New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-12-26
ONE LESSON OF THE INVESTIGATION

1t is perhaps natural that the majority mem
bers Of the Mazet Committee should not be par
ticularly pleased at the unexpected report upon
It's work, signed by Mr. Moss It's chief counsel
and Mr.. Laimbeer, one of his associates, mas
much as the wind has thus been expertly taken
out of their sails Their own report. when they
get ready to make one, is likely to fall pretty
fiat. for they cannot be expected to produce a
better summary of the testimony with which
Mr.. Moss is much more familiar. as a matter of
course. than they arc. while their recommended
ton of remedies for the evils to which the in
Qury has recalled public attention will not
possess much more practical Importance than
his possesses in view of the fact that com
mission to revise the charter deliberately
i to be authorized by the coming Legislature
and appointed by the Governor
We have been inclined to think that Mr. Moss
overestimated the value Of the service which
ne has enabled the committee to perform. but
for that his professional interest in the business
is reasonable excuse He certainly makes a
clear and convincing exposition of the kind OF
government under which the people Of New
York are living and those who read his report
with care can scarcely fail to gain a more vivid
impression of the municipal situation than most
of them have had hitherto. AT the same time
the institution whose operations he describes is
the old familiar Tammany, only raised TO a
higher capacity for benefitng itself and intur-
Ing the people by the criminal folly of those
who having jammed consolidation and the
charter through a reluctant Legislature. forth
with proceeded to turn the city over to the
spoilers. Mr. Moss necessarily takes a great
amount Of space 10 delneate the consequences
Of that performance, but we do not know that
any part OF his presentment Is more suggestive
Of the whole state Of affairs and OF the way in
which Tammany administration contemplates
its obligations than this passage, relating to the
municipal salary list:
We have endeavored to ascertain the exact
number of persons in the public service and the
exact sum paid for salaries and wages and the
increase in employees and payrolls since Deem
her 81 1897. and TO make comparisons with the
aggregate budgets OF the different districts
prior to consolidation. but have not found a
public record. official charged with keep
ing records who could produce the figures The
records OF the city are kept in such a way that
there is known tabulation these points
and all officials who have been Intercepted have
insisted upon the practical impossibility OF
getting such statistics without expendng time
and money that were not at their command
and we have not had the time and means to
spare for this great work
Truly, this one item in the long account is an
epltome Of government by Tammany Hall No
body knows or is capable of ascertaining what
II costs or how many agents II employs. 1t is
known, with sufficient accuracy for an instruc-
tive comparison. that whereas IL used to cost
$eS 100000 to transact the public business Of all
the communities comprised In the present city
II now costs s9o,0o0,000 to transact the public
business Of the consolidated concern; but no