New-York tribune., 1905-12-30
THE MAYORS SLATE.

Mayor McCIellan's appointments, while not
| entirely meeting the hopes aroused by his lnde-
! pendent utterances at election time, are a dis
tinct improvement on those of two years ago
and indicate disposition to give the people OF
! New-York something more than as good a gov
! eminent Murphy will allow 1t is clear thas
| the Mayor has acquired mind of his own and
! on particular propositions is able to resist the
! demands of the organization. In the face of
tremendous pressure and angry threats he has
refused to continue in office district leaders VINO
! had shown themselves unfit for their places
The fate of Oakley offers the most cOnspicu-
Gus test of the Mayors mastery. Murphy was
insistent that all the district leaders at the head
of departments should be retained Oakley was
especially potent politically. His man. McGow-
an, will have three votes in the Board Of Esti-
mate, and the Mayor would naturally wish to
conciliate him. The pressure for Oakley's re
tention was therefore triply strong, and the
Mayor deserves credit for resisting 1t. He gives
the place to a good Tammany man whose name
is free from scandal and who has shown much
independence in politics. Another district lead
er TO go is Featherson but Murphy's interests
in the Dock Department are protected by the
giving of that place to John A. Bensel, the en-
gineer there in the days when Murphy was
commissioner and laid the foundations OF MS
present greatness
present Deputy Controller. to be Commissioner
of Bridges is significant practically and pollu-
cally 1t indicates that Controller Grout is going
TO be an influential force with the Mayor IN
Brooklyn affairs in general and transit problems
in particular Mr.. Stevenson is man of CHAR
acter and ability, and we believe will give good
service He and Mr.. Grout both have funda-
mentally sound ideas about bridge trathc ana
the necessity of doing away with terminals, and
oI,ofA NJ CT
for costly and senseless structures either for the
Rrooklyn or the Williamsburg bridge which
would merely perpetuate on larger scale the
present congestion and inconvenience. The new
Charities Commissioner is an agreeable surprise
Robert W Hebberd has been for maLV years sec
retary of the State Board Of Charities ana mas
thorough acquaintance with the problems or
public relief His work hitherto has been rather
critical than executive. although he has had the
management Of the boards office and the trans
action of that part of its business which is actu-
ally administrative. He is likely to undertake
his work in the spirit of Homer Folks, who held
the office under Mayor Low, and we hope that
he may succeed as admirably.
Health Commissioner Darlington is deservedly
retained in the office which he has filled so We'll
Corporation Counsel Delany remains, as was
expected. Another reappointment about which
there was some doubt is that of DR.. Woodbury.
Street Cleaning commissioner. DT w oou-
bury caused some friction by refusing to aid in
the Mayors campaign for reelection. He had
been even more unaccommodating toward Mayor
Low, who originally appointed him, but that was
a thing which Tammany could easily forgive
and even reward. 1t is to the Mayors credit
that he has overcome personal irritation ana
continued an honest and generally efficient man.
II is only Just TO say. however, that many OBJ
servers feel that DR.. Woodbury. has not recently
fully lived up to the standard which he himself
set four years ago, and he should endeavor to
remove that impression.
The selection Of a Police Commissioner was
nerhaps the Mayors most difficult problem, and
if must be recognized that he has honestly
sought q man free from all local influences max
ing for lax administration and possessed of the
training to enforce discipline. General Bing-
ham. however, will be greatly handicapped by
lack of acquaintance with local conditions and
the men whom he must rule. 1t is notorious that
the best intentions the part Of commission
er have often been of no avail against the in
trie11es of his resourceful subordinates. General
Bingham. though an engineer and not a line
officer in the army may have such powers Of
discipline, developed by his service, that he can
overcome these obstacles and hammer out an
honest and efficient force for protecting the peo-
pie and upholding the law.
For the rest the Mayors appointments are
above the level of Tammany responsibility. He
has chosen or kept men who are free from scan
dal and has incurred the i'll will of politicians
who are powerful in the organization.