of the Gilroys
and the Scannels and the CrOkcrs. We have
some poor magistrates. but does anybody want
IN 90 back TO Diver and Grady! Street
cleaning costs money but does anybody want
IN 90 back to Hans Bcattic's mud slOughs:
We wish Commissioner Croft took more cable
car and fewer carriage rides AT public ex-
pense. instead Of following what he says was
the Tammany practice. but nobody wants TO see
sick paupers treated as they used to be even
10 cut Il lew ttutS VT Ills "N pi'' NV man
who measures all things in terms Of dollars.
and cares not whether the dollars mean crime
and immortality and cruelty, may talk about the
expense Of reform" but even he must speak
guardedly unless he is the shortsignted person
who counts only what he pays and never what
he gets.
The reform government has cost more than
the Tammany government 1t ought TO cost
more 1t is worth paying more for. Not that
good administration should be more expensive
than bad. but because it gives us things that
we need which the bad would not give us
Mayor Strong took hold Of a city that had been
neglected. Its streets needed cleaning and paw
ing. its docks needed improvement. it's police
force was behind the times Its wards were Ill
used in badly crowded institutions. thousands OF
its school children could find no place to study
Tammany officials, intent on their own profit
had let the city's interest 60. They did theiI
best TO make what Rudyard Kipling described
ms a long pig trough and they called that econ
omy. Should Mayor Strong leave the trough
full Of all manner Of uncleanness or clear i
out? He decided TO clear 1t out. The work Il
not done 1t has cost money to carry It on-some
! times II has seemed. great deal or money
But the result so far attained has warranted
the expense and given us hope Of better town