New-York tribune., 1906-09-30

at o'clock In the summer time" Then he fell
back once more On ''The City Record" usually the
dryest publication printed II New York but In :his
issue OF the most human of documeuts
Taking the estimate OF the Municipal Civil Ser
vice Commission that on June 50 there wore c.2lo
persons on the payroll OF the city he thought as
he turned the pages Of the book that therein rns
spread forth the secret OF in every one hum
dred persons he might meet as he stroled down
Broadway at luncheon time. for one in every five
score inhabitants OF the city is on its payroll
'Nha' o lot or people are drawing salaries from
the property owners of the city" he thought
why. II Washington had had that number OF
soldiers behind him at the beginning Of the Rey,-
iutlon the war might have been brought to 2 close
long before Great Britain gave in That number ia
between TWO and three times great as the total
number OF men both sides at the surrender OF
burgoyne after the fighting of one Of the fifteen
decisive battles of the world" Then the INQUIRER
pulled out a book containing army and navy
nsucs and discovered that up to the time of the
spanish-American War the regular army of the
United States had never had an enrolment equal
10 the army working for the people Of New York
City. He found that the present enrolment in all
the branches of the naval service was almost
exactly eleven thousand less than those engaged
In steering the metropolis OF the American conti-
nent toward its dcstination-the metropolis Of the
world. Then he discovered that there We're only
eighty-eight cities in the United States which have
population greater than the population of the
city departments
The inquirer took out his pencil again and did
some figuring
If each employe represented one family and all
OF the families of employees lived in New York
CITY, then based on the estimate statisticans
nave made that there are At persons to a family
IN New York City, in every 20 So families is
drawing compensation from the CITY treasury
II there We're no Civil Service what a graft that
WOULD oe Tor the city politicians. It would ap-
pFoach kind Of private municipal ownership"
He Imagined them all lined up in single file and
he
from East IOth street toward the Battery Each
person had his hands the shoulders of the
person in front He the line sweep down
under the arch Of the Brooklyn Bridge. the cars
''hurring' along overhead. The head passed down
South street in front of the chandler shops and
on TO the Battery. Not half of the city
ployes had started yet. and the human bulwark
extended unbroken already than eight
miles. The line had started at o'clock in the
morning. 1t was past noon when its head curved
around the Battery wall, past the Aquarium and
turned north along West street For three hours
more IL threaded its way along the Hudson River
front The Offices of of the departments
would be closing II they had been opened
that day and there any close them,
for Il past o'clock. The thousands still
waiting TO Join the line. the inquirer could see.
were pulling out their watches and grumbling be-
cause they were kept waiting so long We would
be leaving the Office If had been there
to-day. Why. IT will be midnight before get
around" said they.
Still the line moved forward at the rate Of three
miles hour. Two thousand, four thousand. five
thousand, attached themselves TO the human chain.
II was almost o'clock when the few hundreds re-
naming the Mayor the head of the line
YEARLY struggling along 10th street toward them,
with the Controller the president Of the Board of
Aldermen and the members Of the Board Of Esti-
mate and Appointment behind. Reaching the
tail end Of the line. the Mayor shook hands with
the last man and wished him a pleasant tramp.
The line trihe over twenty miles long.
Then the inquirer imagined this line falling head
long like pack of cards Each person took hold
of the ankles OF the person ahead. The line had
grown a length OF forty-two and rhree-fourths
miles II laid down the waterfront of Man
haitian he found by a little study of the map Of
the city, II would surround the island, which has
a circumference Of thirty-three miles, and lap
itself from the Fort Lee ferry. north Of Grants
tomb, TO the Battery. distance Of nearly ten
miles"
This army must cost the taxpayers something"
thought the inquirer. Il wonder how much the
payroll is?' He called UP the City Paymaster's
Office on the telephone I'VE paid So 264,547 81 TO
the employees Of the city in 1906" said Mr.. Thinner
man over the wire. The inquirer thought of the
Panama Canal. on which II has been estimated
that S25 600 600 be spent in the course of one
year That woul1 pay the expenses Of the con-
struction work Of the canal for than two and
a half years" he said TO himself. 1T is fourteen
million more than the United States paid for the
canal and the territorial rights around it. This
amount was within eight millions Of the amount
appropriated for the of the army, which has
a force Of about 900 men, above 30 per cent
than those who sign New Yorks payroll" This
amount he found further by examining statistics.
is more than twice as much Chicago. with
population OF approximately 100000 spends on its
entire government.
Then the inquirer looked over the figures he had
succeeded in getting over the telephone and found
that there are approximately 1880 teachers the
payroll
1t requires s,l63 policemen 10 maintain order on
the 29lI miles Of streets. Approximately 1000 men
are in department which attempts TO keep these
many miles Of highways clean. Men of the IN
obtr1give sort who often out to be heroes, 10