New-York tribune., 1903-07-21
SUPERVISOR COWEN OUT.
Board Accepts Resignation-I"Ues-
tigntiOn Disclosed No STAN.

PbiIin CoU,en Supervisor # the City Record.
who for the last twelve months has been at ouds
with the investigating division of the Contro!er
Office yesterday turned in his resignation which
was accepted. Charles A Hervey. who prepared
the charges which Controller Grout presented 10
the Board of City Record against MT. No"eh'
was appointed as his successor. The poaru auop'-
ed A resolution giving Mr.. COwen months leave
of absence with pay. with the understanding lhat
his resisna tion is 10 take effect August %
The Commissioners of Accounts who also IN
vestigated the accounts of MIR CoWeh turned III
a long report disagreeng in all important polhtS
with the findings of the Controllers experts. MI
Governs friends say that he was bounded out OF
office not because he had done anything crooked
but because the Controllers experts had given out
unofficially the statement that they would get MT
Cowen out of office and that they went to e%-
tremes i'm order to make good their prediction
Mr. Governs letter of resignation to the Mayor is
follows:
tender my resignation of the office of super
visor. The friction. not of my making eXisInS
the City Record office since I entered it. has
rendered the OF my nna6 dnf 50 tb Te
were not such action at an earlier ume open 10
do not hesitate to state that the attitude
toward of the Finance Department has pre-
affecting the Office meaning possibly thousands
of dollars to the city. To handle these sueSeSstuly
required its cordial cooperation ana tIldl was
touched on herein. and another is the subject of
a communication to the board for to-day's meeting
take this step now with the understanding that
any further Investigations into my administration
] were sim in office and the results published In
judging my work / will ask you and your Iel3W
members of the board TO compare it with what the
office was when your administration ITO came 1 INTO
power-a systemless place wherein the meT9St rqd- @
ments of accounts were not observed. What has
been accomplished in spite of conditions, is SHOWN
in the records of the office as now Kept 5000 80
The cost of conducting the othce IN lSO2 was
in 1901, notwithstanding far greater amount of
goods was furnished in 1902 than in the preceding
figures In other words the larger part of $ 900 GOO
Won, oa OF Tedncfion Of % to 20 ner cent
This saving r cost should be credited to your
administration in addition to the hgures given
above In the publication of The City Record"
the in 1908 is 80 70 average page as against
SIS 96 1901. besides which the present page con-
tains over % per cent matter. About 1900
pages are printed in the course OF the ta,c year
has been made OF falling behind the appropriation
also believe it is only fair to call your. atten-
ton to fact concerning the City Record ONCE
While the heads of other departments not only
have the determining of what funds will be re-
also the expenditure of these funds the Supervisor
system. en- base his budget on the generally crude
estimates Of one hundred and fifty different Off
ton But the expenditure Of That appropriation
is practically not at all regulated by him but by
the needs or demands of these one hundred and
fifty officials, which he must meet as these officers
bv the ho' esatss of thei Years needs which they
furnished, and on which the Supervisors appro-
AS I stated at the last meeting. a, single de
partment and a careful one at that, has already
ordered this year over $23 worth OF goods that
were mentioned in its annual requlsitCn.
recognized this state of affairs last year and had
planned a method of meeting the situation to some
extent, but conditions for taking 1t up were not
favorable.
Mayor Low said:
In accepting the resignation of Philip Cowen as
Supervisor of the City Record the Board OF
City Record makes this minute: 1t believes that
Mr Cowen has devoted himself single -mindedly to
the public interest. and that in many directions,
he has effected improvements. 1t believes that
from the inquiry into the administration of his
office Mr.. Cowen emerges without a stain upon
his character. The board, however, is obliged 10
recognize that Mr.. Cowen has not developed that
mastery of circumstances which enables one 10
overcome difficulties such he has had to con-
tend with and that there has grown up an amount
of friction not only with the Finance Department.
but also with others that have business relations
with his office which interferes with its ethGlency
and which reveals certain lack of the admins
trative gift. +, =,
to accept Mr.. Cowens resignation but IN dong
so it takes pleasure in accepting 1t to take erect
on August 27 1903, with leave of absence on tul!
pay in recognition of Mr.. Governs whole hearted
service.
Before leaving the council chamber Mr.. Cowen
had an animated talk with Controller Grout, in
which he displayed emotion.