New-York tribune., 1905-04-19
CITY SALARIES JUMP.
UP $4@5,Oo0 SINCE JAN. I.
Rapid Increase Under TammaRy
Control alarms Mayor and Friends.

The Mcclellan administration. in way
another. has. since January I. increased salaries
in the aggregate. about S425.OO Up to March
1, the Increase had been SS25.OOO, and since then
about 100000 has been added TO the annual
budget In the way OF salaries and increases. The
rapid increases in the salary list beginning
TO alarm the Mayor and hts friends. The extent
of the increases was not appreciated until the
various items were shown to the Mayor day
or two ago by one OF his political advisers.
Hardly meeting Of the Aldermen takes place
without the introduction Of a resolution calling
for an increase in wages. AS soon as parti-
cular grade Of clerks gets a slight increase IN
one department It is almost impossible for the
Board of Estimate and AppOrtionment TO deny
a similar increase for similar clerks in other
departments. BY the end of the year it is be-
Heved by those familiar with the situation. the
increases viii figure up $6OOOOO
Commissioner McAdoo with the assistance Of
the legislature, which authorized special revenue
bonds for the purpose. got an appropriation of
S2OeOO0 for new policemen. The aldermen last
week voted a similar sum for tenement house
inspectors. on a showing made by Commissioner
Grain that it was impossible for his men to
compel tenement house occupants to obey the
law, as the men were overworked and could
not be in two places at once.
1t is the custom of heads Of departments to
Board n
Aldermen appropriating funds for an addition
to the force. The resolution viii be attacked
on the ground that the officials responsible for
the enforcement OF the law are not diligent
This naturally sidetracks the measure for the
time. Then some sort of an accident will hap
pen and the explanation will be that the de-
partment has not enough men to enforce the
law This is what happened in Commissioner
Grains case and a similar argument was used
by Commissioner McAdoo
The amended city charter provided for secre-
taries, assistant secretaries chief clerks and as
sstant clerks in many OF the departments
Under the Low administration many Of these
places were left vacant because the commits
sioners could not in good conscience put on men
for whom there was no work The Tammany
conscience is not built that way. Every place
provided for by the charter has been filed. and
wherever it was possible to construe the charter
as authorizing more employees they have been
added.
The increases have been just as marked in the
Finance Department as in any other but Con-
troller Grout says there is good and sufficient
reason for the increases there He said:
I have found it imperative to raise the salaries
OF OF many OF me enSineers connected with this de-
of construction work reouirine sJiIed enetneeyn
supervision. Bright young engineers are willing
sake OF acquiring practical experience. As soon as
X laeX are thoroughly broken in, however their
ing them, and they leave US. The dropping out of
80 many OF tnese men attracted my attention,
many instances, where the circumstances warrant
engineers to q grade that would make them equal
70 the pay that other people were willing 10 give.
1t was either raise the salaries cripple the de-
partments by making IT necessary TO break in new
men. Where the circumstances warranted II, we
nave nave raised Ine pay OF engineers IN order to re-
tam them We considered 1t economy to do it.