New-York tribune., 1902-03-26
SINECURES, FAREWELL.
MAYOR LOWS SALARIES BILL
READY FOR GOVERNOR.
AssEMBLYMAN DAVIS SHOWS THE NEED
OF DRASTIC MEASURES TO EASE
CITY OF 100000 BURDEN.
TBr TELEGRAPH TO THE rRrrrNE.

CITY OF S20O00O0 BU RDEN-
IBY TELEGRAPH TO THE rRlFrNEI
Albany. March 25.-Mayor Lows bill to confer
upon the Board Of Estimate and Apportion-
rent Of New-York City the power 10 FIX sal
aries Of the various city employees was passed
by the Assembly this afternoon by vote OF 10
ayes to 40 noes The bill was the theme OF the
chief debate in the Assembly to-day As mat
ter of fact, all that Mayor Low and his fellow
members Of the Board OF Estimate ana Appor-
tfonment intend TO do if the bill becomes law
is to equalize the salaries Of the city employees
so that the men who now draw extravagant sal
aries shall he put upon an equality with thelr
fellow employees who are doing similar work
NIavor Low said on the stump that the citys
expenses could be cut down at least S20Oo,ooo
2 wear This sweep bill" will give him an op-
portunity to reduce the citys expenses by that
amount.
AS was expected. the bill was opposed by the
Tammany Hall Democrats and the rural Demo
Gratis They were assisted in their opposition by
a few Kings County Republicans and one New
York Republican. Mr. Fitzgerald, the Tam
many Hall leader. attacked the bill as partisan.
and one that would be used by the Republican
party to oust Democrats from office and put
Republicans in their places Assemblyman
Smith of Tammany Hall. also savagely at
tackled the measure.
WHAT IT REALLY MEANS.
IN ran,v 70 these speeches Assemblyman
Gherardi Davis said:
The nlsin English Of this matter is this Under
the administration Of the city Of New-Hork
which has been so lauded 10 the skies during
the last four years by the gentleman on thc
other side an intOerable condition OF thlnsS
has arisen. Two men sitting in the same OF
fee. doing exactly the same work draw qiIe.- i
ent salaries. and a man who has suooroIhdIe
position draws very nearly twice the salary
of the man ahove him, and we are supposed 10
sit down supinely and allow that cvhdluoh OF
things 10 exist Well did not elect Mayor
Low and the present administration for any
such purpose as that
Board of Aldermen the power which we gave
them by the charter Now, let us he practcal
list Of several hundred or thousand clerks
I'm the city Of New-York and submit a PROPOSE
tion TO reduce their salaries 10 the Board or
Aldermen and get any satisfactory solution or
the difficulty? Why II a question like that
came up before body like this Assembly IT
would he an impOssibiuty TO go through every
single case and classify these men properly and
arrange the list in a manner that would be sEs-
tematic and intelligent
Mr. Dooling Didn't the gentleman vote for
the charter which contained that provision last
year, authorizing and empowering the BOARD OF
Aldermen 10 adjust the salary scale that ne
now thinks IS so serious an o0JectonE
ALDERMEN DO NOT OBJECT
Mr. Davis did Mr. Speaker. and the Re
! publican Board Of Aldernen-I mean the fusion
Board of AIdermen-has not adjusted the salary
scale which IS criticised. and that is just where
this hill comes in. It is necessary that this mat
, ter be attended to promptly. 1t cannot be prac-
ticaly attended TO by the Board of Aldermen.
and 1 have letters from prominent men in the
Board of Aldermen asking me 10 give my sup
port 10 this bill which thew do not look upon a.
an insult to that board, has been intimated
| here to-day they would
I do not propose TO crticse the action Of the
| present administration Of the city OF New
! York It has not had a fair trial: but il has
! found that the condition of things which il
! has inherited from the Tammany administration
is so bad that some drastic measure is necessary
/ to straighten things out II the Board Of Alder
/ men is willing to accept this suggestion-aud
! have not heard a protest from a man on the
! fusion side, the majority side, Of the Board Of
/ Aldermen-we must give this measure to the
! Mayor. I do whether the Board Of
/ Estimate and Apportionment is Republican or
Democratic. It Is board which everybody in
/ this House who has ever studied city questions
/ relating to New-York has always extoed as
! being highly honorable and a board that does
! It's work we'll I would Ike 10 have Of the
/ gentlemen who criticised the board today read
! his charter and learn that the board is an
/ elective board. and not an appontive board.
The criticisms this hill are made by men
who either are not familiar with the crcum-
stances or are not willing to admit how bad the
/ situation really IS
! Mr.. Bennett said he was willing 70 grant the
power asked by Mayor Low in order that the
/ inequalities might he adjusted
WHAT TAMMANY HALL DID
Mr.. Seymour -Tammany Hail increased the
number Of officials in New York until they
We're forty-four thousand in number. and sala-
ries have also been enormously increased in
! amount. It is necessary to do something, and
I admit that this is a political measure.
Mr.. Palmer the Democratic leader said he
was glad to hear the admission that the measure
was a political one. II special legislation
! Of the worst kind
| Mr.. Aids, the Republican leader. read let
ter from Controller Grout in which the follow
| ing statements made:
! The Board Of Estimate has power to revise the
budget for the current year up TO the first day Of
May. Under Section ~ (of the charter it is pro-
! Vded that salaries 10 be fixed by the Board of
Estimate and the Board OF Aldermen. What the
| Mayors bill asks Is that up May |, and as a
| power. contemporaneous with the power Of the
budget the Board of Estimate should also have fun
control the fixing Of salaries The Mayor :
! bills do not touch the question Of Civil Service:
they do affect the question of the continuing In
office Of any present empoye, and will not in any
| manner concern the Civil Service regula tions or
classifcations. We find people doing precisely the
| again in other departments, and for no apparent
reason will be receiving p to 30 per cent more
for the work II is this condition which we wish 10
| change. and there is in which II can be
| changed unless the Mayors bills passed.
RIANFER OF TTSTTCES