New-York tribune., 1908-12-04
COST $4,000 TO PAY 81
CITY PAYS HIGH RATES
FOR CONDEMNATION.
Nets Tells Finance Investigators
Municipality Is Mulcted Through
Lac CertifcatiOn.

Some startling information showing the ex-
pensive way in which the city is being con-
Quoted and the loose methods was developed
Yesterday at the inquiry into the financial meth
DDS of the municipality by the legislative COM
mittee of which Senator Cassidy is chairman.
Controller Metz told of three instances in his
office where exorbitant bills had been certified
to by department heads as being reasonable. II
developed that the condemnation costs for
piece Of property in Jerome avenue. The Bronx
for which award. OF 81 had been made. were
$4,000. The Controller declared that $4,000 in
condemnation costs had been paid for property
in Staten Island for which $500 had been award
ed He cited similar cases in the Catskll wa
tershed
Getting worked up over the Catskin water
supply project the Controller asserted vehe-
mcntly: We have no conception of the amount
of damages that may be assessed against
eventually as result of this plan. My personal
opinion is that Kingston and all the towns and
villages up there will have cases against us for
loss of property and business. Why, instead OF
1853 ,O0O, 600 this may cost the city $25o,0o0O0O
before we get through with it,
Frederick A Cleveland. head of the Bureau
Of Municipal Research, who had been on the
stand earlier in the afternoon in regard to the
to the loose financial methods in the cttys de-
saved by businessike administration, was
asked by Senator Cassidy if under the crcum-
stances he believed it advisable to increase the
debt incurring power of the city. as is proposed
bv A constitutional amendment He replied with
great seriousness:
Il would look with much hesitation on the
enlargement of the borrowing power Of the city
when it is possible to obtain the same results
through a better administration, as shown so
broadly by our examinations. Until the admin
istration Of the city was more economically con-
Quoted il would seem dangerous to enlarge the
debt limit The most important thing to-day is
to esta blish methods which will make it neces-
sary to conduct the city economically. Things
have been so loosely conducted that it has been
impossible to locate the responsibility"
Assemblyman Bennett tried to show that
special legislation was unnecessary to provide
the proper sort of machinery to safeguard the
expenditures of the citys money, but Mr..
Cleveland said that although the Controller had
the power to make these changes he had never
done so. and it was much better to put it in the
charter so that certain methods would be
mandatory Mr.. Cleveland expressed the opin-
ion that the city could save s1,00o,OOO In ad-
ministratve costs and that the wastesin the
purchase of supplies was about - per cent.
Senator Cassidy trisd in vain get MFR
Cleveland to say that different standards of ad-
ministration would have to be set for a munic-
ipal corporation.
Regarding the lax methods of purchasing and
caring for supplies, Mr. Cleveland referred to
the condition of the yards of the Department
of Water Supply. in East 74th street as cha
otic" Material and supplies had been allowed
to accumulate for years. For instance. roller
had been neglected until paradise tree had
grown up around it and completely enveioped
tho handle Supplies we're in such state
eaid the witness that il was impossible to say
whether a certain material vas in the yard or
not They did not know and could not use
what they had. Some supplies had been loaned
to contractors some years ago, but there was
no record of any return having been made
Thousands Of dollars worth Of material could
have disappeared and few been the wiser
Similar conditions existed in other storeyarus'
the witness said They looked more like junk
shops than storeyards.
The committee was about to adjourn toI the
da1 at 4 80 o'clock when Controller Metz hnr-
ried in with some documents in his hand and
after consultation with the chairman and coun-
sci went on the stand. He showed voucher Tor
a bill for pipe certified to by the superintendent
of Highways, the engineer in charge and the
Commissioner of Public Works in Queens
County as Just and reasonable, according TO
the printed form always used in such cases
The hill for S3l a., ana lH5 luSpeCIOi VI tAe
Controller promptly got a reduction of S129 Is
The seller had admitted not allowing the city
the usual trade discount
Two similar vouchers from the Street Clean
ing Department in Manhattan were presented.
Each amounted tc something over S4OO, and in
each case a reduction OF over 500 was obtained.
although the bills had been certified Just,
etc by the proper department heads.
They put it all up to the Controller said Mr..
Metz with considerable heat, "and declare 1t is
nv fault If the city pays an overcharge. That
Is what l am for. they say.
What are they forc" asked Senator Cassidy.
THAT Is what l would like to know, snapped
ont the Controller. It's all a farce. and has
been so for years-this rubber stamp business of
certifying bills Up to year ago we could not
asilv detect such overcharges in our office, but
now we have system Of standard prices. which
is being perfected daily Why, in the old days
hills have been certified to twice and have been
paid for twice IF the dealer was honest got
the second check back, with little note saying
the bill had been paid the month before But
sometimes the checks have not come back"
NrT1TEr LTAT fATTE DDnDE